'…And the brave princess knight, Fiona, came face to face with her final challenge: a legendary dragon! If she wanted to save her prince, she would have to down the colossal beast and destroy his heart to remove the barrier imprisoning her love.'

'Oh, my gosh…!'

'Do you think she can do it, Anna?'

'Of course, she can! She got through the Haunted Forest! She beat the wicked witch! She even got out of the quicksand!'

'But this is a dragon! They can breathe fire, and they're huge, and their scales are tougher than the strongest steel!'

'Doesn't matter!'

'Oh, yeah? Why?'

'Because she's in love! Dragons are nothing against the power of love!'

'Oh, Anna…'

Elsa could only watch for a moment in horror as fire spread through the small sector of the forest, hastily latching onto trees, bushes, and the humble homes the Northuldra had built for themselves. The shrieks and cries of terror filled the area, and it was Yelana who took action first, beckoning all who could hear her to evacuate the children first and foremost, directing her clan swiftly and effectively. Reindeer were herded by a particularly confident young man, and as the men and women worked together to run from the danger with only the bare essentials in hand, Elsa stepped forward, against the grain, knowing she couldn't also retreat.

'Elsa…!' Anna grabbed her sister's arm.

'Is that seriously a dragon!? Like…a fire breathing dragon!?' Kristoff screamed.

'You think he needs a hug?' Olaf wondered.

'You're not actually going to face that thing, are you, Elsa?' Anna's grip tightened.

'I have to. He's here to see me. I answered the call, and I won't put these people's lives in danger for a second longer.' Elsa swallowed; her words braver than she felt. Only against Devil had she bore witness to such raw magical might against her own, but even with the troll, there was a level of strange restraint that seemed to be in place. Now, Elsa knew it was because his magic had horrible repercussions. The Fire Spirit, however, had no such limits, and it showed in how freely he spread his incredible might, his roar reverberating in Elsa's body as it lifted its enormous head to let out another massive cry.

'Elsa!' Anna pulled at her again. 'You're not fully recovered yet! Your back…and your magic! We've hardly rested since the Wind Spirit!'

Elsa touched Anna's hand, removing it from her arm and watching in pain as her sister's expression twisted in fear.

'I don't have a choice, Anna.'

As if calling Elsa out further, two streams of fire pushed through the forest, toward Elsa and her group. She slammed her hands on either side of herself, instantly negating the attack with a double blast of ice. The Fire Spirit from afar howled in rejection of any that would challenge it, and he began to move closer from the other side of the encampment, his fire engulfing the entire parameter now.

'My goodness…!' Mattias commented, still present alongside Yelana, his men, and some other Northuldra that continued to facilitate the evacuation.

'Elsa…Don't! You're not ready!' Anna begged, and Elsa's true weakness clawed at her tender heart.

'Sometimes we don't have time to prepare for what life throws at us, Anna. You know that.' Elsa smiled wryly, taking another step forward and remembering the night she was told she would soon be queen. Yes. She hadn't been ready for such a role. Sometimes, she felt she never would be. But perhaps that was the perfectionist in her…

'…You'll challenge a spirit, Elsa?' Yelana's tone had changed, a sense of respect almost hidden in it.

'I must. As you now know, I must gain the approval of the spirits. They don't consider me worthy of their respect or what this journey might be capable of offering me.'

'I see.' The Northuldra leader muttered.

The Fire Spirit was getting closer, its fire spreading even worse. Elsa targeted the most prevalent areas exposed, shooting out rays of her ice to subdue the damage as much as possible. Anna was right; she needed to conserve her power. She could feel her magic straining to perform. It hadn't been long enough since her encounter with the Wind Spirit.

Small cheers sounded around the queen, the Northuldra amazed by her ability to counter the crisis.

'Go.' Elsa commanded, her experience as queen giving her the authoritative delivery that might have taken Yelana aback since she had been acting somewhat meek earlier. 'The less I have to worry about others, the quicker I can take this dragon down.'

'Not without me!' Anna jumped next to her sister.

'No, Anna. Not this time.' Elsa felt her resolve weaken. 'You can't help me against something like this.'

'But…!'

'Lieutenant Mattias? Kristoff? Take care of her for me.' Elsa stared at Anna, nodding and praying she would understand reason. 'I have to do this.'

It was clear her little sister wanted to do anything but leave Elsa's side, but she had matured, and she submitted, touching Elsa's arm, hesitating, and then parting from her.

'You come back to me or I'll never forgive you.'

Elsa returned her attention to the approaching dragon, hearing her friends and acquaintances distance themselves from the centre of the attack as she began walking directly toward the source of destruction. The Wind Spirit was far less intimidating, its almost playful nature (save for the body-slamming part with the earth) difficult to be as apprehensive about as Elsa was upon her view of the Fire Spirit becoming clearer.

The Fire Spirit was as large as a two-story building, its blue scales clashing with its otherwise purple spine, claws, and tongue. It wasn't exactly how Elsa pictured a real dragon would be, but it still easily swung its tail to down trees and huts of the Northuldra, blowing fire around itself as if daring Elsa to stop more of its flames.

'I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle!' Elsa declared, and the dragon's head perked up, Elsa noticing that its eyes were almost comically spaced apart, and the shape of his head was more akin to that of a salamander. 'I have won favor with the Wind Spirit, and now I shall do the same with you, Fire Spirit. I intend on righting the wrongs of the past that have seemingly cursed this forest, and if you do not think I'm worthy of that task, then allow me to prove otherwise!'

The Fire Spirit stood up on its hind legs for a moment, roaring so loudly the very forest shook before it slammed back onto the ground, fire exploding from where it landed and rapidly flaring toward Elsa like a ring of destruction.

Elsa winced as she shifted her feet apart, and with another thrust of her hands, she froze the attack, spinning thereafter and scattering her magic to dowse any distant fire that had even the slightest chance of spreading too far and toward her comrades and Anna. Her back throbbing, Elsa evaluated her work with satisfaction, knowing this was just the beginning. Did she simply have to overpower the Fire Spirit? Unlike the Wind Spirit, she wasn't receiving any kind of mental message from the entity, which gave her little to work with. However, the queen wasn't supportive of the decision to completely eliminate the threat altogether. That wasn't the purpose of these "trials", surely.

The Fire Spirit crouched suddenly, almost like a dog, and without any further warning, it began charging directly at Elsa, every step it took bursting with flames and causing more damage to the forest. Knowing she had to end the encounter sooner rather than later, Elsa slammed her hand into the ground, her spine pinching horribly, and erected a wall of ice, layering it thrice over knowing how large her opponent was.

Yet, her barricade was shattered with only a moment of delay, and Elsa was forced to jump away from the zone of danger, rolling through leaves and bumping into a tree, her back screaming.

'Okay…' Elsa grunted. 'This is not easy.'

More fire. So much suddenly even Elsa's skin was prickling and beginning to sweat no matter how much her natural coolant within her veins attempted to compensate. The Fire Spirit spread so many flames with every breath it took. It was honestly overwhelming and…terrifying.

It was no wonder Elsa had been feared before she gained control of her magic. Natural elements unhinged were frightening. A human at least had the chance of being reasoned with, but this Fire Spirit and its awesome strength was like Elsa before her father had somewhat helped her learn to manage her "gift".

The dragon roared once more, and through Elsa's hampered vision, waves of heat emanating off everything around her as the world turned red, she thought she saw it – she thought she could see something in the dragon's bizarre expression that she could somehow connect with so intimately:

Fear.

There was little time to consider this revelation, however, as the Fire Spirit screamed anew, fire blasting from its body now, as if its mere existence created the damage it was capable of. It located Elsa, and this time when it crouched, Elsa focused all the magic she could into a single blast and directly connected with the raging beast, encasing it successfully in ice save for the very tip of its nose so that it could at least breathe for a moment.

Afraid she might accidently kill the Fire Spirit, Elsa spread her arms apart and built a barrier around herself before expanding it and pushing it out and away as far as her draining might would let her, instantly dowsing the newly spread fire. Then, she returned her attention to the dragon, taking the moment to breathe and convince herself her back wasn't becoming worse. She internally encased her spine with enough of a sedative so that she could push through the pain, aware the aftermath could be catastrophic, but knowing she had to win this fight no matter what.

Answers awaited her. Answers she's been dreaming about since the second she understood just how unique she was at a very young age.

The ice containing the dragon began to turn red, and Elsa breathed out in exasperation. Perhaps the Fire Spirit would submit to her now that she had shown just what she was capable of. The queen could only hope as the enormous icicle exploded, and the dragon shrieked, its sound changed into erraticism and confusion. It looked around with wide eyes, and when it noticed Elsa anew, it seemed to recall what it had been trying to do, and sucked in the air around it, preparing another attack.

Wishful thinking…

Elsa readied her magic, but when a recoil sparked through her wrist, causing her whole arm to spasm in discomfort, she panicked, her eyes widening and her mind flurrying to redirect her power to her other hand. It was the instant the dragon needed, and before Elsa could properly react, a blast of fire unlike anything before it spewed from the Fire Spirit's mouth, the redness of the flames prior replaced by blue and purple heat so intense it immediately turned anything it touched black before disintegrating to dust.

'No…!' Elsa gasped, and then she felt a weight push against her, tossing her to the side in a heap. Elsa's spine cracked before shocking her entire nervous system, her breaths coming out in sharp hisses of desperation.

'Stop! Leave her alone! She's…she just wants to help you!'

Anna! What on earth was she doing here!?

Elsa squinted, seeing her sister's form standing in front of her with arms spread wide. It manifested an old memory of Anna performing a similar action from their childhood, although Elsa couldn't imagine what might have possibly been a challenge for her at such a young age.

The dragon huffed in frustration, throwing its head back while taking another deep breath. It was preparing to push out a second blast of a similar magnitude to the last, and Anna had no way of defending herself properly. Elsa groaned in agony, her heart bounding around her chest and the thought of losing her sister again giving her the last bit of strength she needed. She would protect Anna no matter what. That had always been her role as the older sister.

Elsa grit her teeth and prepared her magic, but suddenly, the heat pervading off the dragon diminished, and nothing came, Elsa's compromised vision taking in the sight of her little sister literally hugging the Fire Spirit from the front, the flames naturally surrounding the beast encircling her but seemingly showing mercy to the young woman.

'Anna…!' Elsa managed, and then she heard what her sister was saying, and her mind began to ring.

'It's okay, little guy. It's okay. Everything is going to be a-okay.'

'W-what…? Elsa stuttered.

The Fire Spirit hummed in a low rumble, and without warning, it nuzzled its enormous head into Anna's shoulder, its strangely parted eyes closing and the creature almost making a sound that was reminiscent of crying.

'You didn't know. Elsa was just trying to help you. There's no need to be afraid anymore, okay? We're here to make things right.'

Elsa couldn't believe what she was seeing, but then again, a part of her could. If anyone could soothe a monster, it was her sister, and she had managed to do so before being burned to nothing. How Anna knew to approach the confrontation in such a way? A question for later, absolutely. For now, Elsa could breathe in a sigh of relief, pushing herself onto her feet and resisting the temptation to collapse and rest her aching back.

The Fire Spirit made eye contact with the queen, and when Anna turned, the fire from the awesome beast still somehow not burning her clothes, she smiled, petting the dragon's nose.

'Um…close one?' She shrugged sheepishly.

'Close one.' Elsa agreed, a flare of frustration eclipsing her worry. 'But what were you thinking? You could have been killed. You can't just follow me into fire like that.'

Anna scowled, her expression sour and seemingly sharing Elsa's annoyance.

'You don't want me following you into fire then don't go jumping into fire without a plan.' Her tone softened. 'You're not being careful, Elsa.'

Elsa opened her mouth to give her rebuttal, but she knew Anna was right, because if not for her sister, what would have happened? What was Elsa's plan? She would not have thought to hug the Fire Spirit into submission. Only Anna could have determined such a thing. Speaking of which…

'…Fine.' Elsa admitted. 'But how did you know? The Fire Spirit was about to kill us both, and instead of running you…embraced a giant dragon?'

The Fire Spirit huffed once more, and with a poof of blue smoke, he suddenly shrunk in size, easily fitting in Anna's palm, his appearance comically adorable as he licked his eyes and seemed to be…smiling? He looked more like a gecko now than any dragon Elsa could imagine.

'How did I know?' Anna tickled under the Fire Spirit's chin, smiling brightly even if the little guy seemed agitated slightly still. 'It was easy, really.'

'Oh?' Elsa was interested now.

Anna bit at her lip, her eyes meeting Elsa's and a broken history between the two sisters resurfacing long enough to pinch Elsa's heart and fill her with regret all over again.

'I could recognize that look of terror anywhere. That loss of control. That fear of what he was capable of and not being able to stop himself from hurting others no matter how much he wanted to. Not saying you look like a dragon or anything, Elsa,' Anna shrugged. 'But I saw the old you in the Fire Spirit the second I got a good look. Your door was shut to me when I knew you needed a hug and more from the one person left that mattered. I should've broken it down back then and held you kicking and screaming. Maybe we could've saved ourselves some heartache. I don't know. But this time, when I saw that look of fear, I knew I couldn't hesitate again. It was risky, obviously, but my body moved before I could stop it.'

Anna stepped toward Elsa; the Fire Spirit cupped in her hands. She offered the cutie to Elsa, and when Elsa received him, she could feel the intense heat from his body still before she directed some coolant to her skin. Her eyes darted to Anna's own hands and saw not a hint of being burnt. A shiver ran the queen's delicate spine, and she subconsciously fed the Fire Spirit some snowflakes, his goofy mouth hungrily consuming them with joy.

'I…I see.' Elsa could only say, for amongst the answers Anna revealed, she had also created a new batch of mysteries with her actions and explanations Elsa wasn't sure she was prepared to explore…