"I hate the North! I never want to come to this cursed place again!" Joel, who had just passed through the Neck, dismounted to relieve himself and was unexpectedly attacked by a lizard-lion hidden in the swamp. Fortunately, he dodged in time, otherwise, he might never have been able to use his lower half again.
This attack, combined with the various discomforts he had experienced passing through the swamp, finally made his accumulated dissatisfaction erupt. He cursed incessantly, completely disregarding the feelings of the Northmen sent by Kalin Bay to guide them.
Lynd looked at Joel Flower, who was venting his emotions, and chuckled, "Lord Joel, don't speak so absolutely. Given your current temperament and behavior, perhaps it won't be long before you are caught by some lord and sent to the Wall to take the black. At that time, these people will all be your brothers."
The prisoners also began to jeer, with a few even shouting "Brother Joel" at him.
"Shut up! Even if I die, I will never take the black." Joel glared angrily at Lynd, then glared at the jeering prisoners and said, "You are too energetic; it's dangerous. Everyone's food will be canceled tonight. I think hunger will teach you that not everyone can be mocked."
"That's not fair! We weren't mocking you!" someone yelled.
Joel Flower remounted his horse and shouted at the prisoners, "No! You laughed in your hearts! I heard it all!"
Fotimo didn't let the crowd continue to make a fuss. He shouted loudly, and the stopped procession continued northward.
Last time, it only took Lynd a little over ten days to travel from King's Landing to Kalin Bay, but this time they had already been traveling for over a month. The original prisoner contingent of four hundred had grown to over seven hundred, with over a hundred from King's Landing and nearly two hundred others from Harrenhal, Riverrun, The Twins, and Sea Frontier City.
The lords of these castles, having learned that Lynd would be escorting prisoners along the King's Road near their territories, had already transported their prepared prisoners to the roadside, allowing them to join the ranks of those taking the black when the escort party passed. This undoubtedly made the journey even slower.
The slow pace of the journey had already worn down people's patience, and even Joel Flower, who had always been jovial and carefree, was growing anxious from the long travel.
After passing through the Neck, the road became slightly easier to travel, but only slightly. The King's Road, built long ago, was severely damaged, with large amounts of rubble, weeds, and rotten wood blocking the way. There were also sinkholes hidden by weeds, forming deadly traps.
Several people accidentally stepped into them, breaking their necks. Even if they didn't break their necks, their arms and legs were severely injured and they were unable to walk.
Fotimo's original intention was to deal with these injured people on the spot, but Lynd stopped him. He could use these injured people to test the extent to which Glory's healing white light could treat external injuries.
Thus, under everyone's gaze, they watched as the broken leg bones, held in place, slowly healed under the illumination of the white aura from Glory. Although not completely healed, everyone could see that the injuries were rapidly improving.
"Is this the rumored healing miracle?" Fotimo exclaimed, looking at everything before him.
Whether soldiers or prisoners, all the followers of the Seven Gods who witnessed this scene knelt on the ground, silently reciting prayers.
After the external wounds had completely healed, Lynd had Glory stop. He then examined the bones and found that the bone joints were still very fragile and required a period of rest.
So, these injured prisoners were also placed on the supply wagons, and they continued their journey.
After this small interlude, the group traveled for about half a day more. As dusk approached, they crossed a small hill and arrived at an open space.
"Damn the Seven Hells! Have we entered a graveyard?" At this point, Joel, who had clearly seen his surroundings, couldn't help but curse loudly.
Aside from the desolate land on both sides of the King's Road, there were graves packed tightly together, extending into the distance until they disappeared from sight.
"This should be the First Men's Burial Mounds. These mounds contain the remains of the First Men of the North." Fotimo looked at the mounds and said solemnly, "The earliest graves here can be traced back to the time of the Barrow Kings, when the North was not yet unified under the Stark family. The Red Kings, the Warg Kings, the Marsh Kings, and other First Men clans held sway over this land until the King of Winter conquered them all over a thousand years. And all these heroes from ancient legends became desolate burial mounds."
"Brother Fotimo, is this really the time for you to be so sentimental? Should I get you a harp so you can sing like a bard?" Joel said impatiently, "We should find a good place to set up camp and rest. I don't want to spend the night in a pile of graves." He then turned to the guide from Kalin Bay and asked, "Is there any suitable place to set up camp here?"
The guide said nothing, only pointing to the open space at the foot of the hill, surrounded by graves. Judging by the growth of weeds in the clearing, many people must have camped there in the past.
"By the Seven Gods, do we really have to camp in this cursed place?" Joel couldn't help but curse, then asked the guide, "Is there a nearby inn, hotel, or any place to rest, even a ruined fortress or castle walls?"
"My lord." The guide looked at Joel expressionlessly, then raised his hand and pointed west, saying, "After crossing the Great Barrows, it should take eight days to reach Barrowton, which is suitable for living." Then he pointed north and said, "Following the King's Road for nine days will bring you to Winterfell, which is also suitable for living. Other than that, there are probably very few camping spots better than this clearing. Next time, we might have to camp on the King's Road."
"You forgot to mention, if we go east, we can reach White Harbor," Lynd said, pointing east and adding, "Perhaps we could go to White Harbor, then take a ship up the White Knife River, travel by water to near Winterfell, and then continue by land."
Hearing Lynd's words, Joel was quite tempted. After all, White Harbor was one of the five major cities in Westeros, no less prosperous than cities like King's Landing or Oldtown. Going to White Harbor would be much more comfortable than staying in the wilderness.
"Let's just camp here! Don't cause any more trouble." Fotimo, however, shook his head, rejecting the suggestion, and directly ordered them to set up camp in the clearing.
Joel looked dejected and said nothing, obediently setting up his tent with his attendants.
Lynd didn't set up his tent himself; the prisoners would voluntarily help him. Along the way, many of the prisoners had become his devout followers, just like the monks and believers praying in the Redemption Sanctuary.
After walking around the perimeter, he saw a pool in the distant mounds. So he asked a soldier for a brush, then led Black Wind and Glory to the edge of the pool to clean the mud and dust from their fur.
It quickly grew dark, and bonfires had already been lit in the camp. Joel's cursing could be heard again from the camp, likely because he had discovered that Fotimo had found and drunk his hidden wine.
Although the pool was not very far from the camp, perhaps because of the intervening mounds, the sound was faint and the view was blocked, so the situation at the pool could not be seen from the camp.
Due to the temperature difference between day and night, a layer of white mist floated over the pool. The moonlight shone on it, creating a hazy, constantly shifting veil.
It didn't take long for Lynd to clean Glory and Black Wind. He was about to leave when he saw the mist over the pool abnormally condensing together, quickly forming a blurry human shape.
As Lynd tried to get a closer look, the blurry human form quickly dissipated. Although the human form only appeared for an instant, Lynd was still certain he hadn't imagined it.
So, he entered Glory's shared vision state, looking at everything around him, but he didn't see any abnormal magic.
With his doubts, Lynd returned to the camp and, after exchanging a few words with the others, entered his tent. He had Glory guard the tent entrance, then, as a matter of routine, held the Dragon Egg in his hands and nurtured it with Dragon Runes.
After it was sufficiently nurtured, he didn't put the Dragon Egg back into his backpack but instead held it and fell asleep.
This time, he slept very soundly, falling into a deep sleep shortly after lying down on the makeshift bed of straw.
Then, he found that he had started to dream.
Yes, while he was dreaming, his mind was very clear, and he was well aware that he was dreaming, and he could think normally.
This made him very confused. He knew that ever since he came to this world, he had never dreamed. Now, he was inexplicably dreaming, which was clearly not normal.
While thinking, he also observed the scene in his dream. He saw himself transformed into an eagle, flying in the sky, and continuously soaring higher and higher. The ground below him gradually shrunk, becoming ethereal.
This sight made Lynd wonder if he, like Velas, had been hijacked by the Three-Eyed Raven, but he quickly realized that wasn't the case.
As the land disappeared from his sight, huge figures began to appear in the void below him. Lynd recognized some of these figures, such as the Thousand-Faced God with countless faces that Velas had seen in Winterfell, or Garth the Gardener, whom he himself had seen in Highgarden.
In short, gods who had disappeared into the river of history or were still active in the present appeared in the void beneath him, and further below them, where the earth should have been, there was a Dragon Egg.
This Dragon Egg was completely transparent, its shell appearing as if formed of light. Inside the Dragon Egg was a sleeping giant dragon, and with the dragon's breathing, light scattered from the Dragon Egg, illuminating countless gods.
Immediately after, a blood-Red Comet appeared in the distant void. The center of the comet was not a meteorite, but a giant pendulum clock. This clock swayed continuously, its pendulum striking the clock face, emitting thunderous sounds that would awaken even the deepest sleeping giant dragon.
However, this Red Comet was simply too far from the giant dragon's Dragon Egg for the sound to reach it.
Then, the blurry human form that Lynd had seen earlier by the pool reappeared before him, raising a hand and pointing in a direction.
Although there was no direction in the void, Lynd could still feel that this direction was east. Immediately after, he saw the blurry human shouting something at him, but he couldn't hear it at all, yet he seemed to understand what it meant.
Just as Lynd was confused, it suddenly started to rain in the void, and the rain fell on his face, making him feel a real coolness.
Then there was another tremor, and all illusions instantly vanished.
Lynd also found himself still inside the tent. It was Glory shaking him just now, and the rain was real rain, because it was pouring outside, and a large amount of rainwater was seeping through the tent's seams, dripping directly onto his face.
There was also a commotion outside. It seemed that some unlucky person's tent had collapsed, and the bonfire had been extinguished by the rain. Only a few people were holding torches, illuminating the camp.
Although this was a good opportunity to escape, no one did so, because even if they escaped, they couldn't survive for more than two days in such a desolate place. They might even encounter wild beasts hiding in the darkness immediately after escaping and become their prey. It was better to stay here and rely on each other.
Lynd put away the Dragon Egg and walked out of the tent. He patrolled the camp. Because he had made Glory's fur white, allowing the white light to illuminate the surrounding darkness, the somewhat chaotic camp quickly quieted down. The soldiers systematically re-erected the collapsed tents, and the prisoners honestly stayed together, huddling for warmth in the cold rain.
Lynd had people hand over several tent cloths used to cover the supply wagons to the prisoners, letting them each hold the edges and prop them up over their heads to block some of the falling rain. Then he moved the supplies and injured people from the wagons into his own tent. He, Joel, and Fotimo stayed in one tent.
After dealing with matters in the camp, Lynd returned to the tent and sat down. Joel and Fotimo briefly cleaned the rain off themselves, drank two sips of heated wine, and then went back to sleep.
Lynd activated the Storm Dragon Rune, forming a small hurricane on his body that blew away all the rainwater and dried his damp clothes.
Feeling dry again, he let Glory lie behind him and leaned against its soft belly, closing his eyes to rest while recalling the dream he had just had.
"East, go east, go east!" This was what he understood the blurry human to be shouting at him, but he didn't understand what this nonsensical phrase meant.
After repeatedly thinking and finding no answer, he could only temporarily set this matter aside. Then, he performed his routine check, mainly to examine the subsequent effects of the Dragon Feast Ritual on his body and to see if there were any abnormalities in his physical changes.
"Eh!" But when he finished checking his body and habitually looked at the Golden Finger progress bar, he suddenly found that the progress bar, which had originally been moving slowly at around one-tenth, had now moved almost halfway.
This immediately reminded him of his dream and that phrase. He wondered if this could be a revelation, indicating that something in the east would help him fill the Golden Finger progress bar.
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"