Thread: His Frozen Heart (Kadrin and Demorica)

It's a blazing hot day in summer, and the sky is free of any protective clouds. There's no humidity, but the heat is nonetheless oppressive, and the farmers in their fields labour in misery under the burning sun. It's a bad day to be outside, and all signs show that the summer will only get hotter. The population of the small town is mostly human, but there are elves, nekomimi, and descendants of celestials among the population as well - it's only the celestial children who are working at their best today, while the nekomimi curl up in their houses and wish, for the first time in their lives, not to have as much fur. One of the farmers, a big bluff man who's withstood the heat of the sun for many years now - as witnessed by his dark, cracking skin - looks up into the blue sky for any hope of relief, and wipes his forehead with the back of his hand... when he feels something soft and cold land in the palm of his hand. Uncertain, worried, and - somewhere deep and denied - knowing what's coming, he looks into the palm of his hand. There's a single snowflake, melting in the heat of his palm. Clouds spiral into existence from single grey spots that appear in the sky, and soon there's a dark dome of cloud cover blotting out the heat and light of the sun. Within the space of a minute, the heat has plummeted. The sweat on the farmers' brow freezes before it can dissolve, leaving rimes of ice over foreheads and eyes. Strong men weep as they run for their houses, knowing what's coming as snow falls in flurries. The sudden shock of cold kills smaller creatures birds fall from the sky, mice in the fields curl in on themselves, cold-blooded snakes die as their hearts stop. The wind howls in the voice of a tortured woman as snowdrifts build up in the field. The Lady-Protector of the town walks out into the town square, pulling her cloak around herself. She doesn't want to see what she knows she is about to see, but she needs to meet him. It is the only way to keep her town protected. And, from the heart of the snowstorm, walks the Prince of Frost . In one hand, he carries his sword of ice. In the other, he holds the handle of a leash the girl on the other end is barely moving, her eyes open and blank, her mouth open and drooling. She is still beautiful, long hair and full breasts, long legs guarding a sweet sex - but whatever she was is gone, and what's replaced it is something less. Another failure, the Prince of Frost says, and his voice is like ice cracking on a window pane. He drops the girl at the Lady-Protector's feet. The innocence and prosperity of your town is a draw to every evil thing out there, the Prince says, meeting the Lady-Protector's eyes with the frozen white intensity of his own. A prince among demons rose from the earth, and when I froze his heart he was barely a half-mile away from you. I found a vampire seeking to enslave you all, and took her head after a week's battle. The mage Ignis came to burn you I stilled the flame of his magic and the flame of his life. All this I do for you - to protect your people from the horror that waits and wants . And I do not ask much in return. A girl who can amuse me, who can bear me, who can survive me - more than simply another in a long string of disappointments. And you have given me this. He shoves the girl with his foot she barely catches herself before falling, lying on her side, as if she sees no reason to stand, or even to kneel. The bargain comes due again. One girl, for one year one who has a noble and loving heart, one who can bear suffering, one who will be worth herself. At the end of the year, I will return, and if the girl you have given me is enough for me, then I shall never take another. ...Or, perhaps, I will not return. If this girl is insufficient, perhaps I will decide I am not profiting from our deal as I should. If you do not give me enough reason to stay, I will walk into the wastelands, and you will be left alone . He clenches his fist on the last word, as if choking the life from the town himself. So bring her forth. Who is the offering for this year?