The Sky Cell Baskets traveling between Castle Black and the top of the Wall of the End had all been destroyed. The Night's Watch on duty could no longer support those below. They could only hastily light warning bonfires and split into two teams, retreating toward the forts on the eastern and western sides of the Wall to seek aid.
Below, the Night's Watch drillmaster suddenly shoved the maester beside him away, his gaze fixed on the breach.
His pupils gradually contracted. Beneath the silvery-gray moonlight, dark shadows stretched endlessly like a rising tide, with no end in sight.
"Enemy attack!!!"
The drillmaster's roar exploded from his throat, nearly tearing his vocal cords apart. The surrounding clamor abruptly fell silent.
"Enemy attack?"
"Oh, what are those things?"
"White Walkers!"
"They really are White Walkers!"
"Report to the king! Hurry! At once!"
The surviving Night's Watchmen had no time to think, nor could they organize themselves or rescue their companions. Instinct drove their bodies as they gathered and formed the defensive formation they had drilled countless times.
They were the proud Night's Watch, the sturdy shield protecting the realm, though most of them had once been farmers, bankrupt men unable to repay their debts, poachers, thieves, exiles, and bastards.
"Shields!"
"Roar!"
"Raise your shields!!!"
"Roar!"
No matter what the enemy was, the Night's Watch would keep watch until death. Here, it ended!
From high above.
Between the breach in the Wall and the outer wall, blue and black ranks converged layer by layer. Everyone else retreated to the rear in accordance with the king's orders.
Yet a small group moved against the retreating crowd, hurrying forward instead.
They were the Pyromancers who had survived because they had been stationed outside Castle Black. Their gaunt backs were burdened with "fruit" far beyond