The cold night air bit at Kael's skin, but the darkness was where his mind found solace. He lay on his back, staring at the swirling mass of storm clouds above, the swirling winds howling like a creature in pain. It felt as though the world itself was in agony, mourning some unknown loss. His own heart, frozen with uncertainty, pulsed with the strange connection he had to the Black Frost. Every time his thoughts drifted too far, the curse called to him, a whisper at the back of his mind.
Lira sat across from him, her figure outlined by the flickering fire between them. Her eyes were distant, her face shadowed, but her posture was ever alert. She hadn't spoken much since their encounter with the creature, her silence a heavy weight that Kael couldn't ignore. She was afraid—for him, for them both—but she wouldn't say it. She never would.
Kael shifted, his breath coming out in visible puffs. "You mentioned the ruins," he began, his voice rough with the stillness of the night. "What's so important about them?"
Lira's gaze flickered to him, her expression unreadable. For a moment, there was hesitation in her eyes, but she pushed it aside, her voice calm and deliberate. "The ruins are where it all started. The Black Frost, the Frostborn, the curse itself... it all leads back there."
Kael's brow furrowed. "What do you mean 'started'? I don't understand."
She let out a quiet sigh, looking back at the fire. "Long before the Frostborn roamed these lands, there was a kingdom—a kingdom of ice, ruled by a king who wielded the power of the Black Frost. He was said to be the first to call it, the first to understand its true potential. But like all great power, it corrupted him. The king fell into madness, and in his hunger for more, he tore the world asunder."
Kael's heart skipped a beat. The king? The first wielder of the Black Frost? The connection between them was too unsettling. He wanted to ask more, but something in Lira's gaze made him hold back.
"There are ancient texts, lost to time, that tell of his downfall," she continued, her voice low, almost as if she were speaking to herself. "They say the king's power was bound to the ruins, that his spirit lingers there, still watching, still waiting for someone worthy enough to wield it."
Kael swallowed, the weight of her words pressing down on him. "And you think... I'm supposed to be that someone?"
Lira didn't respond immediately. She simply stared into the flames, her fingers absently tracing the hilt of her sword. Her silence told Kael more than words ever could. It was an answer, one he wasn't sure he wanted to hear. But he understood.
The Black Frost was calling to him, and it had been since the moment he first felt it stir within him. But there was more to it than just power. It was a path, one that had been carved out by the ruins, by the madness of the king who had once ruled, and now, it was stretching out before him like an unending abyss.
"I don't want this power," Kael muttered, almost to himself. "It's not mine to take. I can't control it."
Lira's eyes softened, but her expression remained firm. "You're not the only one who has tried to control it, Kael. Many have before you. Some were stronger than you—some weaker. But all of them… failed."
Kael clenched his fists, the Black Frost pulsing beneath his skin. "Then what makes you think I can succeed?"
Her voice dropped, her tone serious. "Because I believe you can. But you need to understand one thing—there's a price for everything. Power like this doesn't come without a cost. And if you're not careful, that cost will be everything you are."
Kael looked down at his hands, seeing the frost creeping up his fingers, his skin pale and cracked. The Black Frost was spreading, and he couldn't stop it. But there was something else in his chest—something colder than the curse itself. Fear. Fear that this path he was walking would lead to the destruction of everything he held dear.
Lira stood abruptly, breaking the silence. "We leave at dawn. The ruins are not far. But we must hurry. The longer we wait, the stronger the influence of the curse will grow. And if we don't get to the heart of it soon, it will be too late."
Kael didn't argue. He simply nodded, his heart heavy with the burden of the choice that lay ahead. He had no illusions about what the ruins held—he had already seen the consequences of wielding the Black Frost, and he knew that whatever lay ahead, it wouldn't be easy. But it was the only chance he had.
Lira moved to the edge of their camp, her form outlined against the swirling storm. Kael watched her, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He didn't know what was waiting for them in the ruins, but he had the unsettling feeling that it was more than just the past that awaited them there.
It was the future.
And the future, Kael knew, was always colder than the present.
The next morning, Kael and Lira trekked deeper into the storm. The wind howled around them, biting at their faces, but neither of them spoke. The silence between them was thick, filled with unspoken fears, regrets, and the weight of what lay ahead. Every step they took seemed to carry them further from the world they knew, into something darker, something unknown.
They climbed higher as the landscape grew more treacherous. The path was narrow, and the cliffs rose steeply on either side, as if the mountains themselves were closing in on them. The ruins were nearby, hidden deep within the mountains, and Kael could feel the pull of the Black Frost growing stronger with every step.
Finally, after hours of climbing, they reached the entrance to the ruins. A massive stone archway, half-covered in ice and snow, loomed before them. It was ancient, its surface carved with strange symbols, some of which Kael recognized from the old texts Lira had once shown him. The air around them seemed to grow colder as they approached, and Kael felt the Black Frost stir restlessly inside him.
"This is it," Lira said softly, her voice barely audible above the wind. "This is where it all began."
Kael's heart raced as they crossed the threshold, stepping into the ruins. The world seemed to shift around them, the walls closing in, and the whispers of the past filling the air. And then, as if the ruins themselves had come alive, Kael felt something deep within him stir—a presence, ancient and powerful.
It was watching them.