Kayla arrived in the middle of the wide, snowy field, arms wrapped tightly around herself as the storm battered her small frame. She sniffled, her breath unsteady, then slowly looked at her feet.
Trembling, she knelt down and placed both hands against the ground.
The snow beneath her boots hardened into smooth, gleaming ice. A perfect circle formed and spread outward, swallowing the uneven ground in a widening sheet of frost.
Pillars spiraled upward, higher and higher, twisting into elegant towers. Icy walls rose seamlessly from the earth. Staircases shaped themselves, arching into balconies of crystal.
Gradually, a palace of winter stood against the blizzard.
Kayla opened her eyes, her trembling gone.
She was now encased within the palace she had just created.
