Aether had decided to go out for a walk, really, after what had happened at the inn. He needed a break, to clear his mind, and get everything right. After all, he was quite lost; he had no idea what to do next.
And while walking around outside, near the wall so he wouldn't get lost, he found a place where there was only silence.
At first, Aether thought the silence was a mercy.
The frozen plain stretched endlessly before him, pale and unmoving, the sky above fractured like cracked ice. His boots pressed into the snow without sound. No wind followed him. No echo returned his breath. It was the kind of quiet that felt deliberate, as if the world had noticed him and chosen to hold still.
Then his reflection blinked.
He noticed it in the sheen of the ice beneath his feet. His shadow lagged half a second behind his movement, mimicking him imperfectly, like an understudy who had memorized the gestures but not the intent. Aether slowed. The reflection did not.
