After the sparring, the female Frost Giant would walk beside the Pale One often.
They explored together, climbing the jagged ridges that bordered the realm, crossing bridges of ice that glowed faintly from within.
The Pale One saw where the world's edge met a sea of frozen mist, where strange lights moved beneath the surface like creatures sleeping under glass.
Sometimes, when the pale one stopped to watch them, she would reach out and touch his arm. When he looked at her wordlessly, curious about the lands beyond, she pointed toward the horizon where a faint orange shimmer burned.
The land of fire.
He went alone at first.
The transition was gradual, with the white frost fading, and then smooth stone streaked with veins of ember light started to appear. The air was warm with steam rising up from the cracks where orange light glowed. If the ice beings were to come over here, they would melt like last time, but the fire didn't melt the pale one.
