Chapter Twenty Three

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A HAPPY SMILE FORMED ON BRAN STARK'S FACE

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A HAPPY SMILE FORMED ON BRAN STARK'S FACE.

After nearly two years away from his home and many months of being stuck in a cave, he could finally relax as he watched the younger version of his father play with his brother. Many of the townspeople gathered to watch the mock battle between the two boys; even the younger version of Hodor had stopped attending to his choirs to watch.

The peace, unfortunately, didn't last.

He could faintly hear Meera's voice echoing all around him. He could hear her frantically calling out to him, begging him to warg into Hodor; begging him to help.

"There are some things you need to know, Bran, while I still have breath in my lungs." The Raven says, gaining the young boy's attention. "You must carry on my legacy, though you're not ready."

"How?"

His fate had already been sealed. He has the mark. If the Night King didn't find him first, then Marina would have to do the job. The Raven made sure of that.

"Marina is the strongest being in Westeros, but she is controlled by her emotions, as she's always been. Her anger could wipe out cities, Bran. Imagine the kind of power a house would have with her behind it."

Bran's face hardened into a frown. "Marina isn't like that. She's had her powers for years and never used it to harm others, even though they might have deserved it. She could have hurt them but she didn't, because she's good."

"I've seen good people succumb to darkness, Bran. I've seen how this all plays out, don't forget."

"So, what?" Bran scoffs. "You told me the future isn't certain when we look into it. You told me how fickle a man's mind is. Now, when it comes to her, she doesn't get the luxury?"

The old Raven spares the young boy a glance, one so quick that Bran nearly missed it. "I'm simply warning you, boy. You three are bound. Her duty was to kill the Night King when the moment came. She was supposed to sacrifice herself for the greater good. But now that you are connected with the Night King, her magic will not work on him as his life is now linked with yours."

"So you're saying that I-" Bran paused to lick his chapped lips as the Raven's words set in. "But you said-"

"I said exactly what needed to be said. The Night King is here, and he will kill me, to end the magic that holds the world's memories. Once he realizes that my legacy has been passed on, he will come for you." The Raven's dark, dull eyes briefly fell on Bran's mark; the mark the Night King had given him.

The old man visibly relaxes, watching the moment in front of him. Ned and his brother nimbly moved around one another, blocking strikes and retaliating. He could remember a time when his brothers did the same thing, before power and greed drove a wedge in their relationship.

"The Night King and the Raven are two different sides of a single coin, Bran. We are the ones to look through the past in order to build the future of mankind. The Night King only sees the present. He is as unyielding as the snow that falls right outside the cave's walls. Still, there is a balance. You must be the one to sacrifice your life for the greater good, and it must be at the hands of Marina herself. The Night King is a disease, and that disease must be in one place to be wiped out completely."

Witch of Winterfell*Game of Thrones*Where stories live. Discover now