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Thalia wanted to respond with something witty, but even breathing required concentration now.Her extremities had gone from painful to numb, and a curious warmth was spreading through her core — the body's last, desperate attempt to protect itself before surrendering to the cold.

Brynn grimaced, looking genuinely conflicted for the first time since Thalia had known her.Then, with a muttered curse, she dropped to her knees beside Thalia and pressed their bodies together, sharing her warmth.

"This doesn't mean we're friends," she said firmly.

"Didn't think… we were," Thalia managed between chattering teeth.

Brynn reached into her pack and extracted a small pouch.The scent of dried meat filled their tiny shelter as she fished out a strip of dark, leathery elk.

"Eat," she commanded, pressing it into Thalia's stiff fingers."Your body needs fuel to generate heat."

Thalia brought the meat to her lips, taking small, careful bites.Each chew sent a wave of saliva flooding her mouth, her stomach clenching painfully as it remembered hunger.

"I didn't expect to find you like this," Brynn said after a moment, her breath fogging between them."I knew you were an idiot, but I didn't realize you were this weak."

Thalia swallowed her mouthful of meat before responding."My equipment was sabotaged."With clumsy fingers, she indicated the tear in her pack, then the stub of her ice-steel blade, still clutched in her other hand."My blade shattered with the first golem.Food was lost when my pack tore."

Brynn took the broken blade, turning it over in her gloved hands.Her expression hardened as she examined the fracture point.

"There are chemicals," she said slowly, "certain compounds that can be mixed into the water used to forge ice-steel.They weaken the molecular bonds without changing the appearance."She handed the blade back to Thalia."You’re right.This is the result of sabotage, not poor craftsmanship."

"You believe me?"Thalia asked, surprised by the validation.

"I believe the evidence," Brynn said flatly."Someone at Frostforge really hates you."

Thalia nodded shakily."I think I know who it was."

"Good."Brynn's expression was grim, almost approving."Knowledge is power."

Outside their shelter, the sky was darkening rapidly.The temperature, already deadly, began to plummet further as night descended on the mountainside.Brynn dug back into her pack and extracted a tightly rolled blanket, which she shook out and wrapped around Thalia's shoulders.

"Why are you helping me?"Thalia asked, her voice small in the gathering darkness.

Brynn was silent for a long moment."My family taught me honor," she said finally, her tone suggesting the word carried weight Thalia couldn't possibly understand."Something I don’t expect someone of your status to understand."The barb was delivered reflexively, almost without thought.

"You saved me during the medicine-gathering expedition," she continued, grudging admission in every syllable."Despite the fact that I've given you no reason to show me kindness.I pay my debts."She met Thalia's gaze directly."Now we're even, and nothing about our relationship has changed.The next time you flounder, you're on your own."

Thalia nodded, accepting the terms.But as Brynn settled beside her, reluctantly sharing body heat against the cold, Thalia allowed herself a small smile.She felt vindicated in her decision to help Brynn weeks ago, even if the other girl would never admit to needing it.

The storm howled on through the night, battering against their ice shelter like a living thing.Thalia drifted in and out of consciousness, anchored to life by Brynn's solid presence beside her.As darkness claimed her once more, Thalia wondered what other surprises Frostforge's remaining trials would reveal, and if she would survive to discover them.

***

Morning arrived with merciful clarity.Thalia blinked awake to find the air still bitterly cold but absent the vicious bite of yesterday's blizzard.The storm had passed, leaving behind a transformed landscape — snow piled in elegant drifts against the rocky outcropping, their shelter standing as the only human imprint for what seemed like miles.Through the small vent Brynn had crafted in their ice wall, Thalia could see the remains of the golems, now half-buried mounds of crystal and metal gleaming in the early light.

A sharp movement drew her attention.Brynn was already on her feet, pack opened on the ground before her as she methodically restowed her supplies.Her movements were brisk and efficient, each item finding its assigned place with practiced precision.Dark brown hair hung in a curtain around her face, the tips crusted with frost that sparkled like tiny diamonds when she moved.She hadn't bothered to wake Thalia.

"Took you long enough to wake up," Brynn said without looking up from her task.Her voice was clipped, impatient."If you're not dead, then get moving."

Thalia pushed herself upright, wincing as her stiff muscles protested the movement.The cold had seeped deep into her bones, leaving behind a dull ache that pulsed with each heartbeat.Her skin prickled with the memory of numbness, a phantom sensation of the near-fatal chill that had almost claimed her life.She flexed her fingers experimentally, relieved to find them responsive, though tender.

Her mind felt sluggish, thoughts coming through a fog of exhaustion, but the terror of the previous night remained vivid.She remembered the wind cutting through her inadequate clothing, the sabotaged equipment failing one piece at a time, the realization that she might actually die out here, alone and far from home.

Thalia's gaze drifted to the scattered remains of the golems.In the clear morning light, they were less intimidating — just frozen chunks of ice-metal half-buried by fresh snowfall.It was hard to believe that just hours ago, these inert fragments had been animated constructs intent on destroying anything that crossed their path.

What was even harder to believe was how easily Brynn had dismantled them.

The memory of Brynn's battle surfaced — her fluid movements, the precision of each strike, the absolute confidence with which she'd faced creatures twice her size.There had been no hesitation, no fear.Only calculated aggression and skill born from years of dedicated training.