The Lion Awakens
The Red Keep no longer stood but the thing that rose from its ashes did not belong to any mortal realm.
Lily Lannister walked barefoot through the ruins, the hem of her gown smoldering.
Her hair was no longer gold but white-hot, glowing faintly in the dark like a comet's tail.
The sigil that had burned beneath her skin a lion devouring the sun now pulsed visibly over her heart.
Behind her, the melted Iron Throne hissed. The steel moved as if alive, twisting, reshaping until it rose into a crown of blackened blades.
Lily lifted it without flinching. The metal sliced her palms open, blood spilling over the steel. The crown sealed itself to her skin.
"Let the gods see what their pawn has become," she whispered.
"A queen made of ruin."
The ground trembled. A faint echo answered her not from the realm of the living.
"The Dreaming Ones remember your name."
Lily smiled. "Then they'll remember my vengeance."
The Whisper in the Woods
Far north, Althea stood in the godswood of Winterfell, her breath misting in the pale air. The snow fell soundlessly, but the Weirwood's eyes bled darker than before.
Job found her there, kneeling beneath the branches, one hand pressed to the cold bark.
"You feel it too," he said quietly.
She nodded. "A tremor in the threads. The gods whisper in their sleep again."
"And what do they want?"
She looked up at him. "Blood. Always blood."
The wind howled. For a moment, Job thought he saw movement in the tree not sap, but veins of fire running through the wood.
"She's not dead," Althea murmured. "Lily. Something brought her back."
Job's jaw tightened. "Then we end her again."
"It won't be that simple. She's not human anymore."
She turned, eyes flashing silver in the twilight. "She's become a vessel. The gods are using her."
Job frowned. "To do what?"
"To reclaim what I stole."
The Wolf King's Doubt
The war council gathered in Winterfell's Great Hall.
The surviving lords battered, scarred, but unbroken sat around the carved table.
Davos spoke first. "Scouts report strange sightings near the Vale men with golden eyes, moving through the snow like shadows."
Tormund spat. "Lannister tricks. Burn them all."
But Job was silent, watching Althea. She was distant again, fingers tracing invisible patterns on the table.
"Althea?" he said softly.
She blinked, as if waking from a dream. "They're not men. They're vessels. The gods are wearing them one by one."
The hall went still.
"You mean they're possessing people?" Davos said.
She nodded. "They call it the Choir. The more they sing, the weaker the barrier between realms becomes."
Job's voice was low, cold. "And when it breaks?"
"Then the dead will remember the living. And nothing will separate dream from flesh again."
The Lion and the Ghost
That night, Jo couldn't sleep.
The wind screamed against the castle walls, carrying whispers that weren't words. When he looked into the fire, he saw faces familiar and long dead Ned, Robb, even Daenerys.
He rose, went to the courtyard and froze.
A shadow stood beyond the gate. A woman's silhouette.
"You shouldn't be here," Job said, hand on his sword.
The figure smiled. "And yet, here I am."
Lily stepped forward, her gown trailing smoke. Her eyes gleamed like gold coins submerged in fire.
"I came to return what was stolen from me," she said. "My prophecy."
Job's grip tightened. "You died in fire."
"Fire doesn't kill those who belong to it."
He stepped closer. "If you're here for vengeance, you'll find it."
"I didn't come for you, bastard. I came for her."
Before Job could move, she raised her hand. The air warped, the snow lifting as if the world itself held its breath.
From behind him came Althea's voice faint, trembling. "Job she's not alone."
A shimmer appeared beside Lily. A figure half-made of light, half of shadow a man's outline, but hollow, filled with swirling stars.
"Who are you?" Job demanded.
The figure turned. Its face flickered and for an instant, Job saw himself.
"I am your reflection," it said. "The echo the gods left behind."
Althea gasped. "The Ghost of Winter."
Lily smiled. "The gods gave him to me. A mirror of your strength, free of your weakness."
Job drew his sword, Longclaw blazing with frostfire. "Then I'll kill my own ghost."
The Battle of Echos
The night shattered into motion.
Lily raised her hand the earth split, pillars of molten ice rising around her. Job's ghost lunged, moving faster than wind, striking with every memory of rage Job had ever buried.
Althea called upon the Weirwood's power the roots burst through the stones, wrapping around Lily's feet.
"You play at being gods," Lily hissed. "I am what they feared to become!"
Her crown blazed white-hot. The sky split open, revealing a glimpse of the Dreaming Realm a churning void of stars and blood.
Job parried his ghost's blade their swords locking, sparks freezing midair. "You're not me," he snarled.
The ghost smiled Job's smile, but colder. "I'm what you'll be when she dies."
The Breaking of Shadows
Althea's strength faltered. The curse flared within her veins, light bleeding from her eyes. She fell to her knees, whispering words in an ancient tongue.
Job's ghost struck again but before the blade could fall, Althea's power erupted. The roots surged upward, impaling the phantom through the chest. It screamed and shattered into starlight.
Lily staggered, clutching her temple. For a moment, she looked almost human again.
"You think you've won?" she gasped. "The gods don't die they wait."
Althea rose, blood dripping from her palms. "Then let them wait forever."
She pressed her hand to the Weirwood, whispering a word of sealing. The air trembled and the Dreaming Realm's light dimmed.
Lily stumbled backward, fury burning in her gaze.
"You can't hold the gates shut forever, witch. The Lion remembers. The Lion hungers."
She vanished in a burst of flame, leaving only ash.
The Ghost in the Heart
Job caught Althea before she fell. Her skin was freezing cold, her heartbeat faint.
"Stay with me," he whispered.
She opened her eyes slowly. "Job it's not over."
"We'll find her again."
She shook her head weakly. "Not her. You."
He frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The ghost it wasn't just a creation. It's still inside you. I saw it in your shadow."
Job looked down. On the snow beside them, their shadows merged l but his moved an instant after hers, like a heartbeat out of time.
"If they control your reflection," she whispered, "they can control you."
The wind howled through the godswood again. The tree's red eyes wept fresh blood.
And in the distance, unseen, the Lion Queen smiled.