Page 21 of The Enchanted Frost

In this quiet, snow-blanketed world, the storm outside was a distant concern. All that mattered was the warmth of his arms around me, a warmth I was surprised to experience from a being of ice, the feeling of safety and belonging that enveloped me. I closed my eyes, letting the sensation of beingwith him anchor me in this strange, beautiful reality where for once everything felt exactly as it should.

For a long moment, my mind was content to remain in this cocoon of peace, an emotion that had felt elusive ever since I’d lost everything. But eventually my thoughts stirred, attempting to piece together the events from the night before, fragments of memories slowly resurfacing.

When the flurry of snow had first descended, blanketing the world in fresh whiteness, my initial thought had been the suffocating terror of freezing to death all over again, as if the chill of that night had never truly left me. The memory had resurfaced with a sharp clarity, as though the cold had unlocked a door I tried desperately to keep sealed shut—the violent, uncontrollable shivers; wrapping myself in every thin rag I could find that were all inefficient against the biting chill; the sound of my chattering teeth echoing the dread seeping into my chest; my tears freezing against my cheeks, leaving my face raw and stinging; the pervasive cold as it seeped into my bones, sapping my strength and warmth.

My memories had consumed me so completely that I’d been unaware of Frost guiding me to shelter, and only faintly aware of him using one of my matches to light a fire until its orange glow filled the damp cavern. My cheeks burned as I vaguely recalled drowsily reaching for him, fighting to stay awake—half terrified that if I slept, he would use his power to claim my soul during the night.

As I trembled in the icy grip of my memories, his arms suddenly wrapped around me, pulling me close to his chest. Though his body had always possessed a constant chill as if he’d been outside too long, a surprising wave of warmth radiated from him, seeping into my skin to chase away the cold that had gripped my body and taken root in my heart, threatening to consume me.

I felt a flicker of hope rekindle within me, warmed by theunexpected kindness of my enigmatic rescuer. How strange that in the arms of the embodiment of winter itself the cold couldn’t touch me, and the terror that had haunted me melted away like snow in the spring sun. I was at a loss as to his motive for protecting me from the elements when he could have just allowed me to freeze so he could claim my soul.

Yet in this moment his mysterious motives didn’t matter. I pressed closer, letting myself be enveloped by the calming security he offered. With him, the recollection of freezing seemed like a distant memory, muted and far away. Despite being stranded during a violent storm, I’d never felt so safe, not even in my former life of wealth. Such elusive comfort seemed like nothing more than a dream, and I couldn’t help wondering if I’d wake up in that abandoned alley on the brink of death.

The morning sun slowly rose, its rays piercing through the chill to brighten the dank stone walls. Inside, the fire had long since died down, leaving only faint wisps of smoke curling into the air. As the sun’s warmth intensified, a delicate transformation began to unfold, causing the icicles and layers of frost to melt away.

Eventually, I felt Frost stir, and I hastily closed my eyes, afraid to let him know I was awake, fearing that this beautiful moment of the first time I could remember being held would come to an end. Yet some unseen force compelled me to steal a peek, curious to see what this mysterious being looked like when waking. He blinked sleep from his deep blue eyes before they widened as he took in our entwined position.

His breath caught. “I’m sorry, you were shivering and I wanted to…” His breathless explanation tumbled out in his haste to explain and the rest of his words faltered. He shifted slightly, his arm moving away from where it had rested protectively around me. A frown creased his brow as he glanced at the morning light, as though puzzled to realize he’d been asleep so long.

The absence of his touch left my skin tingling, somehow leaving me colder than when I’d been wrapped in his cold embrace, but I couldn’t bring myself to ask him to hold me again.

The cave suddenly seemed smaller, the space between us filled with the weight of our unspoken thoughts. My heart pounded in my chest, every tiny movement amplified in the silence. The cave suddenly seemed smaller, yet the intimacy we’d shared felt distant, replaced by an awkwardness that neither of us knew how to navigate.

Our gazes briefly met before we both quickly looked away. We slowly sat up, careful not to brush against each other, the silence stretching on, almost uncomfortable.

Desperate to break the tension, I opened my mouth to say something,anything…but the words caught in my throat. As if sharing my struggle, he shyly glanced at me out of the corner of his eye before hastily focusing on the remnants of the fire. The memory of how naturally we’d clung to each other in the cold seemed almost surreal in the face of our present discomfort, as if it had happened to someone else.

Eventually, he cleared his throat, the sound startling in the stillness. “Are you…alright?”

“I think so,” I responded hastily, my voice tinged with an awkward laugh that did nothing to ease the tension. “Thank you for helping me.”

His hand brushed through his hair as he looked away again, the moment passing like a fleeting shadow. I never would have imagined that a being who embodied the confidence and unyielding strength of winter could in this moment appear so flustered. It was disarming, a glimpse of vulnerability that I hadn’t expected to see in him.

The unspoken tension between us thickened, like the air before a storm, and with it came the awareness of all the conversations that remained unspoken, growing more pressing until they could no longer be suppressed. “Why did you help me? Wouldn’t it have been easier to let me freeze?” I spoke hesitantly, my breath visible in the cool air that surrounded us.

His gaze, which had been determinedly avoiding mine, suddenly snapped back to me with a startled intensity, his eyes widening with something akin to horror at the thought. “Allow you tofreeze?I could never do that.” He shifted closer, as though to protect me from the icy grip of winter that hadn’t yet completed its job.

“Yet that doesn’t change the fact that you’re seeking a way to claim my soul.” The words hung between us like a weight. I yearned to ask him how much time I had remaining, even as I was afraid to know. The past few days we’d spent together had been more fulfilling than my entire life on earth, and I couldn’t bear to imagine that they would soon come to an end.

He heaved a weary sigh, the sound filled with a deep, ancient weariness. “Not by choice; I am simply following the ancient laws of magic that allow me to create winter. Believe it or not, it breaks my heart when mortals succumb to the cold I’ve created; I take no pleasure in gathering their souls to extend my life.”

I could see the struggle in his eyes, a reflection of the battle he faced every time he fulfilled his duty. “Butwhy?” I pressed, needing to understand the force that drove him to this inevitable end.

Frost shifted, angling his body to fully face me, his icy blue eyes filled with a sorrow that matched the chill choking the air. He hesitated for a moment, as if searching for theright words, the cold wind swirling around us like a spectral whisper.

“You don’t understand,” he began, his voice soft with an almost tangible regret. “It’s not a choice I make out of malice or cruelty. It’s simply my duty, bound by forces older than time itself.” An ancient sadness filled his eyes, deep and endless, as though he carried the weight of countless winters on his shoulders. “To bring winter is to bring an end, a finality that gives way to renewal—a world without winter would be a weary, lifeless place with no chance to rest and refresh. Your soul is tied to this cycle. It’s your time to move on, to become part of the endless rhythm of life and death, of winter and spring. I must claim your soul not because I wish to, but because it’s what must be done…lest the balance shatter, and with it, the world we both know.”

He reached out, as if to touch me, but stopped just short, his hand hovering in the air, the unspoken words hanging between us like a fragile thread.

“Believe me,” he continued, his voice thick with sincerity. “I would do anything to spare you this, but this is the way it has always been, and the way it must continue to be. The world depends on this balance, on the cycle that I uphold. Disrupting it would have consequences far beyond what either of us could imagine.”

I searched his earnest eyes, wide with a sincerity that compelled me to trust him. Though his goal likely hadn’t changed and the fate of my pending death remained the same, something had changed between us since our night spent huddled together in the cavern. This subtle shift was enough to soften the cynicism that usually hardened my heart. Iwantedto believe in him—my first true friend, whom I never would have met if I hadn’t frozen to death in that abandoned alley.

It was in this moment as I looked into his eyes that Irealized how deeply I’d grown to care for him. The thought of the inevitable, hastening end to our fragile relationship filled me with a sense of dread, even as there was also a strange comfort knowing that, for whatever time we had left, we would be together.

The blizzard had passed, leaving the world around us draped in a pristine blanket of snow. The air was crisp and clear, the storm now a distant memory, lingering only in the chill that still filled the atmosphere. The shroud of frigid cold that once dominated Frost’s domain had softened, like the sun was warming the land despite the thick overcast that still blanketed the white sky, a hint of its golden light barely breaking through to glisten on the snow around us.

The scene was beautiful, but the rays of sun couldn’t penetrate the deep chill that hung over us; I instinctively drew the cloak around my shoulders, feeling its dampness that lingered even after the night by the fire. From beside me, Frost’s shoulders gave a sudden, convulsive shudder, and I turned towards him in surprise. “Are you cold?”

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