Brynden Rivers, or rather, the Three-Eyed Raven.
Though he smiled, his single eye held no human emotion, only a depth that saw through everything.
Lynn said nothing. He simply watched this legendary figure, who had long since become one with the Weirwood.
Jon Snow and Ygritte stood behind him, barely daring to breathe.
The sight before them had gone far beyond anything they understood.
Ygritte, in particular, still felt her legs trembling. Only an instinct to survive kept her from collapsing.
"It's safe here."
The Three-Eyed Raven seemed to see through their fear, and his voice rang out again.
"As long as this tree stands, as long as the Old Gods are watching us, this land will remain under nature's protection."
The protection of Nature Magic.
Something stirred in Lynn's mind.
He closed his eyes and slowly extended his mental power.
A moment later, he "saw" it.
He saw countless pale green motes of light flowing slowly through the enormous cavern, like fireflies on a summer night.
They drifted out of the glowing moss on the cavern walls and rose from the strange plants, eventually gathering in the enormous Weirwood at the center.
The Weirwood's roots were like a neural network spread throughout the mountain, absorbing this energy, transforming it, and releasing it again.
They formed an invisible barrier that sealed out everything beyond it.
Within this space, he could not even feel the biting cold beyond the Wall, only a warmth and peace reminiscent of spring.
Even more astonishingly, when his mental power touched those green motes, an unprecedented sense of relief washed through his entire body.
The exhaustion of days of travel and the tension of facing the Night's King seemed to be quietly soothed away in that instant.
This is good stuff!
*No wonder the Wights in