Chapter 35

Stian

He had never felt that much power in his life. Stian had been trying to break out of the silky prison, before he lost all hope. Then he heard Elsa. She sounded completely desperate. He could hear the fear in her voice. He wasn't losing her again. He wasn't going to let anything happen to her. Then it happened. Stian felt himself warm up, then the cocoon burst.

He saw everything like he almost underwater, a blue film over his eyes, constantly rippling. Except Stian knew it wasn't water, it was fire. He didn't care. The only way everybody would get out of this alive was to face his fear. To squash the spider.

Stian had never felt his powers that intensely before in his entire life. He couldn't just control the cold, he was the cold. He moved like a flurry of snow, quickly and silently. Stian noticed the flash-frozen woods around him, but there was no time to lose. He didn't know why he did it, but after defeating the spider, the blue film in his vision vanished. He felt tired and drained, and just wanted to sleep. For some reason, though, he felt that if he did, he would would not wake up for a long time. If at all.

He lay down, and felt Elsa take him in her arms.

"Stian, you did it..." she brushed his hair out of his face.

"I did..." he grinned.

"Guys, we should get moving." Kristoff advised. He glanced nervously at the dark passage through the forest that the Pig had taken. Something told Stian that it wasn't going to be gone for long. The two stood up, and surveyed their surroundings. They began to move in the opposite direction from where the monster had gone. The shadows being cast by the trees were now even more elongated, making their own shadows dance amongst the darkness of the trees.

"Where have you guys been?" Kristoff asked, as they trudged through the forest.

"It's a long story. We met two other element bearers." Hans said.

"You did?" Stian asked excitedly.

"They agreed to help us if we purified the forest. Face our fears one by one, the sun will rise, they'll join us, and we'll close the Conduit." Elsa guessed.

"How would we get back to Arendelle?" Stian asked.

"This forest has been dark for ages. It was recently lit, but not for a long time. The daytime here is a gate to the other world. That's what Asle used. After she left, she needed a way to turn the Shadowside back to darkness. We haven't conquered our fears, we came here, and the world turned back to darkness. Now we just need to face our fears, bring back the light, and go to sleep." Olaf said.

Everybody stared.

Olaf giggled.

"Cassius told me a lot."

Hans looked to Kristoff, and they both shrugged, continuing into the woods.

"So we need to wait to be attacked by an evil monster, defeat it, rinse and repeat?" Stian asked.

"That's the gist of it." Elsa said.

"Where exactly are we going?" Olaf panted. They'd been walking for a few hours now, not seeing or hearing anything that Stian thought anybody was afraid of. Some birds here, a fox or two there, but nothing anybody was afraid of.

"Your fear isn't birds or foxes is it?" Stian asked, looking to Hans. Elsa and Kristoff both laughed.

"No. It isn't." He folded his arms. The group continued on in silence, listening and waiting for something to happen. For the first time in his life, Stian wanted something to attack him. He wanted to go home. He wanted-

He saw it.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw it. A man, or at least, he thought it was a man. He was tall, but not abnormally. Stian would describe it as a black silhouette, but with distinct features. He could make out two eyes, a mouth, and ears. He only saw the man for a split second, before he disappeared into the trees.

"Did you guys see that?" he asked. They all stopped.

"See what?" Elsa scanned the forest around her. The whole group was completely alert. They saw nothing.

"There was..." Stian looked into the trees. He could have sworn he had seen somebody. "Never mind." Everybody eyed him, suspiciously. They continued walking until Hans stopped in his tracks.

"Oh my-" he stopped himself.

"What?" Kristoff asked. Stian knew what he had seen.

"Hans, did you see him?" Stian tried. Hans said nothing at first, then looked to him nervously.

"Him?" he asked.

"The man. In the trees."

"Yeah. He's... He's gone now." Hans said.

"What are you guys talking about?" Kristoff put his hands on his hips.

"Hans, what is your biggest fear?" Elsa asked.

"N-nothing. It's nothing."

"Hans."

"I thought it was nothing... I really did. I'm sorry, everybody." he confessed.

"What is it, Hans?" Stian asked nervously.

"I raised on the ideal that the only thing to fear is Fear itself." he threw his hands into the air. Everybody went silent.

"Fear?"

"What is Fear?" Elsa asked.

"I always imagined it as-" Hans was interrupted by a snorting coming from behind them. Stian almost grinned. He spun around, and sure enough, bounding through the forest was the Pig. He looked angry, and ready to end this fight. What a coincidence.

"Finally." Stian stepped towards the monster, with confidence. What was he going to do, eat him? Fine. Stian was tired of being scared. He stepped up to the Pig, face to face. "I'm not afraid of you. Not anymore." Stian held out his palm, prepared to freeze the beast. Then he remembered. A nervous smile spread across Stian's face.

"Ha, ha... This is, ha... I'm sorry." Stian ran back behind Elsa, holding her in front of him. He saw Elsa glance at Kristoff, who appeared to be fidgety. The Pig was his fear for sure. Stian wanted to get rid of this monster. He wanted to go home.

"What's the plan?" Stian asked, taking his spot beside Elsa. Hans drew his sword, and dashed towards the Pig.

"What plan?" he asked.

Hans was a flurry of steel and adrenaline. After a few seconds of rolling and swiping with his words, he leapt onto the monster's back. Kristoff's eyes widened as he realized what Hans was trying to do.

"Hey, over here!" Kristoff said, working up a distraction. The Pig turned its back to the couple, focusing on Kristoff. Elsa and Stian glanced at each other. They both leapt onto its back, and hung on for dear life. The Pig bucked and flailed.

"Hans!" Kristoff yelled, motioning for Hans to throw him the sword. The Prince didn't even have to throw it. Hans released his grip, and the sword clamored to the ground, straight to Kristoff's feet. The monster continued to flail. Stian saw barely saw Kristoff take his aim. He made special care not to hit any of his friends, and swung the sword. Stian squeezed his eyes shut.

The bucking stopped, and Stian hit the ground.

"Did it work?" he asked, eyes still shut.

"It worked." Kristoff panted. Stian looked around. No sign of the beast. It must have devolved, like the monster by the lake. Stian looked to the sky, and sure enough, the sun started to rise. There was a light blue color in the sky. It was now officially dawn.

"I say we have one more beast to take care of... Hans." Stian looked to the Prince. Hans nodded. Stian focused his attention to the corner of his eye. Sure enough, there was the man.

Fear.