Scenario: A Warrior Finds the Fire in the Snow

Teegra’s breath came in ragged gasps, her bare feet leaving shallow prints in the snow. The cold bit deep, wrapping around her limbs like unseen chains, but she couldn’t stop. She had escaped Nekron’s grasp, but the wilderness held dangers of its own.

The sound of hooves broke the silence. A rider. A warrior.

Teegra froze, pressing herself against the trunk of a dead tree. Her heart pounded. She had met men on the road before—mercenaries, outlaws, slavers. Few had been kind, and even fewer had left her unharmed.

The rider dismounted, boots crunching against the ice. A sword hung at his side, but he didn’t draw it. His eyes, shadowed beneath a fur-lined hood, scanned the trees.

“I know you’re there,” he said, voice steady but not unkind. “If I meant you harm, I wouldn’t have stopped.”

Teegra hesitated. She could run. She could fight. But she was tired—so tired. And if she collapsed in the snow, there would be no second chance.

She stepped out from behind the tree, shoulders squared, chin lifted in defiance despite the way her body trembled from the cold.

“Then tell me,” she said, her voice hoarse but unwavering, “what do you mean to do?”