Wright once again cast several defensive spells on the White Walker and the female vampire, holding them both in his hands. Taking a deep breath, he aimed at the front of the passage and with all his strength swung them forward, using magic to launch them, creating two ice blooms before shooting them out.
"Fus~~Ro~~!"
Without the final word, the power of the Drangn Shout wasn't strong enough to tear their bodies apart. The visible sound waves gathered in the narrow passage, traveling several times faster than outdoors. The two rapidly flying bodies accelerated again and flew toward the other end of the passage.
As they passed through the center of the Wall, an unknown magical formation quickly shattered the defenses around the White Walker and the vampire. Fortunately, they were fast enough, and by the time it eroded their skin, they had already passed through the magic array.
Wright quickly ran over to grab them and rebind them with magic.
"Will they die on the way?" Robb looked at the two creatures, whose skin had completely peeled off. The female vampire, in particular, had no skin left, exposing her internal muscle tissue.
Wright: "Not sure if the White Walker will survive, but as for the vampire, if we catch a few rats at Black Castle, she'll recover."
When they left the well, the two creatures in their hands scared the Night's Watch members.
"A White Walkers!"
"This vampire looks like something Lord Bolton would make!"
"She's just injured. Robb, do your knights have silver stag coins?" Wright placed the White Walker-less vampire on the ground and prepared to use silver items to restrain her, with Robb in charge of the escort.
"Brothers, get out the silver stags!" Robb shouted. His knights were all young nobles from the North, most carrying gold dragons, but after a quick search, they found about thirty silver stags.
"That's enough!" Wright took the silver stags and used magic to melt them into a collar with a ring of sharp spikes inside and four shackles. He wrapped the items in a Night's Watch black cloak.
Wright placed the collar on the female vampire's neck. The severed end melted directly, and the entire collar fused as one. The four shackles did the same.
The silver items, separated by a layer of black cloth, still made the vampire uncomfortable. She continued to twist her body and tried to transform into a monstrous shape to tear them off with brute force.
"The collar fits your neck perfectly. If you transform, the spikes inside will pierce your neck." Wright patted her face.
The female vampire felt the spikes pressing into her neck, the veins bulging as they returned to normal. She looked at Wright with pleading eyes, but her face, now devoid of skin, was so terrifying that no sympathy could be felt.
"Robb, you're in charge of escorting them to Black Castle. Waymar, send word to the officials at all the castles along the Wall, telling them that we've captured live White Walkers and vampires. Have them rush to Black Castle as fast as they can." Wright said, preparing to leave the castle.
With two live creatures in hand, the Night's Watch and Robb knew exactly how to maximize their value, so Wright didn't need to worry.
While packing up, Robb asked, "Teacher, won't you join us?"
"Just causing trouble here at the Wall, is that what they want? I still have to inspect every castle. By the time I finish, the Night's Watch will probably have arrived at Black Castle." Wright said, then remembered something in his bag. He pulled out two blocks of ice from his belt pouch and handed them to Robb.
"These yellow worms and white spiders are ordinary creatures. As long as you don't provoke them, they're not dangerous. Spider silk is a very good magical material. See if you can farm them."
Wright really wanted to do it himself, but since both were ordinary creatures, they wouldn't survive outside the icy environment. He had no choice but to give up.
"Spider silk? I'll try when I get back," Robb said, picking up the blocks of ice. One contained a cluster of small grape-like eggs, while the other had a pile of worms. He had seen both underground before, and with tree roots, he could feed the worms, grow them, and use them to feed the spiders.
Wright and Odahviing took off again, heading west. Robb and the Night's Watch found some unburned wood and made two sleds to drag behind their warhorses, taking the creatures back to Black Castle.
A horn sounded, signaling the return of the scouts. Two horns meant wildlings were approaching, and three horns indicated White Walkers were near.
A few days later, Black Castle blew one horn.
The gates slowly opened, and dozens of warhorses, carrying knights, trudged through the thick snow into the training grounds.
"It's White Walkers!"
"Alert! It's White Walkers!"
The Night's Watch, coming to meet them, noticed the creatures being dragged behind the horses. Some of them recognized them. Wright's reputation had spread nationwide years ago. The Night's Watch drew their long swords and obsidian daggers, preparing for what was to come. A wave of panic began to spread.
"What's going on? Waymar? Robb?" Commander Mormont raised his hand to calm everyone down and walked to the center to ask.
Robb quickly dismounted and explained the situation to him. "As long as we stay away from the cemetery, the corpses can't be revived for battle. The White Walkers with missing limbs are almost no threat."
"And this skinless woman? A vampire!" In this icy wilderness, without clothes and no skin, someone who could survive this long was definitely not human. Mormont walked over and scrutinized her carefully.
Robb replied, "Keep them locked up separately. If we give her a few rats from the grain store to feed on, her skin will grow back."
"Commander, a White Walker has entered the Black Castle. Should we blow the third horn?" Waymar asked from the side.
"It entered as a prisoner, but it's still a true White Walker. Pass the orders down, blow the third horn!" Mormont said, lifting his head to look at the horn on top of the Wall. After centuries, or even millennia, the third horn sounded during his tenure.
That night, five young Night's Watch members carried wooden cages to the guard tower, the most solid building in the Black Castle, perfect for holding dangerous creatures.
The door was not closed, and four other Night's Watch members stood guard outside. They were sitting on the floor, playing a game with stones.
"Did you bring rats to feed the monsters?"
"Such disgusting creatures, we didn't want to come either! But the commander gave the order, and we had no choice. The captains assigned this nasty job to us."
"Go in, be careful, it bites, and those fangs are huge!"
The five members entered the room. A dim yellow light from a small oil lamp illuminated the scene. On a broken long table lay the woman, bound, with only muscle tissue remaining, and a few blood vessels still attached, making her look quite terrifying.
"You go!"
"Yes, you go!"
The Night's Watch members pushed the weakest of them to the table, handing him a plump live rat.
The weak man nervously moved closer, trembling as he approached.
"Just put it by my mouth," she said.
He relaxed a bit upon hearing this, closed his eyes, and extended his hand to offer the rat.
"Lower it a bit. Good, stop!"
The man felt the rat being pulled from his hand, its body quickly shrinking. Startled, he covered his eyes with his other hand.
"Get another one." The woman's voice came again.
"Okay! Okay!"
The man spun around, and his companions handed him another rat.
There were only six rats in total. Once they were consumed, the man quickly jumped away from the table.
Mmm~~~
The female vampire let out a long breath.
Skin tissue rapidly grew over the muscle, and the five members of the Night's Watch had only seen such a healing speed when their companion was injured and drank healing potions.
The skin gradually covered the muscles, and with it, the features of her face and body became apparent. Soon, the skinless monster, which had been terrifying and hideous, turned into a white, graceful female form with a black collar around her neck, bound to the table.
Gulp...
Gulp...
The five men stood aside, staring in awe, unconsciously swallowing.
"What is the Night's Watch vow?"
The weak man, eyes fixed on the female vampire, began reciting the vow dutifully: "Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children."
"Stop! We know what you're thinking, and you should know what I'm thinking!"
"But the Night's Watch isn't supposed to touch women, right?"
"Let me ask you, Where did the women and children from the Mole's Town, a mile south of Black Castle, come to be?"
"We."
There were many illegitimate children among the Night's Watch members, and the local service industry had likely been around for thousands of years.
"The vow only says no marrying or having children, not that we can't touch women. But vampires can't have children. She's not human at all! Where did we break the vow?"
The five of them looked at the female vampire with increasingly burning eyes.
"Come one by one!" The female vampire spoke, inWrighting them willingly.
The silver lock prevented her from transforming into her monster form. Robb was nearby, and frightened, she dared not resist. Born a wildling, she had an open view on matters between men and women. After becoming a vampire, she had fought battles involving hundreds of people, and now, being with a few humans, she figured pleasing them might get her more food.
"We didn't break our vows!" The five exchanged glances and began to undress.
Sounds of excitement filled the room, and the four Night's Watchmen sitting by the door stood up to investigate. They were pulled in and told something, then joined the group.
In the following days, a sleeping Night's Watchman would be woken up by a close comrade. After a few whispered words, they would secretly slip out of the barracks to a room in the Guard Tower.
One by one, brother passed it to brother, and soon, the whole camp knew. Commander Mormont finally ordered all the Night's Watch to gather in the hall for a meeting.
Bang!
Mormont slammed his fist on the table. His white hair swayed like an enraged elderly lion. "Which of you brothers have been with the female vampire?"
The Night's Watchmen, all dressed in black, filled the dark hall. People stared at each other, turning their heads nervously.
The former commander in golden robes, Janos Slynt, was the first to raise his hand.
"You!" Mormont roared, glaring around the hall. "Who else?"
Boom~~~
More than half of the Night's Watchmen raised their arms.
Seeing this, Mormont clutched his chest in pain, his body losing strength, and he leaned back in his chair.
Robb, standing nearby, quickly supported him and began casting a healing spell.
"You have broken the Night's Watch oath! By law, you all deserve execution!" Waymar, seated in the front row, stood up and shouted.
"We didn't break our vows!"
The hall erupted into noise as both sides began presenting their arguments.
Bang!
A small fireball exploded above the hall, and the room immediately fell silent, all eyes turning toward Robb, who stood upright.
With a solemn expression, Robb spoke in a calm voice. "The Commander is gone."
---
The usually lively training ground now had a large pile of firewood in the center.
Several hundred Night's Watchmen stood solemnly around the outer ring, all dressed in black.
More than forty administrative officers held torches, surrounding the pyre. Robb, the heir to the North, and a dozen noble knights, each wearing cloaks representing their families over their armor, stood with the officers.
On the pyre, the 997th Commander of the Night's Watch, Jeor Mormont, known as the Old Bear,, lay quietly in his black attire.
"Oh!"
Suddenly, Mormont sat up on the pyre.
Luckily, Wright had warned the Night's Watchmen beforehand, or they would have been terrified.
Wright cast a Conjuring spell on the corpse. Through the lingering soul, he discovered that Mormont had not been murdered nor poisoned. He had truly died from shock.
"Robb, you will announce the eulogy," Wright said, dispelling the spell. Mormont lay back down.
Hearing this, Robb understood that it was time to select a new commander. He stepped forward and began his eulogy.
Wright walked over to Benjen Stark and whispered, "Did the Old Bear ever tell you that he originally intended for you to succeed him as the Commander of the Night's Watch?"
"He did, but the commander needs to be elected by the Night's Watch. I'm not sure I'll be chosen," Benjen replied, his long, slender face and dark hair showing doubt.
"Don't worry. I'm here, and Robb is here. Only someone from House Stark, like you, is the best choice." If anyone disagreed during the vote, Wright would use magic to silence them.
"It shall not end until my death." Robb recited a part of the oath and, with the others, moved away from the pyre.
The Night's Watchmen and knights followed, backing up until they stopped near the buildings surrounding the training ground.
The sun in the sky was obscured as the giant head of Odahviing appeared. After a nod from Wright, a small breath of golden-red dragonfire descended from the sky and landed on the pyre.
The dragonfire, hot enough to melt steel, burned for less than a minute before extinguishing. The pyre and Mormont were reduced to a pile of white ash.
Due to Wright's presence on the Wall, Mormont's funeral was delayed for a while. It was also a chance for Wright and Robb to witness the election of the new commander.
There were several nominations, including Janos Slynt, Commander of Eastwatch, Cotter Pyke, and Lord Commander of Shadow Tower, Denys Mallister.
When the name of Benjen Stark was mentioned, Wright and Robb each said a few words about him, and the voting results came quickly. Over 80% of the Night's Watchmen voted for Benjen.
The new commander swore an oath of office, and nearby scholars prepared letters to be sent out.
Benjen's first task as the new commander was to decide what punishment to impose on the Night's Watchmen who had been involved with the female vampire.