Lyra's POV
Everything was white.
No, not just white—light. Pure, brilliant, blinding. It wrapped around me like silk and swallowed the frost that had clung to my skin for days.
I opened my eyes… or maybe I never closed them. I wasn't sure. All I knew was that I was somewhere else. The snow, the cold, the mountain… they were gone. Silence hummed in my ears like a lullaby, and a gentle warmth kissed my face—the kind of warmth I hadn't felt in years.
Then I saw her.
She stood at the center of this silent world—tall, graceful, cloaked in white and silver, with long black hair that shimmered like nightfall. Her eyes… deep and gentle, just like I remembered.
"Mom…" My voice cracked, barely more than a whisper.
She smiled.
The kind of smile I had waited years to see again. Not one of farewell… but of welcome.
"You've grown so beautifully, Lyra," she said, her voice like falling snow—soft, soothing, and achingly familiar. "I'm proud of you."
Tears welled in my eyes before I even realized it. I ran forward—toward her—but my body wouldn't move.
It was like the distance was emotional, not physical.
A barrier of time.
"You're alive… are you… alive?" I asked
She stepped forward and touched my cheek. The warmth of her fingers didn't feel like memory. It felt real.
"In a way," she said softly. "I should have died that day. When the spear pierced my chest… I felt my life slipping."
I looked down. My throat clenched.
"But the spell I taught you… the one I said you'd understand when you're ready—" her hand touched my forehead, right where the pendant's light had entered— "I used it. I invoked Absolute Zero, not to kill, but to preserve. To trap myself between life and death.
She waited for me until I accepted the situation then added.
"I froze my mana, my body, even time around me. A cocoon of ice that would keep me… until someone strong enough could awaken me. In this space… this final sanctuary… I waited."
"For me?" I asked, eyes trembling.
"For you. For the one I believed would come. Because I knew you'd survive… and someday, you'd return." she replied
"And the pendant?" I whispered.
She nodded. "A fragment of my domain. A beacon. Tied to my life. As long as it glowed, I was still alive."
"You were always alive… and I never knew."
"You knew, Lyra," she said softly. "Your heart never let go."
"Mom… I missed you. I missed you every day."
"I know. I felt it through the pendant. It was linked to my essence. That's what kept me alive all these years. Your love… your hope… was my heartbeat."
"I thought you were gone," I whispered, tears blurring my vision. "I hated myself for not being strong enough that day."
Her arms pulled me into an embrace. Warmth. Not the warmth of fire, but the warmth of love.
"You were just a child Lyra. You walked a long path of loneliness and strength. But now… your domain has awakened. You understand, don't you? Ice is not just cold. It's not death. It's stillness. Protection. Endurance. Ice remembers. Just like you."
And in that moment, I felt it.
A pulse inside me.
Not just mana, but something deeper.
My domain.
It wasn't just about casting frost. It was the embodiment of everything I had endured, everything I wanted to protect. My mother. My friends. Myself.
"Ice… remembers," I repeated, a whisper full of meaning.
"Yes." Her smile trembled slightly now. "You are ready, my daughter."
The world began to blur, light swirling around me like a storm of snowflakes.
"Wait—don't go!" I cried.
Her form was already fading, like mist under sunlight.
"I'm still here," she said. "Find me. Bring me back."
And with one final whisper, one final smile—
"I love you, Lyra."
Light engulfed everything.
And I lose my consciousness again.
When I opened my eyes again, I was laying on the bed, inside the carriage. Everyone was sitting nearby my bed .
—To be continued..