A Wizard's Kingdom

He had called this place Erstonia and had explained that it was the only kingdom to have survived the bitter cold of the north, but as they walked through the cold and empty streets of the city, she wondered if this was what he had meant by “survived”.

The place was deserted, cold, quiet, having no sign of life and it sent chills up her spine, causing the hairs on her body to stand on their ends as goose bumps spread across her arms and legs.

“People live here,” he suddenly said like he had been reading her mind. “They just stay indoors most of the time where it is warmer.”

“It doesn’t seem like anywhere could be warm enough in this kingdom,” Lyra said honestly.

“Then you should see the castle, that would help change the way you see things around here.”

It was a long walk to the castle but Lyra didn’t feel tired at all. She could not help but feel like the kingdom was a small one if they could walk from the city’s outskirts to the castle in mere minutes.

“How large is the kingdom?”

“Y