"Why?"
Tyrion was genuinely confused.
The Karl he knew was not a stubborn, self-serving, or reckless man. While Karl could be bold, there was always a reason behind his decisions.
Yet this time, Tyrion could not understand his thinking at all.
Instead of answering immediately, Karl asked a question of his own.
"How much longer do you think this summer will last?"
The sudden change in topic caught Tyrion off guard.
He frowned, wondering what the seasons had to do with their current discussion. After thinking for a moment, he replied:
"If I remember correctly, perhaps another ten years."
Then realization flashed across his face.
"Are you worried about winter?"
As expected of Tyrion Lannister, it took him only a moment to identify the most likely connection.
But his confusion only deepened.
In his opinion, winter arriving sooner would actually benefit Karl.
Winter slowed wars. Armies struggled to campaign. Kingdoms became more concerned with survival than conquest.
For a rising power like Karl's, that should have been an advantage.
Karl seemed to read Tyrion's thoughts.
He slowly shook his head.
His expression became unusually serious.
"I'm not worried about winter."
He paused.
"I'm worried about what comes after it."
Tyrion's brow furrowed.
"What do you mean?"
Karl looked directly into his eyes.
"Tyrion, you probably won't believe me."
"But if you're willing to trust me, then listen carefully."
"The Long Night is coming."
Silence filled the room.
Tyrion stared at him.
"The Long Night?"
His expression became increasingly puzzled.
The phrase sounded familiar.
He searched through countless memories gathered from years of reading.
Eventually, he found it.
The Long Night.
An ancient legend.
One of the oldest stories in the known world.
According to the tales, eight thousand years before Aegon's Conquest, during the Age of Heroes, a winter unlike any other descended upon the world.
Not for a season.
Not for a year.
But for an entire generation.
Darkness swallowed the land.
The sun vanished.
Cold ruled everything.
People were born and died without ever seeing spring.
Kings froze in their castles.
Peasants froze in their huts.
Entire families starved together.
Mothers watched their children die in their arms.
Some legends even claimed desperate women killed newborn infants rather than condemn them to such suffering.
Tears froze upon cheeks.
Rivers turned to ice.
Hope itself seemed to disappear.
Then came the Others.
Creatures of ice and darkness.
They rode dead horses and giant ice spiders.
They carried crystal swords cold enough to freeze flesh with a single touch.
They hated all living things.
Wherever they marched, death followed.
And every corpse they left behind joined their ranks.
No army could stop them.
No kingdom could withstand them.
Humanity stood on the brink of extinction.
According to legend, a great hero eventually emerged.
Different cultures remembered him differently.
The Last Hero.
Azor Ahai.
Hyrkoon the Hero.
The names changed.
The story remained the same.
The darkness was driven back.
The dawn returned.
The Wall was built.
The Night's Watch was founded.
And humanity survived.
At least, according to the stories.
Tyrion had read all of them.
But he had also read the writings of the Citadel.
Many maesters dismissed the Long Night as nothing more than myth.
One book in particular came to mind.
"The Lies of the Ancients."
Its author argued that the so-called Others had merely been a tribe of First Men.
According to that theory, severe winters had forced them southward, causing conflicts with existing populations.
Over generations, history became exaggerated.
Enemies became monsters.
Wars became legends.
And ordinary men became supernatural horrors.
The author even suggested that House Stark and the Night's Watch had intentionally embellished the story to glorify their own historical importance.
After all, heroic defenders looked far more impressive if their enemies were demons rather than rival tribes.
Tyrion remembered another story as well.
The tale of the Night's King.
The thirteenth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
A man who supposedly fell in love with a woman whose skin was pale as moonlight and whose eyes shone blue like frozen stars.
He declared himself king.
Ruled from the Wall for thirteen years.
And was eventually overthrown by the King in the North and the King-Beyond-the-Wall.
Most scholars dismissed that story as nonsense too.
Which made Karl's declaration difficult to accept.
Tyrion folded his arms.
"Forgive me, Your Grace."
"I don't mean to be disrespectful."
"But that explanation is absurd."
Karl smiled slightly.
"It is absurd."
Then his smile faded.
"But many truths are absurd until they happen."
He leaned back in his chair.
"Tell me, Tyrion."
"Before Robert appeared and took to the skies on dragonback, would you have believed dragons still existed?"
Tyrion hesitated.
Karl continued.
"For most of your life, dragons existed only in books."
"You imagined them."
"You dreamed about them."
"I seem to recall you once admitting that you dreamed of becoming a dragonrider yourself."
Tyrion rolled his eyes.
"That's hardly fair."
"Dragons are historical fact."
"Their skulls still fill the Red Keep."
"Their existence has been proven countless times."
Karl raised an eyebrow.
"Just like the Long Night."
"The stories survived."
"The records survived."
"The evidence survived."
"The only difference is that people choose to believe one story and dismiss the other."
Tyrion sighed heavily.
"Your Grace, I truly don't have time for philosophical debates."
"I spend every day solving problems created by a certain king who enjoys letting everyone else do the paperwork."
He turned as though intending to leave.
But Karl grabbed his arm.
Tyrion looked back.
The moment their eyes met, he froze.
Karl wasn't joking.
There was no amusement in his expression.
No manipulation.
No exaggeration.
Only certainty.
"Tyrion."
Karl's voice was low.
"My friend."
"I am completely serious."
"The Long Night is coming."
"And if we fail to prepare for it, everyone dies."
His words echoed through the room.
"Not just peasants."
"Not just soldiers."
"You."
"Me."
"Everyone."
"The Others will come south."
"They will slaughter the living."
"They will raise the dead."
"And they will drown the world in darkness."
For the first time, Tyrion found himself unable to respond immediately.
The conviction in Karl's voice was unsettling.
Even frightening.
After a long silence, Tyrion spoke.
"I'm not trying to oppose you."
"I'm trying to protect you."
His tone softened.
"We have alternatives."
"Better alternatives."
"We don't need to choose the most dangerous path every time."
He took a deep breath.
"I'll write your letters."
"I'll help prepare for war."
"I'll support your decisions."
"But I want you to understand the cost."
"The consequences."
"The lives involved."
Karl listened quietly.
Then he spoke.
"After the long summer, the stars will bleed."
Tyrion blinked.
Karl continued.
"The blood of the stag flows through my veins."
"But so does the blood of the dragon."
"The dragon's blood grants many gifts."
"The ability to bond with dragons."
"The ability to withstand flame."
"And sometimes..."
His eyes narrowed.
"The gift of prophecy."
A chill ran down Tyrion's spine.
Karl pointed toward the sky beyond the window.
"Soon a red comet will appear."
"It will blaze across the heavens."
"Brighter than the moon."
"Visible from every corner of the world."
"When that day comes..."
Karl's voice became almost solemn.
"I hope you'll stand beside me."
"As my friend."
"As my supporter."
"As someone who believes."
The room fell silent again.
Outside, a young dragon circled above the sea before turning back toward Casterly Rock.
Tyrion stared at it for several moments.
Then he sighed.
"If what you say is true..."
His voice was reluctant.
"...then I will."
A smile finally appeared on Karl's face.
For now, that was enough.
Advance Chapters avilable on patreon (Obito_uchiha)