Chapter Fourty Four
Twink. Twink.
Little golden lights shimmered from the gaps in the igloos, casting a honey-colored glow across the packed snow. My eyes were graced with a sudden, jarring liveliness in a land that had been as quiet as a graveyard when I first arrived. The laughter of children echoed against the mountain walls, and the scent of woodsmoke and roasted root vegetables cut through the biting chill of the Northern air.
Where did they even get the decorations?
I stepped away from the crowd, leaning my back against the rough, frozen bark of a pine tree. The shadows here were thick, shielding me from the warmth I didn't quite know how to inhabit.
It has always been easy being alone for me.
[Ping!]
[It's pretty, isn't it?]
"Yeah," I whispered, the word hitching in my throat as a puff of white mist escaped my lips.
[Ping!]
[You brought these smiles, Host. How do you feel?]
