Chapter 125: The Tragedy of the Arrow
Watching the young boy Olly stand among the crowd, recounting the destruction of his village with hatred burning in his eyes, Jon remembered the mysterious parchment that had been left in his room.
No matter how he looked at it, he could not imagine that this small boy would one day kill Ygritte… and then kill him as well.
The thought made Jon's earlier sympathy for Olly fade away.
After learning that the wildlings were preparing to attack the Wall—and that the White Walkers and their army of the dead were following behind them—Jon had indeed considered allowing the wildlings to pass through the Wall.
Otherwise, once the wildlings were slaughtered by the White Walkers, they would simply rise again as wights, swelling the ranks of the dead.
And during the time he had spent living among them, Jon had realized that the wildlings were not nearly as cruel or savage as the Night's Watch had always claimed.
They were simply people struggling to survive beyond the Wall.
Although the hatred between the Night's Watch and the wildlings had lasted for thousands of years, it was difficult to say which side was truly right or wrong.
More importantly, times had changed.
The White Walkers, who had vanished for a thousand years, had returned.
Now more than ever, the Night's Watch and the wildlings should abandon their ancient hatred and stand together against the army of the dead.
Having quietly made this decision, Jon did not believe he was wrong.
Nor did he believe that it justified his own brothers in the Night's Watch stabbing him to death.
He was a bastard, forced to leave the North and take the black.
But that did not mean he was ready to die.
He had not yet avenged his father, Eddard Stark.
Nor had he reunited with the one person closest to him—
Arya, who resembled their father just as much as he did.
And there was little Bran—so cheerful and innocent.
Jon wondered whether Bran still carried that same bright smile now that he could no longer walk.
He even found himself wanting to see Sansa, who had always kept her distance from him, and Robb, with whom he had shared only a distant brotherly bond.
Even Lady Catelyn, who had always regarded him as a thorn in her side—he found himself wanting to see her once more.
There were still so many things left unfinished.
How could he die so easily?
And especially not die by the betrayal of the Night's Watch.
He couldn't die.
"Jon, why are you sitting here all by yourself?"
The question interrupted Jon's thoughts.
Sam's large figure had appeared beside him at some point.
"I was thinking about the wildling attack," Jon replied casually.
"From what Olly said, the wildlings are already marching toward Castle Black. Are they the ones you mentioned—the group working with the King-Beyond-the-Wall outside the Wall?" Sam asked.
"They should be," Jon answered.
Thinking about the fact that he might soon face Ygritte, the woman he loved, as an enemy—and remembering the mysterious parchment—Jon suddenly felt his spirits sink.
Seeing that Jon didn't want to talk further, Sam thoughtfully said nothing more. He left the dining hall and returned to his own room.
---
Three days later, the wildling army gathered beneath the Wall, preparing to launch their assault.
Jon knew they were waiting for Tormund Giantsbane and the Thenn warriors to arrive.
When night fell, fires suddenly erupted not far from Castle Black, on the southern side of the Wall.
Outside the Wall, the giant Mag the Mighty, riding with his mammoths, launched the first assault.
Their target was the tunnel gate that passed through the Wall.
Meanwhile, other wildlings began climbing the Wall, enduring a storm of arrows raining down from the top of the two-hundred-meter-high barrier.
On the Wall, Jon moved constantly, directing the Night's Watch as they hurled stones and barrels of burning oil down upon the attackers.
Only ten minutes into the assault, the inner gate of Castle Black was breached by wildlings who had infiltrated from the southern side.
Jon immediately rushed down from the top of the Wall using the elevator.
The first to storm into Castle Black were Tormund Giantsbane and the towering leader of the Thenns.
Tormund had barely stepped inside before he encountered one of the Night's Watch brothers—
and the two immediately clashed in battle.