~ Hypothermia ~

That night winter had a dream. She dreamt of a boy with ruby red eyes. He was barely full grown and his light green hair hung forward over his face as he loomed over her. His thin lips whispered a hymn and its sweet melody enveloped her entirely like a warm blanket. In the dim-light of her bedroom, he looked like a fairy from a folktale with pointed ears and porcelain skin. He whispered her name between songs and held her hand softly. Then, it went cold.

She tried to take a breath. Something was hurting her. Something ached inside her chest. Something was so very wrong and astray. Sharp pain lanced throughout her body from her chest and she tried to let out a scream but her body was too numb to follow her wishes.

Her heart contracted nimbly within her chest and she didn't know if it would go on beating any longer. And then it was gone. The agony and pure pain that once crawled over every inch of her feverish body faded to an empty and cold numbness. She felt the steady beat of her heart under her skin and surrendered to the cold. This is what death felt like, she thought to herself. And as she heard her heartbeat one last time before slipping away into the infinite darkness around her, all she could think about was the feeling of the boy's hand in hers.

A shriek that sounded like pure agony seeping into her skin woke Winter up from her dream. A blurry figure by her side crumpled onto the floor like a puppet with no strings and cried out with despair. Aiden? Winter could make out the sound of several people shouting and moving around, but her eyelids were so heavy. The nightmare beckoned her to play, pulling her back into darkness. She listened to her shallow breaths and tried to move but her body wouldn't allow it.

Suddenly, the familiar feeling of warmth crawled over her skin in a wave of bright light. She felt it wash over her again and again. Her numb body began to ache with pain and she let out a loud cry. It hurt. Every part of her was screaming in pain.

"Winter?" The King called out to her desperately. "Winter, can you hear me?"

She inhaled sharply and her heavy eyelids opened with a jolt. "What..."

Ignoring the pain that ate away at her body, she raised her hands to look at them with a foggy vision. The tips of her fingers were blue and ice crystals had formed inside of her skin. The sight of her frozen fingers was enough to make her throw up. She wretched heavily and the contents of last night's dinner spilt onto her blankets. The beatings she received in the attic couldn't even begin to compare to what she was currently feeling.

She raised a frozen hand and wiped her purple coloured lips. The mottled colour of her lips and fingertips sent Aiden into a state of shock this morning. Alexion held him as Aiden screamed in horror at the sight of his frozen sister.

The King used his affinity to relegate Winter's body temperature. Her skin was completely burnt from the cold and its tissues were practically becoming black and mummified. The Royal Physician used his mana to try and deal with the damage. The sight of his daughter's skin was enough to scare him for a lifetime. She was practically frozen to death.

After several hours of chaos and a complete drainage of his mana, the King watched as Winter laid lifelessly like a corpse under a mountain of heavy blankets. The only indication of her being alive was the way her chest rose and lowered in sporadic patterns struggling to breathe. Snowflake, who was whimpering, cuddled against her in an attempt to warm her body with his fur. Alexion took Aiden, who was now sleeping, out of the room. The boy was completely exhausted from the shock of the situation.

"Will she be okay?" Ezekiel asked, pacing back and forth at her bedside.

The King sighed. "I'm not sure."

Winter's birth was a complete mystery to him. The fact that she existed was a miracle in itself. Her very being went against the gods' wishes and ruling. Despite this, the King knew that she was his child. Everything about her was legitimate. He cursed at himself for not finding his children sooner. He wished to take away all the pain they had ever experienced, but he knew it was far too late for that. The secret behind Winter's birth would not be uncovered easily, but he had to find a way. He gritted his teeth with impatience.

There was no way to contact the astral gods without performing a blood ritual of summoning. Such a thing hasn't been done in hundreds of years. The King shook his head. There was no way he was willing to sacrifice one of his children to contact them. His ancestor had given up one of his daughters in order to make contact with them that one time long ago. He sighed tiredly and raked his brain for other options.

Etrix watched the King from beside Winter under the covers. He sighed and let out a low growl. He couldn't speak in his animal form, but he knew the King would murder him if he morphed back into his druid form. If the King learnt that he was a druid, and a boy at that, then he would surely have his head. He wished he could tell him that his daughter was cursed with the omen of death.

He was a druid. A creature who was supposed to be an extension of nature's will. Yet for some reason, the sight of the trembling child last night made his stomach burn with despair. He had sung her ancient celtic melodies that eased her pain and channeled warmth from the sun to keep her alive.

For the first time in his life, he couldn't agree with the natural cycle of life and death. For the first time in his life, he went against what nature willed. The smell of burnt metal left a bitter taste on his tongue as he buried his head into her long strands of silver hair.