She asked without hesitation, her gaze sweeping over Jon's handsome, frost-pale face. Jon's cheeks flushed crimson; despite the numbing cold, heat surged through him. He turned his eyes away, his throat dry, and growled, "You… you're talking nonsense. Shut up and keep moving."
"Ha!"
Ygritte let out a mocking laugh, as if seeing straight through his embarrassment. "What's this? Shy? Or are you just a virgin crow who's never been with a woman?"
She twisted her bound body on purpose, her movements stiff from the cold yet still carrying a wild allure. "This damned place could freeze a person solid… Why not untie me? Let me keep you warm for a night? I promise you'll be so warm you won't even be able to speak."
Her words were brazen and heated, like a spark thrown into Jon's chest. His heart raced, his blood seemed to rush faster through frozen veins. A secret, dangerous impulse took hold of him. He turned sharply to rebuke her—but his gaze met hers again, those eyes burning with a strange inner fire.
Smack!
A sharp slap struck Ygritte's face. The force made her head snap to the side, her red hair spilling down to cover the cheek already swelling.
Alliser Thorne drew back his hand, his eyes filled with cold, murderous hatred. "Filthy wildling! Try using that foul mouth to tempt him again, and I'll cut your throat myself!"
Alliser's voice was as harsh as the wind that stripped flesh from bone. He seized Ygritte's hair, yanking her head up, and shouted at Jon, "Jon, stay sharp! Remember your mission! These wildlings—these savages beyond the Wall—they're born killers! Their words are less trustworthy than the wind itself! Showing them mercy is cruelty to yourself! Once we find a ship, finish her. No survivors. Understood?!"
Jon looked at Ygritte's swollen cheek, saw the fury and humiliation burning in her eyes, and felt his chest tighten painfully. But he knew Alliser was right. They couldn't afford weakness.
He forced his heart to harden, avoided Ygritte's gaze, and gave a stiff nod. "Understood, Ser."
Ygritte said nothing more. Her green eyes blazed with fury as she glared at Alliser, then she lowered her head and trudged on in silence through the deep snow.
The three fell into wordless silence again. Only the crunch of snow underfoot and their labored breaths echoed through the lifeless forest. The twisted branches of ancient trees tangled overhead, forming a dark canopy that cast shifting, eerie shadows, like countless unseen eyes watching from above.
The silence was unnerving. Even the wind seemed to have vanished, leaving behind only a suffocating stillness. Jon's unease grew stronger with every step.
He felt it—something was watching them. From within the forest's dark depths, behind the ice-covered boulders… That gaze was cold, dead, and full of malice.
Just as they struggled over a snow-draped ridge strewn with jagged stones, Alliser, walking last, seemed to step on something loose. His foot slipped, and he let out a low grunt of surprise.
"Look out!"
Jon instinctively turned to warn her.
In that instant, disaster struck. A fiery-red shadow shot out from Jon's side—it was Ygritte. Somehow, she had used her teeth and her frostbitten, crimson fingers to gnaw through most of the leather cord binding her wrists.
Seizing the moment when Alliser lost his balance, she threw herself forward with all her strength, slamming headfirst into his lower back.
"Gah!"
Caught off guard, the searing pain made Alliser grunt as he lost his balance, stumbling backward.
"Wildling! You're asking for death!"
Alliser roared, his eyes blazing with terrifying fury as he reached behind him to draw the long sword at his waist.
But Ygritte was faster.
Like a nimble snow hare, she rolled on the spot. Her hands, dusted with snow, shot out like lightning—not for Alliser, but for Jon's sword hanging at his waist.
"Jon, the sword!"
Alliser's roar and Ygritte's movement happened almost simultaneously.
Jon's mind buzzed. His body reacted faster than his thoughts.
The instant Ygritte's fingers were about to touch the hilt, Jon twisted sideways. His right hand shot out like lightning—not to grab the sword, but to drive his elbow hard into Ygritte's shoulder.
"Ah!"
Ygritte cried out in pain, knocked sideways. Her hand grasping for the sword missed its mark.
"Ghost!"
Jon nearly shouted the name.
With his cry, a massive white shadow lunged forward. Ghost's amber eyes flashed with icy ferocity. Its powerful forepaws struck with tremendous force, knocking Ygritte—who had just regained her footing—flat onto the thick snow.
The massive wolf's jaws snapped open, revealing gleaming white fangs. Its hot, blood-scented breath washed over Ygritte's face, which had turned instantly ashen, mere inches from her throat.
Ygritte's body froze rigid, not daring to move. Fear filled her eyes.
She looked up at the direwolf pinning her down, its fangs mere inches from her face, then glanced at the black-clad youth beside her, his gaze complex as he gripped his sword hilt tightly. Finally, she closed her eyes in despair, ceasing all struggle.
Jon panted heavily. He had just ordered Ghost to patrol nearby, wary of pursuing wildlings or Night's Watch rangers.
Alliser had already struggled to his feet, drawing his longsword. Its tip pointed directly at Ygritte, pinned down by Ghost. His single eye blazed with murderous intent.
"Kill her, Jon! Kill this ungrateful wildling bitch now!"
Jon's hand tightened around his sword hilt, the cold metal seeping through his palm. He stared at Ygritte, pinned down in the snow by Ghost, eyes closed in resignation. A heavy, icy stone seemed to settle in his chest.
That thread of reluctance—that emotion he'd forced himself to suppress—was tearing at him violently.
"No..."
Jon's voice was hoarse. He looked at Ser Alliser. "Ser... we... we still need her to guide us..."
Alliser pointed at Ygritte, his voice filled with fury. "She tried to take your sword and kill me just now! She could stab us again at any moment! Once we reach the boats, she'll surely lead her wildling comrades to tear us apart! Kill her, Jon! Now!"
Jon's inner conflict raged fiercely. Reason told him Alliser was right.
But... seeing Ygritte's resigned, surrendered posture... his palms were drenched in sweat.
In that split second of internal turmoil, as Alliser's sword tip trembled slightly with rage...
A bone-chilling cold swept over him without warning.
This was no ordinary chill. It was an absolute, soul-freezing cold. The air seemed to solidify instantly, even the falling snowflakes suspended mid-air.
Ghost's ears snapped erect, his wolf eyes blazing with unprecedented alertness and a hint of fear. He ceased his low growl, instead emitting a deep, threatening whine from his throat. His body went taut, fangs bared, his gaze fixed intently on the crest of the low hill the three had just crossed.
Jon and Alliser sensed it simultaneously.
It was a primal fear born of instinct.
They whipped their heads around, following Ghost's gaze.
At the crest of the low slope, beside a thickly snow-covered black basalt boulder, a figure stood silently.
It hadn't emerged from behind the slope, but seemed to crystallize directly from the eternal Ice and shadows.
Towering above even the tallest knight, its form was gaunt and inhuman. Its skin was milk-white, and the faintly visible body appeared carved from the purest Ice, emitting a faint blue glow.
Its head was a single, sapphire-clear crystal of Ice. Where the face should be, cold blue eyes, like blue stars, gazed down emotionlessly upon the three frozen figures and the wolf below the slope.
No breath, no movement, not a trace of life.
Only the bone-chilling cold, seemingly capable of freezing time and space itself, spread silently outward from its center.
The Others.
The legendary servants of the ancient gods, the envoys of eternal winter.
It appeared there abruptly, silently, like death itself casting a cold, icy stare.
Time seemed to freeze completely on this deathly silent, snow-covered slope of the Haunted Forest.