Sure enough, Ygritte heard only a sudden rush of air erupt beside her ear.
Viserys had already lunged in from the flank, his drawn Blackfyre carrying the distinctive weight of Valyrian steel as it slammed hard into the blade of that longsword of ice once again.
With a sharp crack, the newly formed Ice Sword instantly shattered again into a shower of icy fragments, leaving only wisps of cold scattering in all directions.
This time, Viserys held nothing back. Keeping a sliver of his attention on the Female Other at all times, he gave a low shout, then twisted his waist and turned his wrist. The keen blade swept straight down across Benjen's neck before he could dodge, cleanly severing the Other's head.
First, pale blue frost mist gushed from the cut. Then Benjen's entire body, already transformed into an Other, suddenly broke into countless tiny pieces of ice and crashed straight onto the Crypt's cold stone floor, leaving only a scattering of shards that still glowed blue.
The chill that spread after Benjen the Other's death crept down the collars of everyone nearby and seeped into their bones. Even wrapped in thick woolen clothes, they could not help shivering.
Viserys was wholly unaffected by the cold. His arm remained perfectly still as he held Blackfyre pointed down. The tiny ice fragments clinging to the Valyrian steel blade slowly melted into droplets and slid off, striking the blue-gray stone floor and leaving a small patch of moisture.
All of this had happened in the space of only a few breaths.
Robb was so stunned that he forgot to move. Uncle Benjen, who had been speaking to him just moments ago, had vanished in an instant. He opened his mouth, but the cold stung his throat so badly that he could