King's final words faded into the snow 🌨️.His body swayed… 😵Then fell 💥.
The earth shuddered beneath him 🌍❄️.
"KING!" Ember screamed 😭.
The High Priest reached him first, dropping to his knees beside the boy who had fought an army alone 🧎♂️.
"Stay with me, child…" he whispered, hands shaking 🤲😰.
King's eyes barely opened 👁️."…don't… call me…"
Then darkness took him 🌑.
Not from fear 😨.Not from surrender 🚫.But from exhaustion heavier than any mountain 🏔️.
The High Priest lifted King into his arms 💪—an old man carrying a broken giant like a fallen statue 🗿.
Gasps rippled through the crowd 😮.
He looked up at the Ice Elf Queen 👑❄️.
"My village needs him alive," the Priest said firmly."I ask permission to take him home."
The Queen bowed her head slightly 🙇♀️.
"You have it.""His fate is no longer ours."
Valmira groaned somewhere in the snow 😖.Her soldiers dragged her upright ⚔️.
Ember ran to her sister 🏃♀️😭, both crying in relief 🤍.
The Queen's voice rang out:
"All parties leave our land.""Peace is restored."
The North Hero fainted again 😵💫.Nobody was surprised.
And so the frozen battlefield dissolved ❄️🌫️,each group limping back to their own world 🌍.
The Journey Home ❄️🚶♂️
Snowstorms battered the path 🌨️.The High Priest walked on, carrying the unconscious giant on his shoulders 🎒.
Hunters bowed as he passed 🙏.Villagers whispered 🤫.Old mothers cried softly 😢.Children stared with awe and fear 👀.
The Priest ignored them all.
He whispered to King's sleeping face:
"You are not a weapon.""You are not a monster.""You are a boy…""…who was asked to carry too much."
For four weeks 🕯️🕯️🕯️🕯️—
He cleaned wounds 🩹.Fed broth 🍲.Closed deep cuts 🩸.Prayed through nights 🙏🌙.Fought wolves with only a staff 🐺🪵.
King did not wake.
Not once 😴.
Ember and Valmira returned west 🏰,to speak with heroes and prepare for what might come ⚔️.
The Ice Elves vanished into frozen forests ❄️🌲.
The world grew quiet 🤫.
Four Months Later ⏳❄️
Snow cracked under massive footsteps 👣💥.
King stood outside the village again 🧍♂️.
Fully healed 💪.Stronger than before 🔥.Eyes colder ❄️.Mind sharper 🧠.
On his shoulder rested a massive wooden trunk 🧳—one that once took four men to lift.King carried it like luggage 😐.
Villagers whispered:
"He's awake…" 😨"He's alive…""Look at him…""He's even more dangerous now…"
King ignored them 🚫👀.
He walked to the northern border 🚶♂️❄️,set the trunk down 💥,and smashed it open with one punch 👊.
Inside—
Winter supplies 🧤.Tools 🔨.Stone blocks 🪨.Cloth 🧵.Metal ⚙️.
Everything needed to rebuild 🏠.
Then King got to work.
He was… helping.
Sort of 😐.
And destroying things at the same time 💥.
He punched wolves that wandered too close 🐺➡️❄️.Cleared paths by kicking snowdrifts into the sky ⛄🚀.Chopped trees he didn't like 🌲🪓.Destroyed a shed because "it made an annoying noise" 🏚️💥.Tore down a fence because "it looked weak" 🚧❌.Rebuilt three houses… after destroying two 🏠➡️💥➡️🏠.
Villagers stared 😶—fear 😨,wonder 😮,confusion 🤔.
One old man whispered:
"He's doing good things…""…in the worst possible way."
The High Priest watched from his doorway 🚪🙂.
"At least he's alive," he murmured."And trying.""In his own… chaotic style."
King dragged a massive log across the snow 🪵❄️, muttering:
"Paths too small.""Houses too weak.""Wolves too loud.""Snow too annoying."
He dropped the log with a thunderous boom 💥.
Then he said loudly 📢:
"The hero must destroy what's broken…""…before the world can be fixed."
Villagers exchanged terrified glances 😨👀.
King wiped sweat from his brow 💦, cracked his knuckles 👊, and added:
"And this village…""…has a lot of broken things."
Everyone silently prayed 🙏😰that he didn't mean them.