Can not you feel it? kusten to the darkness    Will could feel it , 4 years in the night's  watch and he had newver been so afraid what was it ?    wind, trees rustling , a wolf which sound is it that unmans you so, when Gared did not answer ,royce slid grace fully from his saddle, He tried the destrier securely to a low hanging limb, weill away from he other horsess, and drew his longsword from its sheath,lewes glittered in its hilt , and the moonlight rabn down the shining streel, he was splendid weapon, castle forged and new made from the look of it , will doubted it had ever been swungin anger the teees press close here, that sword will tangle you up, better a knife it I need instruction , will ask for it , stay here guard the horsses we need afire m i;ll see to it how big a fool are you > it there are enemies in this wood a fire is the last thing we want there ;s ome enemies a fire will keep away ,bears and direwolves and and other things    no fire, gared;s hood shadowed this fdace but will could see the hard glitter in his eyes as he stared at the knight , for a moment he was afraid the older man would go for his sword , it was a short, ugly thing ,its grip siscolored by weat , its edge nicked from hard use, but will would not have given an iron bob for the lordiling life if garedpulled it from it scabbardm funally m looked down , nofire, low under his breath, will threaded thire way through a thicket , then started up the slope to the low ridfe where he had found his vantage point under a sentined tree under the thin crust of now , the ground was damp and muddy, slick footing with rocks and hidden roots to reip you up, will made no sound as he climbed  behind him, he heard the soft metalic slither of the lording ringmauil, the rustle of leaves , and muttered cureses as reaching branches grabbed at this lignsword nad tugged on this splendid sable cloak,    the great sentinel was right there at the top of the ridge, where will had known it would be, it;s lowesrt branches a bare foot off the froud will slid in underneath, flat on this belly in the snow and the mud , and looked down on the empty clearing below his heart stooed in this chest , for a moment he dared not breathe . moonlight shine down on the clearing , the ashes of the firepit, the snow covered lean to the gfreat rock, the little half frozen sream, evertthing was just as it had been afew hours age.    they were gone, gods , a sword slashed at a branch as gained the ridge,m he stood there beside the sentinel longsword in hand , his cloak billowing behind him as the wind came up , outlined nobly against the stats for all to see    he looked down at the empty clearing and laughed your dead men seem to have moved camp will vice abandoned him, he froped for words that did not come , it was not possible his eyes wept back and forth over the abandoned campsite, stpped on the axe , a huge double bladed battle axe still lying where he had seen it last, untouched a valiable weapon on your feeel , threre;s no one here , i won;t have you hiding under a bush iam not going back to castle black a failure on mu first ranging , we will find these men, he glanced around up the tree be quick about it look for a fire turned awat , wordless there was no use to argure, the wind was moving ,it cut right threogh him, he went to the tree , a va=ulting greeen sentinel and begain to climb soon his hands were sticky with sap, and he was lost among the needles frar filled his gut like a meal he could not digest he whispred a prayper to the namelesss gods og the wood , and slipped his firk free of it sheath he put it between his teeth to keep both hands free for climbing , the taste of cold iron in his moutha gave him comfort    wukk saw movenment from the corner of his eye,pales hapes gliding through the wood, he turned his head , glimpse a white shadow in the darkness , then , it was gone , branches stirred gently in the wind, scratching at one another with wooden fingers will poened his mouth to call down a warning , and the words seemed to freeze in his thraoat perhaps he was wrong , perhaps it had onlyu been a bird, a reflection on the snow , some trick of the moonlight , waht had he seen agter all>? can you see anything , he was turning in a slow circel , suddenly wary , his sword in in hand , he must have felt them, as will felt them , there was nothing to see, answer me why it it so cold,    it was cold , shiver ing will clung mre tightly to his perch , his face pressed hard against the reunk of the sentinel he could fell the sweet sticky sap on his cheek     a shadow emeerged from the dark of the wood, it stood in front of  tall it was and gaunt and hard as old bopones wwith fleash pale as millk, it;s armorseemed to change clolr , as it moved there it was white as new fallen snow , there black as shadow , eertwhere daooled with the deeo grey- green of the reeees the patterns ran like moonlight on water with every strp it took