Breaking free

After parting with Wind Spirit, Leaf went alone to the little wooden cabin where she had once lived with Gary for twelve years.

Five years earlier, she had moved the white Dragon Egg here.

Whenever she had any free time, she would come to check on the egg. After Bingling had nurtured it back then, the egg had long since regained its health and sheen, so why had it still not hatched?

Day after day, the heartbeat inside the egg grew stronger, yet the hatchling never broke through its shell.

Leaf had never seen a dragon, nor did she know how long a Dragon Egg needed to hatch. All she could do was remain patient and keep waiting.

But she had never imagined that she would wait for five years.

Leaf held the egg in a daze, deeply worried about Gary's situation.

"Bingling, the Greenseer foresaw some of the future. Luke will replace the Night's King and become the King of the White Walkers... I, I don't know what to do."

On one side was her duty, and on the other was her child. It was a choice, and if she chose one, she would have to abandon the other.

She looked around the room, feeling as though Gary had only left yesterday. A small animal-hide garment still lay on the simple little bed.

Drip.

A tear fell onto the white Dragon Egg.

She sniffled, her voice slightly reproachful. "Bingling, it's been five years. Why haven't you hatched yet? I came to say goodbye tonight. The Greenseer sent Wind Spirit to kill Luke, and I have to save him. He's my child. I won't let anyone hurt him!"

Crack!

A fissure suddenly appeared on the egg's surface, spreading steadily until it gradually covered the entire egg.

Realizing that the egg was about to hatch, Leaf very carefully set it back in the pile of straw.

Sure enough, accompanied by some strange noises, more and more cracks appeared on the shell.

Snap!

A tiny lizard's head... no, a dragon's head broke through the shell. The dragon struggled with all its strength, tearing the opening wider and wider.

At last, it tore through the shell and lay weakly on the straw, covered in thick mucus.

"Bingling?" Leaf called softly.

The dragon was still very small, only a little larger than Leaf's palm. Its scales had yet to grow, and its skin was so thin that the blood vessels beneath were visible.

It braced its wings and hind legs, trying to stand, but having only just hatched, how could it have that much strength?

The little white dragon opened its mouth again. Its throat had not fully developed, and it could not make a sound. It had also lost its Skinchanger gift and could no longer speak through magic.

The little dragon struggled onto a wooden plank and used a hooked claw on its wing to shakily write a word.

It was in the True Tongue, the language of the Children of the Forest.

"Fire? Do you need fire?" Leaf asked again.

The little dragon nodded with difficulty, its dying appearance painfully heartbreaking.

Leaf hurriedly took the flint from her waist, intending to light a fire to warm the little dragon.

Seeing that she had misunderstood, the little dragon wrote another string of words. "Put me in the fire. I need its energy."

By then, Leaf had already lit the small pile of wood inside the cabin, but unfortunately, the fire was too small and could only provide warmth. Putting the little white dragon into it would surely smother the flames.

So the fire needed to be bigger.

She cast a lingering glance around, took the small animal-hide garment from the bed, and then threw all the dry straw onto the fire.

Thick smoke instantly billowed through the cabin, and Leaf immediately ran outside, clutching the animal-hide garment.

Before long, the smoke thinned, and a fierce fire blazed inside the cabin.

The flames grew higher and soon spread through the entire cabin.

Fortunately, the cabin stood against a mountain, surrounded by rocks and thick ice. Even the nearest trees were more than ten meters away, so there was no need to worry about the fire spreading into the forest.

Intense heat washed over Leaf's face, but she was not afraid at all. Instead, her eyes shone as she stared deep into the flames, waiting for something to appear.

Half an hour later, a white figure flew out of the blaze and landed beside Leaf's feet.

The little white dragon had clearly not changed in size, yet now that it stood upright and spread its wings, it looked at least twice as large as before!

It wrote on the solid ice beneath Leaf's feet. "Leaf, I heard everything you said. I'll go protect Luke now. Stay here, and be careful of the Greenseer. He has his own selfish interests, too. He isn't as great as you think."

Leaf was puzzled. Why had Bingling suddenly brought up the Greenseer? Had it failed to hatch all this time because the Greenseer had been interfering?

The little white dragon had only just hatched and was barely the size of a raven, yet it confidently declared that it would protect someone else. Who knew where that confidence came from?

"You're still very weak. You need to be careful, too."

The little white dragon nodded in a very human manner. It flapped its wings and flew up in front of Leaf, gently resting its head against her cheek.

After this final farewell, it beat its wings hard, flying higher and higher until it vanished above the woods.

Leaf withdrew her gaze and turned toward the lingering flames in the cabin's ruins. She seemed to be remembering something and remained lost in thought for a long time.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Six Children of the Forest suddenly darted out of the woods and raced up to Leaf.

"Leaf, the Greenseer sent us to retrieve the Dragon Egg!"

Leaf answered calmly, "The dragon has already hatched."

"Then where is it?"

"It flew away."

"Flew away?" They did not know that Bingling's consciousness was inside the white dragon, and said in exasperation, "You just stood there and watched it fly away? That's a dragon! If we managed to tame it, wouldn't it be perfect for fighting the White Walkers' army of wights?"

Leaf turned to look at them. "Don't worry. It'll come back one day."

As the sun set, Gary finished his day's training.

The wooden saber in his hand felt increasingly comfortable. Unfortunately, his left hand possessed the White Walkers' Shatter Iron property, so he was destined to use only Valyrian steel swords and dragonglass weapons.

But Dark Sister, which he currently held, was a Western-style longsword made for a woman, utterly different in shape from Falling Plum. In short, he found it very uncomfortable to use.

"I'll find a chance to go to King's Landing and have Dark Sister melted down."

The technique for reforging Valyrian steel was rare, known to only a handful of smiths. In any case, Gary had already asked, and no one in the entire North knew how to do it.

"Luke! Luke!"

Arya wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and came over to Gary with a wooden spear resting on her shoulder. "It's almost dark. Let's head back."

She usually followed Gary to their regular spot outside the city to practice her spear techniques. In truth, she was already quite proficient in those six spear forms, but she still spent every afternoon practicing.

Snow sometimes came as well, sparring with the two of them using his one-handed swordsmanship. It counted as helping each other practice their moves.

Snow had not come today, though. Was he sparring with Robb instead?

Gary and Arya ran back to Winterfell in the last light of the setting sun.

As soon as they entered the city, they saw Steward Poole, who had been waiting at the gate.

Steward Poole said to Gary, "Luke, my lord wishes to see you. Come with me. He'll be waiting in his study."

Gary paused. It was dinnertime. What could they not discuss at the table? Did they really have to go to the study?

He had trained all day and was ravenous.

Grrr...

Gary covered his stomach in embarrassment. "All right, I'll go now."

Suppressing his hunger, he obediently followed behind Steward Poole.

Arya, who remained where she was, also found it strange. She vaguely remembered Robb saying that a letter from Uncle Benjen had arrived when she went out at noon.

Then her father and mother had argued fiercely in the study. Could their argument have had something to do with Luke?

Unable to contain her curiosity, Arya followed with the wooden spear on her shoulder.