Heart of Ice
The Ice Warrior
A very long time ago, on the shores of a long forgotten ocean there lived people that were pretty much just like us. They lived, slept, ate, had families like ours, and they even fell in love. Unlike our world though this far back mythical creatures still existed and were actually quite common in this region, merfolk lived off the shores, unicorns in their forests, even rumors of dragons to the north, aside from the occasional problem with goblins raiding their food though they mostly kept to themselves and did not interact with people. Right up against the ocean lived a young boy. Yes he was a boy even though his appearance would suggest otherwise. He stood at almost seven feet tall and had the short black hair that was common for people in this area, but very pale almost cold blue eyes, along with his height he was the strongest person anyone had seen, he could crush rocks and stop their cattle in mid charge. Despite his strength and height or maybe because of it he didn’t have many friends and people tended to give him a very wide berth, unknown to everyone he was really very gently and often a bit lonely. He didn’t mind it much and spent most of his time walking among the cliffs near the ocean and watching the merfolk when they came closer to the shore.
One day a little after his eighteenth birthday he was walking along the cliffs near the ocean’s edge and happened to see a young girl standing at the edge of the cliff high above the sharp rocks below. For the longest time he stood there stunned unable to move. This was by far the most beautiful girl he had every seen. She didn’t have the sharp beauty of some of the nobles that would occasionally pass through his village, but she had an elegant grace all of her own. Her black hair hung down to the small of her back, and her skin was paler than anyone’s he had ever seen. She only came up to his chest but when she turned and stared at him her eyes were a piercing gray unlike anything he had seen before and in them was a deep sadness that pierced his heart. It was love at first sight.
Every day he came back to that spot and so did she. They would do nothing but watch each other for hours, never speaking, unlike most people she never seemed intimidated by him. He liked to imagine that she felt the same way about him that he did about her. A week went by before he finally approached her; even then they only sat next to each other in silence watching the ocean. Finally after so long had passed they started talking, at first it was just about nothing in particular, the ocean, the weather, and so on, but soon they got into personal things about their lives. He told her how lonely he had been and she told him how she had planned to kill herself the day they met. He never asked about her past and she never offered.
Soon they started walking together and swimming in the ocean trying to interact with the merfolk there, and it wasn’t long before the merfolk accepted them into their group. They found that while swimming with them they could breathe underwater and explore the deepest parts of the sea. Slowly they spent more and more time in the water until they almost never went onto the land anymore. They had no reason to. One day the merfolk started heading north and so the boy and girl followed them, traveling farther and farther each day. The cold no longer seemed to affect them like it once would have and for the first time in their lives living with the merfolk and each other they were truly happy. Many months later they arrived at a wall of ice that reached into the sky higher than anyone could see and began traveling along it; the two were confused not knowing why they had come to this place and what they were looking for.
Days later they found a gap in the ice, it was so narrow only five people could travel across it side by side but shot up into the sky seemingly as high as the wall itself. After traveling through it they came to an amazing land. Its beauty was beyond anything that they had ever seen before, shimmering waterfalls, rivers that ran throughout the land, and trees with fruits they had never seen. It was a complete paradise. They were stopped though by the merfolk and told that they had to leave and go back to where they came from. This land was a retreat for the merfolk and other mythical creatures in the coming age and they would not be welcomed there. This shattered them. The girl once again sank into a very deep depression but this time there was nothing the boy could do to bring her out of it. He went to the leader and begged him to allow them to stay because he wasn’t sure what the girl would do if they were rejected, and finally the leader agreed but only to allow her to stay. For the second time the boy’s heart shattered but he didn’t know what else to do for he was afraid she would take her own life and so they separated. She was torn to part with him but could not resist staying in the life she loved within paradise, and so she left to go with them; after the last of them went through the passage way sealed with a wall of ice not even leaving a trace behind.
The boy stayed outside the wall for days. At first he wept until he was out of tears and then he just waited. He wasn’t sure why he waited but at least near the wall he felt close to his love and so there he stayed. Months passed and though he had long ago given up hope he still waited. Finally his waiting was rewarded and he received a message, not from the wall as he had thought but from even farther north. It seemed someone wanted to meet with him in a small passage farther north than anyone had ever been. He started out towards the north not even daring to hope it was from his love but who else would know him and where he was? The traveling was harsh for there were no roads and not much else. Many times he almost died from wild animals and hidden crevices in the ice but still he traveled. Three years later soon after his twenty-second birthday though he had long since forgotten the time. He arrived at a narrow passage going into the ice wall. Half way into the passage he was stopped by one of the merfolk and told he could go no further into their new land. He was told that this was the last remaining passage into the land and that it needed guarding from all dangers of the outside world. If he chose to be the eternal guard of this place he may one day be reunited with his love, and instantly he agreed without hesitation or doubt.
Provided with enchanted armor which increased his already legendary strength, and a dual handed great sword to cut down any who tried to pass, he was positioned in the exact center of the path facing the way he had come, and forever his back to the land where his love resides. Years he stood there never ageing and never moving legs apart, both hands on his sword with the blade struck down inches into the ice. One day a women traveling alone came up the path ridding an elegant horse. She was beautiful and dressed in regal looking robes. She was as startled to see him there as he was to see her, and even though he didn’t show it inside he was shocked. This was the first person he had seen since standing guard and while he knew his duty. How was he supposed to kill a young lady? She came up to him smiling having recovered and asked him if she could pass. There was something off in her voice and she grew greatly upset when he told her that she was not allowed to pass. It turned out she was a witch not used to people resisting her charms and grew angry at him attacking him. He shoved her back and decided there was only one way he could justify killing her and so he asked her a riddle warning her if she did not instantly answer she would be cut down. She agreed and he asked her “how long does true love last?” and in two seconds struck her down with his sword for he could not risk her getting the answer right but felt justified in having at least given a chance at passing.
After his first victim many more came for the treasure he was guarding, knights, lords, ladies, witches, and wizards, all of whom he would ask the question and then strike them down while they tried to think of the answer. Some tried to force their way through but with his strength and armor he cut them down easily, and this continued for hundreds upon hundreds of years. The ice walls around him were lined with the bones of all those he had killed and he became a legend, the ice warrior with the heart of ice cutting down warriors, women, and even children the same. People knew he asked a riddle before he struck you down but no one ever made it back to report what it had been. Soon people stopped coming and all but forgot about him. Time passed and even in the far passage where he was forgotten he heard that a change was coming to the land. A great war with a greater evil behind it, and that the world was doomed. Still the warrior who had long forgotten his name but not the one he loved stood in silence, never moving, always waiting as time passed.
One day a little after his eighteenth birthday he was walking along the cliffs near the ocean’s edge and happened to see a young girl standing at the edge of the cliff high above the sharp rocks below. For the longest time he stood there stunned unable to move. This was by far the most beautiful girl he had every seen. She didn’t have the sharp beauty of some of the nobles that would occasionally pass through his village, but she had an elegant grace all of her own. Her black hair hung down to the small of her back, and her skin was paler than anyone’s he had ever seen. She only came up to his chest but when she turned and stared at him her eyes were a piercing gray unlike anything he had seen before and in them was a deep sadness that pierced his heart. It was love at first sight.
Every day he came back to that spot and so did she. They would do nothing but watch each other for hours, never speaking, unlike most people she never seemed intimidated by him. He liked to imagine that she felt the same way about him that he did about her. A week went by before he finally approached her; even then they only sat next to each other in silence watching the ocean. Finally after so long had passed they started talking, at first it was just about nothing in particular, the ocean, the weather, and so on, but soon they got into personal things about their lives. He told her how lonely he had been and she told him how she had planned to kill herself the day they met. He never asked about her past and she never offered.
Soon they started walking together and swimming in the ocean trying to interact with the merfolk there, and it wasn’t long before the merfolk accepted them into their group. They found that while swimming with them they could breathe underwater and explore the deepest parts of the sea. Slowly they spent more and more time in the water until they almost never went onto the land anymore. They had no reason to. One day the merfolk started heading north and so the boy and girl followed them, traveling farther and farther each day. The cold no longer seemed to affect them like it once would have and for the first time in their lives living with the merfolk and each other they were truly happy. Many months later they arrived at a wall of ice that reached into the sky higher than anyone could see and began traveling along it; the two were confused not knowing why they had come to this place and what they were looking for.
Days later they found a gap in the ice, it was so narrow only five people could travel across it side by side but shot up into the sky seemingly as high as the wall itself. After traveling through it they came to an amazing land. Its beauty was beyond anything that they had ever seen before, shimmering waterfalls, rivers that ran throughout the land, and trees with fruits they had never seen. It was a complete paradise. They were stopped though by the merfolk and told that they had to leave and go back to where they came from. This land was a retreat for the merfolk and other mythical creatures in the coming age and they would not be welcomed there. This shattered them. The girl once again sank into a very deep depression but this time there was nothing the boy could do to bring her out of it. He went to the leader and begged him to allow them to stay because he wasn’t sure what the girl would do if they were rejected, and finally the leader agreed but only to allow her to stay. For the second time the boy’s heart shattered but he didn’t know what else to do for he was afraid she would take her own life and so they separated. She was torn to part with him but could not resist staying in the life she loved within paradise, and so she left to go with them; after the last of them went through the passage way sealed with a wall of ice not even leaving a trace behind.
The boy stayed outside the wall for days. At first he wept until he was out of tears and then he just waited. He wasn’t sure why he waited but at least near the wall he felt close to his love and so there he stayed. Months passed and though he had long ago given up hope he still waited. Finally his waiting was rewarded and he received a message, not from the wall as he had thought but from even farther north. It seemed someone wanted to meet with him in a small passage farther north than anyone had ever been. He started out towards the north not even daring to hope it was from his love but who else would know him and where he was? The traveling was harsh for there were no roads and not much else. Many times he almost died from wild animals and hidden crevices in the ice but still he traveled. Three years later soon after his twenty-second birthday though he had long since forgotten the time. He arrived at a narrow passage going into the ice wall. Half way into the passage he was stopped by one of the merfolk and told he could go no further into their new land. He was told that this was the last remaining passage into the land and that it needed guarding from all dangers of the outside world. If he chose to be the eternal guard of this place he may one day be reunited with his love, and instantly he agreed without hesitation or doubt.
Provided with enchanted armor which increased his already legendary strength, and a dual handed great sword to cut down any who tried to pass, he was positioned in the exact center of the path facing the way he had come, and forever his back to the land where his love resides. Years he stood there never ageing and never moving legs apart, both hands on his sword with the blade struck down inches into the ice. One day a women traveling alone came up the path ridding an elegant horse. She was beautiful and dressed in regal looking robes. She was as startled to see him there as he was to see her, and even though he didn’t show it inside he was shocked. This was the first person he had seen since standing guard and while he knew his duty. How was he supposed to kill a young lady? She came up to him smiling having recovered and asked him if she could pass. There was something off in her voice and she grew greatly upset when he told her that she was not allowed to pass. It turned out she was a witch not used to people resisting her charms and grew angry at him attacking him. He shoved her back and decided there was only one way he could justify killing her and so he asked her a riddle warning her if she did not instantly answer she would be cut down. She agreed and he asked her “how long does true love last?” and in two seconds struck her down with his sword for he could not risk her getting the answer right but felt justified in having at least given a chance at passing.
After his first victim many more came for the treasure he was guarding, knights, lords, ladies, witches, and wizards, all of whom he would ask the question and then strike them down while they tried to think of the answer. Some tried to force their way through but with his strength and armor he cut them down easily, and this continued for hundreds upon hundreds of years. The ice walls around him were lined with the bones of all those he had killed and he became a legend, the ice warrior with the heart of ice cutting down warriors, women, and even children the same. People knew he asked a riddle before he struck you down but no one ever made it back to report what it had been. Soon people stopped coming and all but forgot about him. Time passed and even in the far passage where he was forgotten he heard that a change was coming to the land. A great war with a greater evil behind it, and that the world was doomed. Still the warrior who had long forgotten his name but not the one he loved stood in silence, never moving, always waiting as time passed.