Chapter 212: Better a Lucky Arrival than an Early One
Egger stayed in Queenscrown for a single night, during which he held cordial conversations with the insiders who made up the first wave of residents—the construction vanguard and several pyromancers forced to relocate there. The group was full of grievances, complaining about the Northern cold, the lack of materials, tools, and manpower, the presence of wildlings, and the fact that there wasn't a single woman in the entire settlement... some even demanded to go home. The Night's Watchman had neither the intention nor the capacity to satisfy all their demands, but since he desperately needed hands at this critical juncture, he had to spend a great deal of breath making various promises before they agreed to stay.
After leaving behind the dozen Northern soldiers Ser Rodrik hadn't picked and the majority of the Watch industries' staff at Queenscrown, Egger set out on the final leg of the journey to the Wall the next morning. With these reinforcements, the population of Queenscrown finally reached a hundred. As Egger departed, they were already busily erecting roadblocks and rudimentary walls, preparing for a life no longer protected by the lake's waters.
Only a short dozen leagues remained between Queenscrown and Castle Black. With the ready-made route of the Kingsroad and the favor of the weather, the journey was smooth. Before nightfall, Egger laid eyes once again on Mole's Town and the Wall—sights he had parted from a year ago, hoping at the time he might never see again.
Aside from Egger, everyone in the party was seeing the Wall for the first time. When the largest man-made structure in the world suddenly emerged from the grey mist, rising to span the entire horizon, every man caught his breath. This was especially true for Jaime and the fifty Westerman soldiers following him; as they stared at the End of the World where they might spend the rest of their lives, their silence was tinged with a complex array of emotions.
Sentries soon arrived to challenge them. Before long, a single blast of the horn—signaling the return of brothers—echoed. The company slowly entered Castle Black under the curious or somber gazes of countless black-clad men pouring out of the towers.
Compared to when he had left, many changes had occurred. The most prominent was a rudimentary wooden wall, three meters high, encircling the entire complex of Castle Black. The wall was quite thin and looked unstable, swaying in the cold wind; it seemed to rely on a vast number of barrels filled with junk and sacks of grain just to stay upright.
"The Night's Watch has no need to defend against attacks from the south, therefore it needs no high walls." This perspective had held true for a thousand years, but as the Wall's defenders dwindled to the point where wildlings dared to initiate attacks, it had finally become obsolete. Realizing this, the men of Castle Black had begun to build.
"Egger!" With a tone of surprise, a thin, lithe shadow rushed out from the crowd to greet him. As someone who had personally overheard Egger and Tyrion discussing escape strategies from the Wall, Jon Snow was perhaps the person in the entire Watch most shocked by Egger's voluntary return.
Soon, more people who knew Egger swarmed the arriving column. Some welcomed the Chief Logistics Officer, others inquired about his life in the south, and some even began rummaging through the wagons to see what goodies he had brought this time. Egger recognized many familiar faces and was quickly surrounded.
"Hands off the wagons!" Jon grabbed Egger's arm, but before he could catch up with his old friend, he had to shout to maintain order: "Go fetch Lord Bowen Marsh! Arrange for men to receive the goods and move them into the storehouses!"
"I've also brought dozens of recruits and staff; arrange their housing first. Who's in charge of that now?"
"Ser Endrew Tarth, he's the new master-at-arms at Castle Black," Jon replied. "Ser Alliser's departure was a development that made us all quite happy."
"Haha." Egger could fully appreciate the sentiment and gave a knowing smile. "Lord Commander Mormont's move was deeply intentional; don't let his kindness go to waste."
"Er..." Jon rubbed his hands, a bit sheepish but not playing dumb. "I understand."
As they spoke, Jon glanced behind Egger and quickly recognized Jaime Lannister. He didn't make a scene; it didn't take a genius to realize that the silent, cold, and despondent Kingslayer did not wish for a crowd or a "warm welcome" like Egger. This volatile man had killed two kings and possessed peerless martial skill; a smart person wouldn't provoke him.
Once the Lord Steward had received the supplies and the new master-at-arms had arranged quarters for the party, Egger quickly noticed something was amiss. "Where is Lord Commander Mormont? And where are the Vale lords sent here by King Robert after the rebellion?"
One was his only superior in the Watch, and the others were members of the Lords Declarant sent to the Wall because of him—potential enemies. Egger found it hard not to concern himself with them.
"Wildlings have been crossing from the Bay of Seals in large numbers using rafts. Lord Commander Mormont took half the rangers to Eastwatch-by-the-Sea to take command. Ser Yohn Royce and the others... they took the other half of the rangers west this morning to rescue several villages being raided by wildlings who climbed the Wall. Only I was left behind to manage Castle Black temporarily."
"Hah, taking command at Eastwatch? Something a First Ranger could handle, yet he insists on going personally and doesn't take you..." This was clearly a move to let Jon get used to managing Castle Black independently. Egger gave the youth a meaningful smile, but he felt an internal unease. "When did the last group of rangers leave?"
"This morning."
"How many men are left at Castle Black now?"
"Over two hundred. Including those you brought today, three hundred."
"That is not good. There are skinchangers among the wildlings who can use birds for aerial reconnaissance." Egger smelled a heavy scent of a "luring the tiger from the mountain" ruse. He frowned in discomfort. "In other words, the enemy knows our movements perfectly. They will likely take advantage of Castle Black's emptiness to launch an attack."
"Skinchangers?" Jon's expression grew grave. "I think I've heard of them. Where did you learn of this?"
"From a book," Egger replied. "The same book where I read that dragonglaass can stop the Others. The reliability should be fine."
"Surely it won't be such a coincidence?" Jon became a bit nervous.
"Don't panic, it's just my speculation," Egger said, waving a hand to comfort the young man. "Come, take me up the Wall. Let me see what state the wildlings outside are in."
"Alright, let's go."
The two walked toward the iron cage lift and began the ascent to the top of the Wall.
...
"The wildling vanguard arrived outside the Wall a month ago, poking their heads out from the tree line occasionally. Since then, we've completely stopped patrols beyond the Wall. Then, one after another, their main force arrived. The numbers kept growing; by now, there are at least thirty or forty thousand outside Castle Black alone." The higher they rose, the stronger the wind grew, blowing wildly from the east against the ice. The iron cage swayed in its tracks. Jon had to turn his back to the wind to speak to Egger. "But they just camp in the Haunted Forest. They haven't attacked, though small groups keep climbing over to the south to harass the Gift villages."
Egger didn't understand military strategy well, but he had common sense. "We must strike back. We can't let wave after wave of climbers gain a foothold in the south, or worse, congregate!"
"Lord Commander Mormont thought so too," Jon nodded. "At first, we sent small squads, but we found the wildlings over the Wall mostly move in groups of dozens, and their physical condition and equipment... for wildlings, they are excellent. Sending too few men was just suicide. Later, the Lord Commander bunched the horses together and established two large thirty-man patrols for the east and west of Castle Black. This worked and quickly wiped out an elite party of wildlings. But two patrols for such a long line... the gaps are too large, not to mention the horses need rest. It's a struggle. Worse yet, the wildlings changed tactics. They stopped sending small squads and started organizing mass climbs and crossings at the Great Gorge in the west and the Bay of Seals in the east..."
Without being on the battlefield, it was impossible to truly grasp the situation. The more Egger heard, the tighter his brow furrowed. Another of his misconceptions was shattered: while in King's Landing, he had thought that as long as Mormont's Great Range hadn't happened and the three hundred elite Watchmen hadn't been lost, the Wall's defense would be under no pressure.
But it seemed that even with those three hundred extra men, the defense was only slightly easier than in the original timeline. There were a hundred thousand wildlings out there, after all, and Mance Rayder was no fool. Facing a different defensive strength than in the original timeline, he naturally wouldn't use the exact same blunt-force tactics. By splitting his forces three ways and initiating simultaneous infiltration and invasion, he was making it nearly impossible for the Night's Watch to cope.
"The Great Gorge is manageable; as long as we patrol the key points day and night, not too many wildlings can get through. But Eastwatch... we have too few ships. Even with constant patrols, we can't fully seal the Bay of Seals. The Commander has sent for help from White Harbor. Lord Manderly agreed to send a fleet... but the condition is that we provide the sailors ourselves. You came from Winterfell; you must know what's happening in the North."
Egger did know. A Great War had inevitably broken out in the south, the main Northern armies had marched down, and the Manderlys and Bolton's bastard were busy infighting over the Hornwood lands, all while the final autumn harvest before winter was underway. These many factors resulted in a ridiculous outcome—despite the situation being changed beyond recognition, at the most critical moment of the wildling invasion, the Night's Watch seemed fated to once again rely solely on its own strength.
As they discussed the defenses, the iron cage reached the top. The wind at the summit was so biting that Egger had to pull up his fur hood to keep his ears from freezing.
Jon led him to the edge of the Wall. "Look. Every fire down there is at least one tent."
Having traveled all day from Queenscrown, the light was beginning to fade. In the Haunted Forest, shrouded by a thin, cold mist, thousands of campfires flickered and danced among the branches. They were numerous, yet compared to the vast, dark expanse of the beyond, they seemed small and frail.
Looking down from the Wall, the campfires seemed to be right beneath their feet, but this was an illusion of height. Even the nearest wildling camp was at least a mile away from the Wall... beyond the reach of ordinary weapons.
Ordinary weapons, yes—but if one used scorpions or catapults, they could still pose a threat.
"Why are they so close?"
"We're not sure. It wasn't like this when the main body arrived, but after a few days under the Wall, the camps kept moving closer to the tree line." Jon shrugged. "Even if it means their lines are stretched thinner and longer, they don't seem to care. It's almost... as if they are determined to be near the Wall at any cost."
Egger squinted into the distance, wondering: was it the magic within the Wall that made it hard for the Others or wights to approach, prompting the wildlings to camp so unnaturally close to the forest edge? Melisandre said he had been marked by the Great Other; he wondered if that mark had faded by now.
"Strange. There shouldn't be mist at this hour," Jon muttered, shading his eyes as he looked into the distance. His expression suddenly shifted. "Wait, no. The forest over there seems to be burning. That white haze isn't mist—it's smoke!"
Egger stiffened, immediately looking in the direction Jon was pointing. Sure enough, about a league away, dim firelight flickered and swayed within the Haunted Forest. At this distance, a normal campfire would be invisible to the naked eye; the wildlings were setting the forest on fire!
"Holy... shit!" Talk about timing.
Egger let out a rare curse, a shudder running through him. He suddenly realized he had misinterpreted Jojen's words—the boy hadn't been warning him that he'd miss the attack if he didn't hurry; he was warning him that if he arrived quickly, he would be just in time for the grand assault!
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