[Edric's POV]
Her skin was whiter than any Other I knew of, yet retained a touch of blue and was deathly pale. She possessed eyes like blue stars… just as the corpse queen that accompanied the Night's King did. She hadn't aged at all.
The Others and their immortality…
'Mama mia... the frozen watermelons on that-'
I'm glad I'm the only person who can hear you.
'You're glad to hear my voice? I'll take that as a compliment.'
"Staring so intently isn't very courtly," She said, continuing before I could reply.
"The height and strength of a half-giant without any of the defects. The heart, blood and fire of a dragon. A divine power to wield the skies as a God would. The talent to master any art you wish in just a few years. You are a specimen to behold."
Her prior remark seemed a little hypocritical, given that she was clearly sizing me up.
"How flattering," I managed a smile. "You seem to know quite a bit about me."
"My dearest likes to keep me informed."
"How very considerate," I nodded. "I, on the other hand, do not know much about you... But I know that you've lived for quite some time now. It would be unfortunate for that time to come to an end, wouldn't it?"
"A threat… how convincing."
"I prefer to be straightforward," I smiled slightly, shrugging. "In a way, you are at my mercy. Your 'dearest' Night King seems to have left you with no protection. Or, perhaps… you wanted it that way."
"I prefer my home to battle. If you did choose to slay me, you would only be wasting what little precious time you have."
"I wouldn't call the foe bringing back my nemesis from death a waste of time, per say. If I slay the Night King, I'm sure as hell not having him return for a rematch."
"And I thought you were one to relish battle. Or, mayhaps, you enjoy abusing your power over those weaker than yourself. You can't handle a foe being your equal… or stronger than you. That's when it's no longer fun, right?"
"I couldn't care less about any of that. All I want is to lessen the cost of victory," I replied.
"You speak as if it is a guarantee. Mighty confident, I will say. I could almost admire your ignorance."
"If I don't believe I can win, what is the use of fighting? I may as well surrender if that were the case."
"That would be the smart thing to do," She smiled.
"Letting the world fall into the Night King's hands is not an option I will ever consider," I shook my head. "It doesn't matter how many advantages he has over me. He may be a god, he may be stronger than me, and he may have an undead army far greater than my own. I have something that he could never dream of... a soul."
"A soul?" She questioned, almost amused.
"Will. Desire. Purpose. He may wield his magic with lethal focus and efficiency... but he can't ever draw more from it. I have everything to lose, everything to fight for. That gives me a kind of strength that he could never possess. If every Other vanished at this very moment, he would not mourn any of you."
"... That is why he is a God. If those you cherished were to 'vanish', you would be crushed. You would lose your so-called 'will' to fight."
"No," I shook my head slightly. "For a moment, mayhaps. I would lament, I would cry, and I would curse the world, most certainly. But the anger that would come from that..."
I paused, recalling the Storm.
"You Others would cease to exist in a single year. I would hunt you down to the very last."
"If you have such power, why can't you bring it out now?" She questioned. "Why wait for it to happen... or is it your flawed 'soul'? Is it only tragedy that can bring out your true strength?"
"... Mayhaps. The truth remains that I've never seen the Night King slay me."
"Or is it that you've blinded yourself from believing such a future exists? Open your eyes," She said, staring into them. "You will see."
I did not. Was I afraid to confront that reality?
"As I thought... ignorant till the end."
"If that is true - what future lies for you and your people? The death of everything living, a world frozen in time? A world without change?"
"A world without a cage. A world where we have no reason to hide. And not all things need die... we would keep a select few of you as cattle and amusement. As for change, is it required? These lands have not changed in many, many, thousands of years. Dynasties rise and fall, new names take the seats of the old... but it's all the same with a different sigil. Instead of sticks and stones, you wield iron and steel. You still fall prey to greed, to pride, to ambition, to lust, to jealousy, to envy... humans have never changed, and so the world remains all the same for it."
"If anything... our reign would be the ultimate change."
"Are you so hellbent on ruling?" I questioned. "There is a future where both could live in harmony."
"..." She laughed. "You are amusing, if anything. Such delusion."
"You wouldn't need to be trapped in a cage, you wouldn't need to hide anywhere. Instead of crippling one race for another, we could elevate each other," I said it with such passion I may have even fooled myself. "You were created with the purpose of destroying mankind, but you are free of that, aren't you? It may take time and a great deal of effort, but it's possible. I know I can accomplish that... if I were the ruler of both."
"R'hllor would never stand for such a thing. You would start a great war against half or more of your so-called 'mankind'."
"I could not care less about R'hllor's wishes. I seek the future. If he stands in the way of that, then I will crush him as well. I'll become god of this world if that's what it takes."
"You make for a terrible Azor Ahai."
"The question is, are you open to such a future?"
"And if I am not, you will destroy me?" She questioned.
"Of course. And not just you - every Other to grace this land. The survival of your race rests in your hands."
"Come see me in person if you are serious."
~
The horde of undead passed through the Thenn mountain valley and marched into the deep, uninterrupted forests to the east. Colossus shook the earth with each step, crushing the trees beneath his feet. If you looked behind him, you would see a massive trail leading up to the horizon of broken trees. At nine-hundred and fifty feet... he could be seen from countless miles away, towering over everything but the mountains.
Viserion, despite his growth, seemed like no more than an oversized dragonfly in comparison... while Edric was akin to an ant. Even that was a little generous.
'This thing has no right to be this huge.' Edric thought to himself. "Alright, Viserion... courage."
Viserion was not fond of flying north of the Wall, let alone facing this thing. Still, Edric's optimistic voice reigned him in.
"We're not going for this oversized snowman quite yet; we need to snatch up the Night's Hand... right there."
Viserion descended, soaring down like a comet. The Night's Hand was in plane view, riding beside Collosus. He looked shocked for a moment... but something was wrong. The Hand's magic surged out in full force. Edric felt his instincts flare up, and his Hyper Focus triggered a vision of the immediate future.
The Night's Hand was a trap, a living bomb!
It was too late to change direction and avoid it entirely. Viserion's momentum was too great.
The Night's Hand grin grew as the milliseconds passed.
'You're not touching a scale on my dragon.'
A gust of wind powerful enough to turn over castle walls sent the Night's Hand flying a hundred metres away - blasting through a dozen wights along the way. Viserion descended onto the ground, unleashing a wave of fire and lightning all around it. Over a hundred wights fell victim to this alone, while a handful of nearby Others were wounded. The Colossus slowly turned.
Ice arrows and javelins were launched by half a hundred nearby Others, but Edric's protective wind deflected every single one.
"Get back in the sky."
Viserion leapt up and flew off before Colossus could do anything. The projectiles followed up into the sky, but Edric's riding ability alone avoided most, while the rest were swept away.
There was one mightier projectile from one of the lieutenants, which surged right past his barrier of wind.
'Fuck off.'
Two arrows of fire and lightning joined together, exploding and shattering the ice.
'I'm wasting more energy defending than attacking...'
The effects of Winter seemed most prominent here, empowering the Others and weakening all else. But... Edric had seen his own Storm override it. He may not be able to replicate that kind of rage. Still, creating a smaller, more concentrated storm where he had absolute control - that seemed very possible.
He concentrated all of his power over the nearby field. It began to rain... and it was not snow. It was fire and lightning. Wights were burning and turning to ash. The great winds strengthened the fire, burning the forests around it. The forest fires only served as fuel to the fire... and it continued to spread like wildfire.
The air grew warmer overall, but near the fire it was boiling.
Edric harnessed the skies, reigning them in and forging specific bolts of lightning for the Others beneath him. Now they, too, suffered his wrath. Colossus couldn't so much as sniff Viserion, who was endlessly swifter and more agile.
Viserion began to pitch in with his own breaths of fire and lightning, burning down the horde's numbers.
Without a Night King to match them, Edric and Viserion were having a BBQ chicken feast. Hundreds of melted wights became thousands and thousands became tens of thousands once Edric went a step further - dropping nukes of magic as he soared across the skies.
The Night's Hand rallied the nearby Others. They forged a small fortress of ice to block out every angle. Rather than attacking him, they fortified their defences.
Edric ignored them, continuing his slaughter of the rest.
The Horde around the Colossus was incinerated to the point where there was nothing around it for a couple of miles. He continued to push them further back, spreading the fire further north. Once the mini-fortress was isolated from all else, Edric dismounted from Viserion and landed near it. Colossus was standing over it... which made it beyond risky.
He approached, enhancing his physical attributes with magic. Once he got close and Colossus prepared to kick him, he flashed to the other side and smashed his warhammer into one of the ice walls. The sheer force cracked the ice and broke it into countless crystals. He stepped inside, ready to face the small army of Others inside.
Then... the Colossus continued stepping.
'Is he trying to crush everything in here?'
Edric immediately regretted his decision.
'Perhaps a chance at the Hand's head is not worth it...'
Still, he was in too deep to turn around. The Others in front of him unleashed a wave of ice, which he countered with fire that melted it all. He proceeded to slide in closer, grasping Fury.
Raitei.
Over a dozen Edricarian steel blades soared out of the Plane of Euthymia, orbiting him. The skill he had spent years learning and practising... it was nigh perfect now. The blades soared forward with Edric, piercing the cores of the weaker Others and shattering them.
The first being that served any sort of challenge was the Night King's prime lieutenant, bolstered by the power of the Night's Hand. Another stood back and defended the Night's Hand while a third prepared an arrow. A fourth wielded a spear, standing right next to the first. These lieutenants were better armoured, and so were able to tank the flying swords.
The rest of the Others within had already been slaughtered.
With the Colossus stepping behind him and the lieutenants in front... Edric was very well sandwiched. The only way was forward.
The first lieutenant struck, swinging a long, thin sword of ice with grace and precision. Edric saw it coming a mile away, sidestepping all the way around as he used the water beneath him. The fourth stepped behind and aimed to stab his spear into Edric, but Edric used his body's momentum to dodge it as well.
The lack of a right arm made him less balanced, especially when wielding Fury, but he used it to his advantage to gain a thunderous burst of speed. The first lieutenant had long since recovered, however, and launched a flurry of blows that Edric evaded. On the back foot, it allowed the third lieutenant to launch several arrows, which distracted him further. The fourth then aimed to get behind him.
As the Colossus prepared to stomp Edric to death, he tossed his warhammer at the fourth and flashed away from the looming foot of death. The first lieutenant pursued him, of course, and the third managed to get an arrow to strike his knee. It didn't pierce the mighty armour, yet the blunt force was not small either. Edric ignored it, tanking the blow as he used the pain to fuel his fury.
He raised his leg and kicked the first lieutenant in the chest with such force that he lost his balance, stepping back and into the the area where Colossus' foot would descend.
SMASH.
He had stomped on an ally rather than Edric.
Edric grinned beneath his helmet.
'What a fine teammate you've turned out to be.'
With the first liuentant flattened into the ground, Edric called upon Fury and made short work of the fourth, despite the Hand's blessings. He was faster, stronger, and his warhammer was powerful enough to break any defence. Wounded from the throw alone... one swing from Edric himself was enough to break the Other.
And he did just that, smashing the Other's leg and kicking him down. He then gave a few more swings, bashing him into a pool of ice crystals. Colossus tried to stomp again and make up for his errors, but Edric avoided him.
The archer was next.
Edric avoided his arrows like a ghost, along with the ice spikes that rose from the ground and walls. He melted anything that grew too near, his mere presence smoking through the fortress. A couple of swings later, it was only the defending lieutenant... and, miraculously, the first had risen again, by the Hand's will.
The remaining three grouped around Edric suddenly, unleashing all of their power all at once.
'Of course you resort to that...'
Edric, himself, unleashed a massive explosion of lightning right as their ice surged towards him. The two magics clashed, exploding everything around them. The fortress had been turned into nothing while the Colossus remained standing, looking down in bewilderment.
Edric left the explosion with his armour heavily damaged... and great wounds, both external and internal. He would be able to regenerate them in a couple of days at most, but that would delay the whole recovery of his lost arm.
That... and he needed to forge a new set of armour.
He shook off what remained of his helmet and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Fucking Other kamikazes..." He took a deep breath, looking up at Colossus and trying to communicate with it through his mind. "You don't need to march south, you know? You can chill here."
"Destroy Wall. Destroy Winterfell. Destroy castles. Stomp little men."
"Uh-huh..."
Despite a few more attempts, the Colossus was loyal to his master.
"Well, then. Colossus will have to fall, won't he?"
The Golden Moon shone even brighter, and an even greater Storm eclipsed the last. Its power surged down to Edric, and he channelled it all into his raised hand. Lightning, wind and fire, all in chaotic harmony, danced in front of him. He directed it towards the Colossus' right foot. As he prepared to stomp on him with the left, Edric continuously empowered his attack... putting everything in his body into it.
"BIG BANG ATTACK!!!"
He sent the blast of elements right towards the standing foot, exploding through most of it. The rest melted thereafter by the flames that remained. There was a crater in the ground itself, leading to Colossus losing balance very swiftly... only that he was falling right down towards Edric.
'Did you think about this part?' His alter ego remarked.
Edric ran like he never ran before in his life, trying to outpace the nine hundred and fifty foot tall behemoth. He was not as wide as he was tall... but his width was still nearly three hundred feet, and he was at the centre.
Edric ran the quickest 40 metre sprint ever, speeding through the field as if he were flying, sliding off at the last stretch and avoiding the Colossus from flattening him into a human pancake.
"Phew..." Edric took a sigh of relief as more blood left his mouth. "Take your time when getting up, there's no rush..."
That was not the end of it, however, as Colossus tried to use his massive arm to swat him. It was like an ocean wave, sweeping through the field. Edric jumped over it and continued running away, avoiding it a few more times before leaving its range.
By the time he got out of range, the Colossus had already begun regenerating its lost foot.
"You're ridiculous..."
Edric remarked.
He called upon Viserion and ascended back to the skies, using the remainder of Raitei's duration to devastate the undead Horde. It had begun to spread out in a looser formation, which decreased his efficiency, but he still managed to burn through over two hundred thousand of them, while ending hundreds of Others.
As Raitei came close to ending, he soared higher into the sky and flew off.
"All things considered, a decisive victory... eh, Viserion?"
The dragon seemed to agree.
It felt like he had overcome a challenge that would've been many times more difficult if he hadn't become so strong. He may well not have left such a battle alive. The road of sacrifice leading up to this moment, all the time he had spent training, smithing, mastering his skills and doing all he could to be stronger... it had shown its merit.
He continued to fly Viserion north, to the End of the World.