Although Lynd wanted to leave quietly and avoid causing any more commotion in King's Landing, when twenty-six Stone Giants moved, no matter how cautious they were, the commotion they caused still attracted a lot of attention.
Robert did not come to see him off, only sending him a ram's horn hammer. The Archbishop also sent a gift, a cloak inlaid with gems and embroidered with the seven-pointed star holy emblem.
Besides this, the King's Landing nobles and some wealthy followers of the Seven Gods, whom Lynd had befriended at banquets in recent days, also gave Lynd gifts while seeing him off. The sheer number of gifts required two or three carriages to transport them.
This lively send-off scene did not end until Lynd crossed the Blackwater River. However, several hundred mercenary knights, free riders, and sworn knights joined Lynd's retinue, apparently sharing the same idea as those knights Lynd had sent away earlier.
Lynd was pleased with this and naturally did not push them away, nor did he make any promises to them, but allowed them to follow.
Upon entering the Kingswood, Lynd slightly slowed his pace, extending a two-day journey to three days, which allowed him to stay in the Kingswood for two nights.
The first night was normal, without any anomalies. When the knights following behind set up camp, they roasted the game they had hunted on the way and brought it to Lynd to enjoy.
The Giants also took out their own food and began to eat. While eating, the Giant leader, Marg, carefully observed the forest and told Lynd that it contained magic, the magic of the Squirrel Men, a very powerful Squirrel Man.
Lynd knew that the Squirrel Men the Giants spoke of were the Forest Children. Although both races revered nature, they were not allies; in many cases, they were enemies.
So that night, all twenty-six Stone Giants, including Marg, did not sleep. They all kept their eyes wide open, gripped their weapons tightly, and watched every movement around them, appearing extremely tense.
However, by the second night, after their temporary camp was set up, the Stone Giants ate a little and then fell asleep, and the accompanying knights also fell asleep, as if they were very tired from traveling all day.
But Lynd knew that while those knights might be tired, they weren't so tired that they would fall asleep so quickly, and the Stone Giants could go for more than ten days without sleep, so this short journey was not enough to make them feel tired.
"Is it Spark?" Lynd quickly realized that the reason these people fell asleep might be due to Spark of the Forest Children.
Things unfolded as he expected. Not long after everyone had fallen asleep, a normal-sized Shadow Lynx emerged from the bushes and approached Lynd.
This Shadow Lynx was Glory's mother, one of the Shadow Lynx Spark had tamed.
Upon seeing the Shadow Lynx appear, Glory immediately went up to it, wanting to nuzzle its mother with its head, but the Shadow Lynx was startled, dodged Glory's head, and then used its front paws to slap Glory twice.
Although such blows could not possibly harm Glory, Glory acted as if it had suffered a serious injury, turning and leaning against Lynd for comfort.
Lynd smiled, stroked Glory's head, and rubbed the spot where its mother had just hit it, then he said to the Shadow Lynx, "Did Spark send you?"
The Shadow Lynx did not answer, merely glanced at Lynd, then turned and disappeared into the forest.
Lynd and Glory immediately followed. After passing through a dense forest, they arrived at a familiar-looking clearing, where they saw the weeds on the ground part upwards, and then Spark emerged from the underground burrow-house below.
Compared to the last time Lynd saw Spark, she now looked somewhat tired, and even her expression was a little dejected, as if something bad had happened.
"I heard from Wenda that you have something important to discuss with me," Spark walked up to Lynd and asked.
Lynd did not immediately state his business but asked with concern, "Did something happen to you?"
"Nothing, just an old friend returned to the earth." Spark was unwilling to elaborate on her own matters and urged Lynd, "Let's talk about your business! I came back temporarily and won't be staying here for too long."
"It's not exactly important, just some questions I wanted to ask you." Lynd then directly stated the problem that had troubled him for a year, telling Spark about the scene he witnessed at Summerhall that day.
"It was you? That was you?" Spark looked at Lynd with immense surprise after hearing this, then immediately shook her head and said, "No, no! It shouldn't have been you, it shouldn't have been you at that time. You should have just been brought into that scene by the ghosts of Summerhall, and unintentionally, that thing overlapped."
"What is that thing?" Lynd asked, puzzled.
"I don't know either." Spark shook her head blankly and said.
"You don't know? Is there something you don't know?" Lynd asked, puzzled.
Spark said to him, "I just live longer, which doesn't mean I know all the secrets of this world." She then recalled carefully and said, "Aegon V at that time used the method inherited by the Valyrian Dragonlords to hatch those Dragon Eggs. I had never seen this method, and wanting to witness it, I followed my good friend into Summerhall. As a result, I saw the fire-player set himself on fire. However, during the ritual, a mysterious entity appeared in the hall. I could sense it, and my friend could also sense it. We guessed that mysterious entity was the cause of the great fire at Summerhall, and perhaps even the cause of Valyria's destruction. It was attracted by the Valyrian Dragonlords' hatching ritual."
"Your friend is that dwarf woman?" Lynd asked.
Spark nodded and said, "Unfortunately, things happened too quickly then, and my power was heavily suppressed. I could only save her alone," then she added, feeling very wronged, "Even now she blames me for only saving her, what a thankless bad guy."
Lynd then asked, "Can you tell me where she is now? I would like to meet her."
"She currently lives in a place called High Heart, which is protected by the gods' forbidden magic." Spark looked at Lynd with a serious expression and said, "I don't recommend you go see her. In fact, I don't recommend you, as you are now, have prolonged contact with any of the Old Gods' favored ones, such as the one in Highgarden, or my friend."
"Why?" Lynd asked, puzzled.
"Because you are a very special existence. They all hope to pull you into their camp to serve them. You must know that gods truly exist, and gods are not tolerated in this world. They can only accomplish what they want through their favored ones." Spark suddenly walked up to Lynd, gestured for Lynd to squat down, then placed her hand on Lynd's forehead, and then spoke an ancient language. Immediately, a blurry figure emerged from Lynd's body and was completely dispersed by a gentle breeze.
Lynd recognized at first glance that this blurry figure was the same one he had seen in the pond at the First Men's Burial Mounds and in his dream that day.
"Is this the Old Gods?" Lynd asked, puzzled.
"Of course not." Spark shook her head and said, "This is just a lucky one swept by the power of the gods, or rather, an unlucky one would be more appropriate. You can call it a First Men ghost, because it is the embodiment of the First Men's will, only wandering in the First Men's Burial Mounds. It's alright, I have expelled it, and it will no longer affect you."
"I also had a dream when I saw it." Lynd did not drop the subject but recounted the dream he had at the First Men's Burial Mounds.
After hearing this, Spark hesitated and said, "This should be a prophecy, not created by that fellow just now, but that fellow unintentionally triggered some kind of magic within you, temporarily granting you the ability of prophecy."
"Then what does this prophecy mean?" Lynd asked, puzzled, "East, to the east, to the east!"
"I don't know." Spark shook her head and said, "I only know that interpreting prophecies is very complex, and a wrong interpretation will lead to serious consequences. Going to the east might bring you some kind of favor from destiny, or it might be the Stranger's kiss."
As she spoke, Spark suddenly leaned close to Lynd, sniffed the scent on his body, and said, "You crossed the Wall and went to the Eternal Winter Land, and saw the Others?"
"You can smell that too?" Lynd looked at Spark in surprise.
Spark shook her head and said, "I didn't smell it; I heard it from the bards singing in the taverns. Your reputation now rivals that of heroes from the mythical age. However, the bards sing too vaguely and exaggeratedly. I want to hear the truth from you."
Hearing Spark's request, Lynd did not refuse and began to tell Spark everything he had experienced since Black Castle.
Spark listened very carefully, her expression constantly changing with Lynd's experiences: her surprise upon learning that Lynd had killed human Others and defeated Ancient Other, her shock upon learning that Lynd had found the winter horn, and her disgust when Lynd subdued the Stone Giants—all demonstrating her attitude.
Upon learning that the winter horn was now with Lynd, she eagerly wanted to see it.
However, when Lynd took out the winter horn, she did not reach out to take it, but instead asked Lynd to hold the winter horn in front of her, turning it over for her to see.
She examined it very carefully; almost every time Lynd changed the horn's orientation, she would look for a long time, as if wanting to memorize every pattern on the horn.
After a while, she finished examining all the patterns on the horn's surface, then she let out a long sigh, as if she had just finished a grand meal and was somewhat full.
"Are you planning to repair this horn?" Spark asked.
"No." Lynd shook his head and said, "This horn will be sent to Velas, and eventually, it might be placed in the Red Keep for collection."
"Collection? Typical human behavior." Spark said disdainfully.
"When I passed by the Wall, I could clearly feel the magic contained within the Wall, and I could also feel that this horn has some kind of resonance with the magic contained within the Wall." Lynd ignored Spark's disdainful attitude towards humans and asked, "Do you know who built the Wall?"
Spark shook her head and said, "I also want to know who built it, but I can definitely say it was not built by humans. The entity that built the Wall should have done so to prevent the Others from moving south."
"There are rumors that the Others are your people…" Lynd asked tentatively.
Before Lynd could finish, Spark shouted at him in extreme displeasure, "That's you humans slandering us, so you can rightfully chase us. The Others are an ancient race living in the far north Eternal Winter Land, a place humans can never reach. They are even older than us Forest Children. Originally, they lived all over the world and left behind extremely ancient civilizations on the earth. The ruins of these civilizations still exist to this day. Later, for unknown reasons, they all went to the Eternal Winter Land, and only then did we Forest Children appear, and then humans appeared."
"Ancient ruins?" Lynd frowned and said, "Could the Wall have been built by the Others?"
"You really dare to imagine…" Spark was about to mock Lynd's wild guess, but she suddenly thought of something, froze, then showed a thoughtful expression, and after a while, she said, "Your guess has some merit, but unfortunately, there's no evidence. Perhaps you can start with your Stone Giant subordinates to see if you can find any evidence."
"Stone Giants?" Lynd looked at Spark in confusion.
Spark explained, "As an equally ancient race, and having once lived with the Others in the far north, perhaps some clues can be found in the knowledge passed down orally among them."
"That's certainly possible." Lynd nodded, then said to Spark, "From the Savage Tribes, I learned that there seem to be some of your people living Beyond the Wall…"
"I know." Spark nodded and said, "They are a bunch of fools, still following those ancient oaths that have long been abolished. That's not our Green Seer; they don't need to serve that fellow at all. To explain them in your human terms, they are a bunch of foolish fanatics, and sooner or later, because of this fanaticism…"
Spark did not finish her sentence. Although her tone was calm, it was not difficult to discern a complex feeling of both resentment and worry for those Forest Children living Beyond the Wall.
"I still have a Dragon Egg, but I don't know if this Dragon Egg is good or bad now?" Lynd, feeling the atmosphere somewhat oppressive, changed the subject and said.
"Is it the Dragon Egg mentioned in that song?" Spark also showed a curious expression and asked Lynd to take out the Dragon Egg.
However, when she saw the Dragon Egg, a puzzled expression appeared on her face as well.
"The Dragon Egg should be alive, but it is currently in a dormant state and needs a catalyst to hatch it," Spark said gravely.
"Catalyst?" Lynd guessed, "Is it the Red Comet?"
"You even know about this?" Spark looked at Lynd with some surprise, then said, "The Red Comet is a catalyst, but this catalyst could also be something else."
As she spoke, Spark returned the Dragon Egg to Lynd and, as if she had no intention of continuing the conversation, said, "Today, I've been out for too long and I'm already a bit tired. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."
Having said that, without waiting for Lynd's response, she turned and walked towards her burrow-treehouse.
Glory's mother also followed, but after taking two steps, she barked a few more times at Glory, as if scolding Glory, and then continued to follow and entered the treehouse.
At this moment, Lynd also said to Spark, who was about to enter the house, "Your Forest Children's habitats in the south should be few now. You can tell the other Forest Children that if they encounter any difficulties, they can come to me. I can designate an area in the center of my territory where they can live safely."
"Got it!" Spark replied casually, then entered the house and closed the door, completely merging the entire burrow-wooden house into the land.
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