I think that the initial premise sounds pretty good. The writing style on-point, though there is the occasional run-on sentence, and sometimes it is better to refer to a character by something than proper nouns and instead use pronouns and terms that explain more of who they are. I enjoy the manner of speaking used in the dialogue. A formal vocabulary makes sense in this case.
Everard has a great personality. It is not visible enough (to me) in the earlier paragraphs, but it does shine through in the later paragraphs. I appreciate the defensiveness he shows, and his worldly knowledge. Really said their situation as it was, no holds barred. I do have an issue with the personality of Ayla though. It is the classic defenseless anime girl who weeps for the protag, screaming in a high voice then whispering his name in a quiet, worried tone. Virtually helpless cowards to be saved. Now, I will say that unlike many, at least you describe that type of personality well. I do apologize if I am coming off as harsh for the trope. It's a pet peeve of mine.
In the third chapter, names are introduced, but not directly connected to the person in question, and they are introduced from the start, rather than to let the reader find out with the MC's point of view (specifically, the names of Thaddeus and Thalia are used before Jon finds out through conversation). It's mildly confusing.
These references to witches and frost giants are quite interesting.
I hope this helps. I promised to give a rating today, but I feel like my exhaustion may have caused me to overlook the good parts in favor of the issues. Crossing fingers it works for you. Do you want this in a review and rating on the story-proper though?