All her life—
The cold had always been her ally.
The biting winds that howled across the north.
The endless snowstorms that swallowed entire landscapes.
The mountains buried under thick layers of ice.
The frozen lands where life itself struggled to exist.
None of it ever bothered Elea.
To others, the cold was something to fear.
Something to endure.
Something that slowly ate away at the body and mind.
But to her—
It was different.
The cold was quiet.
It was honest.
It didn't deceive, didn't betray, didn't demand anything from her.
It simply… existed.
And in that stillness—
It numbed her.
Her pain.
Her regrets.
Her desires.
Everything that made the world feel heavy.
The cold took it all away.
And for Elea…
That was enough.
It was the only thing that allowed her to keep moving forward in a world that never seemed to rest.
A continent ravaged by war.
Kingdoms rising, only to fall.
Empires built on ambition, collapsing under their own weight.
Humanity—
