Elise's mother once told her a story.
There is a thing in the story that lives in the deepest ice cave in the north. It has no face, no heart, and only has a human-shaped body. They would come out on the longest winter nights, look for people who were about to freeze to death, and then peel their faces off—
"Put it on your face."
The figure spoke.
The sounds came from all directions, and didn't seem to come from the mouthless face. It raised its hand, its blue fingers dazzling in the snow, and pointed at the body behind Elise.
"He," the voice said, "is cold."
Elise finally pulled out her dagger.
The blade glowed with a dull iron color in the snow light. It was not made of fine steel, but was just the most common standard weapon in the fortress. But holding it in her hand, her fingers could finally move.
"Back off," she said.
The figure tilted its head. This action makes it look a bit human, but it is precisely because of the human appearance that it looks even weirder.
"You are not afraid," it said.
"Afraid," said Elise, "but it's useless to be afraid."
The figure was silent for a while. The snow fell on it and did not melt. It just accumulated and soon dyed it white.
"You," it said, "smell like winter."
Elise didn't answer.
"It's not the smell of freezing to death," the humanoid took a step forward, and Elise took a step back, "it's... The smell of walking into winter alive."
It stopped.
"My name is Frostbound," it said. "Remember this name. Next time we meet, I will have a face."
