Thera frost's Arc

Chapter 1 of 2

Thera had walked through ice and wind for three weeks before the city appeared. She was looking for ground solid enough to build on, a place where wanderers could find shelter when they had nowhere else to go. The frozen towers rose ahead like broken teeth against the gray sky. She found the fortress on the fourth day of searching. Ice and stone rose in graceful towers, glowing faint blue in the dim light. The main hall could hold forty people, maybe more. Wide steps led to heavy wooden doors carved with symbols she didn't recognize. But above the entrance, driven deep into the stone, stood a totem marked with red bindings and iron spikes. Someone had already claimed this place. Thera stood at the base of the steps, cold wind cutting through her coat. She had walked too far to turn back empty-handed, and the fortress was too perfect to abandon. She would need to find whoever planted that totem and convince them to share, or she would need to keep walking until the next storm buried her tracks. She climbed the steps and pushed through the doors. Inside, the air was still and cold but free from wind. Frost covered the walls in pale patterns. The totem outside had been fresh, its bindings bright against the ice. Whoever claimed this place might return tonight or tomorrow. Thera set down her pack and began walking the perimeter of the main hall, counting doorways and testing floorboards with her boot. She found six side rooms, a kitchen with a stone hearth, and a back passage that led to storerooms. The fortress was sound. If the owner refused to share, she would have to decide whether to challenge the claim or abandon the best shelter she had found in months. She returned to the main hall and built a small fire in the central pit, then sat with her back to the wall to wait. The claimant arrived at dawn. Thera heard boots on the steps outside, then the scrape of the door. A woman entered carrying firewood and stopped when she saw the smoke rising from the pit. She was younger than Thera, wrapped in furs that looked well-kept. Her eyes went to the fire, then to Thera, then back to the door as if measuring the distance. Thera stood slowly, keeping her hands visible. She explained what she was building and why she needed the fortress. The woman listened without speaking, then walked to the nearest wall and touched one of the carved symbols. She said the fortress had been her family's before the cold came, and she was the only one left to remember it. Thera recognized the weight in those words. She offered to help repair the structure and share the work of keeping it livable. The woman studied her for a long moment, then nodded once. They would try it together, at least through winter. Thera had found her ground.