Tower of the Hand

Qhorin, Ebben, Dalbridge, Stonesnake, Jon, and Ghost continue through the Skirling Pass. While they are stopped one night, Jon and Qhorin discuss Jon's encounter with Ygritte and Mance Rayder. Qhorin was friends with Mance, whom he considered one of the Watch's best rangers in terms of skill, but lacking the necessary discipline. Jon asks why Mance deserted, and Qhorin says he does not know for sure but that he was born a wildling and taken as a child and always found a life of obedience hard.  Jon reveals to Qhorin that he let Ygritte go. Qhorin is not surprised. He says he did not need her dead and saw it as an opportunity to learn more about Jon. Jon goes to sleep and dreams that he is Ghost. He sees his brother's face in a weirwood, but with three eyes. He also smells death, but his brother says he does not mind the dark. His brother says that he did not have three eyes before the crow and tries to open Ghost's eyes too, causing Jon to wake up.¹ He is still in Ghost, however, who sees the wildling camp spread out below him. They are a disorganized rabble. He sees mammoths with giants riding on their backs as well. An eagle² attacks from the sky, and Jon wakes up screaming. He relates everything to Qhorin. Ebben thinks the eagle sounds like a skinchanger, a man who can project himself into an animal. The rangers are unsure what to think and decide to press on and see for themselves. They spy an eagle as they walk, and then Jon spots Ghost, injured, but alive. After they patch him up, Qhorin tells them to go back the other way; the eagle has seen them, and they will be pursued. When they arrive at the spot where they killed the wildling sentries, Qhorin orders Dalbridge to stay behind to hold off the pursuers. As the rest continue, they hear horns behind them.