Forgotten Tales

The Frozen Gauntlet

The Frozen Gauntlet

Scrilas Ikarith; city of Ice; capital city of Ungloith. The famous kingdom holds responsibility for the formation of the mountain of ice. The kingdom, unlike any other in middle earth, experiences winter for nine yellow moons and hence the name. Only fifty red moons before the formation of the mountain of ice does the legend begin.

In Scrilas Ikarith, king Esarvith Gardilit and queen Arvedir had a single child. The child was ordinary and was like any other royal. He was named Mirethor Gardilit. During his young age, he was severely spoilt by the riches he owned and all the resources freely available to him. He gradually grew into his teenager and like any other teen he disobeyed his parents to the extent. Also, during this time he perfected his fighting, arts and kingship skills.

When he came of age, his parent's empire was passed down to him while his parents relaxed and advised him on how to overcome problems. He steadily ruled his kingdom for another thirteen red moons, when his parents died, peacefully in their sleep, in each other's arms. After his parents died he was deeply saddened and he became incapable to rule the kingdom for three yellow moons and his trusted minister had to take over the kingdom.

Eventually when he overcame his depression, he returned to the position of king and he promised the people to rule the country with their welfare in mind. He ruled the country for three red moons, like a great ruler, with the welfare of the people as first priority.

After this, Mirethor began to get worried for he was not yet married. He wanted to have a child, whose life would be much more prosperous and lively than his.

As a result of his searches for an appropriate girl he fell in love with a beautiful girl living in the edge of the forest outside of his kingdom. Several moons after their relationship began, he asked her to marry him. She said 'Yes' immediately, and after talking to her parents about their marriage and revealing his true identity as the king of Ungloith, her parents agreed and they were married grandly in his kingdom.

One red moon after their marriage the queen gave birth. The child was a girl and if girls were born in a royal family, it was considered as a bad omen. The queen died at childbirth and her death provoked the idea of a girl royal child being born as a bad omen. The ministers were about to exile the girl, which was practiced in almost every country with human kingship, when Mirethor intervened and saved the girl's life. He protested that irrespective of the gender of the child, she was the heir of their kingdom and that he would bend numerous ancient laws if so to save his child.

And so, reluctantly the ministers spared the girl's life. Mirethor named his child Elxlia Oscrils, Elixir of the city. She, unlike her father, spent her tender age usefully by exploring the kingdom and venturing the forests in and outside the kingdom.

When she became teenager she was hardly seen by anyone. She spent most of her time, either with friends or outside the kingdom. She only came to kingdom every ten moons.

It was around this time that a great catastrophe occurred that nearly altered the fate of the planet.

* * *

Mirethor was excited after a long time in his life. He was going to a mountain. And not just any mountain, the lonely peak to the north west. The mountain was of the legend of the nine first men. The legend tells of the first nine men that walked the face of the earth. They had each mastered each of the elements in their youthful days and had crafted the elemental circlets. And when they reached an old and vulnerable age, each set out as far as possible and in their last breath, transformed themselves into mountains. It was also said that each mountain had something to do with the particular element that the man who transformed into that mountain had mastered.