Snowfall in Madness

Snowfall in Madness is a story explaining Glaxion's background.

Snowfall in Madness
Across the horizon, a legion of warriors was returning home at last. In front of the army was their leader, a large hammer resting on her shoulder, an air of confidence and pride emanating from her as she led the brave ones back to their village. Her name was Glaxion, and she had been made leader of the village army through sheer exemplification of what it stood for - honor, family and prowess. Few would dare challenge her, and even fewer would survive the ordeal.

Amidst the forest of legs of the people waiting for their warriors to come back, two little forms bounded in the snow, the little ones not even tall enough for their knees to rise above the layer of snow blanketing the ground. They were eager to see their mother again after all these weeks - the "frozen warrior" Glaxion. While the rest of the warriors split to return to their respective families, Glaxion had stopped to greet her son and daughter. Her prized hammer was deposited on the ground and the arms that swung it wrapped around the youngsters as a warm greeting. She had promised that she would bring them with her as she hunted the next day, and this was one more reason why the two were so eager to see her again.

The day was looking to be a good one. The sky was cloudless and a soft blue, the three moons of Colossus still visible, their ghostly outlines as pale as the snow. Glaxion trekked through the frozen wasteland with slow strides, her children alternating between hopping to follow her and playing with the snow they kicked up. The skies were soon obscured with clouds, but the warrior did not worry. She had lived in the north her entire life and knew the area's weather. Storms were rare, and they never started in the middle of afternoons. If it would snow now, it would be perfectly harmless snow. In fact, more slow would only serve to make her children more excited.

However, the air grew cold - colder than anything Glaxion had experienced, and the snow that had started to fall was turning into a harsh blizzard.

She had a bad feeling, but she continued for the short distance that separated her and her children from the nest of small game she knew of. She had promised them, and she would not disappoint. The fact that the snow was red where the nest was and the fact there were large footprints surrounding it only reinforced her feeling of dread.

Before she could even turn back, the roar of a predator was heard. Glaxion readied her hammer, telling her children to hide. The two huddled together, trying to warm themselves as they watched their mother battle the monster. Covered in white fur and possessing long fangs, the creature roared as it was struck a brutal hit by the hammer. The blow had stunned the creature and cracked the side of its skull, but it was far from out. A second hit struck it, then another! One of its fangs was sent flying in pieces, and this only enraged it further!

It bit down on the warrior's left arm with its powerful jaws. Despite missing fangs, the power behind the jaws was still very well there. There was a sickening crack, and Glaxion's face twisted in pain. She knew instantly that her elbow had been pulverized, as fragments of broken bone stabbed her flesh. The blizzard grew stronger as Glaxion was pinned under the creature. With her warhammer knocked out of her grasp and unable to use her left arm, she was helpless as the creature began to maul her, spilling her blood in front of her children's frightened eyes. Eventually, the monster dug a claw in her left eye as it battered her. She mustered every bit of strength she could and managed to recover her hammer, and with a sound of rage and pain, slammed it as hard as she could against the polar beast's skull.

The last thing she saw before fainting was the sight of her children left freezing in the intensifying blizzard and the huge creature falling limp with its immense weight on her.

Had she remained conscious for a little more, she could have saved her young children. But mostly, she could have witnessed the blizzard dissipate to reveal the very Frost Beast she would soon work with, her form standing over the corpse of a fallen creature she had been fighting.