Chapter 29 Chapter 29 Bran

Meera circled alertly, the rope net dangling in her left hand, while her right held a slender, three-pronged frog spear with poise.Xia Tian stared at her with wide golden eyes, constantly moving, and his long tail stood upright.He watched, watched... "Ah!" the girl yelled, and the spear flew forward.The wolf dodged to the left, and jumped on her before she could retract the spear.Meera threw the net out of the way, and the tangled cord buckle stood in front of her.The leaping summer just happened to be packed inside.Unwilling to admit defeat, he dragged the net, slammed it into her chest, and knocked her to the ground.The spear flew far away, but the damp grass softened the impact of the landing, and she lay panting on the ground.The direwolf crouched on top of her.

"You lost," Bran yelled. "She won," said her brother Jojen, "Summer was caught." He was right, Bran looked carefully.Xia Tian twisted and roared in the net, trying to tear a hole, but he could only bind himself tighter and tighter.The net cannot be bitten open. "Let him out." The girl from the Reed family smiled at him, stretched out her arms to wrap around the tangled direwolf, and rolled over.Xia Tian let out a pitiful whine, kicking and kicking the knots that bound him.Meera knelt down, undid a buckle, tore a corner, shuffled deftly here and there, and suddenly the direwolf was free.

"Summer, come here," Bran opened his arms. "Look here," he said, and he came running towards him like a wolf.He immediately gathered all his strength and let the wolf gallop over, dragging and knocking him down on the grass.They wrestled and writhed, inseparable, one barking and yelling, the other just laughing.Finally Bran rolled onto it, with the muddy direwolf crushed beneath him. "Good wolf wolf," he gasped.Xia Tian licked his ear. Meera shook her head. "Has he never been angry?" "Never get angry with me." Bran grabbed the wolf's ear and Summer snarled fiercely at him, but it was all just a joke. "Sometimes he would tear my clothes, but there was never blood."

"That's your blood. If he just got through the net..." "It won't hurt you either. He knows I like you." All the lords and knights left Winterfell one or two days after the harvest banquet, and only the two young men from the Li De family stayed with Bran.Jojen was so serious that Old Nan called him "Little Grandpa," while Meera reminded him of his sister Arya.Like the second sister, she is never afraid of getting her clothes dirty, and likes to run, play, and throw things like a boy.She was much older than Arya, though, almost sixteen, a woman.As for myself, although I finally looked forward to the ninth name day, I am still younger than their siblings. Fortunately, they never treat him as a child.

"I wish our family had you and not Brother Ward," he said, struggling to make his way to the nearest tree.That wriggling and shuffling position must have been ugly, but when Meera reached out to help, he said, "No, I don't want help." Leaning against the trunk of the Daqin tree. "Look, I said I don't need to help," Xia Tian put his head on Bran's lap. "I've never seen anyone fight with a net before," he said to Meera, scratching the back of the direwolf's ear. "Is this taught by your tutor?" "My father taught it. Greywater Watch has no knights, nor masters nor maesters."

"What about the ravens, who will take care of them?" she laughed. "Ravens can't find Huishuiwang, just as the enemy can't find it." "why?" "Because it's moving," she told him. Bran hadn't heard of a walking castle before.He looked at her hesitantly, wondering if she was playing tricks on him. "I should like to see it. Do you think your lord father will let me see it when the war is over?" "You are very welcome, Your Highness. Both now and in the future." "And now?" Bran had never left Winterfell before.He really wanted to see distant countries. "I'll ask Ser Rodrik if he agrees when he comes back." The old knight went east to deal with a difficult matter on behalf of Winterfell.The cause of the incident was that Roose Bolton's illegitimate son had captured the Countess of Hornwood who had just returned from the harvest banquet, and married her that night-it was said that he was old enough to be her son.A few days later, Lord Manderly took over her castle.It was necessary to keep the Hornwood estate out of Bolton's hands, he explained in his letter, but Ser Rodrik was as angry with him as he had been with the bastard. "Ser Rodrik might agree. But Maester Luwin will not."

Jojen sat cross-legged under the weirwood, watching him gravely. "I wish you could leave Winterfell, Bran." "real?" "Yes. The sooner the better." "My brother has green vision," Meera said. "He can dream of things that haven't happened, and they often come true." "Not always, Meera." There was a look between them: he was sad, she was stubborn. "Tell me what happens," Bran said. "I will," Jojen said, "but please tell me your dream first." The godswood forest instantly became quiet.Bran heard the rustling of leaves, the faint sound of water from the Hot Springs of Adoza.He thought of the golden man and the three-eyed crow, and he thought of beaks pecking at skulls and the metallic taste of blood in their beaks.So he said, "I don't dream. Maester Luwin gives me sleeping pills."

"Does it work?" "very effective." Meera said, "All Winterfell knows you wake up at night sweating and shouting, Bran. The water maid said so, and the hall guard said so." "Tell us, what are you afraid of," Jojen said. "No. It's only a dream anyway. Maester Luwin says dreams mean nothing." "My brother dreams like any other boy, and some dreams may just be dreams," Meera said, "but green dreams are different." Jojen's eyes are the color of moss, and a lot of times, when he looks at you, you feel like he's seeing not only you, but many other things.like now. "I dreamed of a winged wolf bound to the ground by chains of gray stone," he said. "It was a green dream, and I know it to be true. A crow tried to break the chain, but the stone was too hard, and its beak left marks in vain."

"Does that crow have three eyes?" Jojen nodded. Summer raised his head from Bran's knees and stared at the clay figurine with those black eyes with golden pupils. "I had gray water fever as a child and nearly died. This crow saved my life." "It came after I fell," Bran blurted out. "At that time, I was in a coma for a long time, and it flew to tell me that I would either follow the flight or fall to my death. As a result, I woke up, but I was disabled and could not fly at all." "If you want to fly, you can fly." Meera picked up the net, shook off the tangle, and re-equipped.

"You are the winged wolf, Bran," said Jojen. "I wasn't sure when I came here, but I am now. The raven sent us to break your chains." "Do the crows live in Graywater Lookout?" "No. The crows are in the north." "Live on the Great Wall?" Bran has always wanted to visit the Great Wall.His bastard brother Jon was there, brother to the Night's Watch. "Beyond the Wall." Meera Reed tied the net at her belt. "Jojen told our lord father his dream, and he sent us to Winterfell without stopping." "How do I break the chains, Jojen?" Bran asked.

"open one's eyes." "I'm always open, can't you see?" "Two opened," Jojen pointed out, "one, two." "I only have two." "You have three. The crow gave you a third eye and you failed to open it." He always spoke slowly and softly. "With two eyes you can see my face. With three eyes you can see my heart. With two eyes you can see the oak tree now, with three eyes you can see the acorns of the past and the broken trees of the future With two eyes, you can only see the wall. With three eyes, you can see the Summer Sea to the south and the Great Wall of North Vietnam.” Xia Tian stood up. "I don't need to look that far," Bran smiled nervously. "I'm tired of talking about crows. Let's talk about wolves. Or lizards. Have you ever caught a lizard, Meera? We I've never seen such an animal before." Meera pulled the frog spear out of the undergrowth. "They live in water. Usually in slow creeks or deep swamps—" Her brother interrupted her: "You dreamed of lizards?" "No," Bran said, "I told you, I don't want to—" "You dreamed of a wolf?" He made Bran angry. "Why should I tell you my dreams? I am the Prince. I am the Stark of Winterfell." "What you dreamed about was summer?" "do not talk!" "On the night of the Harvest Banquet, you dreamed that you were Summer in the Godswood, didn't you?" "Shut up!" Bran yelled.Summer burst out from under the weirwood, showing his white teeth. Jojen Reed didn't care. "At that time, I touched Xia Tian and felt you in his body. Just like you are in his body now." "No way. I was in bed. I was sleeping!" "You're in the godswood, all gray." "It was just a nightmare..." Jojen stood up. "I feel your presence, I feel your fall. This is what you're afraid of? Falling?" Falling, Bran thought, and the Golden Man, the Queen's brother, who somehow scares me too, but falling is what I fear most.He never told anyone these words.What should I say?He could not tell Ser Rodrik and Maester Luwin, much less the Reeds.If you avoid talking about it, you may be able to forget it.He didn't want to keep the memory at all.That's not even a real memory at all. "Do you fall every night, Bran?" Jojen asked quietly. Xia Tian let out a rumbling growl from his throat, this time it was not a joke.He went straight forward, grinning his teeth, his eyes were fiery.Meera raised her spear and stood in front of her brother. "Tell him back, Bran." "Jojen pissed him off." Meera shook the net off. "No, it's your anger, Bran," said her brother. "Your fear." "No! I'm not a wolf!" Although he always screamed and howled with them in the dark night, he always tasted blood with them in wolf dreams. "Part of you is Summer, and part of Summer is you. You know that, Bran." Xia Tian pounced forward, but was stopped by Meera, and stabbed back with a three-pronged spear.The wolf twisted aside, circled around, and approached again.Meera turned to face him. "Tell him back, Bran." "Summer!" Bran yelled. "Come to me, Summer!" He stretched out his palm and slapped it on his thigh.The palms were numb and the thighs were stiff, but there was no feeling. The direwolf struck again, still parried by Meera's spear.Xia Tian deftly dodged the spearhead, turned around and backed away.Suddenly, there was a rustling sound in the undergrowth, and a thin black figure jumped out from under the weirwood, teeth bared.It turned out that the strong smell of his rage had attracted the younger brother.Bran felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.Meera stands beside her younger brother, under attack from both sides. "Bran, tell them to leave." "I can not do it!" "Jojen, climb the tree." "No need. Today is not my death day." "Quick!" she screamed, and her brother climbed up the weirwood trunk, using the hollow in the tree's face for support.The direwolves gathered around.Meera threw away the spear and net, and leaped up, grabbing the branches above her head.When she was dangling and turned up the branch, Mao Mao's big mouth just bit right below her ankle.Xia Tian squatted down and howled angrily, while Shaggy Dog seemed to be worried about the net, biting his teeth and shaking it non-stop. Only then did Bran remember that they were not alone.He put his hands around his mouth. "Hodor!" he cried, "Hodor! Hodor!" He was so frightened that he felt a little ashamed. "They won't hurt Hodor," he assured his friends in the tree. A moment later, they heard incoherent grunts.Hodor came rushing out of the hot spring, disheveled and covered in mud, but Bran had never been happier to see him. "Hodor, help me! Drive the wolves away! Drive them all away!" Hodor ran happily, waving his arms and stamping his feet, shouting, "Hodor, Hodor." He yelled back and forth between the two wolves.Shaggydog was the first to flee, and with a final growl he slid into the bushes.Summer also seemed to feel that enough was enough, so he ran back to Bran and lay down next to him. Meera picked up the spear and the net as soon as they came down from the tree, but Jojen never took his eyes off Summer. "We'll talk later," he promised Bran. That's the wolf, not me.He didn't understand why they got so wild.Maybe Maester Luwin was right to keep them in the godswood. "Hodor," he said, "take me to Maester Luwin." The maester's tower beneath the crow's nest is one of Bran's favorite places.Luwin really didn't know anything about cleaning and tidying up, but the messy books, scrolls, bottles and jars in the room, as well as the old master's bald head and long sleeves of the loose gray robe made him feel kind and warm.Besides, he liked those ravens very much. Maester Luwin was sitting in a high chair now, writing furiously.With Ser Rodrik gone, the management of the castle rested on his shoulders. "Your Highness," he said, when Hodor came in, "we're still a few hours away from class." The old maester spent several hours every afternoon teaching Bran, Rickon, and the two Walder Freys. "Hodor, stand still." Bran reached out and grabbed the candlestick on the wall, using it as a fulcrum to lift himself out of the basket.He hangs in mid-air for a while, waiting for Hodor to bring the stool. "Meera said his brother had green vision." Maester Luwin scratched his nose with the quill in his hand, "She said that?" He nodded. "I remember you told me that the children of the forest have green vision. I remember." "Many of them claim to have that ability. Their sages are called Green Seers." "Is this magic?" "Call it that if you like. Because it's essentially just another kind of knowledge." "What knowledge?" Luwin put down his pen. "No one in this world really knows, Bran. The Children of the Forest have vanished from this world, and with them their wisdom. We can only guess that this knowledge has something to do with the faces on the trees. The First Men believed the Greenseers Watch them through the eyes on the weirwood. That's why they cut down the wood every time they go to war with the children of the forest. It is speculated that the greenseers also have influence over the beasts and birds of the forest, and even control the fish. House of Reed Does the boy claim to have this ability?" "No, I don't think he has. But Meera says the things he dreams about tend to come true." "What we all dream about tends to come true. Remember, you dreamed your Lord Father was in the catacombs before he died?" "Rickon dreamed too. We had the same dream." "Call it a green vision if you like...but remember that you and Rickon have had thousands of other dreams that never came true. You won't forget what I taught you About the choker every maester must have?" Bran thought for a moment, trying to finish. "A maester must forge his own necklace in the Citadel of Oldtown. It is a chain because he who wears it must serve others. It contains many metals because he who wears it serves every class of the realm's inhabitants .You can add new chains every time you complete a new school. Black iron is for management crows, silver is for saving lives, and gold is for financial accounting. I don't remember the other colors." Luwin ran his fingers under the chain and swung one chain after another.He is short, but has a thick neck, so the necklace is very tight, and it takes a lot of effort to turn it. "This is Valyrian steel," he said, as a chain of dull gray metal rolled around his throat. "Only one maester in a hundred can wear this chain. It represents what I learned in the Citadel. It is the knowledge of advanced occult arts——magic, of course, this name is just for the sake of the sound. It is a very fascinating thing, but it is not practical, so few scholars devote themselves to this direction." "Sooner or later, those who learn the higher occult cannot resist the temptation to work their own magic. I must admit that even I cannot resist the temptation. Yes, I was a child, and what child did not secretly fantasize What about discovering magical powers within myself? Yet I ended up like a thousand children before me, and like a thousand after me. It's a pity that so-called magic doesn't work at all." "They work sometimes," Bran protested. "Like I had that dream, so did Rickon. And there are wizards and wizards in the East..." "There are people who call themselves wizards and wizards," said Maester Luwin. "In the Academy City, I have a friend who can conjure a rose out of your ear, but in fact, he and I can't use magic. Ah, it must be pointed out that there are still many unknown things in the world A lot. The torrent of history runs through centuries and millennia, and isn't a person's short life just a few hasty summers and a few small winters? We look up at the mountains and call them eternity, because they look like this... However, in the long river of time, mountains rise and fall, rivers change their course, stars fall from the sky, and cities sink into the ocean. If we are right, even the gods are born and die. The vicissitudes of life, the world changes. " "Magic may have been a great power in ancient times, but that era is lost forever. Now the remnants are like a few wisps of smoke from an extinguished fire, and even the wisps are fading Valyria is the last ashes, and it is long gone. There are no more dragons, and the giants are dead, and the children of the forest and all their knowledge are forgotten by the world." "No, my prince. Jojen Reed may have had a dream or two that he thought came true, but he never had green vision. No one alive has that ability." When Meera came to him at dusk, he told her the exact words.He sat by the window and watched the lights around him gradually come on, bringing life to the night. "I'm sorry about the wolf. Summer shouldn't have attacked Jojen, but Jojen shouldn't have talked about my dreams. The crow lied when he said I could fly, and so did your brother." "Don't you think maybe your bachelor is wrong?" "He was right. My dad always took his advice." "Your father listens, I don't doubt. But when the time comes to decide, he will make up his own mind. Bran, let me tell you about the dream Jojen had about you and your foster brother." "The Walders are not my brothers." She didn't care. "You sat at the supper table, and it was not a servant who served you, but Maester Luwin. He gave you the part of his roast that was fit only for a king, and it was half-cooked and bloody, with a tangy aroma that pissed everyone off." All salivating. Meanwhile, the Foyles he sent were old, gray, dead meat, but they were more pleased with their food than you were." "I don't understand." "You will understand. My brother said it, and when you understand what it means, we can talk again." Bran was afraid to go to the dinner party that night, but when he finally did, he found that pigeon pie had already been placed in his place.There was a portion for everyone, and he really didn't see anything special about what the Walders were eating.Maester Luwin was right, he told himself.No matter what Jojen said, nothing bad could happen to Winterfell.Bran breathed a sigh of relief...but he was also somewhat disappointed.If there is magic in the world, it means that anything can happen.Ghosts can walk, trees can talk, and crippled boys can stand up again and become knights. "But that can't be done," he said aloud, lying on the bed in the darkness. "There is no magic anymore, and all stories are just stories." So he can't walk, can't fly, and can never be a knight.