Damsel in Distress?
"Saving Evie"
"I DO NOT LIKE THE COLD!" Fernando cried out as a howling blizzard struck the path he was taking to the West.
"Well, I should have thought of that before coming to the Frigorian Plateau." he murmured and looked back, "I bet my horse is much better than me right now."
However, the man's efforts were not in vain, since before he knew it he was in what appeared to be a village.
Fernando stopped in shock.
Two villagers were frozen solid on the main road of the village, looking back in fright as if they fleeing from some unspeakable horror.
The knight grumbled and then saw the blizzard clear out, allowing for greater visibility-
Perhaps not something he wanted.
All around were unfamiliar faces, frozen places, scared faces.
It was if whatever had struck this town froze them all in their weakness.
"Dios mio." Fernando murmured and touched one of the frozen people, a man holding a pig, "Who has done this abominable act?" he clenched his fist, then saw a most astounding sight.
Atop a nearby hill was a building made of pure ice crystals, standing out like a sore thumb away from the frozen and run down village buildings.
Fernando set his sights on it and walked towards it.
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The building was of moderate size, but the large crystals made it seem more imposing than it actually was.
But this was not the most foreboding thing about it, for when the knight got a stone's throw away a powerful blizzard shot out of it.
"HRAPH!" Fernando groaned as he withstood the whipping wind and powerful ice pellets, "NO!" he raised his shield in an attempt to protect himself from most of the ice.
However, the larger, flatter surface area also made the wind push him back with much greater power.
Fernando strained under the new might of the gales, then eventually conceded to its raw power and lowered his shield.
"WHO IS THIS THAT COMES TO CHALLENGE THE GREAT AND POWERFUL UTRET!" a booming voice exploded from inside the ice palace, causing the knight to turn and face the building.
"I SHALL FREEZE YOU WHERE YOU STAND!"
A shining blue light appeared on the doors.
"Oh no!" Fernando growled and raised his lance, the countered the newly created ice beam with a powerful stream of fire, "HRAH!" he charged forward and fought the beam with all his might.
"YOU CHALLENGE MY POWER!?" the voice responded and stopped the beam, then intensified the blizzard, "YOU CAN BLOCK MY BEAM, BUT CAN YOU BLOCK MY BLIZZARD!?"
The storm threatened to consume the man.
"No... I will not DIE!" Fernando yelled and started to glow like the sun, "NOT YET, AMIGO!" he proclaimed and got ever so closer to the door.
The blizzard was deflected off his glowing armor, the ice pellets melted upon impact.
Nothing was harming him.
"HRAHH!" the knight yelled and blasted the icy door with lance, then used his might to tackle the weakened structure.
CRASH! The gate gave way and the knight burst forth like a powerful Sun Spirian stallion.
Ahead of him was an old man on an icy throne, and next to him was a-
A... woman trapped inside an ice crystal, surrounded by cables that appeared to be connected to the man's ice tipped staff.
"So, a knight." the man chuckled as he saw Fernando stand in his midst, "Well, it seems fate has brought you to me. Sorcerers and knights are natural enemies." he lifted up his staff, "Unfortunately for you, knight, this sorcerer has tapped a tremendous source of magical power."
Fernando glanced at the woman inside the crystal.
"What are you doing to her, you fiend?" he growled as he saw the cables along the ground.
"Do you not know this lady?" the sorcerer chuckled, "This is the infamous Ice Witch of Stonebriar, Evie." he informed as he rubbed the ice crystal that contained her, "She defeated the Ice Wraith Xerxes and gained his bountiful magical power... And in turn, I have done the same to her." he cackled and stood up.
"With Evie in my grasp, I have amplified my magical power to insurmountable levels!" he pointed the staff at the knight, "And you will be the first challenger to see it!"
Fernando raised his shield, but it was all in vain.
"UTRET WILL FREEZE YOU!" the sorcerer laughed and blasted a terrific beam of energy that froze Fernando's legs to the ground, bypassing his layers of armor without trouble.
"ARGHH!" Fernando yelled as his legs were chilled.
"Now I will make sure to suffer like the villagers that so taunted me." Utret murmured and aimed his staff once more, freezing Fernando's shield arm.
"I am no longer in the hot seat!" Fernando groaned, "HRRRAHHH!" he used his might to break out, then sidestepped to the right to avoid another beam.
"Fire beats Ice!" he launched a searing fireball.
The sorcerer grunted and merely froze the fireball with a blast, "A pitiful effort." he cackled and launched a large hailstone.
"DWAH!" Fernando was struck by the exploding hailstone and sent crashing into an ice column.
"You will see the powers the others didn't see! At least before they perished." Utret growled and launched a continuous beam, which froze Fernando's legs and slowly moved up.
"AHHH!" Fernando cried out as he felt his body slowly freezing, he weakly raised his shield arm to block the beam, but only started the chilling of his left arm in the process, "AHHH!" he groaned as the frost overcame his shield and got on his hand.
"There is no armor that can defend against my magic!" Utret cackled, "And you will see... oh you will see."
The knight started to feel faint as his blood stopped running, "No..." he murmured, "Evie! I will save you..." he called out to the witch in the crystal.
"No you will not..." Utret scoffed and saw as he completely froze Fernando, "Let us see if any more of your ilk come and perish." he sat back down and looked at his staff, then saw a most peculiar sight.
A single rose was in the spot Fernando originally stood.
"Huh?" the sorcerer grunted, "What is th-" he heard a crack.
It was ice.
Utret turned and gasped when the ice surrounding Fernando started to break, giving way to the powerful knight. "WHAT!?"
"HRAH!" Fernando yelled and broke out, "There are still more roses to hand out! Still more damsels to save!" he yelled and looked at the rose.
"GO BACK TO THE FREEZER!" Utret stood up, but too late, Fernando was already filled with unstoppable momentum and grabbed the rose.
"HRAPH!" Fernando raised his shield to stop an exploding hail stone, then sidestepped to avoid an ice beam, "YOU WILL SEE TRUE POWER, AMIGO!" he charged straight towards the crystal.
"NO!"
Crash! The crystal shattered into a million pieces and gave the knight clear way to grab Evie.
"Huh!?" the witch instantly woke up, "Hey! Who are you!?" she growled at Fernando.
"I am Sir Fernando." Fernando spoke rapidly as he avoided the sorcerer's attacks, "I am knight. You are a cute lady. Here." he handed the rose to her and set her down.
"My power!" Utret cried out and launched a weaker ice beam, which was easily dispatched by the man's fire lance.
"Hey! He has my staff!" Evie called out as she saw her weapon in the man's hand, "That's the stupid idiot that tricked me into jumping into a well!" she shook her fist.
Fernando turned, "How did he do that?" he looked at her with a confused face.
"He said there was ice cream down there." Evie grumbled and rubbed her arm, "Hey! Watch out!" she said as the sorcerer shot out another beam.
"DIE!" Utret charged up a more powerful attack and struck Fernando in the back.
"DWAH!" Fernando felt his back lock up as it froze, "Watch out, my lady!" he used his might to counter some of the effects and shield Evie from the beam.
"You watch out! You're the one getting hurt!" Evie growled and took off his helmet, "Look at me! Fight!" she pointed to the sorcerer, who kept amplifying his beam.
"You look so hot when you're angry." Fernando grinned, only to get slapped in the face.
"Save it for later, you hunk!" Evie growled but smiled, "Get my staff and I shall reward you!"
Fernando sighed, "Very well." he shrugged his shoulders and turned, "It's just you and me, vaquero." he flexed his pecs, removing ice from his chest.
"NO!" Utret growled and charged up another beam.
The knight charged through the beam and pummeled the sorcerer, "HRAH!" he removed the staff from his hand and threw it to Evie, "Now you will pay for your crimes against the village!" he yelled and threw the sorcerer on the platform that held the crystal prison.
"Do your job!"
"Don't mind if I do!" Evie cackled, "ACHOO!" she sneezed, and a small blizzard cyclone shot out and surrounded the sorcerer.
"NO! NO! NO!" Utret screamed as he was being trapped inside an ice crystal, his yells eventually dying out as he was completely frozen over.
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"I like you. You can live." Evie told Fernando as the two walked out of the ice palace.
"Thank you, my lady." Fernando grinned, but then murmured as he finally registered that compliment, "Uh..."
Evie smiled and twirled the rose in her hand, the froze it.
"I like it better this way." she laughed and then put it in her pocket.
"Poor flower." Fernando murmured and felt a sharp pain hit his legs, "AH!" he yelled as he saw his legs were frozen into the ground.
"And I like you better that way..." Evie smirked and then froze his arms to a boulder, "Oh I do like you better this way." she cackled and looked at him with fierce eyes.
"NO! NO! NOT THE FACE!"