Elsa winced when she saw Drake take a small stumble in his walk. Hands over her mouth she allowed herself a small giggle as she asked, "Are you okay?"
He chuckled, attempting to cover up his obvious discomfort by walking a little straighter. "I've had worse then this. Don't worry… too much about me. Though to be honest I didn't know you had that kind of… force."
She giggled again, hiding behind her hands. "I'm so sorry."
He waved her off. "At least I know you can defend yourself. You can stop looking at me now."
She lowered her hands from her mouth and moved her eyes forward, still trying her best to stifle her laughter. After the incident on the beach, and once Drake had sufficiently recovered enough to walk, they made their way back to the castle. Now that she had gotten an earful from Drake, she had to now brace herself for the tongue lashing she'd have to endure from her sister.
Passing a few of her servents, they pointed her in the direction of Anna's chambers where they had last seen her. Curiously, they also mentioned seeing Kristoff, causing Elsa to pick up the pace to her room.
"Come on Elsa," Drake called after her, "they're both adults, they can be alone unsupervised."
Elsa, now more focused on her sister, called back to him. "Not until they're Married!" He snorted, muttering a "yes mom" under his breath which earned him an icy glare from over her shoulder. Figuratively of course.
Coming to the large double doors of Anna's bed chambers, Elsa knocked as loudly as she could to get their attention. "Anna!" No response except from some clattering on the other side of the door. "Anna I'm coming in, so you'd better be decent!" Without waiting, and ignoring Drake's protests, she barged inside.
She took a step back in surprise at what she was witnessing. "Wow. Just wow."
Just As she had been told, Kristoff was in Anna's bedchambers as well the reindeer Sven and The living snowman, Olaf. Sven and Olaf we're scrambling to get under the sheets of the bed, as Kristoff was giving them some instructions for them to pretend to be Anna just under the sheets.
Pale with wide eyes at being caught, Kristoff only managed to utter a, "uh… this isn't what it looks like."
"I hope so, cuz it looks like your getting into bed with a snowman and reindeer." Drake cringed.
Elsa folded her arms and scowled. "What ARE you three up too?"
Olaf bounced on top of the bed, jumping with a couple of pillows in his arms. "We were hiding—"
"OLAF! Shh!" Kristoff warmed.
"Oh sorry," he lowered his voice, "we are NOT hiding pillows under Anna's bedsheets."
Kristoff grabbed the snowman's head off his shoulders and covered his mouth, but he already said too much.
The queens scowl deepened when she noticed another minor detail about the bedchamber. "Kristoff. Where's Anna?"
He swallowed hard as Olaf's head began muttering beneath his hand. He sighed in defeat and connected the snowman's head to his body.
"Okay, but don't get upset." Famous last words. "So you know how we learned that your parents may have hidden something about you, and you thought you could go out into the ocean to find the boat, but then Anna thought maybe Grandpoppy or some of the other trolls could probably help—"
"Kristoff! Where's Anna?!" She repeated more forcibly.
"Anna's at the Black caves!" Olaf shouted before slapping his stick hands over his mouth.
Elsa looked from the snowman back to Kristoff, who gave a shallow nod. "She's at the Black Caves."
Her eyes went wide with both alarm and agitation. "The Black Caves? She went to the Black Caves?!"
"Yup!" Olaf chirped. "I believe we just said that. Is your hearing okay?"
"My hearings fine!"
"Yeah her hearings fine."
Elsa balled her fists and began some form of deep breathing exercises, but didn't stop a furious light snowfall forming around her head. "Of all the stupid! Irresponsible! Ugh! How could she be so reckless?!"
"Would you like to be the pot or the kettle in this example?"
Her face twisted into a comical scowl as she glared menacingly at the now smirking Drake. "We're not talking about me right now." She spun on her heel and headed for the doors. "We need to get to the caves and help her."
"Elsa she's fine," Kristoff tried to comfort her, "she went to see the Enmork?"
Drake's head shot up. "Wait what did you say?"
"The Enmork!" Olaf exclaimed. "Anna is gonna ask the Enmork to grant her a wish. But we're not supposed to tell Elsa cuz she'll try to stop her."
Elsa rolled her eyes, bending over to speak to Olaf as if he was a child. "Olaf, the Enmork isn't real. It's just a story that our parents used to tell us."
"Oh The Enmork is real alright." Drake was on his feet and was just as anxious to leave as Elsa was. "But not in the way you guys think."
-:0:-
Not many were brave enough to venture to the Black Caves, a system of caverns located at the base of the mountains just along the ocean's edge. Anna had lost site of the castle long ago with the cliff sides reaching towards the sky all around her, but with what sunlight she had remaining she moved forward.
Her satchel dangling over her shoulder as she climbed onto a ledge that was looking over a large drop off.
"Okay," she breathed, "that wasn't so bad." She reached into her bag and dug at her map. Just as she feared, she had yet to reach the caves, but at least she could see where she had to go next. Replacing the map she glanced over the ledge. "Well that's a long way down," she looked at the caves just on the other side, "and an even longer way over there."
She got to her feet and got as far back as she could. "The Enmork May be a legend, but it's a legend that'll grant me a wish. This is for Elsa…. just so you know that in case I die."
As fast as she could and as hard as she could jump, she leapt off the edge, sailing through the air and reaching for the other side of the mountain. In that moment time seemed to hold still, she stopped breathing, and the last few years of her life began flashing before her eyes, ending with the words,
This is for Elsa.
She slammed into the side of the cliff, her hands grasping at anything she could find to keep herself on the mountain and not hurtling towards her death. Sweet relief washed over her when her hands grasped onto protruding rocks, allowing her enough leverage to hoist herself onto the ledge. Rolling onto her back she released the air she had been holding, staring upwards into the fading sun.
"See… that wasn't so bad." After a moment or two of rest she reached into her satchel again and removed a small torch ready to be lit. "Alright, let's do this." She lit the torch and swung it towards the caverns before her.
She swallowed. "I'm sure these caves aren't that haunted." The wind blowing through the caves emitted an eerie howling sending a chill down her spine. "Yeah...not that bad." Gathering her nerves she began her trek into the Black Caves.
She had been told stories throughout her life about these caves, mostly a warning to never go through them, especially not alone. Torch in hand she moved through the stony passageway, doing her best not to be frightened by the howling through the caves. She shuddered, but pressed on.
"Okay," she whispered to herself, "just keep going until you come to the 'two paths meeting as one'." It took her awhile, but once she remembered the details of the old tales there was no stopping her until she came to the crossroads. "Alright. Let's get to it." She wedged the torch into the cave wall to give her some light and went to work.
All around the cave she placed, and lit candles to add more light and helped in the summoning ritual.
"Mm now the place smells like vanilla." She mused. Getting out a piece of chalk she drew a large star in the exact center of the crossroads. "Almost done." Once the Star was finished, She grabbed a brass bowl and filled it with different herbs and powders.
Doing a mental checklist she realized she had come to the final portion of the summoning. The portion she was not looking forward to.
She removed a small knife from her bag, swallowed hard, and put the cold steel against her palm. "You'd better appreciate this Elsa." With a swift movement and a small cry she had cut into her flesh and allowed the warm liquid to pour into the bowl.
"Okay," she squealed in pain, "almost there." Wrapping a cloth around her hand, she grabbed a small piece of paper and began to read the words she had scribbled.
"Ad lig-uh-ligandum eos partier-oops-pariter coram me. Ad ligandum eos pariter eos coram me." Lastly, she dropped a few drops of hot wax into the bowl. "Now we wait."
"ANNA!"
She leapt to her feet with a start, thinking the spell had worked super fast, but was met with a pair of arms wrapping around her.
"Elsa!?" Looking over her sister's shoulders, Kristoff, Sven, Olaf and Drake hurried in behind her. "Th-This isn't what it looks like."
Elsa released her sister, glaring daggers as her eyes searched the cave. "Really? Cuz it looks like you ran off to the Black Caves, where we were told never to go."
Anna paused. "Okay it's exactly what it looks like."
"Just don't tell me that you… and you did." Drake had sauntered around them, looking down at the spilled bowl in the center of the Star.
Elsa followed his line of sight to the star. "Anna, what have you done?"
"Okay, before you say anything." Anna took a step back, holding up her hands to defend her actions, "I know the Enmork is Technically just a story, but so were trolls," She motioned to Kristoff, "and Dragons," She motioned to Drake, "so why not a wish granting Enmork?"
Elsa continued to gawk at her sister. "Do you even know what an Enmork is?!"
Anna scoffed, but stuttered over her words. "Well do you?"
"She does now," Drake commented, "after I told her."
Elsa shot the smirking knight a death glare before turning her attention back to her sister, when was ready to defend herself. "Elsa, you need to trust me, I know this will work."
"No Anna you don't understand!" Elsa pleaded. "Enmork means Demon!"
Anna was forced into stunned silence as the word hung over her. After a beat she finally managed to utter an, "O-Oh." Just as the candles blew out plunging them all into complete darkness.
