While hunting my adversary, I noticed that the landscape around me had started to become more and more familiar, which filled me with a sense of dread. I ran with all the haste I could muster, hoping that the cursed king has not yet reached my village. It was in a deep valley, at the end of which stood my village, that I finally caught up to my enemy. I first saw him as a distant looming figure, walking slowly and ominously towards the place I valued the most. As I got closer, I sounded the horn given to me as a gift, to challenge ruler of a bygone age once again. But this time, my challenge was not ignored. He turned towards me, and there was something menacing and horrifying about his almost nonchalant movements. They reminded me of the draugar and skeletons, but while their shambling movement lacked purpose and control, there was a sense of pride and focus in his. As we were walking towards each other, I finally saw with whom I were to have the honour, and the sight filled me more with pity and melancholy, than with despair. The legendary King of Winter was almost nothing but a skeleton in a prison of ice now, if not for his regalia, the crown of the clans and his legendary greatsword now resting on his shoulder, he could be mistaken for a simple ice wraith. My already significant spite for the gods grew even stronger; to turn a once mighty warrior and great man into this mockery is a fate no one deserves. Once we were but few feet apart, we both stopped and looked each other in the eyes. I realized what a bizarre pair we were: a disgraced cursed king, who was nothing more than a rotting skeleton, and a blind crippled man, who could only see through the slits in his enchanted helmet, both of us standing against each other due to the machinations of gods, with just a small say in our own fate. I unsheathed my axe and held it to my chest, whilst also doing a slight nod, as a show of respect for my opponent. My adversary lowered his greatsword from his shoulder and stabbed it into the ground, and I could swear I could see the skull trapped in his armour of ice do a nod as well. Everything was silent now during these few seconds before the clash would begin. The warrior spirits from the axe were silent in anticipation. the godly spirits from the talisman were silenced, and my own mind was clear. Knowing I had speed on my side I stroke first, I tried to cut the King in half with my first attack right at the hips, as they seemed like the most vulnerable spot, however my axe didn’t manage to go even through half of the layer of ice protecting the body of my enemy, even though it was already weakened by the sound of my horn earlier. I tried to quickly free my axe from the wound, but it was stuck in place. As I was doing this, the king did a wide cleave with his greatsword, and I was forced to duck and release hold of my weapon. Now my speed was meaningless, for my enemy’s reach was far greater than mine and my axe was stuck in what would be his abdomen. We were circling around each other, both of us waiting for an opportunity or a mistake. He kept trying to hit me, but I was keeping my distance, and even though his attacks were quite fast and powerful he was unable to hit me. I noticed something as the fight went by, water was slowly dropping from his ice armour; he was melting. Perhaps it was due to the horn, but I didn’t have time to ponder that now, for I saw an opening that could give me the upper hand once again. I slipped right under the king’s swing and grabbed my axe. I managed to free it in an instant and then did a quick overhead cut at the king’s chest. The outcome wasn’t what I expected. Upon impact the ice shattered in an explosion of needle-like icy shards; the force of the shattering caught me off guard and threw me a few dozen feet away. My body was pierced numerous times by the shards, and I was in a world of pain, yet I mustered my strength to stand up and face my nemesis once again, but this time, there was no armour to protect him anymore. I could see ice starting to form once again around his body, so I had to end this dance now, once and for all.