The road out of Virelyn was carved from ice and old blood.
It twisted through the mountain's spine like a frozen vein, flanked by dead trees and broken memories. No carriages traveled it anymore. No trade. No hope. Only snow-and those desperate enough to flee into it.
Kael Thorne had walked this path before.
But never with someone like her.
---
At Dawn - Just Outside the Barricades
The sky bled pale lavender over the horizon, casting the snowdrifts in a cold, bruised glow. Eira pulled her cloak tight around her, every breath scraping her throat. She hadn't slept. Not really. The tiny cellar had been warm enough, but Kael's presence had kept her wide awake-like a blade left at her throat, beautiful and unnerving.
Now, as they crept along the narrow ledge outside the city walls, she finally allowed herself to study him.
His movements were purposeful but unhurried, each step quiet, calculated. His coat was worn, stitched in places, and his broad shoulders carried the weight of something heavier than survival. His hair was dark, cropped short enough to suggest military roots, though there was nothing soldier-like in the way he moved. He was... wild. Untamed. And yet somehow still impossibly grounded.
He glanced back.
"You're staring."
She looked away sharply. "You walk like a shadow."
"You think that's a compliment?"
"It's a statement."
He gave a low chuckle and kept moving.
---
A Mile Out - The Frostwood Verge
They stopped at the edge of the Frostwood, where ancient trees stood like petrified giants, their bark cracked from centuries of wind. Eira's breath caught in her throat. She hadn't been beyond this point since she was a child, when her mother was still alive, when laughter hadn't felt like an act of rebellion.
"We'll cut through the wood," Kael said, squinting up at the twisted canopy.
Eira frowned. "No one goes into the Frostwood. It's cursed."
He shot her a crooked grin. "Then no one will follow us."
Before she could argue, a sound split the air behind them-a distant horn. Low. Menacing. Close.
Kael's expression turned grim. "Run."
---
The Chase
They ran. Eira's legs burned, the cold stabbing her lungs with every inhale. Her feet slipped over packed snow and ice-slicked roots, but Kael caught her elbow each time, steadying her without a word.
Behind them, the horn sounded again-closer now. The Whisperguard.
Her heartbeat crashed in her ears. Not from fear. From fury. From the magic inside her, clawing toward the surface. The fire wanted to rise. It sensed danger. It wanted to defend.
"No," she whispered, clenching her fists. "Not yet."
Kael's voice snapped through the trees. "Faster, Wynter!"
She gritted her teeth and pushed forward, leaping over a frozen creek. Her cloak snagged on a branch and ripped. Kael paused just long enough to slice it free with a small dagger, his expression tight.
"You good?"
She nodded.
"Then keep running."
---
An Hour Later - A Clearing
They collapsed into a clearing surrounded by frost-bitten evergreens, breath steaming in the air. Eira's legs gave out and she fell to her knees in the snow, chest heaving. Kael crouched beside her, watching the treeline.
Silence.
No more horns.
For now.
"You've done this before," she said hoarsely.
Kael didn't respond.
She studied him-how he scanned their surroundings, how his jaw tensed every time the wind shifted. "Who were you?" she asked quietly. "Before all this?"
His eyes flicked to her. For a moment, she thought he'd ignore the question. But then-
"A Shadowguard. The Queen's elite."
Her stomach dropped. "You worked for her?"
"Once."
"Why'd you leave?"
He looked at her then, and something inside his gaze was broken.
"Because I was ordered to burn a village," he said flatly. "And the people weren't dead when we got there."
Eira's mouth went dry.
Kael rose and turned away, raking a hand through his hair.
"I don't follow orders anymore."
---
Later That Night - Firelight and Truth
They made camp in a shallow cave, shielded by frost-laced rocks and old pine. Kael built a fire-something small but warm-and handed her a crust of bread and dried meat. She ate without speaking, her thoughts thick with ash.
When she finally looked up, he was watching her again.
"You were right," she said softly.
"About?"
"The fire inside me. It's... waking. And it scares me."
Kael leaned forward, voice low. "It should. Because once it wakes fully, it won't go back to sleep."
She shivered.
"I don't want to be a weapon," she whispered.
"Then don't," he said simply. "Be the flame that chooses."
She stared at him, her chest tight with something she didn't yet have a name for. Not affection. Not yet.
But trust.
Or the beginning of it.
---
Far Away - In the Ice Palace of Elowen
The Queen stood barefoot on the palace balcony, the wind howling around her like a beast on a leash. Her silver hair snapped like a banner. In her hand, she held a piece of scorched cloth-a remnant of Eira's cloak.
"Send the Seers," she said coldly to the captain behind her. "Find her."
She turned her gaze to the south, where the fire once slept.
"And bring her back before the flame learns it can burn me."