[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]

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  "When you do this?"

  Ned firmly drove the rge nail with the climbing rope into the cliff wall. He carefully desded the enormous ice dder created by élia, step by step. His daughter walked in the middle while Benjen followed behind.

  He had never known that élia's skill was so powerful.

  "Right now! Actually, I couldn’t do this even st night. Father, I feel like my power es from here!"

  And where is this pce? It’s the nd of eternal winter, north of the Great Wall, the territory of the White Walkers!

  So what is she?

  élia’s hands tightly gripped the rope and the blind man’s staff. This was a question that had never crossed her mind. There were many people with special abilities in this world, and she sidered herself lucky to have hers. This is a dangerous world, so even though she dreamt of that snowy valley, she had hought much about the in of her powers.

  But now, she had discovered that her ability indeed came from the nd of eternal winter, north of the Great Wall.

  "Ned, we’ve been thinking about this for so many years without reag any clusion. Now that we’re here, maybe we’ll find out whe down there. It’ll be iing."

  Benjen, who was at the back, shrugged helplessly. He couldn’t help but be impressed as he looked at the ice dder beh his feet. If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn’t have believed that, just twenty minutes ago, not even a stone had beehere.

  It was simply a miracle!

  Maybe élia’s problem really wasn’t something they could find an ao at that moment. Wasn’t that why they came all the way here?

  Everything was at the bottom of that valley.

  Ned k would be poio ask élia more, so he decided not to insist. He just reminded her to hold onto the rope and be careful. Despite the dder, the cliff was extremely high. Besides, the steps were made of ice, making them easy to slip on.

  Still, élia had created that ice dder, which saved them from the challenge of climbing down by hand.

  The dest was slow, for safety. The cliff was very high, and they took quite some time. By the time they finally reached the bottom of the valley, it was already te at night.

  élia guided her father and Uncle Benjen in the dire she felt was right. After about an hour of walking, they reached the innermost part of the snowy valley. Dawn was still far away, and the darkness made it almost impossible to see what y ahead.

  "I’ll go ahead, stay alert!" said Ned, giving a cautious g the entrance of a cave. He took the flint and steel from his bag, lighting the torch he carried. The light immediately illumihe cave’s entrance, revealing what was hidden inside.

  They almost never lit torches during night travels north of the Great Wall. Doing so was extremely dangerous; a fire would reveal their position to any potential enemy. And in that region, enemies were a stant threat, far more adapted to the hostile enviro of the north than any human could be.

  There were almost no people in that snowy valley, and now they were about to ehe cave. A torch was essential, but élia didn’t mind. In fact, she could see even in such a dark cave. It wasn’t perfect vision, but it was far better than her father and Benjen, who could barely see anything inside.

  ook the tord entered first. élia followed right behind him, and Uncle Benjen, who had also lit a torch, closed the group. The silence pressive, and they moved cautiously, without making a sound.

  The light of the torches revealed stone walls covered by a thick yer of ice. Sharp icicles hung from the ceiling, resembling crystal spears. From time to time, droplets of water fell, making a sound that echoed through the cave, creating an uling atmosphere.

  élia thought about her previous life. She had always been very scared, especially when it came to ghosts or horror movies. She never would have imagined expl a deserted cave in the middle of the night, even with her father and u was something that would never have happened in that other life.

  "People ge!" she thought. And the enviro around her was certainly responsible for this transformation.

  They walked for a long time. The cave was wide and surprisingly regur, without many obstacles. élia wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but her father estimated they had been inside for about two hours.

  Something, however, didn’t feel right. Before entering the cave, élia had looked at the sky. If they had really been walking for two hours, dawn should have already arrived. Her eyes should have been useless in the darkness.

  But somehow, she still saw everything with impressive crity. Every detail, every shadow, everything appeared sharp.

  Something was wrong.

  They tinued walking for a long time. So long that even Ned and Benjen began to feel exhausted. They couldn’t calcute the exact time that had passed, but the fatigue in their bodies was undeniable.

  What was strange was that élia didn’t feel any sign of fatigue. Moreover, her vision remained perfect, despite the time passed.

  Another oddity was that the cave had no curves or forks. It was just a straight, eunnel. Even after so much walking, there was no sign that they were approag the end.

  "There’s something wrong! This pce is strange," murmured Ned, stopping suddenly. He raised the tord looked back, the path they had takeook two more steps forward, hesitated, and then turned back. The feeling of unease was growing.

  Definitely, something was wrong.

  "I’m as tired as if I had swum through the Neck!" grumbled Benjen, leaning against the stone wall. He held the torch with an expression of evident fatigue. Theuro élia, surprised. Her face, illuminated by the firelight, seemed calm, almost pale, but with no signs of fatigue or heavy breathing.

  "Aren’t you tired, Lia?" he asked, wide-eyed.

  "No. Actually, since we arrived at this snowy valley, it feels like my body has infinite energy. I ’t expin it," élia answered, shrugging, intrigued by her own endurance.

  It was something she didn’t uand. On other occasions, she had always been the weakest of the three, f her father and uo slow down to keep up with her. But here, everything had ged. It was as if the nd itself had granted her strength and resilience.

  Maybe that was why she didn’t feel afraid of this pce.

  "Benjen, don’t exaggerate. You’ve never swum through the Neck... actually, you don’t even know how to swim," eased, trying to ease the tensiohen turned again to the cave. "But what about this pce? What do you think is going on here?"

  When Ned heard élia’s words, he raised the tord looked at her in silence. He then turo Benjen, who was still leaning against the wall, ready to respond to the earlier tease. All the signs in élia’s body suggested that this journey north was necessary, but the mystery remaihey o find the Frozen Lake.

  "I don’t know what’s going oher," said Benjen, sighing. "I just know we ’t keep going like this. I o rest. By the way, how do you think the Reed family survives in the ss of the Neck?"

  He sat down and leaned his back against the stone wall. Benjen had been to Moat Cailin, oher side of the Neck. It ce full of dangers, not visible swords or hidden arrows, but silent threats that devoured everything in the darkness. Wild creatures lurked everywhere. Only people like the Reeds could survive in such a pce.

  "Hownd Reed and the others have their own ways," Ned replied seriously. "If you have no idea what’s going on here, just rest. This pce doesn’t feel right, and the weather is strange."

  Ned was usually reserved, but the tension made him more talkative. They all knew something was wrong. Benjen was right—they needed rest.

  "Okay, okay, I got it!" Benjen raised his hands, surrendering. He closed his eyes, trying to rex, but stayed alert, ready to react to any sudden danger.

  élia broke the silence. "Father, do you think it’s day ht now? My eyes… I still see."

  Ned sighed, looking at her with . "I’m not sure, élia. But what if it’s because of this pce? Maybe you’re seeing differently because we’re here."

  At that moment, a possibility struck him. What if, after finding the Frozen Lake, élia’s eyesight improved? What if she could see clearly, even in the daylight?

  He didn’t want to share that hope yet. He didn’t want to raise false expectations.

  "I hope so," he whispered, almost to himself.

  élia fell silent for a moment, nodding her head, resigo the answer. After all, ever since arriving at this snowy valley, she had doraordinary things. Having different vision seemed just another detail among so many mysteries. She decided not to think about it anymore.

  However, just as she was about to close her eyes to rest, a violent hurrie suddeed from the darkness ahead, with n whatsoever.

  The wind blew so fiercely that it instantly extinguished Ned and Benjen's torches, plunging the cave into total darkness. In a matter of seds, everything became invisible.

  However, the wind disappeared as quickly as it had e. In just two or three seds, sileurned, dominating the pce. The situation had ged so suddenly that no one had time to react.

  "Careful, élia! Are you okay?" shouted Ned, his voice tense. "Benjen, light the torch, quickly!"

  As soon as the wind stopped, Ned grabbed the extinguished torch at his side. While asking for his daughter, he hurriedly searched for the flint and steel and tried the fme.

  But something was wrong. élia didn’t respond.

  Her silence made Ned’s heart race. He quickly turo where she had been sitting, but there was no ohere.

  "Where is élia? Benjen!" The pani his voice was evident. Ned jumped to his feet and rushed to the spot where he had st seen his daughter. He found no trace of her.

  Benjen had just reignited his torch when he heard Ned’s desperate cry. He raised the tord looked around, his gaze sing the cave. There was no one.

  "She disappeared?" he whispered, incredulous.

  It was impossible. He would swear by the Old Gods and the hat, from the moment the wiinguished the tortil he relit it, no more than ten seds had passed. Ten seds!

  How could someone disappear like that?

  élia had been there, and then, suddenly, she wasn’t.

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