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  elia and the others stayed at Castle Bck for two days. During this time, she rarely went out iernoons, but took the opportunity to observe the training of the Night's Watd talk with Ser Jeor Mormont or Maester Aemon.

  It should be said that she spent most of her time talking to Maester Aemon, a friendly and very experienced man. Of course, perhaps he was only superficially friendly, but elia ealking to him a great deal.

  Finally, at dusk on the sed day after her arrival at Castle Bck, Uncle Beook her father outside the gates, and elia didn’t know why they had left. She only khat her father and uncle had told her to pretend to be sick the day.

  So, on the m of the third day, she "fell ill," g that the climate and temperature of the pce were affeg her health. Ser Mormont and Maester Aemon came to visit her out of courtesy, but only made a brief visit to greet her. After a few quick words, they left, as her dition seemed serious and it was inveo receive visitors.

  After that, elia refused all visitors and stayed in her room for safety, not leaving it that day. On the m of the fourth day, when she was about to have lunch, Ser Mormouro the house. She exged a few words with him in a weak voice but avoided looking at him directly.

  Then, in the middle of that night, elia finally left Castle Bck. As for the disguise of her "illness," she khat she was leaving the responsibility to Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik, who would handle closing the doors and ensuring her safe departure. Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik had decided to take her back to Winterfell, and for that, they would first go to Nightfort, where they would wait after returning from the north.

  As for deceiving Ser Mormont, that was a matter for Maester Luwin and Ser Rodrik, and elia fully trusted that they would hahe situation well.

  Ned and Maester Luwin had set a deadline of one month to a month and a half after elia’s departure from Castle Bck. When that time expired, whether or not they had found the snow-covered valley, they would have to return from the far north of the Wall. Regardless of the oute, her father and Uncle Benjen would send her first to Nightfort.

  Sincle Benjen knew of a secret passage under Nightfort that led to the north, elia could return to Nightfort through this passage to reuh Maester Luwin and the others. After that, they would escort her bae, while her father and Uncle Benjen would return directly to Castle Bck, from where they would then go to Winterfell.

  Shortly after elia left Castle Bck, she found her father and Uncle Benjen, who had been waiting for her for quite a while. Once reuhey immediately headed north.

  This time, they decided to travel at night a during the day, as her vision was limited in daylight. If the roads had been easy to travel, there would have been no problem, but the trails in the north were particurly difficult. Even with her keen senses, she could only identify the presence of life around her, and the reality was that, in this nd of eternal winter, any sign of life was rare.

  In any case, maybe it was better not to enter anyone.

  "Uncle Benjen, we 't go this way!"

  They walked all night, and as daroached, Uncle Benjen wao guide them further north, along the trail used by the Night’s Watch. This path showed signs of human movement, but elia interrupted him. She had never been to the north and didn’t know where Uncle Benjen inteo take them.

  Still, an inexplicable intuition told her that the pce they were looking for wasn’t in that dire.

  Although elia couldn’t expihis intuition came from, it was exactly what made her insist on traveling further north. Something seemed to be calling her, urgio find whatever it was.

  "Everyone goes through here. If not this road, then where else will we go?" Beopped and frowned, fused, as he looked at elia. This path is the safest. The other dires haven’t even been explored.

  The north was full of dangers. Uhe wildlings, who had grown up in the region and were perfectly adapted to the hostile climate and treacherous terrain, they did not have that advantage.

  elia lowered her head, closed her eyes, and remained silent, as though trying to sense something in the middle of the night. Ned and Benjen looked at each other, unsure of what to do, and decided to wait.

  elia’s behavior couldn’t be analyzed in a ventional erhaps, as she had said, only she could find the mysterious snow-covered valley. Maybe it was something that only she truly uood.

  "Let’s go this way!"

  After a moment, elia raised her head, opened her eyes, and firmly poio the right, in the opposite dire to the path Benjen had suggested.

  "Are you sure about this?" Benjen asked, casting a suspicious look at the indicated dire. It was a dense, dangerous forest, covered in snow, which made the idea even riskier, especially at night.

  But maybe that was exactly it. Maybe the snow-covered valley had never been found because the safe path didn’t lead to it.

  "I’m sure!" elia affirmed with a nod, looking directly at her father and Uncle Behough she couldn’t expin the reason for such vi, she felt that something was in that dire.

  It was ahereal and hard-to-define feeling. For someone who had grown up influenced by the practical and rational values of her previous life, elia always found it strao deal with cepts of gods, ghosts, and supernatural powers. However, she had to stantly remind herself that this world was different. A magical pce, where some people could even trol animals or other people. So, her behavior seemed insignifit in parison.

  In truth, elia wasn’t sure what was stranger: her own power or the ability to trol creatures. Or maybe they were essentially the same thing?

  In the end, her father and Uncle Benjen decided to trust her intuition and follow the dire she poihe north was vast, and time was limited. Instead of searg for a needle in a haystack, it seemed more sensible to follow elia’s strange perception. It was a gamble, but ohat might yield better results.

  However, they didn’t walk for long before the day began to break. Suddenly, elia felt her vision darken. She had to lean on the e she had been using as a crutch sihe start of the jouro tinue. When they found a suitable pce, they finally took a break to rest and recover.

  They resumed their journey as night fell. Fht days, they followed the dire indicated by elia, but found nothing.

  The journey was long, tedious, and exhausting. Traveling at night aing during the day only worsehe fatigue. Still, the journey was surprisingly calm. They didn’t enter wildlings, beasts, hosts. Although elia didn’t feel the cold, her father and uncle suffered from the freezing northern winds, enduring bravely fht days.

  They didn’t e across any living creatures along the way, which, in some ways, was fortunate. An enter with a wildling tribe could have been catastrophic.

  Despite the retive calm, it was impossible not to feel frustration after so many days without results. Although elia had an inexplicable feeling that seemed to intensify over time, she began to question herself.

  Was this "intuition" just an illusioed by her own mind? What if the snow-covered valley did at all, and it was simply the product of an absurd and inexplicable dream?

  And because of a daydream, had she insisted that her father and uncle apany her on an advehrough such a dangerous nd as the north?

  But they had e this far, and turning baow wasn’t an option. There was no reason to go back. Only two possible outes remained: either they would find the Snowy Vale within the agreed time, or they would have to retury-handed when time ran out.

  There was no alternative.

  Fortunately, on the eve of the twelfth day, elia experienced something she had never felt before. An inexplicable force took hold of her, so intehat it could not be ignored. It was different from anything she had ever experienced, making it clear that it was not just the product of her imagination.

  With absolute certainty, she told her father and Uncle Benjen about her intuition. However, si was almost dawn, they decided it was not wise to tinue. If the pce they were looking for was indeed just ahead, it would be better to wait, regain their strength, and proceed carefully during the night.

  Even if elia’s premonition was correct, the snow-covered valley she had seen so many times in her dreams seemed far toe. Added to this was her inexplicable telepathiion with the pce.

  What if it was a trap?

  They o be extremely cautious. After all, no one knew what awaited them beyond this point.

  So they decided to stop where they were a for the entire day. Until then, they had usually left before nightfall, walking slowly at first to spare elia, then pig up the pace after su. But this time, they waited until night had fully settled before starting their journey.

  With the certainty that the Snowy Vale was near, they proceeded even more cautiously, carefully watg their surroundings fns of danger or ambush.

  But the crossing was surprisingly calm.

  Finally, they arrived at the snow-covered valley, a pce elia had never visited but that seemed strangely familiar to her. No is occurred along the way. Everything was so peaceful that, for a moment, they almost fot they were in the dangerous nd beyond the Wall.

  "Is this it, Lia?" Ned asked, standing at the edge of the cliff, looking down at the dark, snow-covered valley below. Despite the apparent tranquility of the pce, something made him uneasy. It was a feeling he couldn’t expin.

  Because it was too quiet.

  Acc to Behe nd of eternal winter was known for its relentless snow and the cold wind that never ceased. Yet here, around the valley, even the wind seemed mild.

  "This is the pce I’ve been dreaming of for five years. I have no doubt," elia replied, staring down at the bottom of the valley. A few nights ago, she and her father had pted the ndscape of the Wall, and that snow-covered valley was almost at the same height as the Wall itself.

  The darkness below was dense. Not even elia’s sharp sight could reach the bottom. The depth of the abyss was impressive and terrifying.

  "Now, the question is, how do we desd? Should we go around and find a safer path? Or just go down?" Benjen asked, massaging his temples as he stared at the bottomless cliff in front of him. He tried to s the surroundings for a route, but the dark sky and low visibility made any attempt difficult.

  Was desding the only option?

  The cliff was dangerous, but if there was no other way, he and Ned could try it. But what about elia? Despite her martial skills trained since she was five, she was still a ten-year-old girl.

  Benjen sighed deeply. "May the old gods and the new bear witness, this is not prejudice. But in the end, women don’t have the same physical strength as men."

  "There’s no need for that."

  elia, however, shook her head calmly. Although she couldn’t see the bottom of the valley, she felt incredibly familiar with the pce. She khat this snow-covered valley formed a basin-shaped depression. The cliffs around it were much steeper thaer terrain in the ter.

  elia took a few steps forward, approag the edge of the cliff. Slowly, she crouched dowending her right hand and pressing it firmly against the frozen ground. Closing her eyes, she trated all her energy, eling it into her palm.

  After a few moments of absolute silence, a faint noise broke the stillness. Ned and Benjen, alert, saw somethiraordinary: enormous blocks of ice began to emerge from the cliff, f a solid structure.

  "Ice bricks," Benjen murmured, still in disbelief.

  They both stepped forward to get a better view. The ice blocks extended like steps down the cliff face. The structure tinued beyond their night vision, disappearing into the bottom of the valley. Still, the tinuous sound of the steps f echoed everywhere.

  Ned and Beood frozen, uo express what they were feeling. They knew elia had special abilities, but they had never witnessed anything so impressive. The depth of what she was capable of seemed to finally reveal itself.

  "Let’s get ready to go down, Father, Uncle Benjen!"

  elia slowly rose, her hands trembling slightly from weakness. Oside, she appeared calm, but in truth, she was exhausted. The effort had been much greater tha on.

  Despite years of training, elia knew her limits. She knew better than anyone what she could and couldn’t do, and she uood that if she had been in Winterfell or Castle Bck, what she had just done would have been impossible.

  The truth was strange, but undeniable: something about the Snowy Vale seemed to amplify her abilities. The mere fact of being there seemed to unlock a power she could never have accessed elsewhere.

  If she had tried the night before, she would have failed.

  But that night, in that pce, at that exaent, everything aligned. She had to be there.

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