Chapter 7 – The Storm Stops

The storm was getting hard to ignore.

Elsa couldn't get comfortable. There was cold everywhere, choking her, and sleep didn't look like a good idea anymore.

She forced her eyes open, at first seeing nothing, then finally bits of scenery came into focus. Tendrils of steam rising in front of her. Mossy rocks scattered around. A black sky.

She had to get up. There was a part of her brain that was not completely frozen, and it was screaming at her, get this magic out! She knew her magic wouldn't work here. It was just building up inside her, with no possible way to be released. She had to get out of the valley, right now, because if she waited any longer . . . it felt like the pressure of the magic building inside her was going to choke her. She struggled to sit up, all of her heavy and weary.

Then the world spun, like a whirlwind around her, and she closed her eyes again. The world was spinning, the ice inside was freezing, the magic was clawing at her insides. She tried to stand, propped up on aching legs, and fell onto her knees almost immediately. There was a dizzying moment when she didn't know which way was up, which struck her as quite handy because if she didn't know where to faint to, she couldn't faint at all, could she?

Her vision was swirling, everything around her spinning like snow in a hurricane. But the pressure inside urged her to get up again. She could feel her lungs closing, she was breathing through a tiny pinprick. Maybe that was why everything was foggy, she wasn't getting any oxygen.

Get to the edge of the valley, she thought. Before you suffocate. She tried to stand again, and this time remained relatively upright. She couldn't move though, no part of her body would listen. So she stood, staring at the ground swimming around her, while her magic expanded from the inside and tried to rip through her skin to escape. But it couldn't get out as long as she was in the valley.

She took one staggering step forwards and her legs crumpled, dropping her on her knees again. She imagined it must hurt, but she couldn't feel anything.

Go to sleep, her brain said.

It was a very good idea. Elsa let her eyes close as she sat. She couldn't breathe. Maybe it would be easier after she slept. Maybe it would be easier if she never woke up again.

That was even more appealing. Elsa could feel consciousness drifting away, and she was content to let it. It didn't matter if she froze to death, or choked on her own cloying magic. It was annoying her, anyway. And sleeping was comfortable and warm. No one would miss her if she went to sleep forever. There was no one here.

Anna.

What? Elsa pried her eyes open, as a stray thought drifted into focus. Anna?

Yes, Anna. She had to get up, because she had to say good bye to Anna before going to sleep. Elsa got to her feet again, wondering vaguely why the ground was like quicksand trying to suck her back down. Head for the snow. That's where the valley ends.

Elsa's sheer stubbornness kept her up, with every halting step becoming more laboured, the pauses between them becoming longer. Then she felt a blast of icy wind, and was relieved because that meant the end of the valley.

Her feet hit snow, and she couldn't stay up any longer. Elsa fell forwards, onto her knees once again, and the second she touched the snow all the power inside burst from her in torrents of ice and snow and frigid wind. Snow was flung around her, in violent jets and flurries, and as it left her Elsa felt ice cold air penetrate her lungs, and a moment of clear headedness took her.

She shivered, all her senses going wild as she realised she was kneeling in snow and it was freezing. It was biting into her skin, from the outside this time, and roaring in her ears and stinging her eyes. Get back in the valley. But that blast of magic had left her completely drained. She slumped forward, and tipped onto her side. The wind pulled at her hair, and blew a soft coating of snow over her skin.

Good bye Anna. She curled into a ball, and even that languid movement was near impossible. I love you.

They had lost sight of the troll. It could be anywhere; it could already be at the valley, tearing Elsa's head off.

Anna was gasping for breath against Kristoff's back, so terrified at the possibility that they might be too late that she couldn't breathe.

Sven's pace was not flagging, and part of her wondered how he was able to sustain it for so long. Especially since the snow had increased suddenly, a faint blizzard starting.

"That's a good sign," Kristoff shouted over the wind and Sven's rapid hoof beats. "She's making the storm worse."

Anna couldn't reply, she just clutched harder at his waist, her eyes watering when sharp snowflakes hit them.

The trail left by the giant troll was easy to follow, and the weight of its body and compacted the snow so that Sven was not labouring through it. She supposed that was a good thing. Anna was so busy trying to breathe that it took her almost four strides before she realised Sven was slowing down.

"Don't slow down," she started, then gulped. "Oh no."

The snow storm was disappearing. Sven's pace faltered, he made a questioning sound. The clouds cleared, the snow stopped. The snow beneath the reindeer's hooves started to melt away, revealing a gouge in the earth showing the troll's progress.

The storm had stopped. The storm had gone. Anna gulped in big lungful's of air, fighting down panic.

The storm couldn't stop. Elsa couldn't stop it right now. The only way it would stop on its own was if she-

Sven picked up the pace again, a new determination surging through him.

"No," Anna whispered. The storm wouldn't stop unless Elsa was dead. "No, no, no." She buried her face in Kristoff's back, muffling her continued repetitions of 'no'.

Kristoff said nothing; his face was set grimly, eyes remaining on the track ahead.

Sven was still running, galloping with all his might, but even he was starting to struggle now. He would have to rest soon, Kristoff knew. And agony tore at his heart, because Sven wouldn't stop unless told to. If he kept running, he might run himself to death. If he stopped running, Elsa and all the trolls were as good as dead.

Sven's strides were laboured, Kristoff could hear him breathing harder now.

"Slow down, buddy," Kristoff whispered. He whispered because he didn't want Anna to hear, because she would scream and cry and beg him to keep going on the remote chance that Elsa was still alive and they would reach her in time. But his whisper didn't reach Sven, with his ears creased back and his mind focused on the singular task of running, running, running.

Kristoff needed to shout, but if he did Anna would know, and she would know he was choosing to save Sven over her sister. Kristoff swallowed the lump in his throat.

He could break Anna's heart or break Sven's body.

"Sven, slow down," Kristoff shouted, because Sven stumbled and his breath was loud and coarse.

He felt Anna gulp, and shudder, but she remained silent.

He felt Sven slow down, his hooves hitting the ground like a dead weight. Sven slowed more, and Kristoff felt a bitter sense of relief. Then the reindeer snorted, once, breathlessly, and increased his stride again.

"Slow down," Kristoff ordered, panicking lest his friend run himself to death unnecessarily.

Sven shook his head, and dug his hooves into the ground with renewed determination.

There was still a snow cloud in the sky. Very small, very grey, and sitting just about where the valley of the trolls was.

The ground under Elsa was shaking.

The troll was lumbering towards her, each heavy step like a miniature earthquake. It was glaring, menacing, and advancing on her.

She was difficult to see, lying perfectly still and frozen, covered in drifts of snow, at the very edge of the valley of the trolls. The only thing giving her away was her hair blowing gently with the wind, the only part of her moving at all. Her skin was as white as the snow covering her, and the fact that it had stayed settled over her meant she hadn't moved.

The troll stopped right in front of her, snorting misty breaths. It could see the magic inside her, it's magic, stolen. The string of crystals around its neck glowed briefly, pointing towards her, showing the troll the way.

All it needed to do was tear her head off and catch the magic that came out. It reached out a large hand, closing a solid, rock hard fist around the top of Elsa's left arm, where the stolen magic was humming strongest. Her skin was bitingly cold, and the troll grunted, feeling its hand tighten at the sensation. It lifted her roughly, pulling her from the snow like a discarded rag doll.

Elsa dangled senselessly, and the troll growled, wondering why she didn't seem more alive. Dead magic wasn't helpful. The troll shook her slightly, shaking the last smattering of snow off her body, and the sudden jerking awakened what was left of Elsa's magic.

It protested feebly, sending tendrils of ice onto the troll's hand. The troll growled again, because the ice was irritating and difficult to ignore. In a fit of rage, it threw Elsa aside, back into the valley. She fell limply, crumpling onto the rocky floor and remaining perfectly still.

The troll stomped into the valley, leaning over her prone form and glaring. Her magic was trapped now, useless within the confines of the valley. The troll could see it running up and down Elsa's body, looking for a way out. It was weak, without the help of Elsa's emotions to spur it on the magic was fading away.

The red crystal's magic, however, was still there, slowly taking over and creeping throughout Elsa. And that was what the troll wanted back. The crystal's magic was pooling in her left arm, and the troll took hold of it again, cautiously. No ice deterred it this time. It was about to rip her arm off, and let the magic free, when it was aware of another presence and huffed in annoyance, its grip around Elsa's arm tightening.

The trolls were stirring, recognising something amiss in their valley. Rocks were shifting back and forth, gently, the trolls struggling to rouse themselves after the magic of the red crystal drained their energy. Then they all sprang to life, turning as one to face the intruder.

Bulda stood at the head of the group. She had no idea what Elsa was doing there, or why she was being dangled like an ornament, but she assumed it was not supposed to be happening.

"And just who do you think you are?" she asked, hands on her hips.

The giant troll growled at her. "Go away."

"Uh uh, this is my valley, mister. Put her down right now."

The troll lifted Elsa higher, defiantly. "Took my magic. Want it back."

"If you don't put her down right now, I'll kick your ass from here back to whatever cave you crawled out from."

The giant troll looked utterly baffled. It clearly wasn't familiar with sass, in any way, shape or form. It repeated, confused, "Took my magic. Want it back."

Bulda was not about to take no for an answer. "Put her down. Now."

"Magic first."

"I'll beat your giant rock head first." She stepped forwards, boldly, and all the trolls behind her stepped forwards as well.

The troll contemplated them, frowning and feral and clearly struggling to comprehend what was going on. Like most primeval creatures, it turned to the option that had worked the best so far: brute strength.

It dropped Elsa, and advanced on Bulda, towering above her and raising both fists above its head. With a loud roar, it smashed its fists down, fully intending to smash and destroy every single troll that came at it, until there were none left and it could continue dismembering Elsa and getting its magic back.

Elsa was sleeping. But the black fog in her brain had something else floating it in. There was an irritating sliver of logic there, which every now and again brushed a little too close to her consciousness to be comfortable.

She just wanted to sleep. It was so cold. Her body was frozen. Her breath was frozen. She wasn't going to get up ever again.

But then reality popped up again, and urged her to wake up. She felt a vaguely familiar sensation travel through her left arm, like she used to feel when she used her ice powers.

She didn't have those anymore, her sleepy brain reminded her. She just had sleep. Go back to sleep.

Then reality pushed a little harder against her, and Elsa realised she wasn't breathing and that was a problem. She drew in a shallow breath; that was better. She could go back to sleep now.

Then she felt an odd falling sensation, and reality left abruptly.

When she felt the tug of consciousness again it was because her head was pounding. Intermittently. That wasn't her heartbeat. Did she even have a heart beat anymore?

Elsa wanted to open her eyes, but they were apparently not connected to her brain and wouldn't listen. So she stayed were she was, noticing that it was a bit warmer than it had been the last time she almost woke up. And there was still a pounding in her head, and it was still irregular. She wondered what it was, but then she realised she didn't care. She didn't care about anything.

Except going back to sleep.

Wait, was her left arm on fire?

Kristoff could see the valley now. He could see movement in it, but he was too far away to tell who or what was moving.

Sven's strides were irregular, his tongue hanging out his mouth, his breath a shallow gasp. He was moving mechanically, unaware of anything except his burning legs. He stumbled once, twice, then went down, flinging Anna and Kristoff off.

Kristoff landed hard on his side, the breath knocked out of him. His vision exploded with stars, and for a terrifying moment he couldn't breathe, then his chest relaxed and he gulped in a big breath of air.

Anna was already on her feet, and didn't glance at either him or Sven. She started running, taking off for the valley. Kristoff sat up dizzily. He had to follow her, because he had the crystal that would help Elsa. He got to his feet, calling for Sven.

The reindeer remained where he had fallen, his sides heaving in and out, his eyes glazed and dull, his legs trembling.

"I'll be right back," Kristoff promised. "Right back. But I need to give this to Anna."

Sven made no effort to reply.

"Right back," Kristoff shouted over his shoulder, taking off after Anna.

Anna could see the giant troll. It was flailing around, swatting off the other trolls like pesky flies. She couldn't see Elsa. And the last snow cloud had gone, the only indication that Elsa was even alive.

The snow around the valley was thawing, and while it made it easier to run it also made Anna's heart pound because that meant Elsa's magic was failing. It was failing because Elsa's heart was failing.

The giant troll swept its arm along the ground, scattering little trolls like pebbles. It swept a path towards Elsa, grumbling when trolls jumped on it, tried to hold it back or distract it.

And then it heard someone shouting, and that was also annoying. It snarled, at everything, royally fed up with the way the day was going.

Anna came barrelling into its line of sight, planted herself between it and Elsa, and stood with her shoulders defiantly back, chest heaving, and eyes blazing with fury. "Leave her alone!"

The troll stared at her.

Anna had to gulp, and try to catch her breath. "You . . . you can't touch her. She's my sister."

The trolls began surrounding her, walling Elsa off, standing at Anna's sides.

"Go back to the mountain," Anna panted. "You have enough magic there."

"Stolen," the troll grumbled, leaning towards her.

"That was my fault," Anna snapped. "I had the crystal, I pushed her, she was angry at me, and that stupid crystal attacked her. I took your magic, not her."

The troll paused, sifting through this new information and wondering how to proceed.

Anna stood her ground, still panting.

Her arm was on fire, definitely. And she couldn't move, at all. She couldn't breathe, or move, or scream or even clench her fist. This was not how it was supposed to end. She was supposed to go to sleep and be peaceful forever, not die in absolute agony.

Reality was very far away, Elsa couldn't reach it. She couldn't do anything, except know that she was burning, and something had to be done. There had to be some way out of this. She searched the inky blackness of delusion for the sleep that had left her. It was further away than reality, and as the pain in her arm increased, so did the distance between her and comfortable, deadly sleep.

Then something else cut into the blackness of her mind, something familiar. Was that . . . Anna?

Anna. She had to say good bye to Anna. Elsa tried to open her eyes again, tried to get a grasp on her consciousness.

Go back to sleep, her mind whispered. It's so much better.

No, she thought, uncertainly. Then she heard Anna's voice again, and a new wave of determination washed over her. No. I've got to see her. The storm inside her swirled again, pushing into her mind with cold spikes of agonizing reality.

Elsa tried again, and this time her eyes opened, and all her senses came back at once. The murky voices took shape, the ground beneath her was rock hard and warm, her whole body was on fire, and she could see rocks moving.

That didn't make a whole lot of sense, but since she could still hear Anna's voice Elsa was willing to assume she was in fact not dead, but in a reality where there were moving rocks. While that was puzzling, it was not the worst thing she had to deal with right now.

The two powers inside her, her ice and the red crystal, were warring, and with Elsa's shuddering reintroduction into the land of the living her ice was gaining in strength. She flashed hot and cold, as both powers duelled and fought, and waves of ice and fire ran up and down her left arm, occasionally spreading further.

But she was awake, and she was determined to stay that way. She was taking in a bit more, the rocks were coming into focus, and she could suddenly hear herself breathing, in with biting cold and out with burning fire. And her right arm was working, she could clench that hand, she could blink, and she could clearly hear her sister.

"If you're going to attack any one, it better be me," Anna said forcefully, with idiotic bravado. "Leave my sister alone and leave the trolls alone!"

Anna wasn't sure exactly what she was doing, but she figured babbling on and keeping the giant troll distracted would give her time to come up with a better plan. So far, she didn't have one, and the troll's expression was darkening.

It snarled, and blared, "Tiny trolls won't let me touch my magic!"

That was true, and Anna didn't really have anything to say about that. Could you reason with a rocky behemoth intent on shredding your sister? "They're just protecting their valley. It's not their fault, none of this is, it's my fault."

Elsa felt something tighten in her chest. Anna was trying to protect her, to protect everyone. She was putting herself in danger for Elsa.

The ice was surging, crackling through her in a more familiar manner, working with her instead of against her. It wasn't normal yet, Elsa was still cold, but it was wrapping around her heart like it used to.

"Leave everyone alone," Anna continued. "I won't let you hurt them."

"What can puny human do?" the troll boomed, raising a huge fist. "I'll smash you!"

The ice snapped into every pore of Elsa's body, her eyes locked onto the sight of a stony hand poised to smash Anna's skull into dust, she felt her heart beat quicken, once, twice. The magic pushed at her skin, hesitating for a moment in the confines of the valley.

Then the troll moved, and Elsa felt her heart tug, felt her body flash warm, felt her mind screaming, "No!"

Anna braced for impact, but before the troll could turn her into a pancake a pointed beam of ice rammed into its hand and knocked it away. Ice trailed on the stone, spreading and gripping like a fungus.

As Anna turned an expression of complete surprise towards Elsa, the very first thought in her head was, Elsa's magic doesn't work in the valley.

Elsa had not been able to get up, but she had managed to mostly prop herself up on her left arm, and her right hand was still extended, with cool swirls of icy vapour dissipating around it. That one little bit of magic was an effort, and she was panting, fighting off another wave of dizziness, because she needed to be awake for this.

Go to sleep, the red magic whispered, snaking further into her body.

"No," Elsa snapped, in a hoarse whisper. She aimed another blast at the troll, this time encasing a thick leg in ice and anchoring it to the ground. Her eyes narrowed. "Don't. Touch. My sister."

Anna was stupefied, and rooted to the spot. She knew her jaw had dropped open.

The troll started hammering at the ice around its leg, chipping away at it and trying to free itself.

Anna finally uprooted herself and ran to Elsa, dropping to her knees near Elsa's head. "Are you alright?"

"Not at all." Elsa winced, and had to close her eyes because everything was spinning again and she refused to pass out now. She could hear the troll, yelling and pounding, and knew her ice wouldn't hold it for long. It just wasn't strong enough, she wasn't strong enough.

The other trolls surrounded them, Bulda appeared at Anna's side. "The other magic is still here, and that troll won't leave without it."

"What do we do?" Anna asked. "Won't the crystal we brought back destroy that magic?" She looked around for Kristoff, thinking he should have been there by now. He was running towards them, and she sighed in relief. "Or will it take it out?"

Elsa wasn't hearing much of this, she was bobbing in and out of consciousness, and the ice and fire continued warring inside her.

"I don't know," Bulda admitted, and an out of breath Kristoff joined them. He didn't say anything, just took the blue crystal from his pocket and held it out, for whoever was interested to take.

Anna took it, and held it expectantly in front of Elsa, hoping it would just magically work and return everything to normal. It did nothing.

"What's plan B?" she asked. "This thing doesn't work."

"Give it to me," Bulda it away and studied it. "It hasn't been activated yet."

"I hate magic," Anna muttered. "Why is nothing ever straight forward?"

Bulda's reply was drowned out by an angry snarling troll stomping towards them, finally free of ice.

Kristoff's eyes darted between Elsa, and the troll's still frozen hand. He snatched the crystal from Bulda. "I have an idea. Anna, distract it."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"No time to explain, just do something." He pleaded.

Anna didn't look thrilled, but she scrambled to her feet, and ran directly towards the troll. "Hey! Big ugly troll!"

Kristoff grabbed Elsa by the shoulder and jerked her into a mostly upright sitting position, making sure she was facing Anna. The rough treatment made her open her eyes again, but everything was fuzzy and felt underwater. Kristoff shoved the blue crystal into her left hand, and the second it touched her skin the fire raging in her body went berserk.

It shot around her, in a blazing trail of agony, and Elsa screamed, the pain shocking her back into reality. Everything crashed back into focus, including the sight of Anna running like a twit towards a giant troll, nattering on and waving her hands above her head. And that made Elsa nearly have a heart attack, because Anna was in very serious danger.

Her heart stopped for a fraction, constricting in pure terror, then the blue crystal glowed to life, and the fire racing throughout her flickered once. Elsa's ice came rushing back, drowning the fire, and finally she could feel her left arm again.

The troll swung at Anna once, and never even came close to touching her. Ice erupted from the ground beneath it, trapping its legs and arms and stopping only when its entire body was encased and immobile.

Kristoff let Elsa's shoulder go to jump up in excitement, which turned out to be a mistake because she dropped flat onto the ground like a dead weight. All this falling on rock was likely to result in a concussion. Kristoff hastily pulled her upright again.

Anna returned to them to smile weakly, her face very pale, her body trembling slightly at the sheer stupidity of her actions and the fact that she could have been crushed like a grape. She sat down next to Elsa, their shoulders touching, and was relieved to feel that Elsa's skin felt the same way it normally did; cool and smooth.

Elsa groaned softly, prying her eyes open once more and finding herself still in the valley. How often was that going to happen? To her immense relief, however, she appeared to have both arms again. Her hand closed around the blue crystal. It was cool and refreshing, and still glowing softly.

The troll, however, was thrashing as best it could, and making an array of disgruntled noises that defied interpretation.

"What about that?" Anna asked. "It can't stay frozen here forever."

"I'll go wake Grand Pappie," Bulda said, and sauntered away. "He can erase its memory of this."

"Are you alright?" Kristoff asked Anna, looking concerned. "You're still shaking."

"It's just shock," Anna said. "I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Don't worry about me. Hey, what happened to Sven?"

"I'm going to go fetch him now," Kristoff rose slowly to his feet, making sure Elsa was sufficiently propped up against her sister. "I'll be right back."

"We're not going anywhere, trust me." Anna said, and Kristoff gave her a quick, sincere smile, then turned and began jogging back the way they had come. Anna put her arms around Elsa, overwhelmingly relieved that she was alive, and held her tight.