The wind struck them the moment they stepped onto the tower's outer deck—a brutal, slicing cold that felt more like a warning than weather. Frost swirled around their feet, catching the moonlight in sharp glints. From this height, the entire city of Frostholm sprawled beneath them like a frozen graveyard, every street coated in pale glass, every person locked in a silent tableau.
But all of that faded the instant they looked down.
Beneath the Frost Engine's vast structure—its rotating rings and arcane funnels—lay something far more impossible.
A dragon.
An enormous ice dragon curled at the tower's foundation, its body wrapped around the support pillars like a sleeping serpent frozen mid-breath. Translucent blue scales shimmered under the frost, each one larger than a shield. Its wings, folded tight, were buried under layers of ice so thick they looked carved from crystal. Chains of rune-inscribed steel wound around its limbs and torso, glowing faintly despite the cold.
And through its chest—
A long metal rod pierced all the way through, anchoring it to the tower's core like a macabre keystone.
Omina froze, breath stuck in her throat. "That… thing shouldn't exist."
Yami answered in a low whisper, "Yet it does. And it's alive."
They could see it now—the dragon's faint, barely perceptible breath. Like the inhalation of an ancient glacier. A slow pulse of cold radiated outward from its body, synchronizing with the Frost Engine above. The machine wasn't creating winter; it was harvesting it.
Fukashi stepped to the railing, gripping it with trembling hands. Beyond the city, distant and small on the horizon, he spotted Reflynne's faint silhouette.
"Yoshiya…" His voice cracked. "The frost mana spreads this far. If this thing flares or breaks containment, it could freeze half the region."
A deep realization settled over them. They were standing on a continent-sized weapon.
Yoshiya steadied himself, eyes locked on the dragon's wounded chest. "Someone engineered the entire tower around this creature… like a conduit."
Yami nodded slowly. "This is artificial. No natural formation creates seals like that." Her gloved finger traced the air toward the glowing symbols circling the dragon's legs. "These runes aren't ancient—they're modern craftsmanship. Someone built this prison deliberately."
Akihiro knelt beside the rail, eyes widening as he read the sigils etched into the dragon's chains. "Forced stasis… mana sedation… psyche bind…" He swallowed, horrified. "This dragon is sealed into a magical coma. Not dead. Not alive. Just… suspended."
Omina clenched her jaw. "Why chain a dragon instead of killing it outright?"
Yami's gaze hardened. "Because a living ice dragon produces infinite frost mana. A corpse doesn't."
The wind howled, rattling the chains far below. The dragon did not stir. It only breathed—a long, slow exhale that sent a new wave of icy air rising past them.
Yoshiya's knuckles whitened on the railing. "Whoever did this… they turned a living creature into a generator."
Fukashi's expression tightened. "A generator this large could support armies. Freeze territories. Alter climates."
Akihiro shut his eyes as Kindling Light flared weakly around his hands. "And the dragon suffers through every pulse."
The weight of it settled across all five of them.
A crime against nature. Against life itself. And at the heart of Frostholm's destruction.
Omina inhaled sharply, steadying her voice. "Then we dismantle it. Free it. Whatever it takes."
Yoshiya shook his head immediately. "Not yet. If we break a single seal, the Frost Engine collapses and the entire city thaws at once. Thousands could die."
She hated it, but she understood. The tower held its breath with them, the cold deepening, the engine grinding above like a devouring heart.
Yami spoke last, her voice barely a whisper. "This isn't a ruin. It's a factory. And someone… somewhere… is still feeding it."
The dragon below exhaled again—slow, weary, ancient.
And they understood the real problem:
This thing hadn't chosen any of this.
It had simply been captured and used.
The heart of Winter wasn't evil.
It was enslaved.