Vulnerable.
Here is my heart, shrouded in thick cloaks and fortified behind tall walls. It now sleeps in the lap of darkness snug and sheltered from the unknown. The palace of ice is its home and everything around it is frozen, damp, impenetrable. Not even the warmest sunshine could get this far and deep into the realm of murky waters. The muscles have hardened with age, the blood barely makes it in and out of the doors. As brittle as glass it had become, afraid that it will shatter into pieces in someone's hands. Never leave this place, it kept chanting these words for years now, content with the cold. But did it really want to stay here all its life fearing and shunning everything outside its cavern? Here you are, explorer of the distant worlds and seeker of treasures that are worth more than gold. Your strange maps have somehow revealed my whereabouts that were kept secret all this while. What made you take this path, I wonder, you could've gone anywhere but you...