The first chapter of the entire series begins with the Point of View from Raymar Peake, the son of Lord Tion Peake. Raymar has appeared in a story before, in the prequel 'Arrival of the Angel' he is one of the Northerners who escorts Joanna Forrester down from WinterFort to King's Landing. In this time, Raymar is again surrounded by his fellow Northerners but now instead of the acclaimed King's Landing they are now in the unknown regions beyond The Winter Waste. Raymar remarks 'They've been picking us off one by one', as we later find out in the chapter - the long-dead mythical beings The Others have been stalking after the Northern party, slowly killing them; 'The woods grow misty' as The Others come.
Raymar is with eleven other Northerners, all of them are highborn - lords or sons of lords. Originally there had been thirty but twelve remain. They have been sent beyond-the-waste to find out why the wildlings have been flocking down south to The North. Ofcourse The North and the wildlings have been in constant conflict for thousands of years, with over the years wildling Kings riding down south and Forrester Kings riding up north to fight. In the context of this text, there have been a record amount of wildlings appearing in The North causing trouble; many of the Northerners suspect an attack from the wildlings - considering the rumours that there is a new wildling king.
Some of the Northerners begin to worry around themselves, and entertain the fact that The Others may be around and may be at fault for the missing men. Lord Qhorin Rowan, the Lord of Skirling Pass doesn't believe so and he stubbornly pushes on with his men. Raymar suddenly notices that the Haunted Forest has become absolutley silent, which frightens him as he recounts on creatures he's seen and stories he's heard about the Haunted Forest. The Northerners are heightened in the senses, feeling that they're being stalked and seeing things all over. They happen upon a dead carcass nailed onto a tree, Raymar notices it's one of the wildlings they were tracking and suggests they should go back to report it to Lord Forrester but Lord Rowan disagrees again and has them push further.
Everyone except Rowan believes that they've seen The Others, and once they mention The Others total silence emerges again. A stream that was running by freezes over and they are left in silence, which seems to be a common motif of The Others - the temperature drops and silence emerges. Lord Rowan denies returning home, feeling personal vengeance against the wildlings who have attacked his castle of Skirling Pass for thousands of years and even recently. Lord Vance comes racing to tell them that They are here, and Vance's hair and clothes are in tatterns. Did Vance fight with the wildlings or did he fight with The Others?
An Other comes floating out from the woods, reappearing for the first time in 8,000 years. Lord Rowan, who had been all talk so far, stands and faces The Other but he is killed with ease and Raymar turns away for help but sees that everyone else has ran. Much like the wildlings such as Samalah who claim they are running down south from dead men, Raymar's fellow Northerners run, run away from The Others. The wildlings and The Northerners aren't so different now are they?
Raymar's sword meets The Other's sword, but his steel shatters into a million pieces, The Other laughs when it kills Lord Rowan and Raymar cries when he stares into The Other's eyes but his tear freezes on his cheek, the temperature is that cold. The Other slashes at Raymar's neck and he dies.