Even on the hottest days of the year, the air feels like ice. The sun never shines on this clouded terrain. The constant dark clouds make anything white cast a shadow. The snow has never stopped falling from the sky to a kingdom trapped within. In this kingdom, it thrives on the harsh weather and made it so it is as strong as the thickest glacier and just as cold. The people go on with their lives just as anyone else; they are protected because no one dares to enter their land. Either they are scared too or they cannot survive.

The protector of this ice kingdom resides in the center, a haunting painted black and blue castle. At the peak of the tower is a single balcony that overlooks the entire kingdom and the empty snow fields beyond it. Looking down, was a man with long flowing black hair, thick gray horns perched on top of his head aiming away from his face. Then there were his mystic purple eyes. His eyes showed he was a member of the Xyiiux clan.

He remained emotionless as he looked down on his people below. Each of them living their everyday lives, completely unaffected by the weather. His eyes looked upward and saw no signs of the clouds receding, making it harder to determine the day or night.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door. The man didn’t move away from where he stood.

“It’s never locked,” he announced. “I don’t know why you bother knocking.”

The door loudly cracked open and a simple chambermaid wearing a thick animal pelt approached him. She kept her head down and stayed by the door.

“Lord Casitas,” she mumbled. The man sighed and turned his eyes back to the villagers again.

“Yes,” he said.

“An outsider was seen at the western border,” the chambermaid announced.

Casitas eyes flickered in a split second as he gazed at the horizon. The snow was so thick it was almost impossible to see beyond the kingdom grounds.

“I’ll go there alone. The guards are to remain here and protect the people. That is more important,” he ordered. The chambermaid bowed.

In a powerful gust of wind, she looked up to see the Lord had vanished. She hurried to the balcony but didn’t see a trace of him in the sky.

The air felt like ice burning into your skin. The wind was unforgiving and knocking down anything in its path. At the western border, there was a wounded soldier in faded platinum armor struggling to breath because the cold was making his lungs freeze. He sat on his knees, wrapping his arms around himself just for a small sign of warmth. Slowly, he heard footsteps approaching him getting louder and louder.

“What are you doing on my land trespasser,” said a demanding voice.

The soldier struggled to lift his head and saw a man towering over him. He wore thin rich clothing, but unfazed by the weather.

“Please,” the soldier stumbled. “I got lost…I am trying to get back to the mainland.”

“Then it is back the way you came,” Casitas responded. His eyes were filled with rage, his hand clutched to his sword scabbard by his waist. “This is Xyiiux clan territory. No outsiders. Leave now and I won’t have to make my sword dirty.”

“I can’t move. It’s too cold,” the soldier begged.

“Then die where you kneel,” Casitas said without looking away. The soldier's body was turning a haunting blue. His skin was becoming as brittle as a broken branch. A powerful gust of wind passed by the two, leaving Casitas motionless but the soldier almost freezing his eyes shut. With his vision blurred, he managed to look upon Casitas showing no remorse to a dying man in front of him and seeing what the wind blew away at his feet. Below him was a thick layer of ice; underneath was almost as black as the night. When seeing clearer, there were hands reaching out, frozen faces screaming in agony. The soldier was too cold to show his emotions.

“Below you,” Casitas said. “It is called Deadmans Valley. This entire field is filled with trespassers who only made it this far into my kingdom before freezing to death. From the look of you, you only have a couple of seconds before you join them.”

Casitas took a step forward until he was only a few inches from the soldier. By then, he wasn’t shivering, begging; he was at the brink of being nothing.

“No one enters my land,” he hushed the soldier.

Casitas turned his back and walked back to his kingdom; leaving the frozen soldier as a symbol of those who dare come here.

As Casitas walked back, he felt the air become rancid and charred. His eyes gazed in a different direction showing a forest of tall lifeless trees. In the distance, he could hear the faint sound of powerful flapping hidden in the thick layer of clouds. The fallen snow made it hard to see what was approaching.

“My Lord!” shouted a voice. Without looking, three men in thick animal pelts and black armor approached Casitas. They bowed honorably to him without raising their heads up.

“We have word that-”

“Why aren’t you home?” Casitas answered harshly. The men were too afraid to answer. “If you are here, who is protecting the people?”

“We are sorry my Lord,” said a knight. “We were able to smell smoke in the air and wanted to warn you. There is something else, my Lord.”

Casitas kept gazing into the forest, knowing there is something hidden inside. Quietly, he could almost hear someone crying.

“At the lookout tower, one of the knights swore he saw a Baellon–”

Before the knight could finish, Casitas felt a wave of chills traveling through his body. He clenched his teeth and gripped his sword.

“If that is true, then it is best for all of you to return to the village. I will handle this alone,” he ordered.

The knights raised their heads to him. “But my Lord, facing a Baellon-”

“We don’t know if it is and if it was, none of you are strong enough to handle one of them,” said Casitas. “I’ve seen what they are capable of and I won’t put my kingdom in any danger. So I order all of you to return to your posts and don’t come after me unless I don’t come back by morning.”

The knights knew they could not go against his word and respectfully bowed again to Casitas. As they left, he turned and walked into the forest.

The snow reached as tall as his knees and kept piling up higher. Still, he kept moving forward completely composed. The forest went on for miles, looking as though trapped in a maze. The trees were struggling to stand with the snow piling on their brittle branches. The wind snapping against the forces of nature, the coldness of nature surrounding everything in its path. The deeper Casitas walked, he noticed a few of the tree tops were smashed. Almost as though something crashed into it.

He continued forward and heard the soft voice again. Immediately he stopped in its path, seeing the snow on the ground. It was as though it crashed into a trench falling down a steep hill. Carefully, he followed the path and reached the edge of the hill. In the distance, he saw the glimmer of yellow light blinding his eyes. Casitas didn’t hesitate and ran close to the light.

Finally, reaching it, his face changed into emotionless but now anger. The glimmer of light was a royal gold dress blowing into the breeze with a frail body turning cold. Her face was buried in the snow, exposing her back showing slight burns along her shoulder and edge of her dress. Casitas kneeled down to the person, hearing her soft moan once again. Carefully, he reached out his hand to her shoulder. That small touch, made her body stop shivering, as though it stopped her from being scared. Slowly, he turned his body to face him. It was a beautiful woman with thick dark brown hair and her skin was turning blue and cold. Her arm had sunken into the snow and was starting to crack. Without thinking, Casitas took off his long cloak and placed it over the woman as he cradled her in his arms. Immediately the woman snuggled close to his chest, feeling any sign of heat he had left. That alone was enough for the woman to open her eyes.

The two of them looked at one another. She could barely see but noticed his haunting purple eyes staring at her. He saw that her eyes were a glowing gold as bright as her dress before she passed out from exhaustion. The moment she looked at him, Casitas felt a strange feeling pounding in his chest, something he hadn’t felt in such a long time.

Returning to the castle, Casitas had a small fire flickering in the fireplace. The woman was laying on a comforting blanket nearby while she was still clutching at his cloak. Casitas stayed next to the woman without having the strength to look at her.

There was a knock on his door, when a muscular knight with dirty blonde hair approached him and bowed respectfully.

“My Lord,” he announced. “I am sorry to report that we are unable to tell where the smoke is coming from.”

“It’s not coming from here and that's what matters,” said Castias. His eyes remained facing the ground. “Tell my brother I need him here to help this girl.”

The knight glanced over and saw the sleeping girl on the blanket. Immediately, his face looked lost in horror. His body began to shake like a frightened child. “My Lord…she is an outsider.”

“It is worse,” Casitas said under his breath. “She is a Baellon.”

Casitas stood up, with an intimidating look on his face. Not angry or scared but wanting to kill.

“Get my brother. I need answers to why a Baellon has the disrespect to enter my kingdom. Now!” he ordered. The knight jumped and rushed out in a hurry.

Casitas took one last look at the woman. She was silently resting, her breathing was back to normal. Still, Casitas looked down on her with a look of disgust fueled by rage.

“Monsters like you, shouldn’t exist in this world.”