Chapter 26

Kristoff

Kristoff raced to the war room as soon as he heard the news. Elsa, Stian, Sitna, and Hans were waiting for him there.

"Where's Anna?" Elsa asked.

"She's back in the safe room. What's going on?" Kristoff asked.

"Briarvale just broke through the walls." Stian said grimly.

"What about the Citizens?"

"They're all either in the safe house or the safe room in the Castle. They'll be safe, unless we lose the Castle." Hans said.

"We won't loose the Castle. Stian, Elsa. You two, come with me. Hans, Kristoff, defend the Castle. If anybody tries to get in-" Sitna was interrupted.

"I'm not killing anybody." Kristoff stated.

"Neither am I." Hans agreed. Sitna looked at them desperately. None of them budged.

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do... But fine. Take them prisoner. Don't crowd the dungeon. We don't want a riot."

"Right." Hans and Kristoff dashed out the door, leaving the three others in the room. They raced to the castle gates. Kristoff examined Arendelle from the watchtower. There were a few plumes of smoke, but the damage wasn't bad. He didn't understand. Sitna said they're new ice walls would hold them back for a longer time. They were destroyed not but a few hours after he said that. Maybe Sitna was...

No, he wasn't. Kristoff had to focus on the matter at hand. He drew his survival knife from his belt. It was a foot and a half long, and bent on the end. It was made for cutting ice and stone, but Kristoff knew it could cut through other materials...

Hans borrowed a sword from a Guard, and stood alongside Kristoff, watching soldiers fight each other. Kristoff didn't see any death, but he knew all too well that it was happening. People didn't need to die.

"What do we do?" he asked Hans.

"We wait."

"For what?"

"I don't know, backup?"

"What backup do we have coming?" Kristoff folded his arms. Hans looked discouraged.

"We're not loosing Arendelle. This place means a lot- I mean... I like it here." he stuttered.

"We know." Kristoff furrowed his brow.

He couldn't stop thinking about Anna. She insisted on taking care of the Villagers, and Kristoff decided the best place for her, Sven, and Olaf would be in the safe room. He let her stay, but not without a tear-filled goodbye. Kristoff knew he'd see her again, but just in case he didn't... He had to stay positive. He wanted to help, but he was an Ice Harvester and Deliverer, not a warrior. Hans on the other hand, knew his way around a blade.

"Hans, we have to help." Kristoff said. Hans started to say something, when his jaw dropped, and he pointed behind Kristoff. He turned around, and saw what Hans was pointing at. A portion of cobblestone from the road was now suspended a few yards above the ground, in a solid, stoney ball. It compressed tighter and tighter, until it was about the size of Kristoff's sled. It then flew through the air, knocking Briarvale soldiers off their feet, leaving them dazed. From the dust emerged none other than Jack and Elizabeth, the twins with powers of stone and rock. They "escorted" the soldiers to the officers, who put them with the rest of the imprisoned, inside the castle gates. Sure, it may not have been the safest, but the Arendelle military barracks were the only open space that wasn't in a war zone or housing citizens at that point.

"How?" Hans finished. Kristoff didn't say anything, and instead leapt down from the wall. He landed hard on the bridge that lead to the Castle, and began running to the square. He heard Hans shout something. Kristoff looked back, quizzically. He then felt something hard hit the side of his head. Kristoff fell to the ground, and scrambled to regain his survival knife. He crawled to it, and clutched it in his hands. He wiped the blood from his lip, and stood up. He could now see what Hans was talking about. Not more than ten feet directly in front of him stood a Briarvale soldier. He was dressed differently, though. Instead of the black guard wear, he wore a black cloak with gold trim. The crest of Briarvale, a root, was emblazoned in red on his torso. Kristoff knew this wasn't just any soldier. But what terrified Kristoff was what he had. Held in his grip, arm around her mouth, sword held against her neck, was a woman.

It was Anna.

Kristoff started to run for her, but the soldier backed up.

"Don't come any closer! I know who you are!" he said.

"Who are you?"

"Krist-"

"Quiet! I'm the... Admiral. Call back your troops and send your sorcerers back home, and we will leave in peace." the Admiral said.

"Peace?!" Kristoff spat.

"Agree to the terms!"

"Even if I could do that, I would never agree to that." Kristoff said.

"Why not?" he demanded, bringing the sword closer to Anna's throat.

Kristoff began to cry, "I'm not the King! I can't order that!"

"Fine then. I offered you a way out. You declined. I'll show you that Briarvale doesn't take no for an answer." he moved the sword quickly to the left, ready to cut. Kristoff thought fast. He had his knife, but he was too far away. Alright. He never had a good arm. Now or never. He closed his eyes, and threw the knife. He knew what he did would have disastrous results. If he had been even anywhere near the target, he may have ended up hitting Anna. He heard a sickening sound, and a thud. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Anna still stood, blood beginning to pool around her feet. He ran to the Princess.

"Anna!" he cried, and hugged her.

"K-Kr-Kristoff." she stuttered, color draining from her face.

"Anna-"

"You killed him, you killed-"

"Sh, sh, shh. Look at me... Anna, look at me." he gently moved her eyes to face his.

"You-"

"I'm sorry."

"No, no... it's okay..." she said shakily.

"Why didn't you stay in the safe room?" he asked, shaking violently himself.

"I... I never went to the safe room. I wanted to h-help." she cried.

"Olaf and Sven?"

"They're okay. In- in the safe room. W-where's Elsa?"

"War room... Anna, are you sure you're alright?" Kristoff asked. He took a quick glance down, and moved himself and Anna back a few feet, where it was clean. His mind raced. He guessed it was the adrenaline. Boy, was this going to suck when it wore off.

"What do we do?" she asked. Kristoff looked around. There were no other bodies anywhere, but Kristoff was still shaken. He'd never even thought about killing another human being before. But then, only a few seconds ago, he'd done it. He'd killed somebody. The Admiral. Whoever he was, he might have been important. This could have either been really good, or really bad. He heard Hans from behind him.

"...Kristoff." he said, when he saw the body near their feet.

"Shh! I know... I'm sorry."

"We all have guilt. Just... Take this as a lesson. We can't let anybody else end up like this." Hans said, bending over. Kristoff heard more sickening noises, before his knife landed back in his open hand, covered in blood.

"What do we do?" Anna asked again, with composure this time. Kristoff viewed his surroundings. No more. No more death. No more destruction. He may have only been Consort, like Stian, and this may not be his Kingdom, but it was his home. He needed to defend it.

"We fight back."