CHAPTER 9: BRAN

Bran, inside Summer, races a ridgeline and senses a nearby wolf pack bringing down a deer. Drawn by hunger and dominance, Summer challenges the pack’s old leader, defeats him, and claims the kill, until Hodor’s distant voice intrudes and pulls Bran back to himself.

Bran wakes in the mossy vault of Tumbledown Tower, where he hides with Hodor, Meera Reed, and Jojen Reed. They cook fish and frogs while Jojen presses Bran to remember himself when skinchanging and to complete tasks that prove control, warning that a warg cannot live by a beast’s kills and that Bran risks being consumed by the wolf.

Discussion turns to the war-scoured North and their next move. Meera argues for remaining hidden or finding mounts; Jojen insists they must travel afoot and that secrecy is Bran’s only safety. Bran dreams of seeking allies among Umbers, Karstarks, or Manderlys, but Jojen warns that revealing Bran alive would make him prey.

Jojen explains the limits of his green dreams and the need for a truer teacher, a greenseer beyond the Wall. Meera places the choice with Bran, pledging to follow his command. After weighing survival against purpose and accepting that hiding means stagnation, Bran decides: he wants to fly, and orders the group to seek the three-eyed crow.