Dinner was mountain lynx meat. It was William's first time eating shadow lynx. Sophia cut the meat into small pieces, skewered them, and roasted them over the campfire. Seasoned with spices gathered locally by the Free Folk, it actually had a unique flavor.
The family sat together in the warm tent, enjoying the lynx meat. Little Henry ate until grease covered his mouth, and Reynard wasn't much better. William and Sophia, by contrast, ate far more gracefully—at least compared to the two across from them who looked like they'd forgotten all table manners.
Even though shadow lynx meat didn't taste particularly good, it was filling. In this frozen world of ice and snow, that alone made it high-quality food.
Sophia often said William was more like her, while Henry was practically carved from the same mold as Reynard. Because of that, she favored William a little more. She had long recognized her eldest son's intelligence, and precisely because of that, she felt more at ease about him.
At that moment, William spoke up."Mother, I dreamed again. This time it was a spider dream. I dreamed I became an ice spider. That feeling… it was amazing."
Sophia and Reynard both stopped eating when they heard this. Reynard said, "An ice spider? Gods above, that's not a good sign. I keep telling you, William, you sleep too much. Children should be lively, like Henry."
William protested unhappily, "I'm almost ten already. In two more years I can join the raiders. I'm not a little kid anymore."
Sophia spoke up instead. "William may very well have the talent of a skinchanger. According to legend, one of the signs before a skinchanger awakens is transforming into their animal companion in dreams."
Reynard frowned in confusion. "But William doesn't have any animal companion. And he dreamed of an ice spider—where are we supposed to find one? Go ask the White Walkers for one from their nest? That really would be asking for death."
Sophia continued calmly, "Ice spiders are legendary magical creatures. Even if one appeared in front of you, you probably couldn't handle it. But the shadow lynx in the mountains should be giving birth around this time. Tomorrow, go back to where you found that lynx and look around. It was a female—its den might be nearby."
Shadow lynxes wouldn't attack humans unless they were extremely hungry, so Sophia's suggestion was highly feasible, and Reynard's safety could be assured.
Henry's eyes lit up at once. "Father's going to raid a shadow lynx's den? I want to go too! I want to go!" To a boy his age, this was nothing short of an adventure.
William had expected Reynard and Sophia to say "No" in unison, just like before.
Who would have thought that this time, both his parents agreed? And Sophia even added, "William will go too. You're at the age where you should start learning to hunt. Starting tomorrow, you'll practice archery with me, and learn from your father how to become an excellent hunter."
William nodded. "I understand, Mother."
Henry was even happier, bouncing around excitedly. That night, lying next to Henry, little Henry was too excited to fall asleep. He whispered, "William! William! Are you asleep?"
William didn't open his eyes, but he still replied, "What is it, Henry? Too excited to sleep because you're going up the mountain to learn hunting tomorrow?"
Henry's voice was still full of excitement. "Aren't you excited? Mother never used to let us go up the mountain. If not for that, I wouldn't have gone adventuring in that ice cave."
William said irritably, "Just enjoy it quietly. Other kids rarely have a mother this considerate. Besides, hunting isn't that simple. I've heard that sometimes people never come back. Some run into wolf packs hunting together, some unlucky ones might meet a snow bear looking for food, and others just get lost."
Nine-year-old Henry couldn't truly understand how dangerous those things were. He stubbornly replied, "At least I won't get lost. I can climb trees too! William, you're the one who should be careful. Sleeping all the time won't make you strong."
"I'm going to sleep. You should sleep too, Henry."After saying that, William ignored him. He knew Henry was right—he needed to start training.
From a very young age, William had been able to possess animals in his dreams. That powerful feeling was intoxicating. He had tried to consciously control it, to enter animals at will, but he had never succeeded. Aside from experiencing possession of different animals in his dreams, he had gained nothing else.
This state always felt like a passive skill—one he couldn't actively control or choose an animal companion for—and it frustrated William deeply. Of course, he had thought about finding an animal companion, but his parents had never really supported the idea of him keeping a pet. In their view, raising sheep and cattle was already more than enough trouble.
It was said that among the Children of the Forest, the wise ones who possessed mysterious powers were the strongest skinchangers, capable of slipping into many other beings. And among them, the most powerful could enter the consciousness of any animal.
Only one person in a thousand was born a skinchanger, and among a thousand skinchangers, only one would become a greenseer. Among the humans of Westeros, only the Northerners and wildlings with the blood of the First Men—those who worshipped the Old Gods like the Children of the Forest—had the potential to skinchange.
Did he really have the talent of a skinchanger? William couldn't help but fall into self-doubt.
Although he had always lacked a suitable animal companion to test with, he had experimented with the family's cattle and sheep. Whether it was because of the animals or because of himself, it always felt like an invisible membrane blocked him, preventing success.
In truth, William was even more conflicted than Henry, torn between hope and anxiety, which made him deeply uncomfortable.
William had been born in a village beyond the Wall, at the end of the previous long winter. Starting as a wildling—how bitter he felt inside. Why was it that other transmigrators were either great nobles or knights, while it was his turn and he wasn't even a Night's Watchman, but was instead sent straight to the frozen far north to become a wildling?
Because conditions beyond the Wall were harsh and child mortality was high, the Free Folk believed that naming a child before the age of two would bring misfortune… Fortunately, William stubbornly survived that difficult early period. Even without a proper name as a child, he remained resilient and unyielding.
What was so good about being a wildling? Not only did you have to endure hunger and cold from time to time, you also had to learn multiple languages. Just thinking about being dragged around by Sophia as a child and being dominated by the Common Tongue of Westeros was enough to make William choke up. On top of that, he had to learn some Free Folk dialects, the Old Tongue his father loved to ramble on in, and the ancient language used when dealing with those Thenn people. It was pure suffering.
But that still wasn't the worst of it. What was the greatest danger beyond the Wall? Without a doubt, the greatest threat was the White Walkers. Just thinking of that undead-like tide of corpses made William's scalp tingle with fear.
The first time William realized there might be an upside to being a wildling was when he was three years old—when he first dreamed of entering the body of a goat and discovered that he might have the talent of a skinchanger.
After entering the goat's body, William controlled it and left a mark outside his family's tent. Heaven knew how happy he was the next day when he woke up and saw that mark. Unfortunately, it only happened once. After that, it never happened again, and even now William wasn't entirely sure whether it had really happened or if it had all been just a dream.
Sadly, that poor goat had long since turned into fragrant roasted meat under Reynard's knife. When young William confirmed that it was indeed the goat he had once controlled… he could only eat a big bowl of meat in grief and indignation.
All things considered, William's family could be considered relatively well-off among the Free Folk. The three to five sheep and the single cow in the pen outside were proof enough. Even though the Free Folk didn't place much importance on private property, they still followed traditions passed down through generations, storing enough food for the coming winter.
The Free Folk had no concept of marriage. If two people felt compatible, they stayed together; if not, they separated. So just the fact that both his parents were alive and living together already made William fortunate.
By comparison, many Free Folk who had been killed by crows or died on raiding paths had families and children of their own. Once they died, their families inevitably fell apart. That was also why Sophia had always opposed Reynard joining raiding parties. Rather than risking his life for glory, it was better to live peacefully.
Reynard understood this as well. Raiding represented far more than just glory, even if it was the most important part of wildling culture. Reynard himself had joined a raiding party before—but only once. And it was during that raid that he met Sophia.
William didn't know how his mother had fallen in love with Reynard, but he knew she was no ordinary woman, because she knew many things about the southern lands. Because of that, William always liked clinging to her, listening to her tell stories about the strange and novel things of the south. Unfortunately, she still refused to talk about her own origins or family.
Thinking of his mother's discovery today, William couldn't help but form his own guesses. To inflict that kind of damage on a shadow lynx, an Other's ice spear could definitely do it. It had to be the Others! Now that he was ten years old, it was time for him to learn how to fight. He didn't just want to become a hunter—he wanted to become an outstanding warrior!
What happened today tightened the already tense string in William's heart even further. The Others had already left traces, and winter was coming. There wasn't much time left for him to grow