The power of friendship

Blue lightning broke the pitch black sky, combined with an ear deafening roar. High above the head of Aroga and the fearless warriors of kingdom K153 the ice dragon started another attack on one of their flying weapons. It is only a few hours since the scout arrived at Winterfell, announcing that their biggest enemy has arrived again. The signs have been there for almost a week already and they all knew it was just a matter of time before the Nightking starts a new attempt to take over Westeros and turn it into a land of the Death. Restlessly they have prepared, called in every man and woman who was able and willing to fight. The forges never got cold and thousands of trees have been cut to produce spears and arrows for the soldiers. Aroga, a loyal member of the NBe alliance, was a guest in this kingdom for a few months. Once he came here to help the leading alliance against an invasion, he decided to stay and give the traveling a break. He made good friends among the citizens, so it was not a surprise that for this challenge he left his home alliance to fight side by side with the leading alliance. Together they went straight onto the battlefield, provoking wave after wave of attack from the Undeath in the attempt to protect their leader. But the fighters of K153 knew what they did, rally after rally was prepared. The soldiers marched at maximum speed, the healers all around to get every wounded back to the fight instantly. Many did not return, their corpses turned into Undeath facing their friends and families now, but everyone was aware that this was the only way to prevent whole Westeros from ending like this. 

In another kingdom another the Queen was facing the same challenge. Jul and her warriors of K32 gathered at Winterfell, trying to push back those overwhelming forces of White Walkers and Generals. But the warriors were tired, have they just finished the extremely demanding event of All out War. Day and night they have fought for three weeks, spending all they had. All they wanted was a good break and some rest on the warm beaches close to Sunspear, but when they came back to their kingdom, they found King’s Landing covered in snow, knowing that this meant this Nightking was about to return. They had barely time to prepare, but still they would give their very best. The progress in the beginning was amazing and everyone thought the fight will be over soon, but soon their killing stagnated when the Nightking put in more and more soldiers with spears, armoured in Valyrian steel. The kingdom was lacking an Inf specialized warrior and the casualties on their side were so much higher than the ones on the other side. If this goes on like this, they will not make it within the first day, which will lead to more suffering for her warriors and even less time to recover for the upcoming Alliance Conquest season. No, that was not an option, she will stay here, she will fight, and if she had to kill all those White Walkers one by one by herself. Her warriors have given all for her and the faction, now she will do the same for them.

The ground was covered with blood and bones, broken weapons, splintered arrows and armor parts. Now that the darkness faded the real terror of what had happened became visible. A few minutes ago they managed to land their final hit. The Icedragon was attacked from 8 major dragons, his rally hit the same time at the Nightking Castle. Without the protection of the dragon the last troops of the Nightking were easy to kill and the terror maker had no other choice than to retreat. The Queen of K153 named Aroga Hero of the Living and honored him in the name of Westeros and everyone celebrated with big fireworks. But a knot was building in the stomach of Aroga. A memory of another queen came into his mind. About 6 months ago he invaded another kingdom. Despite his bad intention, he was treated with respect and got into close contact with the queen. Very short after his arrival, the weather changed and it was clear that the Nightking was about to challenge the kingdom. The queen was desperate, as they never have been able to kill him fast and so many of her people were buried on the battlefield at Winterfell. Aroga and his friends decided to help this little kingdom and in an epic fight they were able to defeat the Nightking in 6h. With a smile Aroga remembered how happy the Queen was, exactly the same as what he was experiencing right now. Would Jul be able to defeat the Nightking again? Or would they go back to suffering over days? Something inside him told him, that he had to get her urgently.

When Jul saw the banner, time stopped. What the hell are those stupid invaders thinking! She knew the risk of putting down the protection of her castle, but only this way, they could kill this enemy in time and prevent bigger harm. She also knew that many invaders were just waiting and especially those, which banner she saw approaching in the dim light of the few torches they managed to keep on. NBe has invaded them before when they have tried to kill the Nightking. Jul could not believe that they were coming again. This server was so small and hadbarelzy any fighters… But yes, right now she was sitting here unprotected, unable to move, sitting like a mouse in front of the snake. There was no time to hide any soldiers, there was no time to retreat, only seconds and she will lose everything. But suddenly the approaching warrior stopped right in front of her gate: “Had the feeling you might need some help!” Aroga said with a big smile on his face. “You Bastard!" You scared me almost to death!” Jul replied and greeted him with a big hug. “What are you doing here?” she asked breathlessly. “I had the feeling you might need some help!” he smiled, looking around, seeming to realise for the first time that they were standing on the battlefield and all around them the fights were still ongoing, filling the air with clashing noises and screams. “You are not a second too late. We are desperate to kill his spear troops.” Together they took a look at the latest battle report and then decided to attack with rallies only until all spear troops have been killed. 

Even so Aroga was specialised in Cavalry and the spear soldiers of the Nightking tried everything to make use of their advantage, the warriors managed to decimate the enemies numbers significantly. The White Walkers and Generals desperately tried to reinforce their leader, but the last days TgL had worked hard on getting their numbers down as well and this paid now off in less reinforcement. When the last spears have been destroyed by the devastating rallies of Aroga, Jul and he started another mixture of rallies and solo attacks. Relieved Jul realised that they were finally making progress again. The night was late and exhaustion came over them more and more. “Don't give in now, we are almost there!”Jul motivated her comrades, when suddenly Aroga stopped attacking. “Jul, retreat we are observed!” he yelled over the battle noises, face pale like chalk. Jul panicked, she was sure, with Aroga at her side, she was safe, or was he the reason other hunters were watching them? Instantly she moved away from the battlefield, hoping that the hunters were not watching the rest of her kingdom. She waited, hidden in the wood, her heart beating so loud, she thought it would reveal her. Her breathing was shallow, forming mist in front of her face. Everything went quiet, her soldiers did not move, everyone was listening for any signs that they were chased. But all they could hear was the wind howling in the branches of the trees around them. Minutes passed, nothing changed and finally Jul was able to bring up her protection shield again and move back to Winterfell. 

“I never saw you running like that before” Aroga greeted her with a smile. “Don’t tell me this was a joke!” Jul looked at him unbelievingly and Aroga’s face instantly turned to a bitter mask. “No it was not, some new members of NBe saw us without protection and were about to come. Thankfully others instantly stepped in and told them that I belong to NBe as well, but if they saw us, others might too and they will not hesitate. So now we have to take the long run. Are you still planning to kill him today?” Jul looked around into the exhausted faces of her fighters. They have given so much already, would they be able to hold on a little longer? Or  would it be better to give them a rest and go refreshed tomorrow? “Let’s do this, we are all geared up, Aroga jumped to help, we can do it!” one of them said and all the others nodded in agreement. Jul felt overwhelmed by their determination, the trust in her leadership and the will to go on for this kingdom. And with that they started again, away from the battlefield, hiding in the treelines of Winterfell. Even if this was the long run, here they were not only protected from invaders but also from attacks by the Whitewalkers and Generals. They kept the strategy with rallies and solos and slowly, so ever slowly the number of troops of the Night King decreased. 

It was way past midnight, but time did not matter as it was pitch black since the Night King arrived. The number of losses on both sides was uncountable, but the living were in the lead. the paths to Aroga’s castles were torn open by all the soldiers going there to join rally after rally, the way to the Night King was lined with bones and fires and corpses. But no one paid attention, they all had only one goal: Kill the last troops and with them the enemy of the kingdom, of Westeros, of the whole world. 

Again over 5M of the living faced 24M of Undeath. Barely armored and with poor weapons, those creatures tried to pull the riders off the horse, but the resistance became lower with every attack Aroga launched. And suddenly, in the middle of the fight a dazzling lightning broke the black of the night and within the blink of an eye the Night King castle vanished and the White Walkers and Generals retreated behind their own walls. It was done. 

Jul instantly sacked on the ground, her sword falling next to her. Her muscles were so sore, she thought she would never be able to move again, her tiredness hit her so heavy, she was about to fall asleep right here, surrounded by blood, decay and her dead friends. Aroga sat down next to her and in silence they watched over the chaos around them. At some point Jul said, almost a whisper: “I am very grateful that you came, I don’t think we would have managed without you and probably I would be dead by now.” His answer was just a smile and a hug “Let’s go home.” They helped each other up and supporting each other they limped back to Winterfell. They were greeted with bright cheering and celebrated as heroes. In the big hall they sat down, a maid serving them beer. “I really like this kingdom, I think I will stay for a while!” Jul lifted an eyebrow. “You are a hunter, you will be bored to death” she replied sceptically. “Might be, but you are a good Queen and this kingdom works together. Perhaps I am getting old and need some more relaxed days?” Jul almost spilled her beer from laughing. “Well you are always welcome, it is what I always said. And I will never forget what you did for the kingdom today. Now my warriors can have the rest they all deserve, we have time to tread the wounded, train new soldiers for our lines and get the kingdom and alliance back to normal. I have no idea if we would have done this all alone.” In her head was so much more, but she could not find the words. Nothing could explain how grateful she was and that she now know for sure that this former hunter now really was one of her closest friends. Her kingdom, her people were safe now again and he would be at her side to help it grow and protect. But would he also attract other hunters? Would a member of NBe cause defying alliances to come and challenge them? But that were not thoughts for today, not for tomorrow, that will only time show. For now celebrating was the most important, followed by a long long sleep.