An interesting spin in her character. I wonder about two points: first, you did mean to say pile both those times, instead of pole, correct? I ask because the word you used was technically correct, but uncommon to use. Second, in the first sentence of the chapter,
>Sonja as she padded through the ghostly world, the clarity fading in and out with every step
was there supposed to be more to Sonja's actions, or was the "as she" in error? Those were the only questionable parts that I noticed. Thank you for writing this.

On topic, the valkyrie seems more bitter than before, but that might just be how enjoyably you present the scenarios - especially considering that last time was followed almost immediately by the man of heat spending time with Sonja.

I started to get the impression that Sonja was surprised that the cold was cruel to her, and I don't know why she would be - it's been pretty consistent that heat leads to losing one's head with passion (figuratively, as the literal sense hasn't come up), and the chill mist is cruel and cold to everyone, but occasionally Sonja a project. Sonja seems to do better when she's protected from the cold.

As for Meris, I hope nothing too bad has happened to her yet. Sonja is going to want her reasonably in-tact for later.