𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐘-𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 | The dead

{ Lyra }

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𝕷yra emerged onto the parapet at Winterfell, fully dressed in armour with Elia and Tylar by her side. The dagger that Robb had first gifted her, when she first left for King's Landing, sat at her hip, along with another dragon glass dagger. Eliza appeared next to her, two teenagers that looked similar to her standing beside her.

"Stay safe, both of you." Lyra turned to look at Robb, who was watching them with a worried expression on his face. Lyra nodded, before turning to Tylar so that Robb and Eliza could say their goodbyes.

"You'll stay close to me, right?" Tylar muttered, his hand on Lyra's shoulder as she nodded. "I'm going to protect you, Your Grace. We're going to get back home to our family."

"Tylar," Lyra held her hands up, watching them tremble. "I'm scared."

"Don't be. I'm here." Tylar reaffirmed. "Elia's here. We're going to survive."

Lyra took a deep breath, nodding before wrapping her arms around Tylar in a tight hug.

"You're a good older brother." Tylar tightened his grip, smiling as she pulled away.

"I try my best." Lyra smiled up at him, before reaching up to clutch her necklace, sending a prayer to the Old Gods, begging them to allow her to return to her husband and children once more.

There was the sound of a dragon roaring behind them, as Arya and the head blacksmith, Gendry, ran along the top of the wall to stand with them. The small girl patted Lyra's shoulder, and sent her a smile.

"We're going to win this." Lyra nodded, pressing a kiss to her sister's cheek, as the dark continued to surround them, quashing all the surrounding light.

"Dragons!" There was a shout from behind as three dark masses flew above them, swooping down towards the ground. Lyra watched in wonder as the flames swept across the field, illuminating the mass of dead that swarmed towards them. She hadn't realised that they were so close already. She could make out figures on the back of the large animals, as the call for the archers to return to the gate came sounding out.

Jon and Aoife were somewhere in the barricade system in front of the castle, directing people back towards the main gates as Coren's dragon let out another breath of fire, torching a whole section of the Night King's army. Elia growled, her fur rising, as the heat of the flames washed over the walls. 

They were getting closer now.

The largest of the dragons took another dive towards the ground, before freezing as it seemed to take a hit from a ball of ice. Lyra clutched onto the barricade, watching with horror as the dragon and figure on its back fell towards the ground.

Miraculously, the dragon managed to regain it's flight, diving down and grabbing the figure, before soaring away and out of reach.

The other dragons became more frequent in their attacks, lighting the trench of fire and taking care of the dead that overran them.

Beneath Lyra, the gates slammed closed after the last soldiers retreated back inside. Tylar appeared by Lyra's side, pulling the oil and stones closer to the pair. 

"There are too many, they're going to overrun the fire trench." Robb called, looking down at them. "Prepare for stage two!"

The call for stage two went up, as Tylar hefted the vat of oil over the side, coating the walls in the slippery substance. All around them, other pairs were doing the same, making sure that no spot was left untouched.

"Ready!" Eliza's voice sounded over the chaos, as Tylar and Lyra lit the torch, both of them waiting with bated breath. "On my mark!"

The fire trench became overrun, as the dead managed to break through and into the bottleneck that lead them towards the castle. Fire rained overhead, courtesy of the trebuchet's, slowing the progress but the dead still made it to the walls. 

They stacked on top of each other, as Lyra heard her heart racing in her ears. She could make out their faces now, the empty eye sockets and snapping teeth.

"Now!" Eliza called, as Lyra dropped the torch against the wall and stepped back. All hell broke loose as the stones lit up in flames, spreading across the oil that hissed and popped. Tylar pulled another barrel towards the stone, tipping the water over the edge and across the oil, spreading the fire more easily along the wall as the dead cried and screamed.

"Move back to the inner keep." Lyra turned to look at Tylar, who nodded as someone took her place. They launched rocks over the side, as Lyra called Elia back to her and ushered the remaining women back inside her home.

Eliza had run off to make sure that there were no stragglers left at other posts, leaving Lyra to bring up the rear into the Great Hall. The women were waiting for Eliza, who would be the last to arrive, objects in their hands that they would use to barricade the doors.

The back door was left open in case they needed to escape, and for supplies to be run through, as the ladies of the North all began to distribute weapons amongst themselves and wait for the Wights to come as they inevitably would.

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Lyra took another deep breath, coughing from the smoke as she sent another prayer to the gods, hoping that she would make it out of here alive. The Great Hall had been overrun by the dead not even an hour after they had made camp there, leaving the women to scatter out across Winterfell. Lyra had lost Eliza in the heat of it all, and now only had Elia by her side.

The wolf lunged at another Wight, holding it down as Lyra plunged the dragon glass dagger into its heart.

That had been their tactic for a while now, Elia taking them down and Lyra killing them as she didn't have any true fighting experience. The wolf led her down the hallway, before emerging out onto the balcony once more. Lyra could see the Weirwood tree in the corner of her eye, though there weren't all that many Wights around her.

"Lyra, duck!" Lyra covered her head as a dagger whistled past her, impaling a Wight that had been running towards her. She turned, finding Coren rushing towards her, helping her up from the floor. He had a nasty looking cut on the side of his head, blood trickling down his face. His shoulder was at an odd angle, clearly dislocated, but Coren seemed to be ignoring it. "Are you okay? Lyra? Are you alright?"

"I'm-I'm alright..." Lyra nodded, trying to calm her beating heart. "You're hurt."

"I'll be fine. You shouldn't be out here, you'll be killed." Coren pulled the dagger from the Wight's head, wincing in pain as his shoulder shifted, before standing up once more. "You're a queen, Lyra, you have to stay safe."

"I was trying to find Tylar." 

"He'll be at the front with the others." Coren shook his head, watching as Elia dragged a Wight towards them for Lyra to stab. "I've just come from Falkor. The back is still alright. Go and find Falkor, take as many of the women with you. He's the big, red dragon. He'll keep you safe."

"I want to stay and help."

"You've helped." Coren smiled. "But you're a queen, Lyra, not a warrior. Don't put yourself in unnecessary danger trying to help others. Stay alive so that you can get home, to your children and husband."

Lyra wanted to argue, to find fault in his statement, but she couldn't. He was right.

"Then you take Elia." Lyra nodded, turning back to her wolf. "Stay with Coren. Help him. I'll find you after the battle."

"Lyra..." Coren began to protest, but Lyra pressed a kiss to her wolf's head and nodded.

"You're lending me your dragon to protect me and the others, so you can borrow Elia for the time being." Lyra smiled, before turning and rushing away, ignoring the mournful howl that Elia let out. She turned at the door, watching as Elia shook the ice from her fur and turned to lead Coren into the battle. "Good girl."

Rushing back inside, Lyra raced through the halls, calling as many of the women to her side as she did.

"Head to the back of castle!" She joined the fray of women, rushing through the halls that she used to run through as a child. Just as Coren had said, the back was clear of Wights. The large, red dragon stood nursing his wounds though he turned to the women as they rushed through the back exit. "Falkor. Coren sent me." 

The dragon tilted his head, before settling down and Lyra took that as a good sign, herding the others closer to his large form. Lyra took one last look back at the castle, before joining them, praying that the fight would be over soon enough.

Hiya,

If you hadn't already noticed, writing battle scenes is not one of my strong points, so I apologise in advance and I just hate this chapter tbh. Lyra didn't actually do all that much fighting, mainly because she had no previous fighting experience, and that would be unrealistic.  

Also, I just adore Coren with all my heart because he is such a sweetheart and I love him to bits and no one can change my mind on that.

Let me know what you think,

Love Li xx