The blizzard screamed like a dying animal.
Do-hyun shielded his face as the wind hurled daggers of ice at their party. Three days into the northern wastes, and the cold had become a living enemy —gnawing at their bones, turning their breath to glass in their lungs.
Ji-hoon crouched behind a shattered wagon, his beard crusted with frost. "We're being hunted."
Lady Han adjusted her wolf-pelt cloak, her eyes scanning the white void. "Not just hunters. The land itself hates us here."
---
The Trial of Iron
Their first attacker came at dawn— a spirit-contracted scavenger, his skin split by jagged black veins, his axe humming with stolen power.
- Do-hyun's sword flared, shadows lashing out to freeze the man's blood mid-swing.
- Ji-hoon slit his throat, but the corpse keptmoving for three horrifying seconds.
Lady Han knelt, prying open the dead man's fist. A black iron token lay in his palm, stamped with a wolf's head.
"My father's mark," she whispered. "He's testing us."
---
The Bridge of Screams
By midday, they reached the Shattered Bridge —a spine of broken stone spanning a gorge where the wind sounded like whispers in an ancient tongue.
Halfway across, the planks collapsed.
- Ji-hoon barely caught the edge, his fingers slipping on ice.
- Lady Han lunged, her dagger pinning his sleeve to the wood.
- Do-hyun's shadows surged, forming a bridge of darkness long enough for them to crawl to safety.
As they collapsed on the far side, the gorge below echoed with laughter.
Gyeonma's voice, or just the wind?
---
The Frostborn Ambush
Night fell like a guillotine.
They'd barely lit a fire when the Frostborn struck —pale figures clad in armor of frozen spirit-blood, their swords weeping black ice.
- Lady Han fought like a demon, her knives finding gaps in their armor.
- Ji-hoon's dagger shattered against their hides, forcing him to wrestle one into the fire.
- Do-hyun's shadows faltered —the cold was dulling his power.
In the end, it was Ji-hoon's hidden blade —a sliver of true Jin steel tucked in his boot—that pierced the Frostborn leader's heart.
The creature melted, revealing a boy no older than Do-hyun, his skin blue with frostbite.
"Wolf Lord… promised… warmth," he gurgled before dying.
Lady Han covered the body with her cloak. "We keep moving."
---
The Fortress at Last
On the fifth day, Han Fortress rose from the storm—a jagged silhouette against the bleeding sunset.
Lady Han pressed a hand to the hidden moonflower tattoo on her wrist, her mother's sigil. "Whatever happens in there, remember: my father lies like he breathes."
Do-hyun flexed his half-petrified hand. "And if he tries to betray us?"
Her smile was all teeth. "Then we'll remind him why the Jin were feared."
The gates loomed before them. Somewhere beyond, a serpent-blade thirsted.
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