Page 48 of Winter's Echo
Then, an almost silent sound came from above. Not loud, nor violent.
It was simply a shift. Just weight adjusting above us.
“Captain Marson?” one of the men whispered. “Orders?”
My eyes were fixed on the stairs to the side of the room. A simple opening led to the floor above. Worn wooden steps ascended into shadows too dark to see, and beyond them lay an unnatural stillness.
I didn’t move. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Marson assess the room. No, not just the room, the terrain.
Nicco didn’t move, and neither did anyone else.
“Amarya?” the captain asked.
I raised a hand, signaling him to stay quiet without looking away. “Don’t anyone move,” I said.
Behind me, a soldier shifted, his boot scraping lightly against the stone.
The sound was small. On any other day, it would be insignificant. In any otherplace, it wouldn’t have mattered.
But here, it echoed. Not outward… but rather upward. We all heard it. Felt it. The air grew thinner, tugging at my lungs.
And then something changed. Not the sound or the light. But the pressure. Something in the space above us had… noticed.
My stomach dropped. “Back,” I said softly. “Slowly.”
No one argued this time. They started to step back, controlled and careful, trying not to make a sound.
Another shift above us.
Getting closer now. It wasn’t moving fast, nor was it rushing.
That was worse.
Nicco moved into my peripheral vision, neither in front nor behind, but beside me.
“You were right,” he murmured.
I didn’t ask about what. My gaze stayed locked on the top of the stairs. On the darkness. On the spot where something should have appeared by now… but hadn’t.
“Amarya,” Captain Marson said, tighter now. “We’re at the door.”
“Keep going,” I told him. “Donotrun.” Because if we ran, then it might decide we were worth following.
The presence threatened above us.
I took a breath that barely filled my lungs and prepared to step back.
Then, a shape shifted into view at the top of the stairs. Not fully revealed. Not entirely visible. Just enough to make out something. It was pale. So pale. Frost crept across the shadowfrom where it stood. And where it met the edge of the wood, the frost didn’t extend. It disappeared.Vanished. As if the cold itself were being taken away.
I stopped breathing. Because suddenly… I understood. It wasn’t feeding onus. Not yet. It was feeding on the worldaroundus.
And if we got its attention, we would be next.
“It’s gone.” Nicco’s jaw was tight. “Move.Now.”
I didn’t argue with him, and Nicco moved when I did.
We gained ground inch by inch, my gaze fixed on the dark where the Frosttaken had been.
