The glacial winds of the Frostveil Expanse howled like a mourning spirit.
Kael wrapped his cloak tighter, snow crunching beneath his boots as he trudged through the frozen wastes. Beside him, Elira moved silently, her fur-lined hood barely showing her face. The cold didn't just bite—it cut, slicing through layers as if searching for bone.
Behind them, two figures followed: Brann, a shieldbearer from the border villages, and Lira, a keen-eyed tracker Kael had met three towns back. Both had insisted on joining after the skirmish at Hollowpass, vowing loyalty to Kael after he defended them from the flamebound wraiths.
Their destination stood just beyond the white horizon: a collapsed temple buried in ancient ice. According to an old monk's scroll, this place once served as a sanctuary to the goddess of memory—and a prison for those the gods wished forgotten.
"We're close," Elira said, breaking the silence.
Kael nodded. The gauntlet, now tucked away in his satchel, pulsed faintly. He didn't need to wear it anymore for it to work. It spoke to him across distances now—a gift or curse he still hadn't decided.
The trail ended before a massive wall of blue ice.
Brann frowned. "There's nothing here."
Kael stepped forward, drawing a circle in the snow with his boot. Then he placed his palm at the center.
The ice groaned.
Lines of old flame etched themselves in a ring beneath the snow, spreading outward like a seal.
With a thunderous crack, the wall split open, revealing an archway carved with forgotten runes.
Inside, the temperature didn't rise.
If anything, the cold was sharper. The air shimmered faintly, like walking through a memory. They descended into silence, every step echoing through long-dead halls. Frost-covered statues lined the corridor, each one whispering echoes of a name Kael couldn't place.
Finally, they entered the main chamber.
There, embedded in a crystalline prison, were two figures.
A man and a woman.
The man was broad-shouldered, with dark hair streaked silver. The woman was slender, her face serene despite the frozen time that held her. Their forms were perfectly preserved inside a glacial cocoon.
Kael stepped forward slowly.
He knew them.
"Dren… Lira…"
His voice cracked.
"Mother? Father?"
The others held their breath.
Kael reached out, hand trembling, and placed it against the ice.
The gauntlet flared—just once.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the crystal. Then a soft hiss.
The ice melted away slowly, unnaturally, until both figures fell forward into Kael's arms.
Heavy. Real.
Alive.
Kael stared in disbelief.
The man groaned softly, his eyelids fluttering.
The woman stirred, gasping for air as if surfacing from a dream.
Kael whispered, "It's me. Kael."
Dren's eyes opened. Brown with golden flecks—the same as Kael's.
"Kael?" he rasped.
Lira clutched her son's shoulder, trembling. "Where are we? What happened?"
Kael choked back emotion. "You were taken. Imprisoned. I… I found you."
They looked at him with confusion. Horror. Relief.
"We don't remember anything," Dren said. "Last I recall… we were at home. Then—shadows. Voices. And pain."
Elira stepped forward. "They used you. To draw Kael in."
Lira's eyes widened. "Why?"
Kael helped them to sit beside the altar.
"Because of me. Because of what I carry."
That night, they camped within the temple's broken sanctum. The wind outside howled like a beast denied its prey.
Dren and Lira huddled close, trying to make sense of what had happened. Kael sat nearby, his gaze fixed on the fire. Elira remained watchful beside him.
"They didn't even know," Kael said quietly. "They've just… been pawns."
Elira placed a hand on his shoulder. "At least they're alive."
Kael nodded. "But that means whoever did this is still watching. Still waiting."
Dren threw another branch onto the flames. "Then let them wait. They'll find we don't fall easily."
Lira looked at her son, wonder in her eyes. "You've grown… so strong."
Kael smiled faintly. "I had to. To find you."
As the fire crackled, Kael finally allowed himself to relax.
His parents—alive.
He didn't know how long this peace would last.
But tonight, for the first time in years… his family was whole again.
The frost couldn't take that from him.