Beneath the ancient castle of Winterfell, there lay the hot springs that provided the warmth to the age-old castle even in the harshest of winters. In the cold North, a castle like Winterfell was a magical construct but to my mind, this is a marvel of sophisticated architectural achievement. What else can it be called when the people who had only stone tools and bronze weapons managed to construct something long-lasting for more than 8000 years?

The water splashed as I jumped into the moderate hot water creating ripples that wetted the age-old base stones of Winterfell. Some edges of the spring glowed eerily in green light. Some would consider that as the presence of magic or some godly bullshit but my extensive dives to the depths of the hot springs have revealed that there are several emerald-like crystals. The exact position would be the Northernmost corner of the hot spring where the stone walls of the castle meet the water. Right beneath that joint lies a small opening similar to the mouth of a tunnel but one with the width of an elephant's trunk. On first glance under the water, it would look like the green plants growing out from the small pocket was the reason the spring was glowing green. But I knew better and I knew exactly what was inside that opening. After all, I managed to find several vague references of this place from the ancient scrolls that were written by the Winter Kings of old from the library of Winterfell.

Taking a deep breath I dived under the water and the lamp that I have lit on the side of the spring gave me the much-needed visibility. With the chisel and hammer in my hands, I started to cut a small incision on the side of the rock for a little bit of leverage. After that was done I used a knife that I strapped on to my ankle and began to clean up some of the dirt and plants that blocked the mouth of the opening. I could see more of that glow from the opening and I went back up to take a much-needed breathe of air and returned back. After fifteen minutes of working on that opening, I finally managed to clean up the whole thing and laid my eyes on the price.

I have only read descriptions of this hidden spot and that too from shabby old scrolls filled with runic script of the Old Tongue. I had to suffer extensive research on the language but thankfully Old Nan was willing to teach me little that she knew and I had an ally that could look into the past.

Just as the scrolls mentioned I could see so many emerald crystals inside the small tunnel but what I was more interested in was the red blade that gave off waves of heat. Now that all the dirt was removed I could see the red hot blade that was glowing red as if it contained solidified lava. I reached out with my left hand and took hold of the sword by its black wooden handle and pulled it out. I was careful to do this slowly so as not to scrape my arm over the sharp pointy crystals that were glowing because of the sword.

I swam back over to the surface and took a seat on a rock while carefully holding the blade away from touching my body. I could feel the heat from the blade and I didn't want to get spontaneously scorched for my carelessness. Taking a long look at the legendary blade in my hand there was no doubt in my mind that this here is the Lightbringer. This is the sword that was said to be wielded by Azor Ahai in the first battle for Dawn to allegedly defeat the Great Other. While I doubted some parts of the story this is a clear proof to the existence of Lightbringer and Azor Ahai or in this case Brandon the Builder. I nearly let out a whoop of success but I managed to hold it in lest I wake up the entire inhabitants of the castle at midnight.

"In time I will return for you Lightbringer. Till then stay here and warm the hot springs. Soon you will be needed to bring the undead to rest." I whispered to the blade and swam back into the spring and returned the blade to its previous position. Although, I did cut out some handful of emerald gems from the small tunnel. I was going to need those in a large quantity for the plans that I have swimming in my head. After I sealed the tunnel with as much dirt and plants I could manage I swam back to the edge of the spring and dried myself.

After dressing myself and covering myself up in a woollen cloth to ward off the biting cold I carefully navigated through the corridors of Winterfell and finally reached the Godswood. It has been twelve years since I found myself in Westeros and each year has been spent on planning for my future. While I would truly love to save the Starks from the horrendous fate that awaited them I had to prioritise. I can't fight a thousand battles and expect to win all of them. If I want to survive in this cut-throat world I have to choose my battles and sadly that means I have to get the hell out of this place before everything goes sideways. My plan was not just to go away from Winterfell but rather away from this entire mad continent altogether. I have many plans and I can't act on them with the constraints placed on me as a bastard son of Ned Stark. It is to Braavos that I wish to go but before that, I need to make a stop somewhere else.

I walked deep into the Godswood and came across the heart tree. Up in the lowest branch of the tree, I could feel a pair of intelligent eyes observing my every move.

"You were right raven. I found Lightbringer and I am ready to enact the plan that we discussed. Are you ready to proceed.?" I looked up into the branch and within the darkness of the night, I could hear the fluttering of wings. In the pale moonlight, I saw a raven stepping out of the darkness. The creature looked straight into my eyes and spoke,

"Come to the Wall."