Her tears cascaded like rivers of ice down her flushed, frozen cheeks. She tried to scramble backward, her exhausted body dragging through the biting snow, but Roland's reach was swifter and devoid of mercy. He lunged forward, snaring her and hauling her against the iron cage of his chest.
His voice was a serpent's hiss against her ear, "Did you truly believe you could outrun me? Did you think this world was vast enough to hide a single corner where I could not reach you?"
Her voice was a shattered thing, trembling with a terror that clawed at her throat. "Roland... please, I beg of you. Let me go... P-please."
A hollow, mirthless laugh escaped him. In one swift, terrifying motion, he hoisted her from the ground as if she weighed no more than a fallen feather.
"So, you remember my name now? You speak it only when you realize you are trapped. I will carve that name into every cell of your being until you forget your own."
