A flash of blue light faded to reveal the drenched, hypothermic, unconscious bodies of Anthony and Thomas. For several minutes they remained still. With effort, Thomas managed to force himself awake. He promptly checked Anthony's body for a pulse. His blood stilled flowed. Thomas let out a sigh of relief, knowing that his friend was going to survive. Just then, Tony opened his eyes as well.
"Where are we?" the wizard asked in a near-whisper.
"I do not know, friend," said Thomas. "But I certainly want to know."
The two men had landed in a clearing, the ground clear of snow. A pile of ash surrounded by rocks occupied the center of the clearing. Someone had made camp here before. Towering evergreen trees surrounded the two men. Thomas eyed their surroundings warily. Any tree could potentially have an enemy hiding behind it. About twenty meters to the left, the forest appeared to end abruptly. Why? No matter. It could wait until he and Anthony were warm again.
Anthony pointed a finger at the fire pit, and flames appeared in it. The two companions sat in silence, letting the heat seep back into their flesh.
A stick broke at the clearing's edge. Thomas jumped to his feet and drew his swords in the same motion, facing the direction of the disturbance. Anthony stood up and readied a spell.
"Stay your weapons." a familiar voice called.
As the two men watched, Queen Elsa emerged from behind a tree. The young Queen still wore the blue dress and cloak that she had during the ride from Arendelle, though her garments were now dirtied and torn in several places. Her blond hair, also dirtied, was tied back in a bun. A cut, still dripping blood, was visible on her left cheek. Despite her disheveled appearance, Elsa still managed to appear regal.
"Your majesty?" asked the wizard.
"Yes. Now please, lower your weapons."
Thomas sheathed his blades while Anthony withdrew his spell. "Now," the Queen continued, "what are you two doing out here?"
"We came here to find you," said the pirate. "Master Anthony's teleportation magic brought us to you."
The Queen nodded. "I see. And what of the dragon?"
"I tried to kill it." Anthony muttered, shaking his head.
"And nearly got himself killed." Thomas added. "Last we saw of the dragon, your majesty, It was still alive."
Elsa breathed a sigh of regret, looking down, then returned her gaze forward. "I trust you're wondering why I fled?"
The men nodded.
"Well, when the dragon appeared, I knew that I needed to act faster and..." she trailed off, looking over her shoulder to where the forest ended. "Come," she said, "you must see this for yourselves."
She turned, walking toward the edge of the forest. Thomas and Anthony obediently followed.
The forest ended at the edge of a broad cliff towering thousands of feet in the air. A mountain valley of woodlands, farms, and villages stretched out before them. The valley stretched from southwest to northeast, and was flanked by peaks and cliffs on both sides. It would have made for a majestic sight, had the farms and villages not been smoldering ruins. Much of the forest was blackened and sickly, as if the land itself had taken ill. Marching up the valley's center was the largest army that any of them had ever seen. Hundreds of thousands of bodies were on the move, with tens of thousands carrying torches. Before them fled panicked refugees, hoping to stay alive. Thomas felt his heart sink as he watched. Down in that valley was a force to wipe nations off the map. To turn entire races into twisted slaves. To corrupt the very earth upon which they strode.
The darkspawn horde.
It had come to Arendelle.
"This..." Elsa began, but couldn't bring herself to finish. Tears welled up in her eyes.
"Is a problem." Anthony finished for her.
Thomas put an arm around Elsa's shoulders as she quietly began to sob. "My Queen, I am so sorry."
Just then, an arrow landed in tree beside Anthony's head. His eyes lit bright blue as magic surged into him. He could see the targets. It was just two figures, one archer and one with a mace.
Elsa raised her hands, both of them with a frosty mist billowing out of her palms slightly. Thomas stood beside Tony and the Queen.
"Hold, we don't even know who it is yet." Anthony, with his eyes still glowing blue, he was confident that only two humanoid figures would approach. Suddenly, the ground shook, and the trees fell. All the clouds left the sky, and like a desert, the sunlight and heat intensified immensely. Within seconds all of them were panting and sweating. The trees slowly fried and turned brown before their eyes, then the rumbling got more intense.
"Something's coming! Don't run until we see who or what it is!" Tony said. He wanted to magically let all of them wear weather appropriate clothing as the velvet and armor was weighing down on their warm sweating bodies.
Suddenly the rumbling stopped and instantly the cliff edge they were standing on was covered by storm clouds, and they were surrounded by darkness. Anthony had a sharp pain in his heart, and he moaned and groaned in waves of agony. Thomas felt like his skin was melting and he too started grunting with pain. Elsa was totally oblivious to whatever was afflicting the other two. She was frightened and confused. Anthony was confused as well, but then everything changed. All of the trees surrounding them suddenly burst into flames and incinerated in seconds, and they saw that they were not alone. Elsa was terrified, and inadvertently froze herself with fear, literally. The disgusting, growling, snarling beasts had open wounds that glowed yellow and dripped in a terrible muck, their eyes had been slashed and torn to shreds, their skin was a thick tough rubbery-looking material and they had blunt jagged fangs and claws. The smell was that of ash, sulfur, and rotten eggs. They were red, purple, yellow and black in color, and were at least seven feet tall. They were darkspawn, of the 'hurlock' type. The two darkspawn that Anthony saw were emissaries, spreaders of the Taint that Darkspawn infect good people with to turn them into ghouls , adding to their army. The villages and farms that were scorched below? The work of the monsters that greeted them now. There were at least thirty of them, and finally it dawned on Anthony. The darkspawn had detected his magic, and manipulated his vision to protect themselves. Tony told Thomas this in his head. He grabbed his brother's wrist.
"Thomas, we must be wise in our next moves, any mistake and the three of us could be killed, or worse..." He trailed off.
"Turned into ghouls," Thomas finished. They both swallowed, trying to control their fear.
In the middle of their, cluster of demons, the darkspawn parted as if to make a path for someone else. One particular darkspawn - a humanoid hybrid - emerged. He had black horns atop his head that spiraled like a ram's, but ended in a rounded point like a mammoth's tusks. Apart from the horns, the rest of him was meager, but no less unusual. He wore a pinstripe black suit and a silver pocketwatch beneath gray, leathery skin. His eyes were slanted and sharp, and his mouth was a perfect v shape. His fingers were long like measuring rulers, and his nails were pointed. Thomas, Elsa and Anthony found themselves incapable of moving as long as this person was present.
"What have we here? A pirate, a wizard, and how quaint, a snow angel," the being's clothes were black as night but billowed behind him as if they were made of smoke. He grinned and chuckled to himself. His deep, sharp voice gave goosebumps to all who heard him.
"I wonder what the ruler of Arendelle is doing here. Perhaps I'll have one of my brothers try to piece this whole thing together?" The horned man walked closer to Elsa. "I don't know who those two are, but you, oh I remember you very, very well." The man had grabbed one of Elsa's wrists, and her throat. "I am the Dark Lord of the Southern Isles, and lady, you just crossed the wrong bridge. The only thing you're letting go of now is your very soul." Suddenly, there was an explosion of purple magic as Tony had just blown through the cursed red barrier that held him and Thomas in place.
"Who the bloody hell are you?!" screamed Thomas as he drew two swords and jumped through the air, landing with each sword art imed centimeters away from kill spots. Anthony held out a blue and purple sparking hand, causing the horned man to be held up by his neck via magic, restraining him. The man released his hold on Elsa. Surprisingly, the nearby darkspawn made no move to intervene.
"Wait a minute... I recognize you both now. You already know who I am, King of Oz. And you, pirate? You helped kill Cora in the enchanted Forrest, you both killed her daughter, and you both killed countless members of her guard. You're more of a murderer than I! Congrats! And you'd do best to drop your magic, warlock. I've finally seen the light and made the change I should have years ago. My name, you fools, is Hans."
Anthony and Thomas briefly looked at each other in bewilderment, then back at Hans. "Why are you here, Hans?" Thomas asked. "And why throw your lot in with the darkspawn?"
"For revenge, of course. You both know the story. Years ago I tried to kill Elsa and take over her kingdom. Then her hussy of a sister foiled my plan. They sent me away in chains, humiliated and embarrassed. Then she came to me..."
"Who?" Anthony demanded.
Hans pointed a finger at Elsa. "Her Aunt. Well, her only surviving Aunt that is! She visited me one night, offered me a second chance. Everything I know about magic came from her. Those emissaries you see there?" He gestured an arm in their direction. "Students of hers. We share a common goal, she and I, and I will see that goal fulfilled." Hans waved a hand. Sparks flickered around Thomas' head. Slowly, ever so slowly, the pirate withdrew his blades from the former prince. He then turned toward Elsa, and raised a sword to her throat. The pirate captain's face flushed read, and creases showed on his forehead. It looked to Tony as if his friend was exerting great effort, trying with all his might to resist his every movement.
"Compulsion magic," thought the wizard. "It's despicable stuff." Thomas' sword blade met Elsa's frozen skin. Face with no other choice, Anthony released his hold on Hans and cast a spirit spell on Thomas, breaking the compulsion. He then released a wave of heat that washed over Elsa, causing her to instantly thaw. She collapsed to her knees before standing back up. Thomas faced back toward Hans and kept his weapons drawn, ready for a fight.
"Nicely done, wizard," Hans said with a snicker. "I'm afraid it won't be enough, though. You're up against forces the likes of which this world has never seen. We shall meet again."
Hans disappeared in a flash of red light, leaving Thomas, Anthony and Elsa alone with a pack of thirty darkspawn. Predictably, the darkspawn immediately attacked. One of the emissaries launched a fireball at Tony, which he redirected back at the caster. The emissary shrieked and howled as the flames consumed it. Elsa unleashed a wave of ice at a large group of charging hurlocks, freezing them in place, their faces locked in permanent snarls. Thomas charged into a separate group of hurlocks, slashing away at them with his two swords. Blood sprayed from the dying beasts as the pirate's blades did their ugly work. An armored hurlock wielding a wicked axe confronted Thomas, swinging its weapon menacingly. The hurlock howled fury and charged at Thomas, who let the beast come. Just as the hurlock swung its axe downward, Thomas rolled to the right, dodging the blade, then stabbed the beast in the throat. The second emissary shot lightning bolts in Elsa's direction. The Queen dodged the lightning and fired icicles at her attacker. The emissary fell to the ground, its heart frozen solid. Tony's hands and eyes erupted in several spells, and accompanied by his friend's slashes of steel following, the last of the darkspawn were down.
The party took a moment to recover themselves. Thomas wiped his swords clean with a handkerchief, then returned them to their scabbards. Anthony wove a thread of magic and banished the blood from his clothing. Elsa, soaked from her accidental freezing, collected herself, looking down at the defeated darkspawn.
"I had feared this would happen." said Elsa, shaking her head.
"Feared what, your majesty?" Thomas asked as he stepped nearer to her.
"That Hans would seek revenge on my family. Since his exile from Arendelle, I knew it was only a matter of time before the Isles took action. We had expected a trade sanction, or perhaps an arranged marriage. Military action was indeed a possibility. The Southern Isles aren't renowned for their pacifism." She stepped back over the cliff edge, extending her arms at the horde marching through the valley. "But no one could have foreseen this."
Anthony nodded in agreement. "Yes. Darkspawn in this world? How? It would take immense power to open a rift large enough to bring the entire horde through. There are only a few magic-wielders alive who are even remotely capable of such a feat."
Before the conversation could continue, a roar sounded over the distant mountains. An enormous reptilian beast with scaly violet skin, a pair of bat-like wings, four muscled legs, a long spiked tail, wicked teeth and yellow eyes flew around a peak and glided low over the horde. Thomas and Anthony recognized the creature immediately. Just one day ago, the same monster had attacked the Forsaken. Below the darkspawn roared with cheer as their leader passed overhead.
"Your majesty," said Anthony, "meet Urthemiel, archdemon of the darkspawn horde."
"And the single greatest threat this country - nay, this world - has ever faced," Thomas added.
The archdemon climbed back into the air and gracefully banked to the east, flying in the party's direction.
"Let's... not fight another dragon today, shall we?"
"Agreed. Everyone join hands." They did. Anthony withdrew a teleportation crystal from his pocket. "Your majesty, the military camp we were bound for; what is the commander's name?"
"General Kent Harald."
Anthony smashed the delicate crystal on the rocky outcropping beneath their feet. The wizard, queen, and pirate disappeared in a flash of blue light.