The clash did not end.
Ice shattered beneath Lina's feet as she slid backward, barely blocking the frozen enemy's strike.
Her arms burned from the impact, frost cracking along her shield.
"You hesitate," the figure whispered, its voice echoing from every direction.
"That is why you will fall."
"No," Lina breathed.
"That's why I'll survive."
She closed her eyes.
For the first time, she stopped fighting the cold.
She listened.
The winter responded instantly.
The wind twisted around her, lifting snow into the air like a living crown.
The mark on her wrist blazed brighter than ever before, sending veins of blue light across the ground.
Kyle shouted from behind her.
"Lina—your name! Say it!"
Her heart skipped.
"My name?" she cried.
"The winter remembers who you are," he said.
"Not who you're afraid of becoming."
The frozen enemy lunged.
Lina stepped forward instead of back.
"I am Lina," she said, her voice steady.
"And I do not belong to you."
The snow froze midair.
The enemy screamed as cracks spread across its body, black ice splintering under the pressure.
With one final surge of power, the figure shattered into countless shards, dissolving into mist.
Silence followed.
Lina collapsed to her knees, breathing hard.
Kyle reached her side, helping her up.
"It spoke your name before," he said quietly.
"That means the winter already knows you."
Lina looked at her glowing wrist.
Or worse…
"It's been waiting for me."
To be continued…