Chapter 30 — Dark Sister and the Dragon Egg
"Me? Become a greenseer?"
Saelen pointed at himself in disbelief.
"Then… after becoming a greenseer, can one travel through time and space?"
He asked eagerly, hope shining plainly in his eyes.
"Travel through time and space?"
The Three-Eyed Raven paused, then seemed to understand what Saelen meant. He slowly shook his head.
"I'm afraid not."
"If we truly could cross space at will," he added with a faint sigh,
"then I would have sought you out long ago."
"We ourselves cannot move through time or space," the old man continued.
"What we do is link our consciousness to the weirwoods and use the greensight, shifting our perspective between different weirwood trees to observe the past and present of the lands they inhabit."
"So the face-carved weirwoods of the North," Saelen said sharply,
"are essentially observation nodes for greenseers."
He immediately followed with the limitation:
"And if a place has no weirwood to serve as a vessel, then you cannot observe its past or present through greensight at all."
The Three-Eyed Raven gave a wry smile.
"Yes. That is an accurate understanding.
Those face-carved weirwoods are the vessels of the Old Gods' power. Every ability of a greenseer depends on them. Without weirwoods, the power of the Old Gods has no anchor."
Saelen pressed on.
"So in the southern kingdoms, you have no power at all. Everything that happens there is beyond your sight."
This time, the Three-Eyed Raven fell silent.
After a moment, he nodded slowly.
"You are very perceptive. With only a few words, you've grasped the core of the problem."
Saelen then asked the question that truly intrigued him.
"If you can't travel through time, then how do you see the past?"
Weirwoods could observe the present through their carved eyes—but how could they show events that had already occurred?
The Three-Eyed Raven answered patiently:
"Weirwoods can live for thousands of years. Their long lives allow them to record and preserve everything they sense."
"When I wish to learn about a historical event, I simply search the memories stored within the weirwoods that witnessed it."
"When using greensight, our consciousness leaves the body and enters the river of time. We are observers—nothing more."
"The past has already been written. The ink has dried. History cannot be changed."
Saelen frowned slightly.
"Does using this ability come at a cost?"
"Yes," the old man replied softly.
"As you can see, excessive use of this power causes one's body to be gradually assimilated by the weirwood itself."
His voice carried quiet sorrow.
"All magic has a price."
Saelen shook his head decisively.
As tempting as the ability sounded, he had no desire to one day become part of a tree—nor to spend eternity rooted in one place.
"That's truly a shame," Saelen said with a regretful smile.
"But it's clear I don't want to become a tree."
He had already paid enough prices in his life—and besides, he had his own system.
The Three-Eyed Raven studied him for a moment, then nodded.
"Very well. If you are unwilling, I will not force you."
The Three-Eyed Raven showed little reaction to Saelen's refusal, as if he had already expected it. After a brief silence, he spoke abruptly, without preamble:
"Let me give you a warning. Return south of the Wall as soon as possible. Do not linger beyond it."
"The Long Night is approaching. You and I both understand what humanity will soon have to face. And you… may well be one of the variables."
"The Night King has already noticed you. As long as you remain beyond the Wall, it is only a matter of time before he finds you."
Saelen's expression turned solemn. He nodded slowly.
On this point, he could not argue. He had already witnessed the Night King's terror firsthand.
Still, questions churned in his mind.
Why was he considered a variable?
How had the Night King even become aware of him?
Just as he was about to ask, the Three-Eyed Raven closed his eyes and said nothing more.
Darkness washed over Saelen's vision.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back outside.
Saelen stood there, stunned.
That old man is far too petty, he thought irritably.
Lived this long, and he can't even answer a few more questions?
"You're finished?" Leaf walked over and asked.
"I still have a lot I didn't get to ask," Saelen replied.
"The greenseer said many things have no fixed answers," Leaf said calmly.
"If you truly wish to know them, you'll have to uncover them yourself."
She then raised the sword in her hand and held it out to him.
"Take this."
"This was once the greenseer's blade. He no longer has any use for it. He asked me to give it to you, hoping it might shine again in your hands."
Saelen's heart stirred at her words. He accepted the sword and examined it closely.
As he drew the blade, a cold gleam flickered along its edge. The sword was slender and well-balanced—clearly forged for a woman.
There was no need to guess.
This was Dark Sister, a Valyrian steel sword.
Saelen swung it a few times. For him, it felt a little too light—far less satisfying than the greatsword Ice.
"And this," Leaf said, handing him a black bundle.
Saelen took it, puzzled, and opened it.
"These are… dragon eggs?" he exclaimed.
Inside lay two eggs.
One was red, speckled with gold and streaked with black spirals.
The other was black, etched with dark crimson waves and whorls.
Both were smooth to the touch and surprisingly heavy.
"Yes," Leaf said. "More precisely—dragon egg fossils."
"Whether they can hatch or not depends on you."
Saelen fell silent for a moment, then said flatly,
"Dragons have been extinct for centuries. Even House Targaryen couldn't hatch them. How am I supposed to manage that?"
"Dragons are magical creatures," Leaf reminded him.
"So?" Saelen frowned. He already knew that—but he didn't practice magic, and dragons were said to bond only with Targaryen blood.
Leaf merely smiled and said nothing more. She turned and walked away.
Saelen thought it over.
This was still an era of magical decline. Dragon eggs wouldn't hatch until magic surged again—until the red comet appeared.
If all else failed, he could always give the eggs to Daenerys Targaryen, let her hatch them first… and then figure out a way to reclaim them using his skinchanger abilities.
Satisfied with that plan, Saelen packed the eggs away and returned to the others.
Robb and Jon were the first to approach him.
"Is everything settled?" Robb asked. "What do we do next?"
Months of life-and-death trials had stripped away his boyishness. He now carried himself with growing composure.
"Yes," Jon added. "Do we return to the Wall, or continue investigating the wildlings? The threat of the White Walkers has already been confirmed."
"We also sent several wights back," Jon continued.
"If Tarly moves fast enough, he should already be on the road from Castle Black to Winterfell."
"When Father sees them, he'll surely summon the northern lords to the Wall to prepare for war. We can regroup with them then."
Robb nodded. "We discussed it earlier. The White Walkers are our greatest enemy now. Everyone agrees we should return to Castle Black, wait for word from Winterfell, and decide our next move after that."
Saelen did not answer immediately.
Instead, he asked quietly:
"And what if the hundreds of thousands of wildlings beyond the Wall have already been turned into wights?"
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