long, long ago,

there once lived a mage

young and naive,

yet powerful

the power of snow and ice

bestowed upon him,

he conjured a world for himself

of course, he was not alone

time and time again, 

he found a guest in a brash maiden

who wielded a great sword

what started as an altercation between these two,

blossomed into great tensions 

what dwelled inside her heart,

none could tell

but the naive mage’s heart of ice,

melted as he stared into her eyes

your eyes, what sorrows do they hide?

yet, they are so beautiful to stare into

he thought as he admired her from afar

of course,

an immortal being could never be with a mortal 

that is what the world dictates

in the 4 small years of his long life,

the mage learned to grow as a mortal

and the maiden, steadfast in her path to

becoming an unstoppable force.

in the onset of an evil blood moon,

the creatures from the underworld rose from

the gates that sealed them

this event, happened every thousand years

the stars vanished,

and the world was cast into darkness 

the mage and the maiden proceeded 

to protect the nearest villages

he conjured walls of frost that 

not even the underworld’s flames could melt

around all the villages 

the maiden rounded all the villagers to a shelter 

enchanted by the great groundskeeper 

“i’ll rush to the frontlines, 

you handle the rest here.”

the maiden told the mage 

“wait, it’s too dangerous-”

the maiden rushed without listening to the mage

the mage, having no other choice,

reinforced the walls with his magic 

and cast meteors of ice 

to rain down on the monsters that were nearing 

his might was unmatched,

and this was just a fraction of the power 

he was blessed with.

soon enough,

the blood moon lost its red hue

the mage, worried about the maiden,

flew to the frontlines

around him laid the corpses of the monsters

slain by her

however, he could not sense the 

the residue of her sword’s power anywhere 

where could she be, 

he thought to himself

after going further into the field,

he saw her standing 

relieved, he flew down

as he walked towards her,

suddenly something stabbed him in the back

he looked back,

it was the maiden,

except her eyes glowed red

in utter despair,

he lost the ability to mutter a word

her sword,

could kill even immortals

as she returned it to its sheath 

crimson chains erupt from 

the hole the sword left in his chest

she proceeded to walk away,

not looking back

while he stared at her,

tears ran from his eyes,

as the chains slowly sealed him in a dark void

for a thousand years,

a cruel winter never passed.

then came the day,

when the mage heard a voice,

a voice asking for help

the mage,

opened his eyes in the void

soon, the void started cracking

from the cracks of his prison,

emitted a powerful, cold wind

soon he broke out,

and found himself standing inside a cave

full of tunnels 

“help!”,

he heard the same cry again

flying to where the sound came from,

he saw three young people

holding onto each other,

as a girl clutched a cliff with all her might

he hovered above them,

as they stared at him in confusion,

the girl lost her grip

and the three started to fall

the mage quickly made a cloud of snow

and saved their lives.

they introduced themselves as a guild

the berserker was a frail boy with a sword bigger than him,

the archer was a girl who hunted griffins,

and their leader, the girl who lost her grip,

was a witch who barely knew how to conjure magic

their inexperience dumfounded the mage,

annoyed, he started to prepare to fly to his castle

when all of a sudden,

his soul ached

the residue of his magic,

allowed him to sense the destroyed castle

shocked, he tried sensing the villages

they, too, were gone

he asked the three about them

they told him a tale that they heard:

on the night of the evilest blood moon,

a powerful lord from the underworld 

hid amongst the monsters

he planned to massacre all the immortals,

however, 

his plans were thwarted

yet, his evil presence poisoned the world

as great demons carried out his plans

many blessed immortals were slaughtered,

and the strongest ones went into hiding

a prophecy was told, however,

that in the land of eternal winter

was the key to saving the world.

hearing the tale,

the mage decided to take down all the great demons

as he was about to leave,

the three asked him if he could join their guild

oblivious to who the mage was,

he kept his identity a secret

and much to his annoyance,

accepted their request

deep in his heart, however,

he thought about the maiden

anger, sorrow, and a yearning for her,

caused his heart to hurt every second.

as they journeyed to their first battle,

they told him about their dreams 

the berserker wants to be stronger than his father,

the archer wants to enjoy her journey with purpose,

and the witch wants to find meaning in her life

after losing her family and friends,

in a great fire

the mage was perplexed,

purpose seemed like a mortal idea after all

do i have a purpose?

or are purposes what a short life requires?

nevertheless, 

they went on with each great demon

starting from the weakest,

each battle, the mage let them do whatever

supporting them from the back

of course, their inexperience led to the first fight

to where the mage had to step in

seeing their hopeless selves,

he decided to train them as well

the mage taught the witch

to conjure her magic from her soul,

instead of relying on her emotions

she kept failing because her feelings were

too dark for her to resonate with 

the oneness of her soul

the berserker lacked anger and might,

so the mage fought him with his bare hands

with their spars ending with the berserker 

knocked out cold

as for the archer,

although exceptionally skilled,

she lacked the will to kill monsters

believing they have a soul as well 

having no answer to that,

the mage pondered what she meant

after all,

in his eyes monsters and demons,

were the cause of all that was bad.

outside of training,

the mage happened to become close 

to each 

the berserker confided in him how,

he harbors feelings for the archer

encasing it all in a song

finding it funny,

he told him to keep training harder 

as they all slept near a campfire,

the mage went to a nearby lake 

there, he stood staring at the moon

of course, 

he knew what feelings meant

the maiden never left his mind,

all the questions that lingered

he could not bring himself to

delve deeper into his thoughts

the witch then approached him,

faking her sleep

and asked him,

“you’re an immortal, aren’t you?”

stunned by her question,

he nodded

he confided in her what transpired,

a thousand years ago

and how his immortality

forces him to accept fate

the witch disagreed,

telling him he might be immortal,

but his heart is very much human

unable to respond to her,

he looked at his reflection in the water

can’t i just go back

and stop all of this from happening?

8 months passed by,

the guild grew stronger 

and their bonds grew even stronger

the last great demon was vanquished

by their combined efforts

however, the demon had one last trick

evolving into a higher state

now the three of them were pushed,

to the brink of death

the mage, fearing their demise,

cast a powerful avalanche 

and took the berserker’s sword

to slice the frozen demon

“are you all idiots?

you could’ve been killed!”

this was not well-received by them,

the witch, angered by his lack of sympathy,

told him, 

“just because you can handle everything

by yourself,

doesn’t mean you get to boss around us

with whatever you believe is to be true.”

the berserker joined in,

“you think you know everyone, right?

wrong, your long life doesn’t mean you’re always right.”

the archer was silent,

she did not have the heart to

fight amongst her guildmates

the mage, unable to take any more emotional turmoils,

told them to do whatever they wished to do so

and flew away

it does not matter,

for he is close to finishing what ruined the world

as he flew towards the land of eternal winter,

where his castle lay in ruins

he sensed a familiar presence 

the great groundskeeper was calling out to him

he found him standing beside

a peculiar box

the mage approached his old comrade,

the groundskeeper, in awe,

told him,

“so the mage of frost

has finally awoken.”

confused as to how he knew,

the mage asked the groundskeeper

the groundskeeper revealed,

part of the tale the immortals hid:

the eternal winter was caused by the mage,

to seal the demon lord

upon being sealed,

the tears he shed 

cast a powerful spell

that only emotions could do so

surprised by the revelation,

the mage told him about his plan to vanquish 

the demon lord once and for all

the groundskeeper took his mighty axe,

and broke the box

inside the box,

was the maiden’s sword

losing his train of thought,

the mage stared at the sword

“why is it here?”

the groundskeeper said,

“trace the sword’s residue.”

the mage, holding the sword,

proceeded to trace it

he sensed the maiden,

as well as the demon lord

deep inside 

the ruins of his castle

now knowing what it all meant,

he took the sword

“you can choose to live your new life,

or you can lose your life because of the past.”

the mage did not answer him,

he proceeded to fly towards the ruins.

“hey, do you think 

he’s going to 

kill the demon lord by himself?”

the archer asked her guildmates

the other two remained silent

the berserker then quietly 

sheathe his sword

“i’m going after him

he might be strong but,

i can’t let a friend do this all alone.”

the witch did not respond,

her mind wandered

in all her sorrows

she could not take so much anymore

the archer, knowing how much

the witch needs her 

did not respond either

suddenly, 

a wave of magic erupted

from the north

knowing what it meant,

they all rushed  

the witch learning how to control her magic,

summoned a giant hippogriff 

to fly there as fast as possible.

the mage took the sword,

and stabbed into the floor of the ruins

soon the castle windows shattered,

as a powerful wave of magic was released

a dark miasma surrounded him,

an in front of him was the maiden

“remove your disguise,

i know who you are”

the maiden started to laugh,

her body then started morphing

into the demon lord

angered by his presence,

the mage started to conjure 

his spells 

as they clashed,

the ruins were destroyed further

now in an open battlefield,

the lord was unscathed,

while the mage lost his right arm

refusing to give up,

his indomitable spirit 

refused to acknowledge his pain

he decided to cast 

two of his forbidden spells

the first one forcibly froze

the blood of the demon lord

at his heart

exploding his heart,

the demon lord fell

but still undefeated 

the mage’s soul burned by half as well

he too,

fell on his knees

fearing this might be the end,

he started to prepare his last spell

when all of a sudden,

the demon lord blasted him away

with a powerful beam of light.

as he lay on the ground,

unable to move

the demon lord told him,

“i would’ve killed you that night,

but that stupid girl saved you

by sealing you

but it doesn’t matter anymore,

i will kill you right now.”

as he was about to charge one more beam,

the berserker with one mighty swing,

slashed his arm

the archer then proceeded to fire arrows

in his eyes,

blinding the demon

the witch then put up a barrier,

separating the demon from them

“you can’t do this alone.”,

she told the mage

the mage, moved by their perseverance,

smiled even at the brink of death

however, the barrier was not strong enough,

the demon lord started to break the barrier

with constantly sending beams

the mage, 

knowing that this is the only chance

left the barrier

charging up his final spell,

he used the eternal winter,

and made a giant avalanche

of a million icicles 

and rained it on the demon lord.

as the demon lord started to perish,

so did the mage as he lay on the ground

his guildmates surrounded him,

in tears, they told him

to not close his eyes

smiling at them,

he understood what mortals were

as his soul was burning out,

he could sense the cruel winter

turning calmer

he was thankful

to his guild

for taking him in,

and giving him the happiest months

of his long life.

all these years of living for people,

you wonder if anyone would

live for you

maybe yes, maybe not,

but despite the worst that can happen,

remember that the warmth 

your heart lends to people,

can even amid a cruel winter,

become a winter wonderland with them.