The next morning Samuel woke up early and grabbed anything that would keep him warm. Samuel picked up a bag and put apples in it. Any other food he could find went into it also. He stepped outside and went to go say goodbye to Mr. and Mrs. Anderson.
“I have realized I need to go and I have no idea how I am going to get there,” commented Samuel, “goodbye.”
Mr. and Mrs. Anderson’s jaws dropped as Samuel trudged away.
He had been walking for about ten minutes when he turned around and saw everyone in his village waving him a safe voyage. Samuel swallowed hard and kept walking. His nose and ears stung with coldness. With every step he took, the ice covered grass sounded as if he was walking on small bones. He was scared of the journey ahead, wondering what he would encounter. Samuel kept thinking about the voice that had told him to go. Was it really going to help him? Was it the Ice Lord messing with his mind, sending him into a horrible trap? The poor boy really wanted to turn back, but he had gone too far already. There was absolutely nothing out here. No animals, no bushes or trees. He was out here totally alone. It was scary. The day was done, it was getting dark. Samuel stopped to sleep for the night, not knowing how many nights he would have to sleep in this barren wasteland.
When he woke up the next morning he ate an apple, picked up his belongings and traveled on. Samuel still had no clue if he was headed on the right course. Then, just as suddenly as the glowing blue light appeared in his village, part of the frozen sky became brighter. It was far off, many miles away to the East a bit. Samuel didn’t know what this meant. He did have a strange feeling it was guiding him, telling him which way to go. He decided to follow it, hoping it was leading him to the Ice Lord. Samuel kept on walking and soon hours turned into days, and days turned into weeks.
Late in the afternoon one day Samuel realized that he wasn’t walking on grass anymore. It felt harder, colder and slipperier. He glanced down and saw he was walking on ice!
The seventeen year old with tattered clothes and a ruffled scarf trudged on in the middle of a frozen land. Weeks later, Samuel saw something in the distance and almost cried. He saw what looked like a small hut sitting in the middle nowhere. A small line of gray smoke came out of the chimney. As he came up to the hut he pounded on the door. It opened up a little, paused and quickly opened up all the way. A woman who looked to be in her late 60’s stood inside. The first thing she said to Samuel flabbergasted him.
“I have been expecting you a long time Samuel Samson.”

“My name is Hanah,” explained the woman, “before you say anything Samuel I must explain things a little better. I know you have been hearing a voice in your head. Samuel, that is your mother. She told you to come on this journey and she knew when you were ready. Her name was Mary and your father’s name was Gabe. They did die. They were very good people. Both of them wanted to stop the Ice Lord. Before they left, they made sure you would be okay in the village. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have been keeping an eye on you all of this time. Mary and Gabe made sure you had enough food. They came to defeat the Ice Lord and they failed. He killed them, but they are still with you. The only way you managed to get here was because you followed the sky that was lit up by your father. They are both leading you to finish what they could not.”

“Oh,” replied Samuel at a loss for words.

“You may stay here for a few nights if you wish. I have another mattress you can sleep on while you are here. Here are some blankets. Good night Samuel.” And with that, Hanah closed the door behind her as she walked into her room.

Samuel stayed there for four nights. It was the best sleep he had for a long time. On the morning of the fourth day he was ready to continue on, although he was terrified of what was to come.

“Hold on Samuel,” declared Hanah, “I need to explain one more thing to you and show you someone,”

Samuel followed Hanah to the back of the hut outside. There lying wide awake was the largest polar bear Samuel had ever seen.

“Whoa!” yelled Samuel, “polar bears aren’t kept as pets.”

“He is not a pet, but a guide,” explained Hanah, “his name is Neil.” “He will guide you to the Ice Lord’s castle. Neil is very old and very wise. Now, I must explain to you the Ice Lords army. He calls it his hidden army. There are ice scorpions and freeze drones that roam the land and more as you get closer to him.”

“Ice scorpions?” stammered Samuel.

“Yes Samuel, you must continue on, you can defeat the Ice Lord. Here, I have to give you this sword. It is called the Red Sword. It is the only way you will kill the Ice Lord. Go! Go Samuel!”
Hanah lifted him onto Neil as he stood nine feet in the air. Neil lumbered on as Samuel laid against him, hugging his warm, soft fur. The one thing that Samuel didn’t realize about Neil was that he talked. As weeks went by and Samuel got used to Neil, Neil explained how he guided Samuel’s parents to the Ice Lord’s castle and how he was able to steal the Red Sword that was once the Ice Lord’s.

Neil talked to Samuel with his deep, but soothing voice, “Samuel, when your parents were distracting the Ice Lord I was able to take the Red Sword. It was the only way they could have killed him. Only a human can kill the Ice Lord. I was too late and I was not able to give it to them in time. The Ice Lord killed your parents. I brought the Red Sword back to Hanah, and your mother’s voice told Hanah everything, saying how some day she would help guide you here to retrieve it.”

“Neil, that is incredible, but I am too tired to listen any longer, let’s talk later,” sighed Samuel. And with that, Samuel dozed off into a deep sleep.

The next day they ran into a freeze drone. He was hard to see, that is probably why he was part of the Ice Lord’s hidden army. Neil rose up onto his hind legs and smashed it with an enormous blow to head. The freeze drone was just about to stab Neil in the stomach with his sharp, pointed hands. Samuel flinched as it got killed. Up ahead, Samuel saw something monstrous, a weird figure.

“Oh no,” muttered Neil to himself.

“Wha…What is it?” asked Samuel nervously.

“It is an Ice Scorpion.”

The creature towered over them standing sixteen feet tall with its tail in the air ready to strike. It looked as if it was carved out of ice. Its worse features were its gnashing teeth, deadly stinger that shot frozen fluid into your body that would kill in one minute, and the razor sharp claws.

“Samuel the sword, throw the sword at it,” cried Neil.

Samuel heaved it at the scorpion and it stuck into its claw. The scorpion suddenly jerked its whole body downward as if being stomped on, then crumbled up, deformed, to half its size. The creature started to melt as the sword glowed a ghostly red and the scorpion burst into a million icicles.

As soon as it happened, Neil ran as fast as he could catching his breath sometimes. They came to an abrupt halt and Samuel felt like he got the wind knocked out of him as he looked up to see the magnificent Ice Castle!

The castle looked like a city towering hundreds of feet in the air.

“Samuel, you must go in there alone, I cannot accompany you. I will watch for ice scorpions, but I won’t be able to do much about them. Take the Red Sword,” whispered Neil.

Just then, Samuel felt a piercing pain run down his left arm. A freeze drone stabbed Samuel in his shoulder with its spear like arms.

“No!” bellowed Neil as he quickly knocked the freeze drone dead “Samuel, soon your blood will freeze, you must kill the Ice Lord and you wound will heal. Go!”

Samuel had never felt pain like it before, but he ran through the spectacular entrance archway made of ice. There was a winding, slippery path door. He opened it. Inside, the Ice Castle made Samuel drop his sword sending a loud echo place.

“WHO IS THERE!” screamed the Ice Lord.

Samuel quickly looked around the castle caring the Red Sword with him. His arm was starting to feel numb and his head felt dizzy. A humongous shadow was cast over Samuel from behind. He turned and looked up to face the Ice Lord.

The color from Samuel’s face drained and he fell backwards. The Ice Lord stood twenty feet in the air with huge icicles as his spiky hair. Frozen, black sockets were where his eyes should have been and he wore a nasty beard. His dinner-plate sized hands made of ice had endless amounts of power surging through them.

“I KNOW YOU BOY!” yelled the Ice Lord, “YOUR PARENTS DIED EASILY! THEY HAD NO CLUE AS TO HOW TO DEFEAT ME. NOW I AM GOING TO KILL YOU TOO!”

“I know how to defeat you,” yelled Samuel!

“WHAT?” bellowed the Ice Lord.

“You are wrong, I’m going to kill you!!”

Samuel quickly thrust the Red Sword with all his might into the Ice Lord’s knee. He stood back and watched.

“WHAT IS HAPPENING?” “NO, NO, NO, NOOOOOOOOOOOO…!”

The Ice Lord died even more violently than the first ice scorpion ending with the loudest explosion of ice shards ever. Finally the Red Sword glowed and vibrated on the ground. It too exploded into dust. It had been meant for one stab on the Ice Lord and one stab only, although it was able to kill an ice scorpion also. After all these years of suffering, the Ice Lord had died and his castle slowly melted and steamed. Huge pieces of ice crashed and pounded on the ground, crumbling from the highest points of his towers.

Outside, Samuel ran to check on Neil; feeling was already returning to his arm. Out of nowhere a horrible screeching sound came from the sky and a humongous crack formed as far as the eye could see. Huge drops of water fell from the sky and pieces of frozen ice came crashing down. Samuel knew that frozen sky was melting and dying along with the Ice Lord.

When he saw Neil, well, Neil wasn’t okay. Samuel ran up to him.

“Samuel,” he stuttered, “I was attacked by an Ice Scorpion. I’m dying.”

A loud moan escaped Samuel’s mouth.

“It is okay Samuel, my time has come, everyone and everything will die eventually. Now go back to your village and tell them of you journey.”

“Okay Neil, goodbye. I love you and I will never forget you.

“I love you too Samuel, goodbye. And remember, I will always be with you.”

Neil laid his head down and died. Samuel realized he too would die eventually and was okay with it.

It took him three weeks to walk past Hanah’s hut, and there, standing watching him, was a dog. It was Neil, now remade as a Huskie. Samuel and the Huskie made eye contact and had an understanding. Samuel walked on. It was two months before Samuel reached his village and he was as brave as ever. He hugged Mr. and Mrs. Anderson and everyone in the village. He was no longer afraid of death and was ready to be with his parents when the time came; which would not be for a long time. Samuel brought back the gift of enlightenment and told all the younger kids about bravery and courage.

Then something very bright shined into his eyes and filled the whole village with light. It was the sun, for so many years no one thought about seeing it. Now, for the first time everyone in the village saw the beauty of the sun!