The Silver Knight stared at the ______. For all that his friend had told him, he'd expected something... different.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" she said now behind him, as if on cue. The Silver Knight simply continued to stare. Was she seeing something that he wasn't? When he looked at the ______, all he felt was... confused. 

"Hey," the young woman said, her voice suddenly concerned. "You're shivering."

All of a sudden, Silver realized he'd started to rub his arms without thinking. "Yeah," he replied, looking away from the ______. Somewhere in the last few minutes, the temperature had taken a plunge. Goosebumps had risen up on his arms, and he was barely able to keep his teeth from chattering. "Guess there's a cold spell. Weird."

The woman studied Silver for a moment, her face unreadable. "It's... not that cold outside. The temperature hasn't changed at all, in fact."

Silver blinked. What? The cold certainly felt real. Was it just a figment of his imagination? His eyes flicked back to the ______. It couldn't be that... could it?

"So, what do you think?" asked the woman. Silver realized with a start that her voice and all the other sounds around him were slightly muted, as if he was hearing them from a long way off. "The ______ is pretty incredible, right?"

Silver shook his head. "I... I don't understand."

The woman cocked her head. "What's there not to understand about it? Look! The ______, the ______, the ______... even the ______ is ______!" She leaned closer in. Her expression no longer looked friendly. "You're the one that's not making any sense. The ______ is a good thing. A great thing, even. Why can't you understand that?"

The Silver Knight took a step back. "What? I don't- That's not what I-" He cut off, feeling a sudden lurch in his stomach as he realized that they were no longer alone in the clearing. A small crowd of people were standing between each of the pillars that surrounded the space, their faces showing expressions which could only be described as hostile.

"You hate it," the woman hissed, all traces of friendliness gone. "You want to destroy the ______, don't you?"

"What?" stammered Silver, taking a step back. "No! I don't- that doesn't make any sense!"

"I won't let you," the woman replied, her eyes narrowing. She stepped forward, pushing Silver further and further back. "None of us will."

Abruptly Silver's backwards retreat was halted when someone behind him shoved him forwards. He cried out, barely managing to keep his footing as he stumbled. When the next push came, he had no chance. He fell to the ground, shivering, as the faceless crowd closed in around him.

It was cold. So cold.