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Roran's face flashed in her mind.During combat training, he moved differently than the others — not with the brute strength of the Northern students or the calculated precision of the academy-trained Southerners, but with an almost supernatural fluidity.He seemed to anticipate where attacks would come from, shifting his body just enough to avoid them without wasting energy on unnecessary movement.

At first, she had attributed his skill to natural talent.But after working with him directly, she'd begun to recognize the intentionality behind every step, every gesture.It wasn't magic, or at least not entirely; it was technique, honed through careful practice.

"Don't fight the elements," he had told her during one particularly frustrating training session."Wind, snow, ice — they aren't obstacles.They're tools.Move with them, not against them."

Thalia opened her eyes, a plan forming.She wouldn't try to outrun the golem or hide from it; she would use the environment to become invisible in plain sight.

When the next strong gust of wind whipped across the fields, driving a fresh wave of snow before it, Thalia moved.She stayed low, matching her movements to the rhythm of the blowing snow.Each step was placed deliberately, her weight distributed to prevent the telltale crunch of compacting snow.She angled her body to present the smallest possible profile to the golem's line of sight.

The wind died down, and Thalia froze in place, becoming just another ice formation on the landscape.She controlled her breathing, keeping it shallow and even despite the hammering of her heart.

Twenty yards separated her from the golem now, and its path would bring it within five yards of her position.Too close.Much too close.But the next patch of cover — a jagged outcropping of ice and stone — lay thirty yards beyond her current position.She would have to cross open ground to reach it.

The golem paused again, this time emitting a low, grinding sound that seemed to resonate through the frozen ground.A signal?A malfunction?Thalia couldn't tell, but she used the momentary halt to study its sensory capabilities more closely.

Its head rotated in regular intervals, seeming to focus more on movement than on static objects.The strange crown of metal shards quivered slightly with each rotation, as if they were acting as primitive antennae.Most importantly, she noticed that its attention seemed drawn to areas where the snow was disturbed — places where previous travelers had left footprints or signs of passage.

The next gust of wind came howling across the plain, stronger than the last, carrying stinging ice crystals that bit at any exposed skin.Thalia moved with it, taking advantage of the reduced visibility to close half the distance to the outcropping.This time, she placed her feet carefully in existing depressions in the snow, leaving minimal evidence of her passage.

When the wind subsided, she was dangerously exposed — caught in open ground with the golem now just fifteen yards away and moving steadily closer.She crouched low.

The golem turned its head in her direction.

Thalia's breath caught in her throat.Had it seen her?Her hand tightened on her sword hilt, ready to draw if the construct charged.

But the golem's head continued its rotation, passing over her position without pause.It hadn't distinguished her from the surrounding terrain.Roran's technique was working.

Another gust provided cover for another advance.Thalia was now within a dozen yards of the outcropping, but the golem had changed course slightly, moving on a path that would bring it between her and her destination.There was no choice but to wait for it to pass.

The minutes stretched painfully as the golem lumbered forward.It was close enough now that Thalia could see the intricate patterns of frost on its metal components, could hear the soft hiss of steam where its heated core met the ice of its outer shell.The blue glow at its center pulsed with a rhythm that seemed almost alive, casting eerie shadows across the snow.

Five yards away.Three.Two.

The golem was directly adjacent to her position now, its massive bulk blotting out what little light filtered through the storm clouds.If it turned its head at this moment, there would be no mistaking her for part of the landscape.Thalia held her breath, mentally preparing for combat while praying it wouldn't come to that.

The construct paused, its grinding movement ceasing so abruptly that the sudden silence was jarring.Slowly, with mechanical precision, its head began to turn toward her.

A howl split the air from somewhere far to the east — the hunting cry of a rimwolf.The golem's head swiveled sharply toward the sound, the blue glow at its core intensifying momentarily.

Thalia didn't hesitate.As the golem's attention was directed away from her, she moved, abandoning stealth for speed, sprinting the final distance to the outcropping and ducking behind its sheltering bulk.Her lungs burned with the suppressed need to gasp for air, but she forced herself to breathe silently through her nose, listening intently for signs of pursuit.

The grinding footsteps resumed, but they were moving away, growing fainter as the golem continued on its original path, now angling toward the direction of the wolf's cry.Thalia allowed herself a small, shaky exhale of relief.She had done it.She had evaded a fully active golem using nothing but observation and adapted technique.

The taste of victory was sharp and sweet, a momentary respite from the constant fear that had been her companion since entering the Golem Fields.She permitted herself only seconds to savor it before focusing on the path ahead.

From her new position, she could see that the terrain would become more challenging.The relatively flat expanse gave way to a series of ice ridges and deep fissures — the kind of broken ground where golems and other predators could hide unseen until prey was within striking distance.Beyond that lay the central region of the fields, where the highest concentration of active constructs patrolled.

Thalia closed her eyes briefly, reconnecting with her metal-sensing ability.The silver vein she had been following was still detectable, though fainter now, running beneath the ridge line to the north.Following it would take her into more dangerous territory, but also closer to Frostforge.

She tightened the straps of her pack and checked that her sword was secure but accessible.The encounter with the golem had taught her valuable lessons about their behavior and detection capabilities, knowledge that might mean the difference between life and death in the challenges to come.But it had also confirmed her fears: as she moved deeper into the fields, stealth alone might not be enough.Combat could become inevitable.

***

Night descended on the Golem Fields like a predator, swift and merciless.Thalia scanned the landscape with increasing desperation, knowing that to be caught in the open after dark was a death sentence.The temperature was plummeting, the wind acquiring a knife-edge quality that sliced through her layers of protection.When she spotted the narrow crevice between two jagged rock formations, she nearly sobbed with relief.It wasn't ideal — barely deep enough to shield her from the direct force of the wind — but it would have to do.Thalia squeezed into the space, her back pressed against one rough wall, her knees drawn up to her chest to conserve both space and warmth.

The stone against her spine leached heat from her body, but at least the worst of the wind was blocked.Overhead, a small opening between the rock formations framed a patch of darkening sky where the first stars were becoming visible through breaks in the cloud cover.The storm was pausing, gathering strength for the night to come.She had perhaps an hour before it returned in full force.

Thalia's teeth chattered uncontrollably.She needed fire, not just for warmth but for the psychological comfort it would provide.Ashe's lessons on cold-weather survival echoed in her mind –fire is life out here in the Reaches.