Chapter 61 - The Reason.

[Chapter Size: 2700 Words.]

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Third Person POV

Harrenhal, 101 AC.

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Even with the fog, the silhouette of the small island finally appeared, as the small boats rowed by the guards and Lord Stark crushed the sand as they reached the shore of the lake, on a muddy stretch of land that seemed to form a small beach no more than a dozen meters wide, beyond which lay the island's dense forest.

"This place is sinister," muttered one of Lord Stark's guards.

"Let's move forward," Lord Stark simply said, then turned to some of his men. "Six of you will stay behind and guard the boats. Make sure they're still here when we return."

As he had said, he, his mother Lyarra, the heir Rickon, and Jon were there, while Lyra and Lysa had remained at the northern camp, and the rest at Harrenhal were still celebrating the tourney.

They had only come after hearing Jon's request, following his account of the dream telling him he had to come here. So they pulled the boats onto the shore and prepared to move forward.

"The fog is a bit thick, but from what I could see, there are some paths leading into this place," Lord Stark said as he gave a few orders to his men.

As Lord Stark commanded, some stayed behind to guard the boats, while the rest gathered to find the trail, even carrying torches. Despite it being morning with the sun already in the sky, they were still useful for cutting through the fog.

They advanced until they found an entrance, with a narrow path leading deeper into the island.

"Hey, Jon, aren't you scared to be here?" Rickon joked with a shrug.

"Hey, knowing you, you're probably itching to run off into this fog. Don't do anything you'll regret later, Stark," Jon replied.

"Don't be such a bore," Rickon shot back.

In any case, they continued moving through the area until someone stopped them. With the fog obscuring long-distance vision, they could only see what was close by. Then a silhouette emerged before them, causing everyone to halt as the group tensed.

At last, the figure became clearer and clearer, and Lord Stark immediately placed a hand on his sword. Naturally, he had not brought Ice, but he still carried a one-handed sword at his waist.

"Who's there? Show yourself!"

"You are far from home, Northmen." The old voice echoed as the silhouette drew closer, revealing an old man dressed in feathers and rags.

"A Green Man..." one of the soldiers murmured.

Those words immediately spread among the eight soldiers accompanying them, carried in whispers filled with fear and caution.

Even Rickon took a step back, while Jon stared at the man with curiosity. The old man also turned his eyes toward him, and Jon noticed that his expression had softened the moment their gazes met.

"There is power in your eyes, my lord," he said directly to Jon, completely ignoring Lord Stark.

Immediately, Lord Stark stepped forward, placing himself between the old man and Jon without yielding an inch.

The man saw that and sighed. "There is nothing to fear. I would never dare harm the child," he said, although his words only made everyone even more uneasy.

"Do you know him, sir?" Lyarra asked in a voice full of suspicion. Even Ghost, who had been by Jon's side the entire time, let out a low sound that conveyed a certain wariness as he watched the old man, gauging whether he was a threat.

"How could I not know him? The gods foretold his arrival on this day. I am here to lead him to the central tree. You too kneel before the heart trees and pray to the same gods we do. Then you must understand the importance of this child's existence."

He kept looking ahead, as though he could still see Jon even with Lord Stark standing in front of him.

Lord Stark looked at his mother with a stern, grim expression. Clearly, he could not trust those words, so he needed the opinion of the eldest Stark woman. Those words were simply too strange.

She did not answer her son directly. Instead, she turned her eyes to Jon. "What do you think?" she asked.

"My dream brought me here. I don't think it's just a coincidence. We have to go," Jon replied, though he was practically asking for permission, knowing he was only a child of ten namedays.

Lyarra nodded and turned her gaze back to her son. She simply gave him a slight nod.

The man sighed. "Lead the way. But you will keep a safe distance from us. Stay ahead, but not so far that you disappear from sight and try anything," Lord Stark said.

The old man nodded. He cast one last glance at Jon before turning away.

"Hey, what was that about? He said you're important," Rickon whispered as he walked over to Jon and lightly nudged him with his elbow while they resumed walking. The guards were whispering behind them as well.

"I don't know... I have no idea," Jon murmured as they continued onward.

Silence soon settled over the group. No one said a word; they simply kept moving forward. As they walked toward the heart of the forest, the fog gradually began to thin until it vanished completely. Soon, the morning sun emerged, illuminating a place filled with flowers, almost like a carefully tended garden.

Rabbits and squirrels wandered peacefully through the area. Even a deer darted between the trees, startled by the visitors' presence.

"This place is so full of life..." Jon couldn't help but remark.

"You think so? I'm glad you feel that way." The old man's voice rang out again. Jon looked up at him and saw a genuine smile on his face, as though he had truly been pleased by that comment.

"You can feel the life in this place, my lord?" he asked Jon moments later.

"..." Lord Stark narrowed his eyes, but he did not interrupt the conversation.

"Yes," Jon replied. "I can feel a powerful natural energy within this forest."

"There is more than wildlife here. The gods made this place one of the most important in this age..." he commented at last.

"What are you? Are you a Green Man?" Rickon couldn't help but ask from beside him.

"I see you're curious, Young Wolf. And yes, we are the Green Men, the order of the Old Gods, created by the First Men when they and the Children of the Forest found a common enemy and abandoned the war they had been waging against one another to face that threat together..." the old man explained.

"You're talking about the Long Night?" Jon asked immediately.

"That's just a legend. The Long Night never existed."

"Stories for children."

The Stark guards soon murmured among themselves, looking at Jon and the old man with disapproval, but also with a certain unease. It was obvious that they wanted to believe as little as possible that something like that had ever truly existed.

The old man, however, merely nodded. "Exactly, my lord. The Long Night came in the midst of the war between the inhabitants of Westeros and us, the invaders," he said with a sad smile. "It was when the First Men entered these lands, where only the Children of the Forest, the giants, and other creatures lived. The legends say there were other races as well... Hidden races that no one remembers anymore, their existence erased as the scrolls that spoke of them were destroyed with time..."

"Do you believe the first Long Night really happened?" Lord Stark asked.

Being a Northman, he was more inclined to believe such things than any southerner, and he had also done a great deal of reading in his youth. The Green Man could even understand why he was asking that question. Lord Stark had been fascinated by these stories as a child, yet everything the maesters had taught him was that they were nothing more than legends. Now, however, a Green Man was claiming the exact opposite before the horrified eyes of his own men.

"The Wall was raised for a reason, Lord Stark. Or do you truly believe that a handful of tribes who have lived beyond it for eight thousand years, ever since that war, are the real reason a wall of ice that thick was built, and why an order like the Night's Watch exists?" the Green Man replied.

Lord Stark could not answer immediately. "Well... certainly it isn't that simple. But it's also difficult to believe in creatures of ice riding skeletal horses, wielding magical spears, and capable of raising an army of the dead in the depths of winter. Is that your version of the Long Night as well?" Lord Stark finally asked.

"It is only natural to be skeptical, believe me. And honestly, we should not be having a conversation like this in this age," the old man replied.

"What do you mean by that?" Lyarra asked, while Jon simply remained silent, listening intently.

"Dark times are coming, Lady Stark." His words surprised everyone, since no one had introduced Lyarra. His voice sounded weary, yet at the same time burdened with concern.

"The enemy is awakening sooner than even the gods foresaw. The evil that will cast the world into chaos is drawing near. Perhaps none of us will still be alive when it happens, but these children will certainly bear the responsibility of facing that crisis."

The man's words left everyone tense.

"What do you mean by that?" Lord Stark asked immediately, demanding an answer in an authoritative tone.

"These are matters that even I cannot fully explain. All the gods allow us to know are signs. But something has been broken. The wheel of fate has shifted, Lord Stark... and the enemy will come before its time."

That was all he said as they continued through the forest, until they finally reached a vast clearing.

At its center stood a heart tree as immense as the heart tree of Winterfell.

And they were not alone. More people dressed in clothing similar to the old man's were already waiting for them. Some were young, others as old as the man who had led them there. There were children as well... All of them turned their eyes toward the group, but above all, toward Jon.

"Hey... this place is strange," Rickon couldn't help but murmur as he noticed everyone staring at Jon.

"I'd rather have Roswell staring at me right now than get these looks..." Jon couldn't help but remark.

Rickon gave a faint smile. At least his friend was relaxed, easing some of the tension. Not Lord Stark's, however. His father remained extremely tense at the front with the guards, all of them with their hands resting on the hilts of their swords as they watched the group with wary eyes.

"Do not be afraid. We are not here to harm you," the old man smiled at them once again, revealing a grin missing several teeth.

"Do not misunderstand us. We wished to meet the young lord," he said. Everyone noticed whom he was looking at—Jon.

"Why do they keep calling me young lord? I'm not who they think I am..." Jon thought. He wanted to shout, 'I'm not a Stark!'

The old man merely smiled. "You do not need a name, child, to be someone. You never did... not even the first time."

"The first time?" Jon asked.

The man merely shook his head. "I will not be the one to answer those questions, young lord. The gods will. And I am certain they will be far more willing to speak with you than with anyone else in this world."

Jon looked at Lord Stark, who still wore a troubled expression. "Listen... if anything happens to him..." he muttered in a voice heavy with menace.

"We will not harm the child, Lord Stark. No one here wishes for any evil to befall the boy," the man assured him.

Though Lord Stark did not seem entirely convinced, he eventually nodded. "In any case, you're here because of the tree, aren't you? We'll give you your space. Go to it when you're ready."

The old man stepped aside, leaving Jon before the enormous heart tree as he returned to the other Green Men. Jon remained standing between the Starks and the group for a few moments.

"Hey, Jon... do you think this is it?" Rickon asked, sounding a little uneasy.

"I have no idea," Jon murmured before turning his attention back to the tree.

It was the focal point of his dreams. Even those Green Men knew it. "I'm going to the tree," he said to Lord Stark.

The man watched him in silence for a moment before nodding. "Very well. Do you believe this is what the gods want?" he asked, just to be certain.

"I'm not entirely sure. But my dreams have meaning, Lord Stark. They always have. You yourself said they gave me skill with the bow the night before the tournament."

Lord Stark was left speechless. He still remembered how unsettling the idea was that someone could learn skills solely through dreams. It was utterly absurd... yet it also seemed to be true.

"Very well. But if they try anything, we're getting you out of here. Understood?" he said.

Jon nodded and looked at Rickon with a faint smile. "I promise I won't turn into one of the Children of the Forest, some creature, or anything like that."

"Well... that would be interesting. I'd think that was pretty awesome," Rickon said with a laugh.

Jon merely shook his head and stepped forward. He could feel his raven, Shadow, flying above them. The bird had secretly followed him all the way here, keeping watch from above. Since Jon had far greater control over the animal's mind, he could see through its eyes, receiving real-time information from the sky.

Even so, not even Shadow had been able to spot the old man before they drew near because of the thick fog. But now the raven was watching over the entire area as well.

Ghost had also moved closer. He stared at Jon's back with a hint of apprehension, yet he did not interfere. It felt strange for Jon to be able to see his own back in real time during such a tense situation, surrounded by so many people... and he was the reason for it all...

In any case, Jon continued forward under the watchful eyes of both the Stark men and the Green Men, who looked at him with expressions of genuine reverence.

Jon did not know how to feel about that, but he pressed on, remaining resolute until he touched the bark of the tree. His face came to rest before the heart tree, as though looking directly into its carved eyes.

"Whatever it is... Show me. Show me why you want me here." Jon closed his eyes and tried to feel something.

Soon, amid the darkness, an immense light began to appear, growing brighter and brighter.

'Hello, Jon.' A voice echoed.

'Who are you?' Jon immediately asked in his mind. His voice existed only within his thoughts.

The presence seemed to hear him, but simply ignored the question. 'You are an anomaly. You came from another world... from another time.'

'What do you mean by that? And the dreams? Am I that Jon?' Jon wanted to shout, but the voice continued to ignore his questions.

'You should not exist in this world. But after you destroyed the enemy in the other world, it managed to send information about what had happened to this world, along a different future timeline, awakening itself before its destined time. That altered your fate. It intended to act long before destiny had marked its hour, and a savior was needed to stop it...'

'Your destiny is to face the enemy once again.' The voice echoed once more.

Immediately afterward, an immense flash of light appeared before Jon. He barely had time to react. The next instant, he began receiving a torrent of images and information greater than anything he had ever experienced before.

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