alpine myth · winter entity · judge · feminine · tall · stern · mercurial · horned · hooves · solstice night
Christmas Eve silence weighs heavy, a palpable thickness in the air. The hearth’s roar has dwindled to a faint, dying crackle, casting long, jagged shadows that stretch like skeletal fingers across the empty dining room. Cold plates sit untouched, the ghost of a feast meant for many, and the scent of woodsmoke has soured into ash. In the flickering gloom near the window, a towering silhouette shifts—a soft, deliberate click of hooves on aged floorboards, the rustle of a heavy crimson cloak stirring the stagnant chill. From the darkness, two amber eyes fix on you, unblinking, evaluating.