24 Chapter 23

I took around three knapped daggers from the stash of dragonglass daggers that were unceremoniously dumped at the fist.

'What a wonderful job the craftsman has done on these daggers.'

Knapping was a technique used to create weapons from stones and fragile materials. It wasn't wise to even try and forge weapons out of obsidian. Instead, the weapons were meticulously knapped and shaped with edges so sparp, they could produce cuts thinner than the thickness of human hair.

'Obsidian huh? It's mostly silica and aluminum... Silicon... Hmm.'

I looked at the daggers and frowned as I looked at them with my miner's eye.

I rode back to the wall all the while my eyes were trained at the dragonglass daggers and my Valyrian steel dagger.

'Both have silicon in them. Valyrian steel has the same amount of carbon in it as 5160 spring steel. But, it's a silicon alloy with iron. There's no chromium in it. Curious... Could it be 9260 spring steel? Did I... Did I just figure out the secret behind Valyrian steel?! But, why does it work against the White walkers?'

The key to the mystery was in the name itself.

'Dragonglass... It works because there's magic from draconic fire trapped inside the micro structure of the obsidian as it wasn't volcanic in origin. Instead, dragons were the ones who melted the stone to make the obsidian. Hence, the name. The durability, flexibility and edge retention of Valyrian steel comes from the amount of silicon and carbon in the alloy. While, the anti-walker property comes from the magic of dragon fire.'

My heart was racing as I came to the conclusion.

'I can possibly re-create Valyrian steel.'

[Expert smithing 80%

Expert smelting 75%]

My stats were proof enough that I was on the right track. They had shot up immediately after I concluded the theory behind Valyrian steel.

'Knowledge is half the journey to success.'

What I needed was experience in smelting the alloy and forging weapons out of it to be successful. 'This will be a nightmare of a project. But, I do that time before the walkers become a major concern.'

I decided to postpone my experiments on making Valyrian steel to after the potential war that was going to start in the near future. 'Either Rhaegar will abduct Lyanna, in which I highly doubt he'll succeed. Lyanna is a good fighter. She'd rather die than get spirited away by a horny young master of Targaryen sect.'

The second possibility was a rebellion, a coup by Raegar against his own father.

'Jon Arryn has the Stark and Baratheons with him. Through the union of house Tully and Stark, Arryn has the North, the Riverlands and the Stormlands with him. It's possible for him to try and usurp the throne. He has a huge camp.'

I knew for a fact that Lyanna had no interest in Rhaegar. She had expressed explicitly that to be crowned as the 'Queen of Love and Beauty' was abhorrent. She'd rather be given a crown made of the bones of her enemies she had personally slain.

This meant that she was indeed abducted by Rhaegar and his stooges.

'Fucking Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent and that Gerold Hightower. Fuckers helped an inbred psycho rape a girl and stopped her own brother from saving her. Jamie Lannister is more of a man and a Knight than any of those bastards. If something happens to Lyanna, I'll cut them down like pigs and piss on their corpses before I throw their bodies in the sea.'

(ACJTF)

*Woosh*

An arrow whizzed through the air towards me. It was going to hit me in the chest, but, I caught the arrow effortlessly. I was right at the base of the wall when some wannabe nights watch man shot the arrow at me.

I looked up and shouted to the top of my lungs, "I'm a Stark man, you bitch! The name's Allan Curran! Whichever fucking cunt shot this arrow, you better be ready to get your fucking teeth knocked out of you rotten fucking mouth, you steaming pile of shit!!!"

There was moment of uncomfortable silence and I was prepared to leave before they rained arrows upon me. If I was attacked, it meant that I was betrayed by Rickard.

Instead, they opened the gates and allowed me to pass through. I rode across the wall and into the territory of the seven kingdoms.

"Allan Curran, I hope your... Expedition north of the wall proved to be a success."

"Aye, it did. The wildlings are fighting amongst each other with much more rigor. The lands of always winter are getting even colder and that's causing the Thenns to move down south."

The lord commander frowned and looked troubled.

"So, it's the Thenns."

"Aye. I don't recommend going on too many rangings. The wildlings are restless. The ice river clans are warring with the men of the frozen shore. The Thenns have been hunting wildlings all the way to Hardhome. So, more wildlings are trying to escape south."

The man sighed and said, "I was truely hoping too much. This is indeed troubling. You should inform Lord Stark about it. Also, you must make haste. Brandon Stark's wedding is going to be held soon. The Starks have left for Riverrun. So, don't bother going to Winterfell."

A deep frown appeared on my face. I was caught between a rock and a hard place. I had promised to help the Craster women to cross the wall. But, Lyanna could be targetted by Rhaegar. That lecher could have decided to approach at any given opportunity.

"Thank you for telling me that, lord commander. I shall leave right away."

I decided not to change my plans. My horse galloped towards west. I was going to the Shadow tower and help the Craster women before I left for Riverrun.

(ACJTF)

It took me three days to reach Shadow tower. It was unmanned as expected. Whatever Nights Watch men were supposed to be there, they were instead at the Bridge of Skulls. Due to increased raiding parties attwmpting to enter the seven kingdoms, the watch at Shadow Tower was stretched dangerously thin and all the men had to man the bridge instead of the tower.

I took advantage of that and opened the gates below the wall to go north of the wall. Seeing me appear through the gates, the oldest of the women approached me with caution.

"A-Are ye the man who killed Craster?"

"Aye."

I could see her shoulders sag in relief and she nodded to all the girls and women hidding behind the trees nearby. Quickly they ran to the women and huddled together.

"There's no one in Shadow Tower as of now. I don't have much tine as I am required to be somewhere else. Go south and settle down in some village. Wash up before you enter a village though. It would help your survival if you don't look like wildlings."

The women nodded and thanked me profusely before they ran to the gates. As all of them left the Shadow Tower, I lowered the gates and immediately rode to Riverrun.

'I just hope I make it in time.'

(ACJTF)

A/N: r/fanfiction is a very toxic place. Those people are too judgemental. Sometimes, I hate the 'woke' because they are too quick to make assumptions. Rather than try to understand you and see it from your eyes, they will try to implicate you. Since when did being woke give someone self entitlement and the right to pass judgment on others? Honestly, some subreddits are as worse as twitter. r/fanfiction, r/HPfanfiction and r/TheCitadel... especially these three. Being woke doesn't mean you get to be assholes.