Elsa and the Dragon
Elsa dismounted her horse at the top of a hill overlooking the siege. Thousands of her soldiers had established a perimeter around the fortress as dozens of siege weapons battered its walls. Not far away, a catapult fired. Elsa tracked the boulder it flung as it hurtled through the air and smashed into the wall just above the main gate. A cloud of debris tumbled to the ground, and a small section of the wall broke loose.
"The siege is going well, Your Majesty."
She nodded at the officer who had spoken. He and his fellows had done well so far. This fortress was the only real obstacle standing between her and complete control over Weselton's eastern provinces. Its defenders had fought hard, but Elsa's officers had maintained the siege while she personally led another portion of her forces in routing the reinforcements that Weselton had sent.
Now, it was simply a matter of whittling the defenders down. They were cut off from reinforcements and supplies. It wouldn't be long now before they were forced to surrender. She could only hope that they would choose to lay down their arms and be spared rather than fight to the death.
Unfortunately, things were about to get very complicated.
An explosion rocked the centre of the fortress. Flame billowed outward, and the scent of ash and smoke filled the air. A massive head emerged from the ruins, and Elsa caught the gleam of the winter sun off rust-coloured scales. A dragon pulled itself from the wreckage and spread its wings. It was huge, easily as large as one of the fortress's largest towers. That would probably explain why the defenders had fought so hard to hold on. They must have been waiting for their dragon to awaken.
"Is that a dragon?" one of her officers asked as the beast took to the air, its wing beats as loud as thunder.
"Yes," Elsa murmured. "It is." She took a moment to consider her options. There was only one reasonable thing to do. "Sound the retreat. Pull all of our forces back. I will deal with the dragon myself."
"Your Majesty…"
Elsa's lips curled, and her magic shuddered to life, stirred by the thought of battle. Ice crept along the ground, and the clouds in the sky darkened. "It is better this way. Sound the retreat."
X X X
Elsa shifted her gaze to the sky as the dragon banked toward her. Her forces had already begun their retreat, giving Elsa one less thing to worry about. The dragon would not be an easy foe. The last thing she needed was to have to hold back because her forces were too close.
Her army wasn't particularly eager to stay either. They were brave and loyal, but she knew what the mere sight of a dragon could do to normal people. A dragon was a force of nature, a living embodiment of fire and destruction. But Elsa was a force of nature too, the winter made flesh. She respected the dragon and its power, but she did not fear it as others would have.
The dragon's jaws opened as it turned toward her, and there was a sound like a gathering storm. The air rushed past her, drawn into the dragon's mouth as it took a deep, deep breath. Its wings unfurled, slowing its flight as it angled its head in her direction. Flames gathered within its mouth, first orange and then white-hot.
And then there was fire, a titanic stream of white-hot fire rushing toward her.
Elsa almost had to close her eyes. It was like looking into the sun. Then she reached up with one hand, and her magic rose as well. A dome of frost formed above her, gleaming white and blue. It wasn't made of ordinary ice. No, the dragon's fire would have cut through ordinary ice like a sword through paper. This was Elsa's ice – it would last as long she wanted it to, and it would weather the dragon's flame.
At least that's what she believed. She'd never faced a dragon before.
The dragon's attack hit, and her whole world became the seething roar from beyond her ice. For the first time since she'd been a child, her ice began to give. The dragon's fire was more than heat, it was magic too. Cracks spread across the dome, and steam billowed outward. Elsa's jaw clenched, and she poured more of her power into the ice. She sealed the cracks and thickened the ice, and it held firm.
At last, the dragon's flame began to ebb, and Elsa snapped both hands out. The dome of ice became a helix, a spear of frost lancing up toward the dragon. It jerked out of the way, beating its wings madly to get more distance. Elsa laughed. She'd never felt so alive. But she wasn't about to let the dragon simply keep its distance.
A pair of icy wings formed on her back, and she hurled herself aloft in pursuit of the dragon. It greeted her first with fire and then with its claws, and Elsa banked away. She created jagged blades of ice and flung them at the dragon's belly. The projectiles shattered on its scales but not before cracking a few. The dragon roared with surprise and fury, and Elsa broke away, a searing blast of flame burning the sky behind her. The clouds around her thickened, and she brought them to bear. Snow thudded down on the dragon, turning first to fragments of hail and then into icy spears.
The dragon dodged the worst of the attack and unleashed its fire again. Elsa darted away and then increased her speed as the dragon gave chase. She was more agile in the air, but a single solid hit from either the dragon's fire or its claws would still be enough to end the battle. If she wanted to end the fight, she needed to hit it with something much larger than she'd used so far. But would the dragon give her a chance to gather the power she needed?
Elsa dove, reaching out to all the snow that covered the ground. It followed her, trailing in her wake as the dragon dove after her. Then she angled up, racing up into the clouds. The dragon bellowed behind her, too focused on her to notice the snow following after them. As the air thinned, and her breathing turned into a thick mist, Elsa slowed and looked down.
The dragon was there below her, and it was closing the distance quickly. Her eyes narrowed, and she pulled at the snow behind the dragon. It shot past the beast and gathered in front and behind her. Her magic flared, rising to meet the challenge of suspending thousands of tonnes of snow in mid-air. Then she raised one fist and brought it down.
The snow brushed past her and then dropped toward the dragon, as heavy and hard as the hammer of a titan.
The dragon howled as the snow smashed into it, but even that sound was lost as it tumbled toward the ground and vanished beneath a tide of snow. Elsa drifted back down to the ground. A wave of her hands cleared the snow, and she stopped in front of the dragon's head. The creature was still alive, but the fight had gone out of it.
For a moment, she considered killing it. It would be a shame to kill such a magnificent beast, but what else could she do? Yet as she readied her magic to strike the killing blow, the dragon lowered its head in a sign of submission. Elsa smiled. Winning the dragon over to her cause would be far better than killing it.
X X X
The fortress surrendered not long after Elsa reappeared with the dragon trailing after her like an obedient, absolutely enormous puppy. She could hardly blame them. Besides, she preferred to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. These people were going to be her subjects. She was not going to win their loyalty by slaughtering them.
She was poring over maps of the surrounding area when Anna, of all people, arrived. Watching her wife storm in was one thing – Anna was a force of nature in her own right – but she shouldn't have been anywhere near the battlefield. She was supposed to be safely out of harm's way.
"What are you doing here, Anna?" Elsa growled as she got to her feet. The frost in her tone was enough to send Anna's escort scrambling for the entrance to the tent. The royal guard would give their lives for Anna, but they'd seen enough arguments between the two women to know that discretion was the better part of valour.
"Don't take that tone with me!" Anna marched forward and jabbed Elsa in the sternum with one finger. Elsa was caught completely off guard. Only Anna would have dared to lay a hand on her in such a manner. "What are you doing fighting a dragon? You said this siege would go smoothly. You could have been killed!"
"How did you even find out about that?" Elsa snapped. She wasn't angry with Anna, so much as she was angry with the Anna putting herself in danger. They hadn't completely secured the area yet. "You're not supposed to be this close to the front lines."
Anna had the decency to look contrite for about half a second. Elsa scowled. The other woman had probably charmed her guards into bringing her despite Elsa's orders to the contrary. "It was kind of hard to miss the giant thing with wings flying through the air and breathing fire everywhere, Elsa! And that's not even counting the messenger who turned up screaming about how a dragon was going to kill everyone!"
Elsa made a mental note to find and obliterate that messenger. "Anna, it's fine. I dealt with the dragon." She took a deep breath. She knew exactly how to calm Anna's temper. "Walk with me, Anna. I have something to show you."
Anna's eyes narrowed, but she followed Elsa toward the edge of camp. When they finally arrived at their destination, Anna gasped.
"The dragon! You didn't kill it!" Anne's eyes were wide with awe. There was no fear, which pleased Elsa greatly. Anna trusted Elsa to protect her, even from a dragon.
"No. It would have been a shame to kill such a magnificent beast after it submitted." Elsa stepped forward and put one hand on the dragon's snout. It snorted lightly but leaned into her touch. "It understands that I am stronger, so it will follow me." She nodded at Anna. "You can touch it if you like. It knows not to harm anyone without my command."
"Really?" Anna could barely contain her excitement.
"Yes."
Elsa stepped aside as Anna immediately began to fuss over the dragon, cooing and laughing as she somehow managed to win it over in about thirty seconds. Honestly, was no one immune to Anna's charm? Still, Elsa was happy. There was still a war to fight, and she would have to send Anna back to a position of relative safety, but for now, at least, they were together. And that was more than enough for Elsa.
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Author's Notes
As always, I do not own Frozen. I am not making any money off of this either.
Well, I've always wanted Elsa to fight a dragon, so I thought I'd write up a scene for that. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Anyway, this story is a collection of bits and pieces, drabbles, and ideas that haven't yet got a home. So there's every chance that this chapter might become part of a bigger story, just not yet. But, seriously, wouldn't Elsa fighting a dragon look epic?
I also write original fiction, mostly fantasy. You can find links to it in my profile. If you're looking for something fun to read, try Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf, or, if you want something more serious, try The Last Huntress.
As always, I appreciate feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.