The Others, creatures that existed only in songs and legends, had appeared before the three of them in the flesh.
Alliser's throat bobbed. Overwhelming shock and fear made him forget to breathe.
Jon and Ygritte's legs trembled. They could not move an inch.
"Run, Jon, run! Don't look back!"
Ser Alliser Thorne finally overcame his fear, realized the danger they were in, and roared.
A resolve to die blazed in Alliser's eyes as he glared fiercely at the Other. His hands, covered in chilblains and calluses, gripped his sword hilt so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
This harsh, ungracious master-at-arms who had made Jon's life miserable at Castle Black, this exiled former servant of House Targaryen, resolved at this moment of life and death to die for Jon, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen.
He shoved Jon and Ygritte behind him toward the deeper woods, then stepped forward himself, blocking that deadly slope with his body.
Jon's heart pounded wildly inside his frozen chest, almost bursting.
He stared at Alliser's broad back. Tears spilled uncontrollably from his eyes, instantly freezing into icy tracks on his cheeks.
"Ser, no! I can't leave you!"
He shouted hoarsely, wanting to draw his sword and charge forward to fight beside him.
"Fool!"
Alliser roared without looking back, "Fourteen years ago, when Robert's hammer shattered Prince Rhaegar's chest, I should have died! Not hidden like a rat in the shadow of the Wall, clinging to life!"
He abruptly turned his head. A fire Jon had never seen before burned in his eyes, so fierce it almost seemed capable of melting the surrounding ice and snow.
"Jon, you are the rightful king of the Seven Kingdoms. I must fight for you! This is my honor, my redemption! Run! Live! Take your wolf and live on with