Chapter 26: The Battle Begins:

The battle horn resounds throughout Arendelle and the bells start ringing from the towers of Arendelle castle, as the soldiers moved frantically to their positions. From inside the castle, Elsa and Anna run outside with Elsa looking to someone for information.

"Soldier what news?" she asks

Soldier stopping and bowing:

"Your Majesty, enemy sighted approaching the ice wall."

"How many ships?" asks Anna?

"Too many." comes the reply.

Elsa gives him a reassuring smile:

"Have confidence soldier, confidence. Now quickly to your position."

"Thank you your Majesty, I do have great confidence in your abilities."

"And I in yours, thank you."

The soldier runs off while Anna and Elsa walk towards the dock:

"Anna, we should stay apart." Says Elsa seriously

Anna protests:

"Why?"

"Just in case something happens, Arendelle can't lose both its Queen and Princess today."

"Elsa, I can't leave you, I won't let you face this alone."

"I won't be alone Anna, I will never be alone again, I have all of Arendelle with me."

Anna, trying to think of something else:

"I hope Kristoff is okay?"

"He is very resourceful Anna, I am sure he will do fine, I do like him a lot." She smiles.

Anna smiles back at that:

"Okay, I'll stay here, but I will come if you need me."

"I know."

Suddenly the sound of cannon fire and crashing of ice starts, catching Elsa and Anna by surprise by the loudness of it. Elsa instinctively walks closer to the wall then puts her hands up and begins to reinforce her wall.

It soon becomes quite clear that Elsa can easily replace the ice faster than the Duke's ship can destroy it with their cannons.

"Ah hah, way to go Elsa!" shouts Anna excitedly

However, one of the consequences of the ice wall is that it had attracted huge flocks of seabirds. Naturally when the first cannon balls hit the wall, the startled birds flew off directly towards the Dukes' ships.

On the other side of the wall, the Dukes ships are pounding at the wall, causing large chunks of ice to fall off, but, any hole they create was instantaneously replaced by new ice from Elsa. The seamen on the Dukes' ships started to show their frustration with this with a fair bit of cursing at Elsa.

The Duke was on the deck of his ship, watching proceedings and also getting impatient with Vulcan:

"Where's Vulcan, surely the guns woke him up."

"I did try to rouse him my Lord but he refused to wake up." replies one of his men.

Then suddenly behind the soldier Vulcan appears yawning and stretching his arms.

"Duke, that is the worst way to wake anyone up, why can't you just be patient, no need to panic, I'm here now."

The Duke is just a little flustered:

"Because, I have a schedule to meet and the Snow Queen has put this block of ice in our way and she must be on the other side because every time we blast it, the ice reappears."

"Of course it does, she is so much more powerful than your fleet, but as I said, don't worry Duke, I'm here now."

Suddenly they hear the sound of a huge flock of seagulls approaching their ship. Vulcan looks to the sky first and decides it might be best to take some cover until they have flown over.

However the Duke stays out on the deck and begins to complain.

"What are all those sea birds doing, look there's hundred of them, must have frightened them with our guns. Go away you damn birds."

Vulcan then tries to advise the Duke to get under cover.

"Ahh, Duke, birds have a habit of doing something when they are startled. Maybe you should get under cover?"

"They do what my dear boy? They're right above the ship now, what..."

The Duke is broken in mid sentence because he suddenly finds himself being bombarded by bird droppings which quickly coat his clothes, head and shoulders. For a moment he just stands there glowing red with anger. Then he begins to jump up and down furiously.

"Get them away from me! Get them away from me! How dare they do this to me, damn filthy birds! Get them away!"

Vulcan is laughing as the Duke is not the only one targeted by the seagulls as several other crew members have been hit as well.

"Why are you laughing Vulcan, get to work on that wall!" screams the Duke full of embarrassing anger.

The Duke runs back to his cabin to clean up as the birds fly away, meanwhile Vulcan walks to the front of the ship, rolls his hands together creating flames, throws his arms back and flings the flame at the ice causing a great explosion.

Meanwhile on the other side, Elsa, and all of Arendelle suddenly hear the explosion from the wall. Elsa becomes very concerned with this new destructive force hitting her ice wall.

"That must be Vulcan" she says.

She intensifies her effort to reinforce the ice, but to her dismay, realises that Vulcan is starting to melt it faster than she can produce it, another explosion hits and part of the wall collapses. Elsa again tries to repair it, but before it is even half repaired another explosion and a larger chunk falls onto the Fjords' ice sheet.

Anna screams out from her position:

"Elsa!"

"I know," she answers a little panicked," he's getting through, I thought Grand Pabbie said I was stronger"

Elsa tries again and for a moment the ice begins to reform, then another explosion and a bigger slab of ice falls and there's a hole halfway down to the side of the wall. Vulcan is melting her ice faster than she can form it and for the first time in a year, she's beginning to feel fear about her powers.

"Grand Pabbie said that I can freeze his fire, I have to figure that out, I can freeze his fire."

Anna, getting more concerned, starts to move towards Elsa, but Elsa sees this and calls out:

"No Anna, you need to stay at the castle and help protect it."

"But Elsa."

"That's an order from your Queen!"

Suddenly more of the wall collapses and she realises that they are in danger of letting the Dukes' fleet into Arendelle harbor.

"Anna, I want you back at the castle, now, as I said that's an order!"

"My place is with you, Elsa!" protests Anna desperately.

"Anna, we can't be in the same place, if anything was to happen, it would be a terrible day for Arendelle, now please you need to go back to the castle, you will be safer there."

Anna protesting:

"Elsa no."

"Now Anna, don't make me get the guards."

Anna, with a tear:

"I'll be waiting for you there."

With that she turns back to the castle as she hears another crack and more ice falling into the sea.

However as she walked back she kept repeating what Grand Pabbie had said to Elsa regarding her ice and his fire and muttering:

"The answer is there, think Anna."

On the other side of the wall, The Duke has reappeared with a new uniform.

"Vulcan, if those birds come back, fry them."

"As you wish, feeling like cooked bird for dinner tonight?"

"Not funny' retorts the Duke.

The Duke then looks at the damage Vulcan was doing to the ice wall and a broad smile breaks out on his face.

"Excellent my boy excellent, at least I can't complain about your talents."

"Just one more push and we should be through Duke."

He throws his hands up again and creates the biggest fireball so far and hurls it at the ice wall. There's an explosion of ice, water and stream, but when all settles, there's a gaping hole in the wall.

The Duke leaps for joy and cheers.

"Yes! Well done my boy, signal all ships to go through the gap in the wall, Vulcan I'm sure the sea ice in the fjord will be a lot easier?"

"Piece of cake Duke."

The Dukes' ship then makes its way through the ice wall and Vulcan immediately begins to melt the ice in the fjord. However, he begins to mutter himself.

"Queen Elsa, show me you're the one to end this curse."

"What was that Vulcan?" says Duke over hearing but not understanding Vulcan's muttering.

"Nothing Duke, just concentrating on my work." smiles Vulcan back at him.

Meanwhile Elsa, looking discouraged as she can see the flames leaving Vulcans' hands and is still trying to decipher Grand Pabbies' message. She looks back at the castle, as she keeps repeating to herself the message.

"Don't panic Elsa;" she says to herself, "the answer is there right in front you now think."

Meanwhile, walking back to the Castle, Anna sees the collapse of the wall and in horror witnesses the sails of the Dukes' ship making its' way through the wall. Suddenly she also sees the flame from Vulcan hit the ice of fjord, this stops her in her tracks while she also repeats what Grand Pabbie told Elsa:

"Vulcan can melt Elsa's ice, but Elsa can freeze Vulcan's fire."

Suddenly her eyes burst open wide as she realises and yells to herself

"Oh my God, I know what he means"

She immediately starts running back to Elsa excitedly, and with a little bit of pride as it is the second time she has managed to come up with the answer for a very big question.