Snowbound Sanctuary

The world swam back into focus, a hazy, muted landscape of rough-hewn logs and the flickering dance of firelight. JJ’s head throbbed with a dull ache, a persistent counterpoint to the rasp of her own breath. Cold. That was the first sensation that truly registered, a deep, gnawing chill that settled in her bones despite the warmth radiating from the hearth. She tried to move, a simple shift of her weight, but her limbs felt leaden, unresponsive. A groan escaped her lips, thin and reedy.

“Easy.”

The voice was a low rumble, deep and resonant, like stones shifting in a riverbed. It was the voice of the mountain, of the ancient trees, of something vast and untamed. Grizz. He was there, a looming silhouette against the firelight, his massive frame filling a corner of the small cabin. He moved with a surprising, fluid grace for a man of his size, approaching her cot with a steaming mug held in one enormous hand.