The Dragon Queen's Summons, and Winter's Uneasy Alliance
The Great Other's retaliatory strike against the North's magical defenses had been a chilling affirmation of its power and awareness. Though the immortal Starks, with their dragons and the amplified energies of the "Winterquell," had ultimately repelled the assault, the encounter left them sobered and their resources strained. The Resonance Dampeners required significant repair, their Heartstones scarred by the malevolent cold. Several of the younger Stark-bred dragons, including Tempest and Ignis, bore wounds that only the most potent healing magic, drawn directly from the Grand Philosopher's Stone by Jon Stark himself, could slowly mend. The enemy was not just a mindless force of nature; it was intelligent, adaptive, and capable of wielding magic that could challenge even their centuries of preparation.
Jon Stark, from his Frostfangs sanctum, convened the hidden council, their thirteen ageless faces grim in the flickering light of the obsidian mirrors. "The Great Other knows we are actively opposing its ascendance," he declared, his voice resonating with the cold certainty of ancient power. "Our 'Cleansing' operations, our 'Winterquell,' have provoked it from its patient slumber. It will strike again, perhaps with greater force, perhaps with more insidious subtlety. Our vigilance must be absolute, our defenses perfected. But we cannot win this war alone, not without a cost too devastating to contemplate."
His gaze turned towards the south. "Daenerys Targaryen now sits the Iron Throne, or what remains of it. Her three dragons are a formidable power. Our initial contact through Ben was… a beginning. But the time for veiled hints and cautious overtures is passing. She needs to understand the true, existential nature of the Long Night, and we need to ascertain if she can be a reliable ally, or merely another southern monarch obsessed with her own fleeting glory."
The council debated for days. The destruction of the Blackfyre fleet, though attributed to unknown forces, had undoubtedly benefited Daenerys, and Tyrion Lannister, her Hand, was far too astute not to harbor suspicions about the North's unusual "luck" or "ancient powers." Daenerys herself, while focused on consolidating her rule over a fractured Westeros still dealing with the remnants of Aegon VI's (Young Griff's) failed campaign and the simmering resentment of defeated Lannister and Tyrell loyalists, had sent missives to Warden Artos Stark, her tone a mixture of queenly command and wary curiosity, requesting a more formal parley.
It was decided that Warden Artos Stark himself, as the public face of Northern leadership, would travel south to King's Landing. He would be accompanied by his immortal son and heir, Rodrik Stark (rider of the ice-dragon Glacies), and his grandson Ben Stark (rider of the storm-dragon Nimbus), both appearing as his trusted kinsmen and commanders. Their dragons would not accompany them overtly to King's Landing, but Nimbus and Glacies, along with Edwyle on the psychic Umbra, would provide a heavily cloaked, high-altitude escort, ready for any eventuality and to project a subtle aura of Northern power that Daenerys's own dragons might sense. Jon Stark, Beron the Elder, and the other hidden immortals would monitor the entire mission through their scrying devices and psychic links.
Their message to Daenerys would be threefold: a reaffirmation of Northern autonomy under the Pact of Ice and Fire; a detailed, chilling presentation of the true nature and imminent threat of the Great Other, backed by evidence from beyond the Wall and perhaps even subtle magical demonstrations; and a formal proposal for a joint military and magical strategy to combat the Long Night, a strategy that would require Daenerys to commit her dragons and her forces to the defense of the Wall before demanding the North's absolute subjugation to her southern throne. The trump card, held in reserve, was the truth of Jon Snow's parentage, a revelation that could either cement an alliance or shatter it.
The journey south was a grim reminder of the realm's fragility. The Riverlands were still scarred from the War of the Five Kings. The Crownlands were a patchwork of Targaryen loyalists, sullenly defeated factions, and opportunistic lords. King's Landing itself, though now under Daenerys's control, was a city haunted by the ghosts of recent conflict, its people wary of their new Dragon Queen.
The meeting took place in the rebuilt, though still somewhat desolate, throne room of the Red Keep. Daenerys Targaryen, flanked by her Hand, Tyrion Lannister, her Queensguard led by Ser Barristan Selmy, and her Unsullied commanders, received the Northern delegation. Her three dragons – Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion, now larger and more formidable than ever – were not present in the throne room, but their powerful, primal presence could be felt from their lairs within the Dragonpit's ruins, a constant, unspoken reminder of her fiery might.
Warden Artos Stark, his public persona that of a venerable Northman of immense dignity and quiet strength, presented their case. He spoke of the North's ancient vigil, of the Wall, of the Others, his words carrying the weight of firsthand knowledge (though he did not reveal its true, immortal source). He presented star-charts from the Nightfort scrolls, detailing the Great Cycle and the predicted return of the Long Night. He even displayed a captured dragonglass dagger, its obsidian surface shimmering with an unnatural cold, and a "Sunstone" that pulsed with warm, repelling light.
Daenerys listened, her violet eyes intense, her expression unreadable. Tyrion Lannister questioned Artos and Rodrik sharply, his intellect probing for weaknesses, for deceptions. Ser Barristan, who had served kings who dismissed such tales as Northern superstition, seemed more receptive, his old eyes holding a dawning concern.
"You speak of ancient enemies, Warden Stark," Daenerys said, her voice cool, "while I face immediate threats to my throne, to the peace of this realm. Blackfyre pretenders still lurk in Essos. Rebellious lords still plot in the shadows. How can I turn my gaze to your Northern phantoms when my own kingdom is not yet secure?"
"Because, Your Grace," Artos replied, his voice unwavering, "if the Great Other breaches the Wall, there will be no kingdom left for you to rule, no Iron Throne to sit upon, only an eternity of ice and death. This is not a Northern concern; it is the concern of all living things."
Ben Stark then stepped forward, his presence radiating a subtle, controlled power. "My Queen," he said, addressing her directly, "we understand your burdens. But the North does not come to you merely with tales and warnings. We come with knowledge, with strength, and with a potential ally whose blood is as royal as your own, whose destiny is inextricably linked to both the North and the coming war."
It was then, with a silent nod from Jon Stark through their psychic link, that Artos and Ben revealed the truth of Jon Snow's parentage: Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark, the trueborn heir to the Iron Throne by some reckonings, now the resurrected shield of Westeros at the Wall. They presented carefully copied (and magically authenticated) excerpts from the High Septon's private records of Rhaegar's annulment and secret marriage, records Fionna's network had painstakingly, perilously acquired.
The revelation struck Daenerys like a physical blow. Disbelief, anger, confusion, and a dawning, terrible understanding warred on her face. Another Targaryen claimant? Her nephew? A man who embodied both the ice of Stark and the fire of her own house? Tyrion Lannister was visibly shaken, his mind racing through the dynastic and political implications. Ser Barristan gasped, his hand flying to his heart, tears welling in his old eyes as he remembered his beloved Prince Rhaegar.
"This… this is a truth that could shatter everything," Daenerys finally whispered, her voice trembling. "Or… or it could be the key to uniting us all."
The immortal Starks then laid out their proposal: a true alliance. Jon Snow, as Aegon Targaryen, would be recognized as King in the North (a title the Northern lords, and Robb Stark's memory, demanded for their leader, and one Jon Snow himself, with his Free Folk allegiance, was more suited to than Lord of Winterfell). He would marry Daenerys, uniting their claims, their houses, and their dragon blood (for the Starks subtly hinted that Jon Snow's Stark heritage carried its own ancient, dormant magical affinities that might resonate with dragons). Together, they would rule Westeros, their combined strength, with the North's "hidden guardians" and Daenerys's armies, focused on the Great War against the Others. The North would retain its autonomy, its ancient customs, and its Warden as Daenerys's primary representative and Jon Snow's trusted kinsman and advisor.
It was an audacious, world-altering proposal. It offered Daenerys legitimacy, a powerful Northern alliance, a solution to the succession, and a partner who understood the true enemy. It also demanded she share her power, acknowledge another Targaryen, and prioritize a war most of the South still dismissed as myth.
While Daenerys and her council wrestled with this, news arrived from the North that galvanized their decision. Bran Stark, his Greensight now a torrent of visions, his consciousness linked with Jon Stark and Bloodraven, had uncovered a devastating truth from the deepest memories of the weirwood network: the exact location of the "Heart of Winter," the true source of the Great Other's power, a vast, sentient glacier deep within the northernmost, uncharted Lands of Always Winter, a place that pulsed with an unnatural, life-draining cold that was actively expanding. More terrifyingly, Bran foresaw a specific ritual the Others were preparing, timed to a coming, exceptionally long and dark winter eclipse, a ritual designed to shatter the Wall's remaining magical defenses and unleash their full, unstoppable might upon Westeros. They had mere months, perhaps a year at most, to act.
This intelligence, relayed with chilling urgency by Warden Artos to Daenerys and her council, cut through all political prevarication. The Long Night was no longer a distant threat; it was an imminent apocalypse.
Daenerys Targaryen, her Valyrian pride tempered by the terrifying clarity of Bran's vision and the unwavering resolve of the Starks, made her choice. "So be it," she declared, her voice ringing with a new, desperate purpose. "A Pact of Ice and Fire. For the survival of our world. Summon Jon Snow. We have a war to plan, a realm to save, and perhaps, a dynasty to forge anew."
The immortal Starks had played their hand. They had risked revealing a fraction of their secrets, manipulating events on a grand scale, all to nudge a reluctant Dragon Queen towards her true destiny. The alliance was fragile, fraught with peril and mistrust, but it was a beginning.
As Warden Artos, Rodrik, and Ben prepared for their journey back north on Nimbus, leaving Beron the Younger and Lyra Stark (Jonnel's daughter, now a skilled healer and nature mage in her own right, joining the delegation) to act as permanent liaisons and magical support in King's Landing, Jon Stark, from his ageless vigil, felt a flicker of something he had not experienced in centuries: a fragile, cautious hope. The game of thrones was ending. The war for the dawn was truly joined.
The "Cleansing" operations beyond the Wall now took on a new urgency, no longer just containment, but a desperate race against time to disrupt the Others' preparations for their final ritual. Jon Stark prepared to unleash the full, focused power of the "Winterquell," and perhaps, even more direct, devastating measures. He knew the coming months would be the most perilous Westeros had faced in eight thousand years. But now, for the first time, the dragons of Valyria and the hidden dragons and ancient magic of Winter might, just might, fight as one against the endless night. Young Torrhen the Younger, Ben's son, now fifteen and showing a remarkable aptitude for the "dragon song," would soon be needed. The last generation of immortal Starks was about to face its ultimate test.