Far to the north of Lyane, the capital of the kingdom of men, lies Glésias—an allied kingdom encased in endless plains of ice and tundra. The harsh, mountainous terrain and barren soil make it an unforgiving place, a land of perpetual frost and solitude. But only outsiders see it that way. Life always finds a way, and the people of Glésias know this well. Their underground greenhouses stand as a testament to their ingenuity, a beacon of warmth amidst the frozen expanse.
Among them lived Michael, one of the seven holy knights of the frozen kingdom, each blessed by the king himself. A warrior of unwavering duty, he was always ready to defend his people, his blade a symbol of swift and unyielding justice. And yet, despite his strength and devotion, an emptiness gnawed at him—a restless storm in his soul, as if he were forever running through a blizzard with no end in sight.
His days were a constant trial, each battle another thorn piercing his reputation. He defended farms from the monstrous creatures that lurked within Belian, the cursed, icy forest. But with every fight came losses—lives he could not save, faith he could not restore. He fended off carrion birds that swept down from the south, scavengers drawn to the bodies of those claimed by the relentless storms. He sought to grant the dead a dignified rest after days of searching, but a knight who returns home bearing only corpses cannot sleep in peace.
Michael's frustration and self-doubt grew like ice creeping over a frozen lake. Yet, no matter how heavy the burden, he rose each day to fight again. Perfection eluded him, but persistence brought peace to many. Whether he felt worthy or not, whether he considered himself enough or not, history remembers him as one of the greatest warriors the world has ever known. Ironically, he never felt the weight of his own legacy.
It is a sorrowful tale, for the Ice Knight, as he was called, vanished years ago, setting out alone into the depths of Belian in search of its fabled heart. He believed that only by reaching it could he prove his worth, and so he accepted the impossible quest. Legends tell that the heart of Belian is the source of all the world's ice. Some claim it is a Venar—a god of snow, eternal and untouchable.
No one knows what Michael found in that frozen abyss. Perhaps the storm finally swallowed him whole. Or perhaps, somewhere beyond the ice and wind, he found the peace he had long sought.
David Stéfano, writing as Kael Angeli