Cold, cold everywhere snow and snow-covered trees as far as the eye can see. I had been traveling through this frozen land for days. A giant frozen land, the trees seemed miles and miles high to me. It was not only the trees, also the beasts were giant. I barely managed to evade one about a week ago, losing half of my supplies as I had to leave something behind to occupy the beast for a while. Ever since that day I walked on tree boughs and branches, which stemmed from the trunks luckily not too high above the ground. It was still the height of a few buildings for me, but low enough to climb up to. It meant lot of climbing, but it kept me safe from the worst beasts. Several much bigger ones, even two or three times bigger than the distance from where I was now to the ground, passed by from time to time, but they did not pay attention or even notice me. Of course, I had to risk now and then when I could not continue on one bough and had to climb down and up another tree. To my luck, there were many places where the tree branches were intertwined, so I could cross from one tree to another.

Another week passed and no matter how hard I had tried to prevent my supplies from dwindling, they were almost gone. Conserving food and thus eating just a little made me steadily weaker and weaker. I knew I had to keep going, only that I had trouble remembering what my destination was. I did not think in the slightest that I could fail when I emerged from the portal and it closed behind me. But now my legs started refusing to walk, the cold got too deep under my clothes and into my body. I stopped.

Suddenly the air seemed to change somehow and a big shadow fell over me. My heart went racing from the fear of having to fight or run from another wild beast. I quickly turned around and was literally frozen in place by what I saw. Instead of a beast I saw a stunningly beautiful giant woman approaching. She was completely naked but did not seem to feel the cold at all. I noticed that her bare feet were leaving only subtle trails in the snow. As she walked, she made absolutely no sound, no show crushing beneath her. Even the snowflakes did not seem to melt when they touched her skin, they merely slipped by and continued their graceful fall to the ground. It must have been a hallucination, at least so I thought. So the cold really got to me at last. My mind started playing tricks on me, I will probably be frozen to death within a few hours.

Reality hit me when the giant womanly form did not disappear, but came to a stop next to the bough I was standing on. A very slight wave of warmth washed over me, then another and the warmth seemed to remain around me. I was at about her knee level, her thigh rising up like a trunk of a mystical, millennia old tree that I saw in a distant land ages ago. With the exception that her thighs looked soft like a dream, whereas the tree had lots of hollows and cracks. I slowly looked up her  giant form. The more I tilted my head back the more awestruck I was. Against the pearly white sky, she seemed to have an aura around her. Finally our eyes met, her eyes were pure silver as if reflecting the cold everlasting winter of this land. However, her look was not cold, actually, she smiled at me. Could she be the... no, that is just a myth... or is it? My waterfall of thoughts was interrupted as she spoke.

"What do we have here? A little traveller lost in the middle of frozen land."  With that she lifted her foot and let it rest on the bough in front of me. Similar to the rest of her body, her feet also did not show any signs of cold. They did not even bear any marks of walking, scratches or dirt that you would expect when walking barefoot.

"Yes, I am the one you think. Some call me a goddess, some call me a spirit of this land. I can feel everything alive in this forest and I show myself only to travelers that would otherwise freeze to death. I will spare you from that fate and help you get to safety if you prove me that you know how to treat a lady."

In my homeland it was a custom to bow and kiss a lady's hand, but since her hands were far out of my reach I approached her foot, kneeled down and gently kissed her toe. Her toes were about as high as my knee, so when I knelt I was at a height just right for that kiss. As I touched the toe and placed my lips against it, another, stronger wave of warmth washed over me. Her skin was soft and warm, I could not believe that she was a goddess of winter, a supposed embodiment of cold.

She gently laughed and said, "Oh, what a gentleman! You do know how to treat a lady, unlike most of the little souls that come through here. Now, let me fulfill my promise." It all happened so fast, at one moment I was freezing in snow, the next time I was wrapped in the hand of a beautiful goddess. She brought me to her face and her expression suddenly became concerned. "Little one, you really are almost frozen. A little more time and I would have come late. I am not sure you would survive if I carried you in my hand. Now, this will not be too ladylike, but I am sure you will not mind."

She winked an eye and the expression in her face became a bit mischievous. I wondered what she was up to. Her fingers released the grip and I was just lying on her palm. With her other hand she gently grabbed my jacket and tore it open like a piece of paper. As she continued with my other garments in a similar manner, I found myself shaking. Not with cold, not even fear, it was more that my half frozen mind could not cope with what was happening. After a while I was as naked as she was. I noticed my limbs were getting a shade of grey or maybe even blue. Instinctively I covered my crotch with my hands.

"My, my, there is no need to be embarrassed, after all, you have already seen me naked. But we can talk later, now I need to warm you up." As she said that, her fingers closed on me again. "I have only one place warm enough for you. Do not be afraid, I will not harm you in any way down there. There is no other way to warm you up enough to ensure that you survive the trip." Did I just notice a sign of blushing in her face? 

She ducked and her hand holding me started moving towards her crotch. Her womanhood was perfect, pink and emanating even more warmth then the rest of her body. Had I been in a better shape, this would send my heart beating like crazy. Actually, it would not be just my heart to go crazy. I did not have much time for admiration anyway as she spread her labia with her other hand and pushed me head first inside the pink walls. When I was all in, I felt the walls gently squeeze my legs, so that I would not fall out. I was held firmly, but I had no trouble breathing. I felt the warmth entering my body. More than warmth, heat. In all the recent events and now the warmth, my mind started drifting away. I could hear her distant heartbeat, it was like the pure sound of life. I felt safe, surrounded by her in every direction, hidden in what many would consider a holy place. It felt like nothing could ever harm me here, I suddenly felt relaxed and content like never before. Combined with the heartbeat, warmth and also movement as she started walking, I fell into a sleep, which was more like a coma.

I woke up from a deep slumber, my mind seemed clear at last, although my head felt still a bit dizzy. I tried to remember where I was and what happened. All I could recover at the moment were images, small flashbacks. Snow, freezing cold, then a silhouette with those calming silver eyes and then warmth. The eyes kept popping up a lot in my mind. Who was it? How long have I been out? I must have been sick for days and someone looked after me all that time. 

More and more tiny bits started springing back to place in my mind. I did not open my eyes, I just listened to my surroundings. I could not hear anything besides what was apparently a huge fire crackling in a fireplace. The cold that seemed to have imbued itself into the marrow of my bones was gone. I felt comfortably warm, more on the side where the fire was. All around was very soft, like silk. I was naked and wrapped in some sort of soft fabric. I moved my arms, rubbed my face and slowly opened my eyes. 

The bed I was lying in looked more like a box, but I still felt comfortable. I tried to focus my eyes on something outside the bed, but it was difficult as if everything else was very distant. I tried to sit up, but the sudden spinning of my head made me lay back. I was still very weak. Getting some more sleep seemed like a good idea, so I closed my eyes again and soon fell asleep again. This time my sleep was not so deep, I dreamed about a giant womanly shape reaching down to me and again those silver eyes. 

The sound was subtle, but enough to bring back my consciousness, a door opening and closing, followed by footsteps. I tried sitting up again and this time I was successful, no spinning head anymore, I could also finally make out the enormous room I was in. Well, a room may not exactly describe it. To me the room looked big enough to contain all the lands of a small count back in my homeland, including farming fields and a bit of a forest for game hunting. To my left was a huge ornate fireplace. Behind me to the right stood a dark brown armchair with red, silver and golden weaving. Those two were the closest things I could see, with the exception of some kind of stool under the box that I was in. I did not try to get up. There was no way I would make it down to the floor in my current state. It would be pointless anyway as I had neither clothes nor any reason to run. Further away behind me I could make out a globe on a stand with a map of some sorts, a desk with books and scrolls and two rows of bookcases. There was a window behind the desk showing dark grey sky, it must have been evening. There were several more rows of bookcases in front of me, but I could not see how far the aisles between them went or if the room continued behind them. In a distance to my right was a carved wooden door. The room, apparently a library, must have been a part of a large mansion or maybe a castle belonging to someone from nobility. 

The footsteps were getting closer until the library door opened and a giant woman dressed in dark red robe came through. She was carrying a steaming bowl with a spoon. Her eyes fell upon me just as she closed the door behind her. She had those silver eyes from my dreams and flashbacks, the shape must have been her, only in the dreams the she had no clothes. I was not sure what to do so I at least waved my hand. Her expression showed a lot of relief as she smiled. 

"You woke up at last! I was getting worried. You had fevers ever since I brought you in four days ago," she said as she walked to the fireplace and set the bowl on a step next to it. 

I had so many questions on my mind I was not sure how to start. "My lady, if I may, what is this place, where am I and what happened?"

She turned to face me. "Not so fast, you have to eat something first." Then she reached to the ledge above the fireplace, opened a little box, took out what looked like a thimble and then sat down on a cushion on the floor next to me and the fireplace. She stirred whatever was inside the bowl, tasted it and poured a drop into the thimble which she set on to the fabric in front of me. I tilted the thimble took a sip. It was a strong soup, warm, but not boiling hot. As I ate I felt a bit of strength coming back to my limbs. When I finished she took the thimble and put it next to the bowl. 

"There, that should get you back on your feet. Feeling better now?" she said. I opened my mouth to speak, but she was faster. "Oh and you can drop all that 'my lady' or however else you wanted to call me. I have already had fairly enough of all the formal language. And you had already shown that you know how to behave in front of a lady. Just call me by my name, Lyanna." 

"Thank you very much, my la... errr, Lyanna! My name is Cale." I had the noble title on my tongue almost before I realized it as this was the way people from my class were supposed to talk to noblemen. "I am in debt to you. I was sure I was going to freeze out there. However, all that happened out there is a bit blurry to me. Your eyes are the only thing I remember clearly." There were a few other things I also remembered, one of them being that she had no clothes on out there and the other, which I realized a while ago, that it definitely was not a pocket in which she carried me here. But I just could not bring myself to ask her right away. 

She laughed at my 'my lady' hiccup when saying her name, but she let me finish what I was saying. Then she moved closer to the stool, put one arm on it and rested her head on top of the arm. Her face was now just a few meters away from me. She had long fair hair that went well with those big silver eyes. I started getting nervous as she kept silent, but the next second I found myself lying on my back with her index finger slightly pressing against my chest, pinning me into the bed box. "You are in debt to the winter goddess, she is the one who saved you!", she said in a strong, but somehow friendly tone, producing a wide grin. 

"The winter goddess? I thought that it was you... but your voice... and your eyes are the same that I saw out there…" I was still weak, not only my body, but my mind as well. 

"Easy now, you will get to meet her tomorrow. Now you should get some more rest. And you are not the only one. I did not sleep much either, I watched over you the whole time. Would you like a bit more soup before we go to sleep?". I nodded and she poured me another thimble, then took the bowl and started eating. 

We sat there in silence, each slowly eating our share. Lyanna sat on the cushion in a not very ladylike way, one leg stretched in front of her, half sitting on the other one. She was clearly a noble, but seemed bored or tired of sticking to the etiquette. I slowly sipped from my thimble and admired her. There were orange lights dancing along the side of her body facing the fireplace. They dyed her hair, the skin of her arm and the stretched leg. She did not wear any socks or stockings, her bare feet were very familiar. Aside from her beauty and the fiery dancing colors, there was something about her that seemed to touch me inside. No matter how strange and unbelievable this situation was, it felt very good to be with her here by the fire. 

As if she was reading my mind, she said, "You know, Cale, it is nice to have a company here, someone nice to talk to after all this time…". She suppressed a yawn, put the bowl aside, stood up and changed the topic. "I know you feel better, but I still would not like to just leave you alone all night. I am going to take you to my room with me." She did not wait for my response, turned around and reached into the fire with her hand. The fire slowly subsided until it vanished. She did the same with the lights on the walls, but the room did not become entirely dark. There was a bit of yellow glow from a few crystals attached to the walls, which I did not notice earlier. After putting the last candle out Lyanna came back, picked up the bed box I was in and headed out of the library. 

As she walked, the walls went by so fast that I had to lay down to stop my head from spinning. We passed a few doors and corridors until we ended up in a small but comfortable-looking bedroom. One wall contained a fireplace similar to the one in the library. The window in this room was bigger and much wider than the one in the library and was decorated in gold. There was not much furniture apart from a huge wide bed with a canopy and a small table beside the bed. The floor in front of the bed was covered with a dark blue carpet. The rest of the room as well as the bed were toned into shades of dark red and violet, a similar color to that of Lyanna's clothes. She put me with the box on the small bedside table and walked towards the fireplace. With a similar gesture that she used to put out the fire earlier she made the flames spring to life on the logs. Then she reached behind her back and undid the buttons on the backside of her robe, which gracefully slid down onto the ground, leaving her completely naked. As if she did not realize that I was there, she picked up the robe, put it on a chair under the window and put one more log into the fireplace. I could not keep my eyes off her, the sight was stunning. 

"Good night, Cale," she said in a sleepy voice as she slipped into the bedsheets. 

What I was about to do was apparently impolite and inappropriate, but the big and quiet room and the height of the table made me feel like sleeping on a rooftop. 

"Lyanna?" 

"Yes?"  

"Would you mind if I slept closer to you on your pillow?" 

She chuckled, "I wanted to keep you closer myself, but was not sure if you would like that and I did not want to take advantage on you in your state and, well.... size. Come here.." 

She reached into the box, took me into her hand and gently set me onto the pillow next to her head, then covered by body with the soft cloth from the box and rested her hand next to me. With my exhaustion taking over again, I soon fell asleep listening to her heartbeat and breathing.

Morning light creeping in through the window made me open my eyes. I felt a slight chill on my face. The fire in the fireplace burned out halfway through the night, but somehow my face was the only part where I felt the chill. I was no longer lying freely on the pillow covered by that little blanket. Lyanna held me gently in her hand against her face. I was still naked and the touch of her skin all over my body filled me not with just physical warmth, but also something else I could not describe, although it was very familiar. I could now recall what happened in the forest much more clearly. The sensation I felt now was much like back there with the goddess. I suppressed the thoughts about the forest and just enjoyed Lyanna's presence. Little did I care whether she held me like this on purpose or just instinctively cuddled in her sleep, I only knew I did not want this moment to end. She looked so happy in her sleep making the moment even more intense for me. I carefully freed my arm and reached out to her cheek, caressing it, causing Lyanna to smile in her sleep.

Lyanna began to wake up about an hour later when the light grew stronger. She stirred and a part of the bed sheet slid off her body revealing her naked breasts. No man would be able to look away as they rose and fell again with her breath.

"Good morning, Cale," she cooed softly. "I hope you slept as well as I did. I must thank you, you made me remember just how nice it feels when there is someone sleeping close to you."

It took me a little while to look into her eyes. She knew where my eyes were set before, but did not do anything, not even cover her chest. I must have been red, blushing like a small boy when our eyes met.

"Lovely morning, Lyanna, I am glad I did not sleep in that box," I attempted to cover that awkward moment, but it was a poor attempt.

Lyanna opened her mouth to say something, but bit her lip instead, lifted herself on her elbows and sat back against the wall. Her hand holding me started to shake a bit as she lifted it to her breasts and let go of me. I gasped as I landed on her soft, but firm breast.

"Isn't this better than looking?", she asked with a bit of a taunting voice and let her hand rest on top of me, holding me against her flesh. I gently kissed her skin and looked back at her. We stayed like that for a moment looking at each other until we simultaneously burst into laughter.

"Well, being a man, it is difficult to resist a look at such a beauty," I tried to make amends with a compliment.

"You know, it actually feels very nice to feel a man's attention again. I almost forgot how it feels to be a woman," she said when she stopped laughing.

"Lyanna, what do you mean? A lady like you must have the attention of many men. Although I admit it must be difficult to get here at this time of the year," I said, not really understanding her point.

"The time of the year does not matter, the weather never changes in this land. This is the land of the Winter Goddess. Any land will look like this when she stays there," Lyanna replied looking slightly absent-minded at the mention of the Winter Goddess.

"I would like to meet her, so I can give her my thanks. You said I would meet her today…," I said and regretted it soon after, because she swiftly removed me from her breast and laid me back onto the bed. She got up and slipped into the dress she left on the chair yesterday.

"Fine, fine, I will arrange so that you can meet her again, but I'll need to wrap you into something warm," she said with a sigh, not looking too happy about it. Lyanna was hiding something and I was slowly putting pieces of that puzzle together. She left the room and returned with a wool scarf. There must have been a dressing room right next to her bedroom.

"Ok, let's have a breakfast and then we'll go to see her," she said she picked me up into the scarf. One part of my mind wanted to find some clothes, but the other actually enjoyed being handled naked.

When we made it to the kitchen, she set me onto a table. I wrapped myself into the scarf, so that my arms were free, but rest of me covered as it was a bit chilly here as well. The kitchen was large even in Lyanna's scope, it was apparently meant to cater for many more inhabitants than just one. I was no longer surprised when she conjured fire with a flick of hand in the fireplace. She put a kettle above the fire and started picking ingredients from various shelves. At first she moved slowly as if deep in thoughts, but then started to enjoy what she was doing.

"What are we going to have?" I asked, but she did not respond.

I was not sure if she heard me, so I just sat there and watched her. She moved in a dance-like way moving in a rhythm of a nonexistent music. For a while she stood on tiptoe to reach a high shelf, then bent gracefully to fetch a pot from a cupboard. She was delightful to watch. From time to time she turned around and threw a warm smile at me. I wondered what she was preparing, it seemed more like a lunch than a breakfast.

What seemed like half an hour passed and Lyanna was not moving around anymore. Instead she was focused on doing something on one of the kitchen tables next to a big oven and humming a melody of a song I did not know. I tried calling out her name, but she either did not hear me or did not want to hear me. Apparently, Lyanna was in no rush, as if trying to delay the moment when I would meet the Winter Goddess again. Although I did not understand why, I did not mind that much, but sitting on a table doing nothing was not my idea of a useful morning, so I stood up and stretched my arms and legs to at least get a bit of excercise after spending days in bed. The air was getting warmer though not enough to walk around with no clothes. I tried pacing back and forth for a while, which seemed to warm me up reasonably well. I looked in Lyanna's direction, she did not seem so far away. If I moved fast, I should be  able to get to her quickly enough and maybe surprise her a bit. Now to get down onto the ground.

Luckily for me the table had carved legs sharped like a helix. I carefully slid down onto the ground and looked back up. With a bit of an effort I would be able to climb back up if necessary. This was my first time being really down on the floor. The chairs and table rising high above me and the sight of Lyanna's bare feet on the same level that I was made me feel a bit like a mouse. Trying not to push it too hard I took off towards Lyanna with a swift pace. Running would probably make me exhausted fairly quick.

I managed to cover about two thirds of the distance to Lyanna when I started getting dizzy. This might not have been the best idea after all, I clearly overestimated myself. I stood in a wide open space between Lyanna and the table I left a while ago. I lost balance, ringing sounds in my ears, everything else seemed suppressed. The next moment I recall lying on the ground feeling Lyanna's giant toes rest on top of me. A jolt of fear made me recover my senses a bit. I could see Lyanna's angry face looking down at me between her toes. She increased the pressure and kept it for a while. It was one of the longest moments in my life. However, instead of releasing the rest of her weight onto me, she grabbed my body with her toes, lifted me up and released me onto the palm of her hand.

"Cale, are you a fool? Are you out of your mind? I could have stepped on you! What were you thinking?" Lyanna tried to shout at first, but her voice was trembling instead.

She sat down and continued in a much softer voice, wrapping me in the warm scarf again. "Are you okay? I saw you faint in the middle of the floor. You can't push yourself like this yet, not to mention that running around naked can get you into fevers again."

"I'm sorry, Lyanna, I overestimated myself, I thought I would make it all the way to you. You seemed lost in thoughts and did not seem to hear when I called out, so I just wanted to get closer to you…" I said avoiding her concerned look and feeling stupid.

We sat there in silence which Lyanna broke by lifting me to her chest and holding me there. I must have really shocked her.

"Don't you ever do anything as stupid as this again! Here, take a cookie," she said releasing me and putting me onto the table again, this time next to a plate full of tiny cookies just the size for me.

I took the cookie, it tasted great. It made me feel even worse that in exchange for this I rewarded her with my foolishness. Lyanna watched me eat the cookie and remained silent, but her face seemed to get sad again. She took a deep breath.

"Now, Cale, forgive me for trying to delay this. I know you noticed. I guess it is about time I told you the truth about the Winter Goddess…"