Sam and Gilly come to an abandoned village that Sam prays is Whitetree, for otherwise they are hopelessly lost. Sam is in bad shape and on foot because his horse died three days into the journey. After a little poking around, he realizes with dismay that they are not at Whitetree. They take shelter in a long hall and go to sleep. Sam wakes up late that night in extreme cold. He sees the wight of Small Paul coming towards them. He tells Gilly to get the horse while he faces Paul with the dragonglass dagger, which he took from Lord Commander Mormont after he died. Sam lunges at Paul and stabs him, but dragonglass proves useless against a wight and the blade shatters. Paul grabs him and begins to choke him, almost succeeding until Sam lurches and puts him off balance. He is able to grab an ember and destroy the wight. He goes outside to find Gilly surrounded by many more wights, including some of those lost on the Fist and after such as Lark, Softfoot, Ryles, Chett, and Hake. Suddenly, Sam notices thousands of ravens in the trees that descend upon the wights. A raven on Sam's shoulder tells him to go, and he grabs Gilly and flees. A strange cloaked figure riding an elk and dressed and hooded in blacks and grays calls Sam brother and bids them come to him. He helps them onto the elk, and when he grabs Sam, Sam realizes his hands are black and cold and hard as stone.