Lina did not sleep that night.
She sat beside the fading fire inside the cabin, staring into the trembling flames while the cold pressed against the walls like a living thing, searching for a way in.
Kyle's words echoed endlessly in her mind.
Guardians of the Seal.
She pulled her sleeve over her wrist, but the mark was still there—cold beneath her skin, waiting.
"What's your name?" she asked suddenly, without looking up.
The boy stood near the door, watching the snow through the cracks in the wood.
"Kyle."
The fire flickered, then steadied.
"And where are you taking me?" she asked quietly.
He didn't answer at once.
Instead, he opened the door slightly.
Wind rushed inside, yet the fire did not die.
"To a place where snow never melts," he said at last.
"Not even in summer."
Something tightened in her chest.
"And there… I'll find answers?"
He turned to face her, his gray eyes serious.
"You'll find the truth," he said.
"Truth always comes with a price."
Morning arrived slowly, carrying no warmth with it.
They left the village before anyone awoke, their footprints vanishing behind them almost instantly.
They walked for hours through a silent forest, the trees bent beneath the weight of time itself.
The air was still—too still.
Kyle stopped suddenly.
"Don't be afraid," he said without looking back.
"It knows you."
"Knows me?" Lina asked.
Before he could explain, the snow before them split open, and something enormous rose from within.
A wolf.
But not a living one.
Its body was formed of pure ice, its eyes glowing blue, its breath crystallizing the air with every exhale.
Lina stepped back, yet the cold did not hurt her.
The wolf approached… then lowered its head before her.
"A guardian," she whispered.
Kyle smiled—for the first time.
"The path only opens for the one who bears the seal."
Lina slowly raised her hand and placed it against the wolf's icy forehead.
Frost spread outward, shaping a white road that stretched endlessly into the distance.
A road that never melts.
A road that was made for her alone.
Her heart pounded.
She was no longer running.
She was walking toward her fate.
❄️ To be continued…