An Ice Dragon

A/N: Just wanted to take a moment to say thank you for all the support so far now that, as of this chapter, this story has officially surpassed 1,000 likes. So, between that and reaching a new Chyoa bracket by making it to a thread 25 chapters deep, I certainly appreciate all the encouragement. Enjoy!

Jon Snow's jaw dropped to the ground, staring at the blue dragon at the entrance of the North Grove tunnel. He shook his head almost imperceptibly as it got closer, possibilities battling inside his mind at lightning speed.

"What...when...how...?" He babbled, shocked to the core.

The resident Child of the Forest stood to his right and he was pretty sure she was smirking fondly; he just didn't bother to check because he couldn't take his eyes off the wondrous creature.

"That," Spring began, "is an Ice Dragon. Unlike the fire dragons from Valyria, they didn't go extinct a century and a half ago, although their numbers have never been high to begin with. While there have been sightings of them every now and then across the Shivering Sea, they prefer the climate to the far north of the Lands of Always Winter so they are rarely seen this close to the Wall."

"Then what is it doing here?" The former Lord Commander asked.

There was a pause, followed by a reply he did not expect.

"She was waiting for you," The supernatural woman assured him.

"Wait, what?" Jon asked, turning to look at her.

The female Child of the Forest joined her hands together, her fingers interlocking.

"You may not know this but, occasionally, Children of the Forest can mentally communicate with animals. That holds especially true for animals that have a spark of magic within them, such as dragons," She explained. "And that was how I learned from her that she has been waiting for you ever since she arrived at the North Grove."

"Why?" The Bastard of Winterfell asked slowly as if chewing the word to taste it better.

"Turns out, the White Walkers have been trying to dominate Ice Dragons for a while now, in order to get them past the Wall," Spring remarked. "However, unlike their other undead slaves, they couldn't just kill the mighty beasts before raising them because Ice Dragons immediately melt after they die. Between that and the fact they are highly resistant to ice magic like the walkers themselves are, the Night King and his lieutenants have been **** to rely on...cruder methods than they would like to get them to cooperate."

"However," She went on, "Their efforts have failed so far since Ice Dragons have a strong, strong aversion to allowing anyone to mount them against their will. That's why when you managed to kill that White Walker that was keeping her restrained during the Battle of Hardhome, she immediately took off, taking advantage of the fact that the wights that have been containing her suddenly dropped dead after the necromancer that raised them was destroyed."

Jon nodded as he tried to took in everything. Then his eyes widened.

"Wait, once a White Walker is killed then every wight they personally raised returns to the grave?" He asked in surprise.

The Child of the Forest looked at him, then nodded. "Yes," She said simply.

The new god scratched his chin, contemplating the possibilities from this important revelation. Then he broke the silence after a bit. "But what brought this dragon here, specifically?"

"The Three-eyed Raven," Spring declared. "While the Ice dragon was trying to flee the Army of the Dead, she got close to his sanctuary, and, by then, he had already received the intense visions that erupted after your resurrection. So, he used his own powers to share part of those visions with her, showed her that you were the one that freed her, and tapped into her desire for retribution against the White Walkers. It took a bit of time that he could have used to attempt a form of escape instead, and he had to reveal the spark of godhood you now possess to convince her but in the end, she has agreed to let you ride her against your enemies."

Jon's jaw dropped once more, the eyes of the blue dragon examinating him intensely. Before long, however, she grinned, a wide row of razor-sharp teeth appearing in front of him. Then she lowered herself on the ground with her shoulder pointing towards him.

The invitation was clear but Jon hesitated for a moment, still not over his shock that this was actually happening. In the end, though, he realized it wouldn't be smart to keep a great dragon waiting so he approached carefully. When he was finally in front of the female dragon, she extended her neck. Then, taking a deep breath, Jon petted a dragon for the first time in his life.

Her scales were cold; dangerously cold, in fact. This is why he took a page from the cover story he used back in the Free Folk camp and made a wish that made him absorb the Ice Dragon's magical resistance to cold.

Jon grinned, delighted as he felt better immediately. "It seems I won't have to freeze my balls off any longer." He thought to himself.

He could tell the Giants and the Free Folk were staring at him in awe as he continued to caress the neck of the mighty dragon. Even the giants that had been on the White Walker hunt had returned in time to look, their dragonglass spears dropping to the ground in their shock. And it was at that moment that the new god knew for sure: he won't have any trouble securing their loyalty even without using his new powers to affect their minds directly.

That pleased him.

"You and I are going to be great friends," Jon told the female dragon with a big smile.

Her smirk widened at that but she made no sound. So, he looked back at the forces that had rallied within the North Grove and focused on Spring.

"Everyone, follow me to the Weirwood tree," He told her. "I think I know what the greenseer meant when he asked you to show it to me. Let's get south of the Wall."

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the draconic development! Just so we are clear, I am basing some of the characteristics of the Ice Dragons from the ones on the short story of the same name that the author of A Song of Ice and Fire also wrote, such as the fact they melt when they die. They are actually a thing on the far north of the Planetos, according to some Maesters, just remarkably elusive, so sightings are rare.

Finally, I used the image of Saphira from the Eragon movie due to her colors, as I originally foreshadowed in the Faceless Men chapter. Know, however, that I may end up using images of other dragons in the future, as I have had a hard time finding enough images of Saphira alone to my liking.

Anyway, thanks for all the support and I hope you enjoy the coming chapters now that we are approaching the end of Arc Three. Leave a comment if anything caught your attention and until next time guys, see ya!