17 Chapter 17

Karsi winced, hissing as the ointment touched her cut. She willed her arm to stay put.

"Don't flinch," muttered Boren, his dark green eyes still focused on her wound. He had their mother's eyes. As did she.

"I didn't flinch," she muttered back. Boren responded with more ointment that stung less and less. Finally she sighed in relief. She regretted doing so immediately as she caught Boren's smirk.

"Shut up," she said.

"Yeh the one making a mountain out of a wee cut."

He put the ointment away and began bandaging it.

"Yeh the one fussing over it," said Karsi.

"Aye and thanks to me fussing, that wee cut will remain a wee cut and not rot ye arm off. Don't need Pa skinning me for that."

Karsi sat quietly after that. She knew he was right and she did breathe easier knowing that the cut would heal properly. Still didn't stop her from wanting to punch her brother's laughing smile off his smug face.

At least she got the kill though. The meat that they had roasted tonight was due to her spear. She knew Boren was proud. It wasn't her first hunt, but it was her first trek into the Haunted Forest without their father. He was about a month away, still on the Frozen Shore, along with her mother and second brother. They were all worried for her, but she was sixteen now. The tribe needed her strength.

Their worry was lessened as it was her brother who led their party. It was actually strange to have a moment alone with Boren. Collum and Macha were usually right by their side. Father had them all swear to stay close to her. To keep her from being stolen.

Not that she couldn't defend herself. A hulking bastard with several missing teeth in Whitetree attempted to make off with her in the night and lost his ear for it. She now wore it around her neck along with the bear teeth and the seashells from her mother. Thankfully the stink was beginning to disappear, but she still might throw it away upon returning home. That toothless man wasn't worth a keepsake.

A creak in the distance prompted her to grab her spear and Boren his axes, but they relaxed shortly after. The creaking quickly became casual footfalls and they were only two people around that would approach their campfire as so.

Sure enough, Collum and Macha entered the glow of the flames. Collum sat immediately, dumping the full skins of water on the ground. His right eye was swollen shut and he extended his leg gingerly.

Boren sucked on a bone, before tossing it. "How's the eye, Collum?"

"Fuck off," Collum growled.

Karsi wasn't the only attempted stealing in Whitetree. When Collum entered the village, with the use of both his eyes, he had fixed them determinedly on a lass with golden hair, like straw. That night, he disappeared from their campfire and returned shortly thereafter, limping with a bleeding face and a swelling eye. The lass didn't seem like a fighter, but apparently she had brothers.

Collum stayed behind when they went to trade the next morning.

"Leave the man alone, Boren," said Macha, as she dropped the wood she was carrying. "Both his eye and balls are swollen and he can't find relief for either."

Karsi started laughing. "That's not all true, Macha. He could find some relief. Why don't you go and take care of it yourself, Collum? That blonde lass might not have wanted ye seed, but I'm sure that tree over there won't mind."

Boren and Macha started laughing so hard, they could barely sit upright. Collum made to stand, but stilled as Boren raised an axe.

"Careful now, Collum," he said, still smiling. "That's me little sister after all."

"I can tell," muttered Collum, sitting back and reaching for his skin. "Couple of seashelled cunts."

"Aye, well, we be the only cunts yeh be seeing for a good while, Collum," said Boren, his grin growing wider. "So best be nice and shut the fuck up. Go on, drink ye milk."

Collum looked ready to pommel Boren. Fortunately he was in no condition to wrestle anyone and just took a draught from his skin. A trickle of sour milk escaped into his short, black patch of a beard. Karsi let a breath go. As fun as it was to needle Collum, it wouldn't do if they came to serious blows. And they've come close on a few occasions during this trek. She was relieved that they were heading home in a few days.

Speaking of relief, she stood and stalked off.

"Where yeh off to?" called Boren.

"Need to piss" she yelled, not looking back.

She walked farer than necessary. It really wasn't safe, considering the rumors that have come down from the north. But that was far away. And if there was anyone near that come to steal her, Macha would have noticed them while she was out collecting firewood.

Besides she had found a perfect spot earlier before sunset, just down the hill. The valley opened up through a slot in the trees and the moon was just out enough to illuminate up every snow-laden tree before her. It was silent. She loved her brother fiercely, but it was nice to have a piss every once in a while without hearing his voice or any others in the distance.

She lowered her trousers and squatted, trying not to tremble at the chill. She focused on the forest below, taking in the view. Scanning from west to east, she sighed in relief.

And then she saw it.

She blinked and focused. Down below in the valley, the glow of a campfire shone through the distant trees.

Karsi stared at it for several seconds before remembering herself. She stood, pulling her trousers up, all the while keeping that fire in sight.

All of the sudden, the forest seemed a lot less safe. She glanced around her and strained her ears, but she was truly alone. Her eyes darted back to the faint fire one last time before she turned back.

Her own campfire came into sight quickly. Boren must have heard her, as he started calling.

"Yeh went off too far, Karsi," he called as she came near the campfire and stood in front of him. "Yeh can't do that. Yeh need to be able to hear me if I call yeh and I need to be able to hear yeh."

He raised his head to tell her off more, but then he saw her face.

"What's wrong?"

"There's a fire."

Boren sat up. "A forest fire?"

"No, a campfire. Down below in the valley. Two miles out. Maybe one and a half."

"So what?" said Collum. He made to take another swig, but Macha stopped him, her eyes alert.

"It's not anyone we know," said Karsi.

Collum freed his arm, yanking his skin back. "Oh, yeh can tell that from two miles off?"

"It could be someone from Whitetree," said Boren, though he looked doubtful.

"It's not anyone from Whitetree. No one would stray out of the village this time of the night," muttered Macha. She was calm, ever calm, but her eyes were bright and alert as she turned to her brother.

"Boren...I'd say it's worth a look from you."

That swayed it for Boren. He got up, grabbing his axes and turned to Karsi.

"Take me to where yeh saw it. Macha, Collum, stay here and get ready to move if we have to."

Macha and Collum nodded, though Collum didn't bother hiding his annoyance. The sounds of them packing their supplies faded as Boren and Karsi walked into the forest. She hoped that the distant fire still glowed, that it wasn't just her eyes deceiving her.

However, as they came into the gap in the trees and stared out, Karsi immediately spotted it again. She didn't even have to point it out to Boren. His eyes narrowed in on the spot.

"That's no fire for any Free Folk," he stated quietly, as though his voice could carry all the way down to the mystery flame. "Too big for one man."

"What if it's a group?"

"Could be. Might not be too many. It's just one fire."

"So what do we do?"

Boren exhaled, the thick fog from the cold coming through his nostrils.

"We check it out. All of us."

"All of us?"

"Aye. Pity there's no warg with us. We'll keep a safe ways away though. Count their numbers. Go from there."

They returned to the campfire. Macha and Collum stood up immediately. After confirming the distant fire and the plan to investigate, the camp was quickly dissolved. Food and supplies were hung high. The fire doused and skins tightened for a night walk. Even Collum dropped his snark. Most of it anyway.

After showing Macha and Collum the distant fire from the same tree gap, they proceeded toward it. Macha knew these woods better than them all and led the group down into the valley. They lost sight of the fire as they descended, but Macha kept them in the right direction. Karsi followed her, with Collum limping lightly behind and Boren bringing up the protective rear.

They hiked lightly through the woods for the first mile, before halting. Macha went ahead to survey, leaving the rest to wait. Karsi sat anxiously, wondering if too much time had passed. No one spoke in case others were nearby.

Finally they heard someone approaching. Tensing up, they raised their weapons and lowered them upon seeing Macha come back through the trees.

"Just one man," she said slightly breathless. "Didn't get too close, but it's just one. Wasn't Free Folk."

"Anything special?" asked Boren.

She shrugged. "One sack and a bag. Nice bow. Arrows. The animal in the pit was carved, so probably a knife on him too."

"Any other weapons?"

Macha shook her head. "Not that I could see."

Boren scratched his beard.

"All right," he said. "Might as well take a prize. Macha, how's the land?"

Macha knelt in the snow and drew an easy map of the campfire, signaling the hiding spots for the best approach.

"If we separate after a quartermile in, we should be able to surround him without him noticing. The surrounding snow is packed hard. You can walk quietly with some care."

"So we killing him, Boren?" asked Karsi. A trickle of nerves that she didn't expect came into her voice. It was one thing to cut off a man's ear trying to steal her. Another thing to hunt one in the night.

She swallowed hard, ashamed of her weakness. She was sixteen. She had to learn how to kill sooner than later. However, Boren was kind enough to not comment on her nerves.

"That'll be me task, should it come to that," he said. "If I need help, Macha will come in. Yeh stay out unless we need yeh. Understand?"

Karsi nodded.

"What about me?" asked Collum.

"Yeh a useless nipp, Collum" said Boren, grinning for the first time since they started walking. "At best, yeh moan like a bitch at our man, distracting him from the real knife coming out of the dark."

They spent the next minute calming Collum down. After they formulated a plan, they crept into the darkness, walking carefully until it came time to split up. Boren went straight ahead, Macha and Collum stalked to the east and Karsi treaded lightly to the west.

She didn't look at her brother disappearing into the trees. Focusing her eyes to see in the darkness, she weaved between the trees lightly, stepping from rock to rock to mask her footfalls. After a short while, a faint light began to shine through the trees. The campfire was coming up in the darkness.

A trickle of water caught her ear. A light stream was flowing through the forest. It seemed the mysterious stranger had picked this spot for a good reason. He just should have anticipated others to come through as well…

She was glad to hear water running again. Her fingers brushed the shells on her necklace lightly. The ones her mother gave her. She treaded along the stream. The water wasn't flowing strongly, but it would mask any remaining noise from her footsteps. The fire was coming nearer...

A hundred feet off, she went behind a tree. Her heart was pounding and she breathed to calm it, gripping her spear tightly. She exhaled silently and peered around the tree.

Indeed, it was only one man before the camp fire, sitting cross-legged. He was cleaning his hands with water from a skin. He shook his hands, flicking the water off before raising them to the fire to dry. The remains of a mangled rabbit sat next to him. It wasn't a clean job and he made no effort to save the skin.

He's definitely no Free Folk, thought Karsi. And if she needed anything more to prove so, he started singing a song she'd never heard before. His voice was low and soft, but it carried to her…

"Sometimes I wonder why I spend

The lonely night dreaming of a song

The melody haunts my reverie

And I am once again with you

When our love was new

And each kiss an inspiration

Oh but that was long ago

Now my consolation is in the stardust of a song

Beside the garden wall when stars are bright

You are in my arms

The nightingale tells his fairy tale

Of paradise where roses grew

Though I dream in vain

In my heart it will remain

My stardust melody

The memory of love's refrain."

He started to whistle and Karsi took the opportunity to look around. Only because she knew where to look to, did she see her brother. Boren had snuck even closer to the fire. She couldn't see Macha or Collum on the other side, but she knew they were in position.

The man had stopped whistling and was singing again.

"Though I dream in vain

In my heart it will remain

My stardust melody

The memory of love's refrain."

The last note hung in the air before falling like a gentle snow. She glanced at her brother and knew that he was just as bewildered as she was. She didn't need to see his face to know that.

Her whole being itched to do something, but she waited. Boren was to make the first move and right now, it seemed that he was deciding between a violent first strike or a disarming friendly approach. She could see him trying to decide which.

However, before he could decide, she heard the stranger call.

"If you'd like to come out and join me, you're more than welcome to share my fire. I daresay I made a bigger one than necessary."

Her blood froze and she saw her brother still as well. Swallowing and willing her heart to slow, she peered slowly around the tree. Which one did he detect?

The stranger's attention was to his fire. He fed it, his fingers entering the flames, laying down a stick. If it bothered him, he didn't show it.

"I'm afraid I don't have any more rabbit to offer you" he called, before raising his head and looking right in her direction.

Shit.

She got back behind the tree and cursed herself. She fucked up. Her first time out with her brother and she fucked it up.

"But I do have some wine, if any of you would care to drink some," the stranger continued.

Karsi froze in the middle of her silent beratement.

Any of us?

She peered around again and saw that the stranger was now looking in the opposite direction. Where Macha and Collum were…

How in the hell did he detect Macha? Did Collum fuck up?

"Please," said the stranger. He was actually smiling and turned to the tree where Boren was hiding. "Come on out and have some wine. I'm actually glad your scout went back and got the rest of you. It's too much for only two people to drink."

Karsi stared at her brother, waiting for his cue. The stranger was completely relaxed. He didn't even have his bow in hand. His attention returned to the fire. And yet she really didn't want to approach. She saw Boren leaning behind his tree and held her breath, waiting for his lead.

Finally, her brother straightened and stepped out, his axes still raised. The stranger regarded him calmly, remaining seated before returning his gaze to the fire.

"Are you the only one coming then? You're definitely not the one that came to spy on me earlier."

Her brother remained standing, glaring at the stranger who picked up a stick and prodded the flames. Karsi remained behind the tree, not moving a muscle.

Finally Boren lowered his axes and turned to her. He nodded.

Oh fuck me.

She came from behind her tree with her spear up, not ready to relax just yet. As she came into the light of the fire, Boren turned in Macha's direction, but Macha had already come forward. She had her spear up as well. Collum hadn't come with her and Karsi fought hard not to look in his direction. No doubt he was there in the dark, with his bow at the ready.

All three of them stood before this stranger and his blaze. Karsi got her first real look at him. Maybe it was only the fire, but he was very thin. The flames created dark shadows on his face. Perhaps as old as her brother. His hair was far too short and he was shaved clean like a southern prince.

The man reached behind him. Boren stepped forward, again raising his axes. He and the stranger locked eyes for a bit, but the stranger just smiled and pulled out a skin.

"Would you care for the wine?" he asked, his voice softer than the flames. "You could at least sit."

Boren didn't move and neither did she or Macha. The stranger sighed.

"It's not poison." He tipped the skin and took a decent draught. Wiping his mouth, he looked from Macha to Boren to her. His eyes were quite relaxed and regarded her easily.

Maybe too easily. His eyes lingered on her for a moment longer than the others and something shone in them that she didn't like. It wasn't the leer she saw in Whitetree or from the other men. But it didn't make her skin crawl less.

He did look away, but not before smiling and tucking his head, laughing to himself lightly.

"Something funny about us?" said Boren, who had barely lowered his axes.

"No, no," said the stranger, shaking his head and meeting his eyes. "Just…I think you're exactly the ones I was meant to find here."

Macha meet Karsi's wary stare with her own. The stranger held out the skin again.

"So…would any of you care to sit? Or to drink? I wish you would. This wine is too sweet for me to drink alone."

The river and fire conversed alone for a time, while the rest of them waited for someone to break the silence. Finally Boren lowered his axes. He crossed and snagged the skin from the stranger roughly, but the stranger's hackles didn't raise.

Boren sat down, facing the stranger, whose attention fell again to the fire. Her brother drank carefully and Macha gave Karsi a significant look. The Free Folk had differing views on many things, but guest rights were held as high here as they were south of the Wall. Many Free Folk would say that they had forfeited the right to attack and rob this stranger, by taking his offered drink. And he had lost the right to harm them as well.

Then again, whoever this man was, he was no Free Folk. This campfire or any other spot north of the Wall was not his home. Karsi felt that and she was sure that Boren did too.

Boren lowered the skin and passed it to Macha. She sat and drank too and passed it back to Boren, who hesitated before offering it to her. Without taking her eyes off the stranger, she sat next to her brother and took the wineskin. She drank and nearly gagged. The stranger was right. It was too sweet.

She capped the skin and tossed it back. The stranger caught it without looking up. As his arm raised, she could see a sheathed dagger at his side. Good craftsmanship. And real steel too, probably. If it should come to attacking this man, she would claim the dagger from his corpse. Convince Boren to let her have it. Could probably slice through ears easier…

The stranger looked from the skin to them.

"Would your friend care for a drink as well? The one with the limp?"

Karsi gripped her spear automatically. She looked to her brother and Macha. It was hard to see which of one was more on edge.

The stranger glanced off in Collum's direction and back to them.

"He's more than welcome to stay out in the cold, with that arrow pointed at my heart. Just figured he'd rather have the fire and the wine."

He looked to Macha.

"You must trust his skill greatly. You're almost in his line of fire."

Macha's jaw tightened. Boren breathed heavily through his nose. Of all of the stories, Boren had told her from his excursions, she couldn't think of anything that resembled this. The only possible explanation for this stranger's sight was through others. Were there any wargs south of the Wall? Or wherever the hell this man was from?

In any case, they had numbers on him and having Collum in the dark from a distance seemed like a waste. Boren seemed to have come to the same conclusion and turned to the dark. He raised his arm and waved Collum in.

"'S all right. Come on. Make sure yeh lower that fucking arrow when yeh do," he called.

A few seconds passed before Collum answered.

"'S all right, then?"

"Aye, yeh fool. It's what I fucking said."

"Yeh know him, Boren?"

Boren gritted his teeth and Karsi nearly laughed before remembering where she was.

"Nah, I don't. And thanks for telling him me fucking name."

There were no further words until Collum came limping into the firelight, the bow slung across his back. He dropped to the ground next to Macha, letting out a low sigh of relief, before regarding the stranger. The stranger nodded to him.

"Evening."

Collum nodded back warily. "'Ello," he muttered.

The stranger tossed the wineskin to Collum, who looked to the others.

"I saw yeh drink from this. 'S all right, then?"

"Aye," said Macha. "We still breathe."

Karsi realized that Macha and Boren hadn't taken their eyes off the stranger and cursed herself for doing so. Snapping her eyes back to him, she realized that he was sitting on his furs instead of wearing them.

Fucking idiot. Freezing his arse off for a softer seat. Fire's not that warm.

The thought chilled her as she regarded the stranger further. No trembling. No tension. The ease that accompanied this stranger…how could he be so relaxed in this chill? He wore only a wool shirt for his top and his sleeves were rolled to his elbows, the top part slightly open. No beard…

Was he not freezing…?

…How the hell was he not freezing?

She looked around and she could tell by the way Boren and Macha were staring at the man, that they had the same thought. They must have. No Free Folk bared his skin for the cold to take it. Not even in the safety of the flames.

Collum would reach the same conclusion at some point. Right now, he was on his third draught of the wine. He lowered the skin, eyeing the man.

"Yeh gave us wine," he said. "Care to give us ye name too?"

Karsi winced at his slurred speech, remembering the goat's milk he'd been nursing all evening. He'd be staggering back to camp later.

"My name is Tiresias," said the stranger. "It's nice to meet you all."

Tiresias…not a name she'd ever heard before…

"You're no Free Folk, Tiresias," asked Macha, adding the name a little late. "Where you from?"

"Winterfell."

"Horseshit," stated Boren, his voice low. "I've killed men from the North. Yeh don't sound like them."

Tiresias shrugged. "Well, it's the place I've stayed the longest since arriving in Westeros. If I'm not from there, I'm not from anywhere really."

"And before Westeros?"

Tiresias gave a small laugh. "Across the Narrow Sea…last of a nomadic people, that's what I've been saying. Maybe one day I'll believe it myself."

Boren's nostrils began to flare. Macha interjected.

"You ain't from across the Sea?" she asked, more to calm Boren.

"It's certainly a more possible explanation than what actually happened," murmured Tiresias. He seemed almost amused for a bit, before focusing on Boren and then to her.

Karsi stilled and met his gaze evenly.

"It's less difficult than to say that I woke up in a story. A wonderful, exciting story that will bring chaos and misery to all who live it. Someone or something opened the book and ushered me in. And I…I've decided to stay and sabotage it. Balance the chaos. Limit the misery. Make it so very boring."

He broke his gaze with her, returning to the fire and she instantly relaxed. Eyeing the others, they all seemed to come to the same conclusion. They've come across a mad man. A quiet one, but still mad.

Would they to rob him now, Boren would still make the first move. However, at the moment, he seemed keen to wait.

Tiresias looked up.

"You know my name. May I have the rest of yours? Unless you all wish to be called Boren?"

"Why?" asked Boren. "Do yeh need to know who robbed yeh?"

Tiresias smiled. "Like to know my drinking companions."

"We ain't ye companions. Yeh in the true North now, Tiresias. Here, yeh earn names."

There was a pause as Tiresias absorbed these words. He nodded, the small smile still there.

"How about a wager then?" he suggested, his eyes taking each one of them in. "If I can guess one of your names, not including yours," he added to Boren. "The other two introduce themselves."

There was a silence and Tiresias seemed content to wait it out. Glances were exchanged between the four of them and Boren became as still as stone. More to move this horseshit along, despite a strange feeling in her gut, Karsi spoke up.

"I'll take that wager."

"Just wait…"

"Shut the fuck up, Boren. It's not ye name we're waging." She turned to Collum and Macha. Collum shrugged and after a beat, Macha nodded.

Tiresias leaned behind him and pulled a couple of sticks for the fire. He laid them in gently.

"Gonna read our names in the flames?" Karsi asked.

"I'm no fire priest," said Tiresias. His eyes reflected the flames regardless. "Never could pronounce the name of their god anyway."

He leaned back, sighing.

"Anyway, Karsi, thank you for taking my wager."

She felt her brother tense besides her, but she couldn't move. Frozen, she sat staring at this cross-legged stranger, who threw her name out as one would remark upon a light morning snow.

I've never met this man before. I know it! How the fuck did he…how? It's just...

Tiresias met her stare with his relaxed gaze. It was even kind. She found herself unnerved by that kindness. She wanted something she could fight and demand answers from.

Instead she managed to swallow and speak.

"How the fuck did yeh know my name?"

Tiresias began to laugh.

"I thought I recognized you. My God…it's remarkable, you don't know how remarkable…"

"I've never seen yeh before in my life," Karsi snarled.

"I didn't say you had." Tiresias stopped laughing, but his bastarding kind smile stayed as he gazed at her. "But I certainly have seen you. I've seen you in a very possible future."

Karsi glared at this stranger, ignoring the snort from Collum.

"The future…" Collum muttered, disdain dripping from his tongue. He threw the wineskin back to the stranger. "What are yeh then? To know names? To give futures? Some cockless woodwitch?"

His bluster wasn't shared by Macha or Boren, who sat staring at Tiresias. Boren had a dangerous glint in his eye and Karsi couldn't blame him. The knowing look in this mad man's eye was more unsettling to her than any leer she could remember. Her glare felt more and more like a useless shield as the seconds passed.

However, Tiresias turned his eyes to Collum and Karsi remembered to breathe.

"I'm no woodwitch," he said lightly. "I'm just Tiresias, a very blind prophet."

"Prophet?" repeated Macha, her eyebrows raised.

"Not a very substantial one. I only see one possible future. And that's the story I'm trying to sabotage."

He lifted the skin and sipped, wiping his mouth.

"However, in the story I saw, I didn't see you two. Though I heard of you," he said, nodding to Boren. "Would you grace me with your names? Honor the wager?"

Macha only hesitated for a second before conceding.

"I'm Macha," she said. All eyes turned to Collum, who shrugged.

"Collum."

"Well, it's good to meet all of you, Collum, Macha, Boren, and Karsi." He turned to each of them as he said their names. Karsi felt herself wince as he said hers. But she held her gaze upon the madman. They all did, and so there was a cold silence.

Tiresias sighed, going back to the fire. "The feeling's not mutual, I see."

"Yeh gonna say how you really know my name?" said Karsi. She spoke low, emulating her father's voice as he showed his strength to others. "Yeh sure didn't fucking see it in a storybook."

"Why not?" asked Tiresias. "Many names and deeds travel through stories. I just happened to have heard this one before it happened. You're certainly not the only one I've heard of in this story."

He raised his head. "Tell me, do you know of Tormund? Kissed by fire? Does he goes by Giantsbane yet?"

Macha and Boren exchanged a quick glance, but they said nothing. A memory of a laughing, bearded man flashed through Karsi's mind. Sour milk leaked through the ginger's beard as he recounted his time at a giant's teat. The laughing spilled into a fight which left Boren with a black eye and two broken ribs. They parted on good terms.

"Friend of yours?" Collum asked mockingly.

Tiresias shook his head. "Not yet. Though I hope to meet him. I suppose that he's with Mance Rayder now, is he not? Tell me, has Mance already approached your people about the Free Folk banding together against what's rising up north?"

Karsi didn't think it was possible for her blood to turn even colder. Whispers from the far north, the Land of Always Winter, reached their ears only a few moons ago. Mance visited their village before they left. He arrived with Free Folk of many tribes, including a Thenn. All had come from the far north.

They spoke with the village elders for the evening and Karsi's father returned with an ashen face. He would not speak of the council with her. She only received snippets from her brothers. The deserted villages. Screeches in the night. And blue eyes that shined cooler than any ice.

It delayed their excursion. In the end, Boren was able to convince her father to still let her come along. The tales were far away. But now there was more than a stealing that scared him.

Tiresias must have heard the answer in their silence. He sighed.

"The man certainly has a task ahead of him, that's for sure. If all the tribes of the Free Folk have ever banded together before, it's been a while. But he'll do it. Your numbers will be great…but you will not be safe from what hunts you."

"You don't know our numbers," Macha stated, her voice low.

Tiresias shrugged. "One hundred thousand? At least. Maybe ten or twenty thousand more?"

Karsi heard Macha tightening her grip on her spear. Based on the way the strange man smiled, he did too.

"One hundred thousand. It'll serve the Night King well. To have you all together. To kill you all at once…"

Tiresias spread his hands on the ground and began to raise them slowly.

"And raise you up, bringing you and everyone you know under his command."

He kept his arms raised as he continued to speak.

"You'll have no fear, you'll know no weariness, you'll be strong...and you'll belong to him."

"The Free Folk belong to no one," growled Boren. "We do not kneel."

"Of course not," said Tiresias softly, lowering his hands. "But you do die. And when you do, you'll submit yourself to his will. Valar morghulis. All men must die. Valar dohaeris. All men must serve."

His eyes were on the fire again and Karsi felt herself following his gaze to the dancing flames. A small anguish weighed in her chest. It grew heavier and heavier…

"However," said Tiresias. "It doesn't have to be that way."

Her eyes snapped back to him. She could sense her people's rapt attention.

"I have a gift for you," said Tiresias. He reached behind him and pulled out a tied bag. He held it out.

Nobody leaned forward to take it. Tiresias sighed.

"I've been carrying this all over the damn forest. Somebody needs to take it."

More to prove something to Boren than anything, Karsi leaned forward and grabbed the bag from the soothsayer, meeting his eye.

"Be careful," said Tiresias, massaging his hand. "The items in there are quite sharp."

She hesitated, then proceeded to untie the knot. At first, she couldn't make out what was in the bag. It gleamed like dark ice. She reached in carefully and pulled out a spearhead, unlike any she'd seen before. Holding it in front of the fire, she saw violet and blue through it. It felt brittle.

Boren took the bag from her and reached in himself. He held out an arrowhead, also made of the dark material.

"That's obsidian," said Tiresias softly, just over the crackle of the flames. "Dragonglass. Some stories say it's fire frozen, captured underground."

It was difficult, but Karsi turned her eyes from the dragonglass to Tiresias.

"The creatures that you will fight have few weaknesses. Normal steel and weaponry will not fell them."

He reached behind him and pulled out a dagger that Karsi did not see before. They stared, forgetting to tense up. The blade was dragonglass, with a strong handle.

"But these will. As you don't have Valyrian steel beyond the Wall, this will be your only hope against them. Fire can stop the wights, the creatures they enslave from your fallen dead. But the White Walkers themselves…they don't mind fire. They're too cold for it. Only dragonglass will stop them."

It took a while for Karsi to notice that Tiresias wasn't smiling anymore. The flames didn't even seem to reflect in his eyes any more. He put away his dragonglass dagger and rested his hands on his knees.

Boren placed the arrowhead back in the bag and passed it to Collum and Macha, who foraged through it themselves.

"Yeh say this is the only way to defeat the White Walkers," said Boren, his eyes narrowing. "So why are yeh giving it away?"

"That's not the only dragonglass we have," said Tiresias. "Far from it. There's a mountain of it south of the Wall. Well, actually a cave. In any case, by the time they arrive, we'll have enough to arm every soldier in the North, every crow on the Wall and more."

He shrugged.

"That's the hope, at least."

"Why are you giving this to us?" muttered Boren, his patience leaving him. "Yeh no Free Folk. Why do yeh care?"

"Because I've seen the Free Folk eradicated."

Tiresias eyed Boren for a bit before turning his gaze again to Karsi.

"I've seen your eyes turn blue."

The hairs on her neck raised so much, they hurt.

"I've already seen the Free Folk die and rise again as monsters. A sea of blue eyes and cold. It's a force that no one can withstand.

"Some of your people might march north to fight them. Don't. Mance has something of the right idea. Get close to the Wall. Try and get south if you can. Make peace with the Night's Watch."

Collum started laughing and Macha and Boren looked tempted to join him.

"Yeh want us to make peace with the crows?" said Boren, snorting. "Make peace with the ones who hunt us? And peck at us from their tall ice Wall? For a thousand years, they've been our enemies."

"We can only make peace with our enemies, Boren." Tiresia's small smile was back. "That's why it's called making peace."

Boren opened his mouth, but there was a noise above them.

"Caw! Caw! Caw, caw!"

Karsi jumped and stared upwards. The light of the fire reached just high enough to the low branches of the surrounding trees. A raven sat still. Strangely still, its dark eyes focused on them.

No…not on us, realized Karsi as she followed the crow's gaze to Tiresias.

Tiresias returned the crow's gaze as easily as he had any of theirs. He nodded and returned to the fire.

"Apologies. Probably shouldn't have said that."

"Shouldn't have said what?" asked Macha.

Tiresias glanced back up at the crow. "The words of a dead man."

The mad man and the crow stared at each other for a brief time. With one final caw, the crow opened his wings and flew. Tiresias followed the bird as it disappeared into the darkness.

"I spent three weeks wandering these woods," he murmured, still staring after the departed crow. "Three nights ago, I heard him cry above me. Right here. And I knew to wait. That the ones to whom I was meant to leave these weapons would come here."

"Yeh took all this from a bird?" scoffed Collum, though Karsi sensed unease beginning to creep in his voice.

Tiresias turned to Collum, his eyes unblinking.

"You're here, aren't you?" He turned to Karsi. "You're here."

She couldn't respond to that. None of them could.

Tiresias stood up and stretched, throwing his arms up high. Karsi remained seated, as did the others. Not even Boren raised his axes.

Picking his fur jacket up from the ground, Tiresias smiled at them.

"I'm so happy that I met you all, but as the crow is now gone, I must be as well," he said, pulling on his jacket. He didn't even bother to button it. He shouldered his rucksack and slung the bow across his back.

If they decided to attack and take this fucker for whatever he was worth, this was this last chance. She looked to Boren, awaiting his instruction but he said nothing. His mouth was slightly open. And she knew.

"Please use this fire tonight if you so choose," said Tiresias. "The wood I gathered is right there. It's enough for a couple of nights."

He gestured at the rabbit skins. "Feel free to take the rabbit skins as well. If you want or can. I'm certain I've ruined them." He shrugged. "Not one of my skills."

"Yeh leaving right now?" Karsi asked.

The bewilderment in her tone was lost on Tiresias.

"Aye…is that a problem?"

"It's night." His eyes continued to bore into her, prompting her to explain the obvious. "Yeh don't travel at night."

Tiresias smiled grimly.

"They do," he said. "And I'm sure if they'll come by, it'll be toward an open campfire."

"They're up north," said Macha. She couldn't keep a tremble from her voice. "That's what Mance said."

"The gatherings for their army, I'm sure," said Tiresias, as he slung his quiver over his left side. "But a White Walker has definitely ventured south already, several times over."

"How far south?" asked Boren. He forgot to keep the fear out of his voice.

"As far as Craster's keep," Tiresias replied. "At least."

Even the stream seemed to fall silent. The tribes of the Frozen Shore, as did others, forbade any dealings with Craster, the crow-friendly, daughter-fucking waste of flesh. Boren only encountered him once. He refused to speak of it, but Karsi learned later that he had to be restrained from killing the man.

Boren's eyes had turned to stone. That memory was there.

"Does Craster have dealings with them?" he asked, a quiet snarl in his words.

Tiresias exhaled through his nose. "Not anymore."

Karsi's eyes travelled to the dagger by the man's side.

Did he…did he really…?

She wasn't given a moment to finish her thought, as Tiresias walked to the edge of the firelight, before turning back.

"Treasure your babes. Treasure that dragonglass. They won't expect it."

She felt the other three exchange looks, but she didn't take her eyes off Tiresias, who sighed.

"And please forgive me if I, at any point during this conversation, sounded strange or insane. I have spent four weeks alone, in these woods and it's…well, it's not good for one's mind."

He stood still for a bit, before laughing softly.

"I'm so glad I met you all tonight and you Karsi..."

She stiffened as everything faded into the night. Her brother's strength, Macha's composure, Collum's mockery. All of it escaped them as they watched this quiet mad man on the edge of the light. Tiresias smiled, his teeth shining bright in the darkness. They were the straightest, whitest teeth that Karsi had ever seen…

The sight of them smiling disturbed her as much as anything the man had said to them this evening.

"I do hope I see you again. And that when I do, you will be as you were in the story."

He turned to leave, but paused and looked to her again.

"But without the blue eyes. I really hope that I never see those shining from you again. They don't become you. Or any of you, for that matter."

Without another word, he exited the safety of the campfire, stepping over the stream. Karsi saw his slim form slip into the darkness. She tried to listen for his footsteps, but they seemed to vanished when he did. Whatever else this mad man was, he was certainly light on his feet.

Sound returned to her ears as they looked to each other. Trying to making sense of what just happened. The trickle of the stream. The low hum of the wind above them. The hoot of an owl.

He sure as fuck didn't deafen us…but it felt like it.

Collum looked toward the direction in which Tiresias disappeared, then back to Boren.

"I take it we're letting him go?"

Boren glanced to him. "Yeh want to spend more time with that fucking loon? Anyways, how much of a chase can yeh give? With ye gimp leg?"

"It's no gimp leg, ye fucker. It's just pained. It's no excuse for letting that loon go. He had good steel. Yeh saw it." He kicked the bag of dragonglass. "Better than this fucking shite."

Karsi raised her eyes in time to seeing Macha whacking Collum on his shoulder.

"Don't damage it!"

Collum was too dumb to see the danger in her tone.

"Damage it? What?" He rummaged through the bag, pulling out an arrowhead. "Yeh really believe him? Some southerner brings some brittle shiny rock in our lands, tells us that it can down…"

He threw his arms about, refusing to say it out loud. Karsi didn't begrudge him. Most of the Free Folk didn't speak of the rumors to the north. Saying it just brought it closer. She had tensed every time the stranger just casually spewed their name.

"…the White Walkers," said Boren, letting his axes drop completely for the first time and rubbing his forehead. "Gods, some man of the Free Folk yeh are."

"It's horseshit," exclaimed Collum. "Did yeh heard him talk? What he said? This is a story? What story?"

"How he spoke was stranger," murmured Macha. She picked up an arrowhead of dragonglass as well, seeing the fire through it. "But what he actually did say…it's too much of what he couldn't possibly know. Mance, the white demons in the north…"

She looked to Karsi.

"Your name."

Boren and Collum looked to her as well.

"Aye, about that," said Collum. He took a swig of his goat's milk. "Where the fuck have yeh seen him before?"

"I haven't," she pushed out, through gritted teeth. "I don't like ye voice right now, Collum."

"Well I don't like having me name known 'cause of ye fuckup…"

"Collum, shut the fuck up," said Boren very quietly, his eyes still on her. The camp grew still. All of them knew this tone. "Yeh the first one who gave a name away tonight and that was mine. Best not to forget ye own fuckups, aye?"

Collum didn't respond. Boren turned to him.

"Aye, Collum?"

After clearing his throat, Collum nodded.

"Aye. Sorry, Boren."

Boren turned to Karsi, the fierceness in his eyes melting into concern.

"Now, Karsi, I want yeh to think. Over ye years and all yeh seen and all those yeh have met. Don't answer me right away. Just think. Have yeh ever, in ye whole life, seen that man before? Given him ye name?"

A few seconds passed. Karsi didn't need them. She knew her answer before he even finished the question, but Boren needed the seconds of silence. And so she counted them before answering.

"I've never seen him before tonight. No chance to give him my name. No one like him has ever touched the Frozen Shore."

She looked around to Collum and Macha.

"One of us would have heard of him."

Boren took that in before nodding and leaning back, sighing.

"I think we should stay here tonight," said Macha. "It's too late to hike back and start another fire. We'll go back for our supplies in the morn and start home then. It's not that much in the light."

She looked to Boren.

"What say you? Collum has the bad leg, but we need sleep too."

Collum looked ready to tell her off, but thought better of it. He settled for the final swig of his sour milk.

"I agree," said Boren. He stood, looking around. "Yeh three sleep. I'll take the first watch."

"Boren, no," Karsi said. She stood too. "I'll take it. With all he said…I can't sleep right now."

She glanced back to the darkness where Tiresias had disappeared, then back to see her brother's nod. He gripped her shoulder.

"Wake me if yeh need me and don't wait to do it," he murmured. "Yeh hear me?"

Karsi nodded, patting her brother's hand before moving to where the mad man once sat. She settled down, placing her spear next to her. The woodpile was within arm's reach.

"I'll keep the fire going. Keep it warm for yeh. Enough wood here to last all night."

Boren donned his gloves and raised his hood, before lying down.

"Don't raise it too high. Unlike that mad bastard, we don't want anyone coming 'round."

With that, he rolled over, giving his back the fire. He never slept with hot flames near his face. Collum had already laid down on his back. His eyes were closed and he was near sleep. Karsi sighed. That sour goat's milk will turn his snoring loud enough to draw unwanted guests. And that wasn't even considering the flatulence.

Karsi turned to Macha, who hadn't laid down yet. She held the arrowhead that Collum tossed to the dirt, turning it over. Finally she returned it to the bag and tied it up again. Only then did she laid down…her head away from Collum's now snoring form.

A good while passed before Karsi pulled out the spearhead she had pulled from the bag. Checking to see that no one was approaching, she gazed at the dragonglass. It certainly didn't feel strong. It was pretty though.

Was this really the weapon that would strike down the terrors that they had heard of? Could such a small thing really just do the trick? If not, it was worthless.

She was glad that they didn't discuss whether or not to keep the dragonglass tonight. Collum didn't want any extra weight. Macha believed the mad man. Boren didn't want to, but he was leaning toward it.

She ran her finger along the edge carefully. It was sharp. For the first time since she had heard of the blue eyes in the dark, her heart became a little lighter…

Looking up, she looked around and cursed. Guards shouldn't be entranced by pretty things. Not out here. She also saw that the fire was quite low and she quietly fed it with a few sticks, so that none of her companions would wake.

Afterwards she pocketed the spearhead. She had hoped for a new weapon when they had approached the mystery fire. Now she had one. Even if her three older companions decided to toss the bag into the stream, she would take the one spearhead along. She wanted some hope against them. Just some fighting chance.

Besides, she was happy with her mother's eyes. She didn't care to change them for the blue ones that this mad man, Tiresias, foresaw.