"I-I can't believe it," Eryn stuttered, "I thought the legends said he couldn't get out."
"Hmm? So that's what Aren told everyone when he stuffed me in that blade?" Skyne let out a small laugh, "It is as they say, history is written by the victors." The shade looked up to the full moon in disgust, "Isn't that right, father? No matter, once I'm through with this, you and the rest of the Aesir are next…"
Linaeus gripped his sword tightly, "Whatever it is you're planning, I won't let you!" he shouted as he lunged at Skyne. The shadow being casually swatted him away as if he were a fly. Linaeus flew back into a massive heap of snow, dangerously close to the cliff's edge.
"These are the descendants of Aren the Red? A bunch of headstrong immature runts? Hmph, I wouldn't expect anything else…" Skyne walked over to Eryn and placed one of his shadowy claws on his shoulder. The shade smelled of death and burning flesh. Eryn fought the urge to vomit as Skyne spoke, "You should be proud, Odrikson. Some of the brightest minds and strongest warriors failed to release me over the course of a thousand years, yet you were able to do it in only three…"
Eryn struggled against Skyne's grip, which only encouraged the beast to tighten his hold, nearly crushing Eryn's shoulder.
"Needless to say, Odrikson, I am a being of my word," Skyne released his grip on Eryn's shoulder as he stepped back, "I will make your name known… as the man who plunged the world into darkness!"
Skyne held his claws out as tendrils emerged from his forearms as they converged into his open palms like writhing worms. As darkness swirled around him, the tendrils gave way to a massive black two handed battleaxe, with an ebony handle and ancient runes decorating the blade. Skyne lifted the weapon over his head and brought it down to the ground with all his might, cracking the earth beneath it. The crack began emitting a stream of inky nothingness as small shadowy beings began climbing out of the newly formed crevice. The aurora disappeared from the night sky, followed by the stars, until the moon was the last light in the night sky. Eryn, Elsa, and Linaeus looked on in horror as the moon turned from its usual soft white to a blood red hue.
"Go to Aren's Dell, kill all in your path!" Skyne roared as he held his battleaxe aloft. Eryn silently panicked, looking around for a solution. He noticed Linaeus's sword on the ground just a few inches from him and instantly knew what had to be done. With no hesitation, Eryn grabbed the sword and leaped at the shade. Skyne stepped to the side, causing Eryn to swing at the air.
"Come now, Odrikson, did you really think that would work?"
"Eryn! What're you doing?!" Linaeus shouted.
"Get Elsa out of here! I'll hold him off!"
"You'll die!"
"This is my mistake! One I intend to fix!"
"But-"
"Arendelle needs you now more than ever, Lenny! Go, NOW!"
Linaeus hesitated before grabbing Elsa's arm, "Your Majesty, we need to go!"
Elsa looked at Eryn one last time and said, "Agreed."
Linaeus helped Elsa up onto Magni's back before hoisting himself on the saddle. With the snap of the reins, Magni bolted out of sight, leaving Eryn and Skyne alone on the mountain.
XXXXXX
"Somethings not right," Anna said, looking out the window, "The aurora, the stars, everything, is just… gone."
"Oooooh!" Olaf exclaimed, "The moon is such a pretty color too!"
As the two of them were looking out the window, Kristoff bolted into the room, panting heavily.
"Kristoff! What's going on?" Anna leaned on Olaf as she wobbled over to her fiance.
"Skyne's what's going on! That assassin was using him and now he's free!" Kristoff gasped. Anna's eyes widened as her jaw dropped.
"Y-you mean, from the legends and stuff. The one who almost brought about the end of the world. That Skyne?"
"Yes!"
"Where's Elsa?"
Kristoff hesitated for an answer as he looked to the floor.
"Kristoff, where is she?"
"...She's-"
"ANNA!"
Kristoff turned around to see Elsa standing in the doorway, "Right there!" he exclaimed as she ran in and embraced Anna.
"Elsa, what happened to your arm?!" Anna asked, pointing to the gash on Elsa's forearm.
"The legends weren't complete. Skyne used me to get out of the knife! The assassin's stalling him now."
"What?!"
"None of that matters now! We need to get everyone out of here now! Skyne-"
"Well hi there, little guy," Olaf cooed, "What's your name?"
Anna, Elsa, and Kristoff looked over to the snowman. Next to Olaf, a small black shadow goblin with beady red eyes and razor sharp teeth stood, muttering something incoherent. In an instant, the creature leaped at Elsa, screeching maniacally. Olaf let out a terrified scream as he ran behind Anna. Elsa shot icy magic from her fingertips at the creature. The shadow monster flew back as it let out a blood curdling screech. As it slammed into the wall, it dissipated into dark wisps as its screams faded away.
"What the hell was that?" Kristoff gasped.
"One of Skyne's creations," Elsa panted, "We need to get everyone out of Arendelle, there's more coming!"
Anna and Kristoff nodded as Anna leaned against her fiance and ran out of the room. The hallways were eerily quiet, as most of the castle staff was gone for the evening. In an instant, three more of the shadow demons appeared from inky black pools on the floor. Two guards ran up behind them and slashed at them with their swords, killing two of the beasts. The third leaped up to one of them and sunk its teeth into his jugular. The other guard struggled to pry the being off his comrade as Elsa blasted it with her magic. The man who was attacked fell to the floor motionless as blood trickled onto the floor. Elsa's eyes went wide at the sight before her. That man had a family, a happy and long life ahead of him, and now it was gone. Something inside her boiled as she snapped her head to the other guard.
"What's the situation out there?" She asked.
"Those… things started appearing in masses! Captain Torvond is organizing a defense now, but we don't have enough men to properly defend the town."
Elsa pursed her lips at this information, "I'll take care of the monsters, you make sure Anna and everyone else get out safely."
"What?!" Anna exclaimed, "You can't-"
"My powers might be able to stall them long enough for you to get out."
"I'm staying with you!"
"Anna, you're in no shape to fight!"
"But-"
"She's right, Anna," Kristoff interrupted. Anna looked at him in shock.
"What?" the two sisters said simultaneously. Rarely did Kristoff ever take Elsa's side in arguments.
"Elsa's magic is the best thing we have to fight these things. Grandpabbie said only magic can destroy magic."
Elsa pursed her lips at the thought. It would mean discarding her principles to never use her magic as a weapon. But in this situation, like any other, the people of Arendelle come first.
"Get to Linaeus, organize an evacuation of the city. I'll see what I can do."
Anna and Kristoff nodded as they proceeded down the hallway.
"Bye guys!" Olaf said as he waved at them. Elsa crouched down to meet Olaf at eye level.
"Olaf, I need you to go with them," she said sternly.
"Wait, what?"
"This is something I need to do on my own," Elsa's eyes lit up as she came up with an idea, "But I know how you could help."
"Oh! I love helping!" Olaf bounced around like a small child. Elsa swirled her hands around as she summoned her magic. With severe concentration, she forged the magic into a crystalline blue sword, with the crocus of Arendelle adorning the blade and hilt.
"Give this to Anna," She said, presenting the sword to Olaf, "It'll be her best form of defense while I'm not here."
Olaf eagerly grabbed the sword. "Yes ma'am!" he gave her a salute as he ran down the hall to catch up to Anna and Kristoff.
"Don't run with that!" Elsa yelled after him. Behind her, she could hear the incoherent growls and mutterings of shadow beings. As she turned to face them, two of them leaped at her with primal fury. Elsa raised her hands and summoned forth her magic. Icy bolts erupted out of her hands, hitting them as they dissolved into nothingness. She ran past where they stood in a desperate attempt to get to the stables. She needed to get back up to the North Mountain and face Skyne herself. Her thoughts went back to Eryn. A part of her felt bad for him, having to face such evil by himself. The other part of her knew that, at the end of the day, he was still a criminal and a traitor to Arendelle. She shook that idea out of her mind. Such things didn't matter if there wasn't an Arendelle for him to stand trial against.
She needed to face Skyne first, then worry about Eryn later.
XXXXXX
"You really want to fight me?!" Skyne roared, "Do you honestly think you have any sort of chance against me?"
Eryn pointed the sword in his hand at Skyne. His eyes narrowed at the shadow being as he gripped the handle firmly. Three years he put up with this monster. Now, it was his time to end it. "If it means you won't hurt anyone else, then it's a risk worth taking."
"There is that compassion of yours again! Do you not see how blind it makes you? Lay your weapon down, submit to me once more, and I-"
"I am done letting you use me!"
Skyne gripped his battleaxe firmly. "S̟̘̥̣̱ͅO̠̞̪̪͢ͅ ͎͔̗͚͈B̸̟̫̞͈̲E ̭̰̣̕I̥̣̠͙T̬̭̳̯̯!̡̤̳͔"
The shadow being swung the war axe over his head and brought it down with all his might. Eryn narrowly dodged out of the way as he darted towards Skyne's legs. He clashed his sword against Skyne's leg, receiving a howl of pain from the monster. Skyne returned the action by kicking Eryn away from him. Eryn flew back until his body met a rather large rock. Pain coarsed throughout his body upon the impact. Skyne flew forward with his axe at the ready, his crimson red eyes filled with rage. Eryn raised his sword and barely deflected the onslaught.
"You ingrate!" Skyne spat as they clashed blades, "I gave you what you wanted, to be known throughout the lands, and you repay me with treachery? What do you gain from defeating me?!"
"It isn't about what I get, it's about what you lose!"
"WITHOUT ME, YOU ARE NOTHING! You were born a nothing, and now you will die a nothing!"
"I'd rather die a nobody than live as some eldritch's pawn!"
"And what happens if you beat me? What awaits you then? The gallows? The guillotine? No matter what, Odrikson, your hands are forever stained in blood! And you will face the consequences!"
"Which is why I'm here!"
Skyne and Eryn shot their gazes behind them. Elsa stood there with a menacing glare, her arms crossed across her chest. Skyne grinned as he began to chortle. "Ah, the sorceress. I should thank you for releasing me."
"Well, it wasn't exactly on purpose."
"Elsa, what are you doing here?" Eryn shouted, "I thought-"
Elsa raised her hand to silence Eryn, "As the queen of Arendelle, I demand that you release that man."
"Demand?" Skyne howled in laughter, "You? Demanding that I release this… worthless street rat? Do you have any idea what I am capable of?"
"Do you have any idea what I'm capable of?" Elsa replied as icy as the palace before her.
"I have observed your magic, sorceress. I know you won't use it to harm another being."
"With you I'll make an exception. Now, release him."
"Very well," Skyne grabbed Eryn by the shirt and threw him towards Elsa, "Here is your traitor!" As Eryn staggered to his feet, Skyne emitted a shadowy tendril from his torso. In an instant, the inky black tentacle rammed itself through Eryn's chest, causing his eyes to widen in pain. Eryn had only a second to look down at the impalement before it retreated back to its owner. Elsa gasped as Eryn collapsed onto the snowy mountainside, motionless. Elsa mustered up all of her strength to not scream at the sight. Instead, she returned her glare to the shadow being as anger boiled inside of her.
"You will regret that!" Elsa raised her hands as she summoned forth magic in her palms.
"You have no experience in combat, child. What hope do you have of beating me?"
Elsa shot a surge of magic directly at Skyne's face. The shadow monster raised his axe to deflect the bolt, only to be taken aback when the axe head became encased in ice. Skyne studied the ice for a second, almost entranced by what he had witnessed. As he touched it, he recoiled in what appeared to be pain.
"It can't be… another child of Athohallan?"
"Athohallan?" Elsa asked. She had only heard that name once before, from a lullaby her mother used to sing to her. "What do you mean?"
Skyne narrowed his eyes at the queen, "No matter! I was looking forward to an actual challenge!" The shadow being threw his weapon aside and lunged at the queen. Elsa quickly conjured up a wall of ice around herself. Skyne collided head first with the wall, shattering his antlers into small black fragments as he roared in pain. Elsa dissolved the wall and summoned a massive snowball above the monstrous being. Skyne had only a few seconds to look up before he was buried in a massive snowheap. Elsa made a mad dash for the ice palace before a black tentacle slithered out of the snow mound and wrapped itself around Elsa's leg. The shadow monster erupted from the mound as he drew Elsa in, bringing her to eye level.
"No wonder Odrikson fancied you," he snarled, "He would have been just as dumb!"
Elsa raised her hands and summoned forth her magic once more. Suddenly a loud roar erupted from the ice palace.
"WE ARE SLEEPING!"
The doors flung open, revealing Marshmallow, still wearing Elsa's old tiara, and several snowgies, all of which looked furious. Marshmallow narrowed his gaze onto an entangled Elsa.
"A frost giant?! I thought they were all killed!"
"Elsa!?" He groaned, "ELSA!" Marshmallow bolted towards Skyne as icy spikes grew out of his body, tackling him to the ground. The tendril dissipated as Elsa fell to the ground. Marshmallow socked Skyne in the jaw, sending him reeling back down the mountain. Skyne regained his footing and slashed at Marshmallow with fury. The frost giant howled as inky blackness dripped from where the claws made contact. In an instant, Marshmallow grabbed Skyne's claw and hoisted him over his head, slamming him into the snow with an icy ran towards where Skyne was, readying her magic as Marshmallow leaped onto the shadow being. Marshmallow wasted no time delivering blow after blow into Skyne's face.
"E̗̖̪ͤ̈́̿N̖̗̙̞͚̏̈́̽̑ͫO̺̪̪U̠̗GH͕͎̹̥̟!̯͇̂͑"
Multiple black tendrils erupted from the crater Skyne made, launching Marshmallow off of him and next to Elsa. Skyne emerged from the crater with one of his eyes swollen and black liquid dripping from his mouth.
"CHILD OF ATHOHALLAN OR NOT, Ỷ̰͙̭̠̯͖̭̃̑͐ͪ̅ͬO̤̦͖̫̙ͪ͑̎̚̚Ü͇͎͍͉̤̣͂ͮ͋͛̿ ̺̳̺̯̥͗̌̔ͮͯW̌́I͕̫LL̗̬̟̰͉̃̀̈͒̆ ͍̝̥͚̟͍̞̔̈̊̎̐͐̎Ṕ̺A̖̦͍͎̗͗͛̈̓ͥ͆ͅY!̙̘͙̹̺̼̇ͣ͛̽ͬ̍" Hundreds of tendrils made their way towards Elsa
"No," Elsa said as she summoned forth her magic, "You will pay!" With all her strength, Elsa launched a wave of icy blue magic at Skyne, cutting through the tendrils like they were nothing. Elsa fell to one knee as she felt the magic sap her strength. Skyne reeled back, bracing himself as the wave hit him in the chest. The monster slowly let his guard down as he checked for where the magic had struck him.
"HA! Your magic did nothing to… WHAT?!"
Skyne brought his hand to his face. What was once a dark black claw was now encased in crystal blue ice. Elsa watched as Skyne's body slowly changed to a stark white, just as Anna did when the same thing happened to her.
"No… NO̜͚͔̱͓ͧ͆̊͂̄̍ͅ!ͥͩ̏" Skyne pounced towards Elsa with as much fury as he could muster. As the seconds passed, Skyne slowed down to a crawl as he shouted in an indecipherable language.
"Y͕̭̯̟̠͔̺ͥͭ͊̽ͭ͑̚O̙͉̼̹͕͎ͧ͂̾̒͛ͦU ̣͕̩̟͗ͤ͒̍W̘̤Ï̮̭̼͉̫̉̽ͬͫLL̖͙͓̞̘͓ ̼̃N̬̩̳̙͔̹ͥͩͬ́͛͑EV̤̜̣̏̉̚E̟͉͑̆R̘̬͂̆ ̺͂BEͭͤͤͧͤ Ṟ̫̣̯͈̺ID̒̏͊̌ͮ̄̃ ͧͫ̽͛ͩO̯̝̥͖̮̒ͥ̈́ͭͯF̮͕͖͕̏͋́ͨ ME̪!"was the last thing he said before his head became replaced by ice. Elsa watched as the last breath of Skyne left his accursed mouth. She walked up to him and, with a snap of her fingers, crumbled the ice figure before her. Elsa breathed a sigh of relief as she collapsed to the ground. She never used her powers so much before, or in such a way. A part of her felt terrified that she was capable of doing such things. But for now, she was just glad it was over.
She crawled over to where Eryn laid in the snow. Elsa flipped him over so his face was out of the cold. She was taken aback when she saw that Skyne hadn't pierced his chest. She couldn't see any kind of wound or anything. Bringing her ear to where his heart was, she was also surprised to find that it was still beating. What happened?
"YOUR MAJESTY!"
Elsa shot up as she snapped her head around to face who was shouting. Linaeus rushed over to her, his sword at the ready.
"Elsa, are you alright?" He asked exasperatedly, "we heard some kind of roar across the mountains and assumed the worst."
"I'm fine," Elsa panted, "can't say much about Skyne, though." She gestured to the pile of ice just beside her. Linaeus's eyes went wide.
"H-he's dead?"
"Yes. You missed quite a show, Linaeus."
Linaeus couldn't help but crack a smile before turning his gaze to Eryn. His smile soon turned into a look of worry. "Is he-?"
"He's still alive. We need to get him back to Arendelle, and fast."
"Yes ma'am!" Linaeus scooped Eryn into his arms as he took Elsa onto his shoulder, slowly making his way back to his horse.
XXXXXX
"One on your left!" Kristoff exclaimed. Anna swung the ice sword Elsa gave her down at the imp beside her leg, cleaving it in two. Her, Kristoff, and Olaf were in the middle of getting the people of Arendelle to the cliffs when they were jumped by the shadow goblins. Anna, despite her current handicap, was holding her own as she leaned onto her fiance, swiping at them whenever she could.
"Thanks, honey," Anna said, "Any more?"
Olaf looked around, lifting his head off his body. "Nope!" the snowman shouted, "they're all gone!"
"Woah!" one of the townspeople gasped "Look! The sky!"
Everyone looked up to see what they were talking about. The moon returned to its regular color as the stars returned to the sky one by one. The aurora returned as well, blanketing the night sky in vivid colors. The townspeople began cheering as the lights returned to the night sky.
"Elsa did it!" Olaf declared, "She woke up the sky!"
"In a way I did, I guess."
Anna and Kristoff snapped their heads to the north. Elsa and Linaeus rode in, both looking exhausted from the events of the night. Elsa slid off of the back of Linaeus's horse and ran towards Anna. The queen tackled her sister into a gentle embrace, careful not to topple her over.
"I'm glad you're alright!" Anna murmured into Elsa's neck.
"You too," Elsa replied, "You wouldn't believe what happened."
"What about Der- I mean, Eryn?"
Linaeus dismounted as he hoisted Eryn over his shoulder. "He's breathing, that's the good news," the captain explained, "but he'll need some medical attention."
"We'll get him some when we get back to the castle," Elsa said, "for now, we need to sort this mess Skyne made out."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Oh, and captain? You will be explaining to me how you knew who he was and didn't bother to tell me."
Linaeus's face went bright red as his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat.
"Y-yes ma'am…"
A/N: The chapter after this one is going to be the last one of Beware the Frozen Heart. I'd like to thank everyone who liked and/or commented on this fic!