The firelight danced on Teleyn's face, heating her already flushed cheeks. Small drops of sweat rolled down her forehead as she shivered under the bear skin and blanket. The warmth of Nimeway's tea had finally worn off and she was cold once again.
But this chill was unlike any she had felt before. It wasn't like the cold when the wind blew against her on a snowy day. It wasn't like the cold when a dwarf launched a snowman's head at her. It wasn't like the cold when snow seeped into her clothes after falling backwards onto the ground. This chill lay beneath her skin and radiated within her body. Even with the fire and blankets that Hyrien and Nimeway had given her, she shivered.
Perhaps she shouldn't have built that snowman outside of Dawnhall. But when she had returned from Bree, she saw all the snow stretched across the yard and felt inspired. She wanted to replicate the snowmen Gormleif had shown her earlier that day. They had been so cute with their hats, scarves, and mittens. But not being able to find any such items, Teleyn packed the snow together with her bare hands and made a quite naked-looking snowman.
Teleyn smiled at the memory as her heavy eyelids drooped and her vision blurred. She slipped into a feverish daze, no longer knowing if she was awake or asleep. The darkness at the edges of her eyes crept inward slowly until all she saw was a faded stone chamber consumed by shadow. A steel-cold hand clamped itself around her neck and paralyzed her.
The only thing Teleyn remembered were the icy daggers of fear stabbing at her heart as she fell unconscious.
