Dragon

The snow-white blade's gleam seemed to cleave the night, unleashing towering killing intent as it stirred up flurries of snowflakes that danced on the wind.

Clang!

Gary's strike was fast. Even the Shadowcat, known for its speed and ferocity, could not dodge it. But the impact felt wrong. He did not seem to have struck the Shadowcat.

Did I miss?

No, he had not missed.

His downward slash had struck Dark Sister, held horizontally in the Shadowcat's jaws.

But it had not blocked the blow entirely.

The tremendous force of the strike sent Dark Sister flying out of the Shadowcat's mouth, along with several bloodied fangs.

The Shadowcat screamed repeatedly. A bone-deep wound on its right foreleg stretched all the way to its back.

Flesh curled outward along the wound, blood flowing steadily and gradually soaking the fur around it.

Holding up its injured right foreleg, it pushed off with its other three legs and leaped backward.

"Where... did you learn swordsmanship like that?" The Shadowcat trembled. It was not the possessing Wind Spirit who was afraid, but an instinctive reaction from the body itself.

Gary looked down at the half-broken ice blade in his hand and murmured, "Did I hit Dark Sister?"

An ice blade formed in an instant like this could not hold much mana, so its hardness was quite ordinary. It had only ever been good for a single use.

He discarded the broken blade, picked up Dark Sister from the ground, and said slowly, "Wind Spirit, you can't fight anymore. Leave. Even if you keep struggling, you'll only suffer more physical pain. There's no point."

The Shadowcat had lost Dark Sister. It no longer had any means of killing Gary.

"Luke, you'd... better not use magic. If you turn humans into White Walkers, I believe the Greenseer will kill you at any cost."

At present, the Three-Eyed Crow and most of the Children of the Forest were focused on the Night's King in the Lands of Always Winter. But if Gary began turning humans within the Wall, his priority would skyrocket.

Gary sneered. "My magic might resemble the White Walkers' ice magic, but there's a fundamental difference between them. And I'm not a White Walker. Stop bothering me! Otherwise, I'll fight back—by revealing your hiding place to the Night's King, for instance."

The Shadowcat growled, "Luke, do you want to get Leaf killed too?"

Gary was only making threats. How could he actually betray the Children of the Forest to the Night's King?

"Then you'd better stop bothering me. I won't turn humans into any damned White Walkers, and I couldn't even if I wanted to!"

The Shadowcat remained doubtful. "Luke, why do you keep refusing to talk about it? What exactly happened to Bingling..."

All of Gary's attention was on the Shadowcat opposite him. He was completely unaware of the threat behind him.

On a treetop behind him, a brightly colored venomous snake flicked its tongue.

The snake stared intently at Gary below. It shifted its body slightly, adjusted its angle, then suddenly launched itself forward.

Opening its jaws to reveal two venom-filled fangs, it shot like an arrow toward Gary's neck.

Snap!

Just as the snake was about to bite Gary, a large white bird flew out of nowhere and snatched it out of the air...

Gary jumped in fright. Thinking the white bird had attacked him, he hurriedly swung his sword at it.

Fortunately, the white bird was not large, and its agile movements let it dodge the strike with ease.

What the hell? Another skinchanger? Wind Spirit's helper?

Gary watched the white bird circling overhead warily, keeping track of the Shadowcat's movements out of the corner of his eye.

High in the sky.

Bingling clamped the venomous snake tightly in her powerful hind legs and bit at its head with her mouth full of sharp teeth.

The snake suddenly spoke in a slightly aged male voice. "Bingling, he's a White Walker..."

Before it could finish, Bingling bit its head off.

Then, as though slurping up a noodle, Bingling swallowed the entire snake.

She looked down at the situation below, then slowly landed in a large tree not far from Gary.

Gary stared fixedly at the white bird, afraid it would attack again. But when it landed in the tree, he was utterly dumbfounded.

This was no white bird. It was clearly a white dragon that had only recently hatched.

A dragon? How... is that possible? Weren't there only the Mother of Dragons' three dragons in the Game of Thrones series?

Gary stared blankly at Bingling, his mind unable to process it.

Taking advantage of his distraction, the Shadowcat suddenly pounced, attempting a sneak attack.

Bingling noticed the Shadowcat's intention. To protect Gary, she immediately opened her little mouth and unleashed a blast of scorching dragonfire.

With a pungent smell of burning fur, the jet of flame successfully drove back the ambushing Shadowcat.

Bingling worked her throat and uttered several awkward, strange syllables.

After listening several times, the Shadowcat finally recognized the True Tongue. It looked at Bingling in surprise and asked, "Who are you? Are you one of the surviving Children of the Forest?"

Bingling did not answer. She only kept repeating those same syllables.

Having lived with Leaf and the others for so long, Gary understood at least a little of the True Tongue. The white dragon kept telling the Shadowcat, "Leave."

The Shadowcat remained unmoved. "Unknown kinsman, this man is a White Walker. Why are you protecting him?"

Bingling rolled her eyes. She flew over to the Shadowcat and used a hooked claw on her wing to write on the ground: "Wind Spirit, it's me, Bingling. I'm not dead. Go back, and don't hurt Luke again."

"Bingling? You're Bingling!" the Shadowcat cried out. "Impossible! I saw your body myself. How did your consciousness..."

A possibility occurred to it, and its pupils trembled violently. "You transferred your consciousness into this dragon forever? You! How could you be so foolish? How is that any different from suicide?"

Bingling wrote again: "Everything is for victory. I need to keep Luke safe."

"Why? He's already a White Walker!" Utterly baffled, the Shadowcat pressed her for an answer.

Bingling hesitated, then wrote: "Because Luke carries the power of a god."

The Shadowcat looked at Bingling in shock, then turned its head toward Gary nearby and said quietly, "Is that true? He's been chosen by a god?"

Bingling nodded and wrote: "Luke may very well be our people's last hope. I must keep him safe."

The Shadowcat slowly walked up to Gary. "I'll buy you time. You... grow stronger as quickly as you can. The Night's King's army is growing larger and larger."

Those chosen by gods were destined to be extraordinary, such as the Three-Eyed Crow (the Old Gods), or the Night's King (the Cold God). They were all figures powerful enough to change the course of history.

Although Gary could not see what Bingling had written, he could hear what Wind Spirit had just said.

He passed the Shadowcat and walked shakily up to Bingling, then bent down and called softly, "Bingling?"

Bingling nodded and flew onto his shoulder. Just as she used to, she affectionately rubbed her head against his cheek.

Gary gathered her into his arms, his throat trembling, his voice filled with relief and excitement. "Thank goodness, you're still alive... thank goodness."