Wargate

A Trials of Light and Darkness Story


Chapter One

How do we build an empire from these ashes?

Odette Marie Novare


Sadden's Manor

Arendelle

November 2nd, 1843

Three weeks had passed since the beginning of the invasion. Three weeks had passed since four thousand Arendanes had died heroic martyrs, protecting their home from the grasp of darkness. Kristoff Bjorgmann had been among them. Three weeks had passed since Anna Siguror had been named empress of the new, Unified Empire. She'd gone from married princess to widowed empress in a matter of days.

Of course, there wasn't really anything unified about the empire yet, Odette mused to herself as she leaned back in her plush leather chair, opening a dust-bound leather tome in her lap and trying to remember whether she'd looked at this one before. Though Elsa and Anna intended to eventually unite the forces of the world under one banner against the forces of darkness, right now only a broken Arendelle comprised the entirety of the Unified Empire.

Although, Odette thought, glancing up at the calendar pinned to the wall of the late Namar Sadden's private study, today that might change.

Elsa and Hans were away in Corona, securing the fealty of Queen Arianna. They didn't expect to encounter much difficulty persuading Corona to join their cause; after all, the little German nation was already well aware of the danger their enemy posed. Queen Arianna had lost her husband Frederick to Everdark's domination almost one year ago. But traveling to Corona and back would still cost Arendelle's most powerful warriors a bit over two weeks of time.

Time during which Elsa had entrusted Odette to help unlock the secret of wargates.

Odette didn't know much about warfare that she hadn't learned from books, but one thing that all the scholars agreed upon was that winning a war took a lot more than just having a superior army. Just as important, it seemed, were surprisingly mundane things, like keeping your forces well-fed, and well-equipped. Historically, the more mobile of the two forces was usually at a substantial advantage, as well.

All of these posed logistical issues for the Unified Empire. The more nations that they welcomed into the fold, the more likely the empire was to become fractured – comprised of many, non-contiguous states, each many days' travel away from each other. Such an empire would be nearly impossible to defend. Each of the magnet states would have to maintain its own army to be able to fend off attacks while it waited for reinforcement from the other nations. Of course, by then, why bother uniting as an empire in the first place?

Wargates were the answer to their problems. Stationary magical portals that could transport someone from Arendelle to Corona in a heartbeat instead of two weeks. If the empire had a wargate in every one of its cities, it would be able to relay information, transfer supplies, and deploy forces anywhere, at any time. The only issue was, nobody knew how to create one.

Most of the world's knowledge of magic had been lost since the dark ages, during which spellcasters were regarded with suspicion and hostility, and hunted to near-extinction. Books that had once contained these secrets had long since been burned or lost, and so Elsa, Odette and the others were mostly left trying to piece together how to use their abilities on their own.

Odette set aside the book that she'd been paging through – it was an old, illuminated collection of parables that she'd been able to recover from the burned Saint Adelaide Cathedral, and pinched at the top of her nose. She hadn't been sleeping much recently, and it was starting to catch up to her. One of the first wizards that she and Elsa had ever met was a venerable German monk named Wulfric Shaw – he'd been the one to first teach them about Everdark, shortly before the dark god's return.

So, in a bout of wishful thinking, she'd hoped that she'd find some clues about magic in old books collected from Middle Age monasteries. Of course, there was nothing. She was wasting her time reading patronizing children's tales.

A knock at the study's door.

"Come in," she said, closing the book and raking a hand through her hair. She winced as she hit a snarl. It was wavy by nature, and she hadn't been brushing it much. What happened to the days when she always just put it in a bun?

The door opened, and Anna stepped inside.

"Hey, Anna," Odette said, waving halfheartedly. "I hope that you've had a more productive day than I have."

The young empress sat down on the other side of the table and sighed, sinking into the plush chair.

"Well, they had me inspecting the forces this morning. I don't know what on earth I was supposed to be looking for. But Vander says that it's mostly just to let them see me. It's supposed to be good for morale, I suppose. How are your studies going?"
Anna had recovered from her grief remarkably quickly. Not because she didn't miss Kristoff, Odette knew, but because Anna was incredibly strong. The young empress knew that grief was a luxury that they could not afford, right now. So she weathered onwards.

"They're not," Odette replied. "I don't want to sound fatalistic, but I'm not sure that I'd be able to find the information we need, no matter how long I spend looking. I mean, if Everdark's people don't even know the original ritual, then what hope do we have?"

The forces of darkness knew how to create wargates, but they did not use the original ritual. Their method involved the use of a wizard's soul, so it required a sacrifice to bind the magics together. It was an incredibly costly way to expedite the transport of one's forces, and it was a price the Unified Empire could not afford to pay.

Anna just shook her head. "We're just kids. I mean, you're a year older than Elsa, and even you're only twenty-seven. How did we end up in charge of everything?"

Odette never felt older than Elsa. Elsa always seemed in control of situations far larger than herself; she always seemed to know the right thing to do.

"Everyone else died," Odette said, only joking halfway.

Anna spun the volume of parables around to herself. It was large and square, with big, illustrated pages. The kind that you read to a kid sitting on your lap.

"Hey!" She said, a surprised smile jumping to life on her face. She opened the cover and flipped through the first few pages. "We used to have a copy of this in the palace, I think! Mom used to read me these before bed when I was younger! Did you get to Arvid and the Gwyllions? That one actually used to creep me out a bit."

"I don't think so," Odette said, biting at her lower lip. "I stopped during the one where the talking heron told the little girl that unless she started behaving, trolls are going to show up in the night and eat her."

Anna laughed. "Oh yeah. I think that's meant to be a metaphor, mostly. But it got me to behave, I guess."

She flipped through to the page where Arvid and the Gwyllions began. "Actually, now that I think about it, a lot of these stories are pretty macabre. This one is about a little boy, Arvid, whose parents live way out on this isolated part of the heath in England. He's not very happy. He always feels like he's alone, and he has no friends. One day, he's out on the moor, playing all alone, when the gwyllions come to him."

"What are gwyllions?" Odette asked.

"The story doesn't really say," Anna said. She turned the book back to face Odette. "But here's the way that they're drawn."

Odette looked at the picture. It depicted a very English moor, gray and drab and scrubby, stretching out across the entire page in soft watercolor. A young boy cowered in the center of the field, surrounded by three strange, spirit-like creatures. They were tall and spindly, and completely black, really just energetic slashes of the paintbrush. They trailed a wispy, gray mist beyond their limbs, implying a ghoulish dance around the terrified boy. Odette felt a strange tingling on the back of her neck.

"What do they do to him?" She asked.

Anna turned the page to show a new picture, one in which Arvid was tumbling into a void, still surrounded by the horrid creatures. "They took him to their land," she said softly. "They said that he was different from the other humans, and that he didn't fit in among them. He'd be more comfortable with the gwyllions."

She turned the page again, and Odette saw that now, Arvid was in a new place, a dark place, with hints of blues and purples forming the impression of a cavern around the figures.

"So he lives with them for some time," Anna said. "He feels welcome among them. They treat him like an equal, and he likes that. He's happy, for a little while."

The next few pages were considerably brighter. We find that there are torches in the caverns, and actually, the caverns are rather accommodating for humans. Arvid's family was quite poor, but here he gets a whole room to himself and he can eat things he likes every day. He doesn't know where the gwyllions get all the hams, and the turkeys, and apples and stuffing from, but it doesn't matter to him.

"But Arvid doesn't know what the gwyllions really do. They leave him alone for hours at a time, sometimes days. He asks them what they're doing when they're away, but they dodge the question."

The next picture showed little Arvid poking around the empty caverns, trying to find clues as to where the specters went.

"And he starts to get lonely," Anna said. "He starts to realize that he didn't really want to leave his mom and dad forever. So the next time the gwyllions come back, he asks them if he can see them."

The next page showed the haunting specters deep in conversation with each other. "The gwyllions have an argument about whether they should let Arvid see his parents. Some of them say that it isn't safe for Arvid in the overland anymore. But eventually they decide yes, they can let him see."

Anna's voice had grown soft, almost making Odette strain to hear her.

"So they take him with them the next time, to the overland." A painting of little Arvid, flying with the gwyllions, looking down on his parent's hovel from far above. It was a lonely little dot on the moors. "But what he sees, he can't believe."

The next page showed Arvid peering through the windows of the hovel, surrounded by dark specters. Inside, his parents looked joyous. Their faces are great big, twisted smiles.

"He sees them celebrating. They say that ever since Arvid left, their lives have been so much happier. Arvid starts to cry. The gwyllions tell him 'see, we tried to protect you from this, we tried to make it so you wouldn't see. They don't want you anymore.'"

"That's terrible," Odette whispered, looking at Arvid, sobbing into the ethereal forms of the creatures. "So does he stay with them?"

"Well," Anna said, "for a while he does, yes. He doesn't go above ground anymore, he just stays in the gwyllions' cavern and tries to enjoy himself. But after a while, he starts to convince himself that something's wrong. He didn't think that his parents could possibly be happy that he was gone. So he ends up deciding that he's going to sneak out of the cavern by himself while the gwyllions were gone one day, and go see his parents again, for himself."

A few pages in the book documented this with a series of images, finally showing Arvid shouldering a little knapsack and trekking through the caverns.

"So he does. He walks and walks for a long time, and he finally finds the entrance. When he's out on the moors, he doesn't know where to go. He doesn't know which way his family's house is. So he just starts wandering, and before long he hears a dog barking. He runs over a few hills and he finds a group of people, searching, calling his name.

"He runs down to them, and his parents are there, and they start crying tears of joy. His parents and everyone from the closest village had been looking for him for a whole month, they said. They wanted to know where he'd been for so long, and they were so grateful that he was back, and he was safe!"

Arvid was embraced by his parents on the page, with a big, friendly dog bounding around them.

"But Arvid was confused. He said to his parents, 'if you're so happy to see me know, why would you celebrate that I was gone?' His parents have no idea what he's talking about. 'Arvid, they say, we've been worried sick about you! Not a day went by when we didn't pray for you to come back safely!'"

Odette noticed, for the first time, that one of the gwyllions was visible at the edge of the painting, a wisp of shadow peering over a nearby hill.

"Arvid starts to realize that somehow, the gwyllions tricked him. They showed him something that just wasn't real. And he's afraid."

The next image showed Arvid, tucked into bed in his home again, not asleep. He stared towards the ceiling, not looking over at the window, which was filled with gwyllions, peering inside. Watching him.

"For days," Anna said, "he did his best to hide from them. But they were always there. Watching him. Finally, one day when he was out on the moors again, they arrived. Determined not to be frightened by them, he asked them why they deceived him. He tells them that he hates them. That he wants them to go away. And to his surprise, they don't try to hurt him. They're disappointed."

Anna's voice had grown introspective. She turned the last page in the book and revealed the gwyllions, walking away from Arvid.

"They didn't reply. They just told him that they thought he was going to be someone that he didn't turn out to be, and then they walked away. Not dancing anymore. Arvid never saw the gwyllions again."

Anna closed the old book of parables, and then placed her hand against the back cover. They were both quiet for a few moments.

"What's the point?" Odette asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Old fairy tales always have some sort of lesson that they're trying to teach," Odette said. "But… I can't see a lesson in that."

"I'm not sure," Anna replied. "Maybe it's trying to teach children not to jump to conclusions. Maybe it's trying to tell them not to run away. Maybe it doesn't really have any point at all."

Odette didn't want to admit it, but the parable had bothered her, a bit. It was creepy and inexplicable. She felt silly.

"Anyway, it's pretty clear that there aren't any secret lessons about magic hidden in there," Odette said. She glanced over at the clock on the wall. "Have you eaten yet? I was just about to go find myself something."

Anna stood up and smiled. "Montaigne and I were going to eat together. Why don't you come join us? It'll take your mind off work for a little while."

Odette accepted the offer, grateful to leave the study behind.

xxx

"It's terribly rude, making us wait," Hans said, grinning as he leaned back in his chair, weaving his hands together behind his head.

He and Elsa sat at a gigantic conference table in Corona's palace, waiting for the arrival of the queen. They were alone, save for two guards flanking the doors at each end of the chamber. Elsa didn't remember them ever having such a substantial guard force indoors before, but she imagined that security was probably stepped up after the tragedy with King Frederick last winter.

"She's probably just busy," Elsa said, trying not to let worry edge into her voice. When they'd arrived at the city, it had been clear that Corona had so far not been a target of the invasion. The city looked much as it ever had – a stark contrast to Arendelle, which lay mostly in burned-out ruins. But what if Everdark had come for Corona? What if, instead of an army, the God of Darkness had sent a small but lethal team of wizards? Would they be able to tell?

Hans cast a sidelong glance at Elsa. "They're alright," he said, more seriously. "The people in this city look too cheerful for anything to have happened."

The doors on the other side of the room suddenly creaked open, and a beautiful young woman with a brunette pixie cut walked in. She broke into a broad smile when she saw her cousin and hurried over.

"Elsa!" Rapunzel exclaimed. "I just got word that you'd arrived."

Elsa stood up, and they hugged. "Is everyone alright?" She asked.

"Yes," Rapunzel replied, stepping back and brushing a wisp of hair past her ear. Her eyes grew concerned. "Why? Is something wrong?"

She glanced over at Hans, the worry in her brow increasing.

"Yes," Elsa said, "but it looks like things are still safe here. That's good."

"Everdark's forces have launched a full-scale invasion of earth," Hans explained. "We managed to fight them off in Arendelle, but it was close, and it was costly."

"Oh, dear," Rapunzel said, covering her mouth. "Did anybody… I mean, did anybody, you know…"

"Kristoff got taken from us," Elsa said solemnly.

"Oh, no," Rapunzel whispered. "Is Anna alright? She must be beside herself with grief."

"She's strong," Elsa said. "She's getting better every day now."

"Elsa?" Queen Arianna's voice sounded from the other side of the chamber. "Hans? What a pleasant surprise – I just heard that you'd arrived! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Elsa turned and smiled sadly at her aunt. "Perhaps you'd better take a seat." She turned to glance back at Rapunzel. "Both of you. Hans and I have a lot to tell you."

She and Hans filled them in on what had happened in the fight against Everdark since the events in Corona, skimming over some of the less pertinent details like Hans's death and subsequent reincarnation, or Elsa's enslavement in the Sea of Stars. They came to the invasion, and explained their defense of Arendelle, and how they had no idea how many cities had been hit. Finally, they explained the plan that they had come up with, to bring the world's nations under one banner as the Unified Empire, to better stand against the forces of darkness.

"So at the end of the day," Elsa said, "That's why we're here. We need your allegiance. We need your help."

Arianna and Rapunzel met each other's gaze for a few long moments of silence. Elsa had no idea what was going through their minds. Did they think her and Hans fools? Did they appreciate the magnitude of the threat that they now faced? Did they understand the necessity of a single ruler in chaotic times?

"You're… you're asking me to give up my rule and make Corona an Arendane colony?" Arianna said, a deep frown creasing her brow.

"No, not at all!" Elsa said, hurriedly. "Arendelle would just be one part of the empire, and so would Corona. You'd maintain your title and authority within these borders, but ultimately the regional governors would answer to the empress."

"But why would I do that?" Arianna said, sounding legitimately confused. "Willingly concede authority?"

Elsa bit her lower lip, a habit she'd picked up from Odette. Somehow, I thought it was going to go more easily with you two.

"Protection," Hans said. "When the forces of darkness attack your city, we'd be able to deploy defenders to help protect it from around the world. Fighting together, we can make the world's armies many times more powerful, in practice."

Rapnuzel frowned and interjected, "But just being part of the empire doesn't mean that you'll be able to get armies here immediately. I mean, even Arendelle is two weeks' journey away!"

"Not for much longer," Elsa said. "Everdark's forces use portals called 'wargates' to instantaneously transport troops across great distances. We have our best minds working on a way to replicate those portals, and we should have the ability quite soon."

I hope. Godspeed, Odette.

"With a wargate in every city in the empire, we'd be able to do exactly that. Instantaneous transport."

Arianna sighed. "You mustn't think that I'm being rude, or power-hungry, dear, but I don't see why I'd have to be part of the empire to take part in its protection. I imagine that you'd have a moral obligation to assist with our defense. Am I correct?"

She doesn't get it, Elsa thought with dismay. She thinks that we're trying to take power from her.

"Well…" Elsa said, "yes."

"So then I don't see why I should willingly concede power to a child. Even if that child is a very favored niece of mine."

Elsa realized that, from a Machiavellian standpoint, everything Arianna said was logical. Pragmatic. In fact, it was irresponsible to expect a ruler to make anything except these arguments.

"It's not that I don't want to do my part in ensuring that the world remains safe," Arianna was saying, "but you must forgive me. I am a very traditional woman, and through all these years I've grown rather accustomed to doing things my own way. Now that I help guide the path for my entire nation, I have come to trust only myself regarding the safety of Corona."

Elsa glanced at Hans, helpless. He seemed deep in thought, but a moment later he spoke.

"We're terribly sorry, your majesty. We apologize because we don't feel that we made our case to you very well. With your permission, however, we would like to refine our arguments and bring them to you again. Hopefully, we can make a more persuasive case as to why ours is the most logical path forwards."

Arianna regarded them both thoughtfully. She really wasn't angry, or defensive. She was a rational queen making rational arguments that they should have had a plan to answer.

"Of course," she said, nodding, "though I'm afraid that you might find my opinions rather settled on the matter. Should I have the servants prepare the guest bedrooms for the both of you, then?"

"That would be lovely, aunt," Elsa said smiling.

Arianna turned and made a motion towards one of the guards, and he walked over to lead them to their rooms.

She and Hans let themselves be towed away. Once they were outside the chamber, Elsa turned to glance at Hans.

"Well, that didn't go very well," she said.

"Not at all," he replied. "Not well at all."