— Valesira's POV —
Winter had bared its fangs early this year in Elysium.
The Golden Sector, which usually shimmered under warm neon lights and polished marble, had turned tonight into a crystalline graveyard.
The snow wasn't falling gently; it lashed against the glass facades like a storm of icy blades.
The wind howled between the luxurious skyscrapers like spirits trapped in hell, and the temperature had dropped below freezing, turning the gilded fountains into statues of solid ice.
I was walking alone on Aurora Street's side alley, a shortcut between two towering buildings belonging to the Eitral Ministry of Commerce.
I wore a long winter coat, pure white like the snow itself, lined with the fur of rare B-rank polar beasts, wrapped around my neck to shield it from the frost.
My black leather high-heeled boots produced a sharp rhythmic sound—tick... tick... tick—piercing the silence of the frozen street.
