The piers looked absolutely devastated. There wasn't any water or any hint to a flood that could have passed through, there was simply debris everywhere. Elsa couldn't put her finger on what could have happened. The few houses by the warehouse were all completely flattened by something. There were lights scattered all around, glass everywhere—under the ice of course—on the ground, and just bricks and wood everywhere. It looked absolutely dangerous.

Elsa frowned as she walked around what used to be the corner of a house, "What could have caused this?" she wondered aloud. It just didn't add up. There couldn't have been any sort of natural disaster. She glanced up at the water as she rounded the corner and blinked. There was a single tiny sailboat against the shore. It was the only thing not destroyed. Was this the work of someone who had snuck in to town? Where were the guards they hired to patrol?

Elsa sighed, shaking her head and turning away. She took a deep breath and held her hands up, melting the ice she had created. The wall disappeared into the ground, and the ice on the ground disintegrating into the sky again. Folding her arms, she walked back towards the castle again. It was probably best to think this over in the quiet.

The people in town who passed by her attempted to question her, but she simply held her hand up to them, smiling an apology.

"We will have to begin clean up along the furthest docks," she told the guards at the gate, "Let the people know that anyone who lived in those houses over there are welcome to stay in the castle until new homes can be built for them."

The guard nodded, "Yes, your majesty," he responded before hurrying off to alert the other guards of the plan.

Elsa just continued to walk inside and down the hall, not paying much mind to where she walked. She could feel her frustration building again, she needed to find someway to distract her mind before she froze the castle again.

As she walked, she looked up ahead of her and noticed something. Stopping, she tilted her head. There was a figure sitting on the edge of one of the windows, looking out. His dark hair was familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. It was the man from the mountain. As Elsa walked closer to him, he looked at her, his dark eyes shining with curiosity.

"Should you be up out of the bed so soon?" Elsa asked, looking him over again. His leg was still bound pretty tight, but he kept it to the side, "Surely you need the rest more than you let on."

The man just shook his head and looked back out the window, tapping on the glass. Elsa looked confused, but stepped closer to see what he saw. The realization hit her when she saw the destroyed piers. He just wanted to know what was going on.

Elsa sighed, "Yes, something terrible has happened here. But, I just have to figure out what happened there, and," she looked at him again, sitting beside him on the edge of the window, "who you are. Can you tell me your name at least?"

The man looked at her, right into her eyes. He had taken the bandages off his face so she could see him more clearly. His features were sharp, definitely a well kept man. But, his eyes were so calm and mysterious, despite the amount of pain he had to be in. Still, he said nothing.

Elsa started to feel frustrated as she asked him again, "What is your name? Tell me."

The man shook his head.

"You won't tell me?" she responded, her authority coming through clear.

The man pointed to his throat and shook his head. He was trying to convey something to her. It took a moment, but once it sunk it Elsa gasped a little, covering her mouth.

"You can't speak?" she said. The man smiled, nodding. Elsa frowned, shaking her head, "I apologize, I had no idea. Here." she tapped the glass once, the window immediately coating in a thin layer of frost, "Spell it for me."

The man looked at the glass for a moment, then lifted his hand, writing, "My name is Dyre Vashasta."

Elsa shook her head "Your clothes seem to be of noble heritage. But, your name is unfamiliar. Where do you come from?" she tapped the glass again, returning the glass to its blank state.

Dyre paused another moment, perhaps thinking of what he wanted to say. He looked at the window and wrote, "The north."

Elsa sighed, "Yes, we found you on the north mountain. That much is clear."

Dyre shook his head, "I crossed the mountain to get here," he wrote.

Elsa looked at him, intrigued, "Why?"

"To meet you."

Elsa blinked as she read the words on the window. To meet her? She knew there were many people who probably wanted just a moment to talk to her, but how many of them would endure a freezing mountaintop and nearly die to see her?

She just shook her head, "Is there any particular reason for this?" she asked.

Dyre thought for a moment. He looked Elsa in the eye, as if trying to tell her without writing it. He finally sighed and turned, writing his answer, "No."

Elsa sighed, standing, "I'm afraid I can not help you then. If you have no reason to speak with me then I must be off. I have much to do today." she started to walk away, keeping her eyes ahead of her.

Dyre shook his head. He stood, holding onto the wall as he hopped after her, trying to keep up. Elsa could hear him struggle as she walked, but kept her eyes ahead of her. Don't look at him, Elsa, she told herself, As soon as he's healthy, he'll be off on his way.

"Your majesty." Castor approached, bowing.

Elsa nodded to him, "What is it?"

Castor looked up at her, "There is a representative from a near town hoping to meet with you to set up trading routes."

Elsa nodded, "Very well. I shall speak with him in the dining hall."

Castor hesitated as she started to walk past him, "That... may not be wise." he told her, finally.

Elsa stopped, her back to him, "Why is that?"

"The hall is still a wreck after the party last night. The last of the guests have finally left the grounds."

Elsa sighed, "Fine. The library then," she turned and walked the other way down the hall. She walked past Dyre again as he leaned against the wall, "And please show our guest here back to his bed so he can rest."

"Very good, miss."

Dyre looked at Elsa as she began to turn away again. He put his hand on her shoulder before she was out of reach. Elsa looked at him, "What is it?" she asked.

Dyre hobbled back to the window again and wrote a new message, "It's already started."

Elsa blinked, looking at him again, "What has started?"

Dyre shook his head and turned away as Castor helped him back down the hall to the infirmary. Elsa watched them as they walked off, standing still, "What has started?" she repeated in a whisper. As she said it again, a wave of panic took over for a moment. She thought of the accident at the docks. Could this one guy have something to do with that? He did seem to know more than he let on. Was he a threat to them inside the castle?

Elsa shook her head and started to walk, faster this time, leaving icicles behind her. As soon as the guy was well enough to travel, she would see to it he left and never came back.

Anna sighed as she walked back to the castle. With all the ice melted away, it was a bit easier to walk. She couldn't help but wonder if Elsa was okay. She felt terrible for not noticing her sisters stress sooner. After all, she had promised she would be there for her. No wonder she snapped on her so quickly. Maybe she could smooth things over if she brought her some chocolate...

"Oof! Oh!" she looked up as she bumped into something, or someone rather, "Oh I'm sorry! I was lost in thought! As usual..." she looked up at the man, almost surprised, "You... Are you okay? You look terrible!"

The man turned to look at her, his head and arms were bandaged. He held a bit of ice to his head, over a huge bruise. He saw who she was and bowed to her, "My apologies, your highness. I was feeling a bit disoriented for a moment."

Anna frowned as he stood up straight, "Please, no need to apologize. I wasn't looking where I was going," she told him, "What happened to you? Maybe you better sit down."

The man shook his head, "I have my duties to attend to. I... can't really remember what happened. All I know is that I was standing guard by the far docks last night. But..." he sighed, "I just can't remember. Did I black out?"

Anna shook her head, "Go home, get some rest. It won't be good for you to struggle in your condition."

"With all due respect, miss. I have my orders. Please excuse me," he turned and walked off down the road.

Anna frowned and looked down. Of course, Queens orders. She started to wonder if Elsa knew about this. Sure, the guards can be pretty stubborn and most are strong enough to fight through any condition they face, but, wouldn't that just do more harm than good?

"Anna? What are you doing?"

Anna blinked and turned to look at Kristoff. She'd almost forgotten he had been there too. She smiled, "What? Oh! I was just talking to one of the guards," she frowned, looking the way he had walked off, "He was the one around the docks that were destroyed last night."

"Did you hit your head on this pole?"

"What-? No! I ran into someone!"

"Anna, I was behind you, I saw you. You ran into this pole. The one right in front of you."

Anna blinked, looking up. She stepped back—running into Kristoff this time—and sure enough, he was right. She'd been standing practically against a light post. She touched her forehead, realizing it felt a bit sore. Shaking her head, she quickly walked ahead to look down the path the guard had walked down.

It was a dead end.

Anna sighed, "Perfect. I've gone insane!" she groaned.

Kristoff raised an eyebrow at her, walking up beside her, "I think you need to get some rest. Come on, its been a long day after an equally long night."

Anna just sighed, walking with him back to the castle. Maybe he was right. Clearly she did hit her head pretty hard, hard enough to hallucinate someone, "Sorry, Kristoff."

Kristoff looked at her, a bit confused, "Uh, for what?"

She just shook her head and sighed, looking up, "Maybe I do need to rest," she smiled at him, "I can manage the rest of the way. Thank you." Before he could say anything, she just kissed his cheek and hurried across the bridge to the castle gate.

Kristoff stood confused, watching her go. He shook his head and just smiled, turning to find where Sven wandered to.

Over the newt few weeks, the townspeople helped with the cleanup of the docks and the rebuilding of home. Those who had lost their homes stayed in the castle most days, especially since most were women and children. The fear that something terrible may have happened started to spread rapidly. Everyone was incredibly on edge, which put those around them on edge, which put guards on edge, which put the Queen on edge. Which, in turn, meant Winter would be early.

Elsa spent most of her time alone in her room or in the library. She'd liked spending time around people, but with everyone so tense, it just stressed her out even more. Even Anna seemed troubled by something, though she wouldn't say what it was.

That, of course, stressed Elsa further.

Elsa sighed, sitting alone in the library. She pulled a book from the shelf and opened it to a random page, reading aloud to herself to calm her.

"'And in the end, their hopes would be for not. Their wishes and desires turned to hatred and despair. The young King could not stand by and watch his people suffer any longer. Distraught, he set out on his journey to find the one truth. The truth that, in the world, all was okay, nothing was as bad as they made it out to be. He-'"

A door opened on the opposite side of the library, in the silence Elsa could hear it clearly. She tensed a little, her chair and the corner she sat in freezing over. She set the book back on the shelf before she froze that too. She stood slowly, moving around the shelf to see who had come in. With everyone so crazed lately, no one seemed patient enough to want to sit in the silence and read.

"Who's there?" Elsa called out. She couldn't see anyone on either side of the shelves. Even so, she could make out the distinct footsteps. Her fear grew as she moved back to the wall she'd already frozen over. She stood against it, bookshelves on either side of her, a makeshift dead end. The footsteps grew louder and louder as they seemed to come closer. Until, then, there was a hand at the edge of the shelf. Elsa let out a gasp and quickly shot a bolt of ice at the ground, a wall of ice blocking her in.

For a moment, all was silent. Even the footsteps stopped. The air seemed to stand still too. Elsa's breath seemed to increase, her fear gripping her more. The little box she had locked herself in grew colder and colder, icicles dropping from the ceiling and our of the shelves.

Then, there was a knock.

It made Elsa jump. She looked around to see where it had come from. Then, she noticed it. On the other side of the ice wall, there was a note. She moved closer to it. It was written very dark so it could be seen through the ice. It read: "Elsa, it's just Dyre. Let me in."

Let me in

Elsa blinked. It was as if she could hear the last of being said right to her. She shook her head. If it was Dyre, that was very unlikely. She sighed, letting the wall of ice down and melting away the rest of what she had caused. Standing at the edge of the book case, shaking ice off of his hand, was Dyre.

"What do you want?" Elsa sighed, moving back to the chair and sitting down.

Dyre shook his head, brushing his hair back with his hand before pulling a chair in and sitting beside her. He had a large sketchbook of paper and a pencil. He quickly wrote something down and showed it to her, "Your town is a mess," the page read.

Elsa tensed, glaring at him, "What right have you to tell me about my town?" she snapped at him.

He quickly waved his hand, "I mean no disrespect. I want to help," he wrote on the page, "I know you don't want me here, but I've got no home to return to."

Elsa paused, reading it over again, "What do you mean you have no home? What happened to where you came from?"

Dyre avoided her gaze, looking to the left and to the right before writing again, "It is gone."

Elsa sighed, her frustration building again, "You need to be more specific. What exactly-"

"I don't know." He turned the page to her before she could finish. He looked up at her, his frown creasing his face further. He blinked, his eyes becoming a bit glossy before he looked down, writing again, "I was a young boy when it happened. Up north, very far up north, it is dark outside for very long periods of time. More times a year than it is sunny."

He paused, flipping the page over before going on, "One day, the day we thought the sun would come back, it never did. It was dark. Things happened. Buildings were smashed. People were killed. It was-" he stopped, setting the book down on his lap.

Elsa leaned forward, putting a hand on his shoulder, "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," she gave a gentle smile and he looked up into her face. He looked so sad, so distraught. It seemed to her that he wasn't really keeping anything from her. Sometimes the past needs to be forgotten in order to move on.

He shook his head, looking down again. Elsa stood, starting to walk out again. She paused, turning her head to look at him, "You are free to stay here as long as you need to." With that, she walked out of the library, closing the door behind her.

Darkness... shall be your demise.