Chapter 8 – Many more meetings

The expectation of a good meal had already created an appetite in Elsa. With each step covered she became more and more hungry. After a short time, she finally found herself within sight of the building; a small wooden structure, no bigger than one of the many rooms in her castle. It looked cozy, she considered.

She looked around again with circumspection. Before she reached the small house, she had to clear a piece of open space with no trees to conceal her. She weighed her options for a moment, but the hunger was beginning to set in. She would think eventually what to say to the owner of the little store.

She was just starting to move when a dark shape came from the sky and landed in front of the trader, just as she was about to go out in the open. She stopped immediately. On the other side, a man got off the saddle and quickly entered the building, while the black creature seemed to be waiting outside, following his master with his sight until he entered the building, and then beginning to take a scent of the surrounding ground. He looked decided to play with a stick on the ground, he was about to pick it up when a smell caught his attention. His scaly head perked up to full attention and started snuffing the air around him. Elsa was too far out to see it clearly, yet she knew she was in big trouble, and running out of time. She had to turn around that very instant, and put as many trees between her and the creature as she could. No time to think about his owner either.

For a split second the dragon turned his head to the shed where the rider was, wanting to catch his attention, but he was inside, and something was out there. Unknown to Elsa, Night Fury felt the other presence. Instinctively he decided to venture for the trees, an ear shot up when he sensed other dragons approaching, not too far from there.

Elsa tried to move as fast as she could while trying to make less noise as possible, running from tree to tree as her breath became labored. She suddenly halted when flapping sounds above her caught her attention and she was invested by a gust of wind. Someone in the far distanced yelled a name. She pressed her back hard against a tree and shut her eyes closed. She realized with horror that there was more than one creature out there.

Reopening her eyes, she decided to make her move and dashed forward. She run straight, even when another terrifying shadow quickly passed over the ground beneath her, and the sounds of wings intensified. Gathering her courage, she tried to raise her eyes to the sky and saw a large shape flying over the tops of the trees next to her. In her vicinity a guttural sound seemed to call the attention of these creatures. She sharply snapped her neck towards the source of the sound, but among the trees and bushes she could not see anything. She had a feeling that more creatures were now heading towards the source of the sound. She didn't have time to think, and immediately bolted towards the roots of the mountain.

Fatigue was starting to set in again, and the pain in her legs grew. After a while she realized that her body could not keep up with these rhythms, and found a large tree to temporarily support herself and to catch her breath, always with an ear outstretched to listen to the sounds around her. To her surprise, she realized that the forest had fallen into an unreal and grave silence. Looking around she could see no threat over the horizon, and so, with trepidation, took a deep breath and separated herself from the tree.

She had only taken a couple of shaky steps when suddenly from upon the sky landed in front of her with a mighty crash a terrifying winged creature, blocking her escape route.

Instinctively she raised an outstretched hand in front of her, for protection. For a moment it seemed to her that she was seeing the same beast she had faced before. A quick glance gave her the confirmation she sought. With her gaze she searched for the man riding the dragon and once again her blue eyes met the same rider covered in leather.

"No…" She whispered to herself, looking around for a way out. But this time he wasn't alone. To her immense horror seconds later from all sides around her, other creatures of all shapes, colors and sizes appeared, each of them with their own rider, and each of them landing thunderously around her, shaking the ground. With panic rising in her heart, she realized there was no escape, she was trapped. It was over.

The temperature dropped. She summoned the remaining magic in her, she was exhausted, but ready for one last fight.

Guess the odds are not exactly in my favor. Have they ever been?

Like a hunter her gaze lingered briefly on each of the winged beasts around her, trying to study them as quickly as possible. Only, she was the one hunted.

She faced the one she thought to be the leader. Blue eyes narrowed, her nose wrinkled, and she focused on the rider before her.

The man on the dragon suddenly dismounted, catching Elsa off guard. Now that she had time to take a good look at him, she found him to be rather slim if confronted to some of the other riders. Like the others, he was covered in dark leather the likes of which she had never seen before, he almost looked like an extension of the beast itself.

He casually pulled off the mask and there, a young boy appeared. They both remained quiet for a while, studying each other, nobody daring to break the silence. Everybody else seemed to just held their breaths. Finally, the young boy made his move. With one slow motion he unbuckled his belt, letting the sheath containing the sword fall to the ground, leaving a deep furrow in the snow. Behind her she perceived some murmurs from another rider.

"We just want to talk, will you listen to me, please?" He spoke slowly and kindly, raising one hand up as to soothe her. It seemed they shared the same tongue, yet he had some strong accent laced to it.

"Who are you, and what do you want from me?" She immediately asked, not yet willing to let her guard down.

"I'm a dragon rider, and I just want to talk" He answered, as she raised an eyebrow.

"My name is Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the third, I'm a Viking from Berk, you can call me Hiccup." Was he making fun of her with the name? He took a couple of steps closer, and the creature behind him was following him with each step, sending the Snow Queen into a more protective stance.

"What's… him?" Elsa asked, unsure if she should say either him or it, referring to the winged creature. For the first time the temperature seemed to rise up a bit, as the boy immediately felt a bit more comfortable, and with a tiny smile glanced at his scaly companion.

"This is Toothless, and he's a Night Fury." He motioned for the black creature next to him, who rose higher once his name was mentioned. He emitted some sort of chirping sound before lowering once more near his rider. Elsa was at a loss for words.

"A dragon." He further explained, as he saw the confusion in her eyes.

"Come on Hiccup." An exasperated voice from behind her spoke. She realized it was a girl. From the moment she spoke Elsa decided that there was something about that voice that unsettled her greatly, yet she couldn't place it.

"We traveled across seas for we believe a great evil is at work, and we need to stop it if we want to save our land." Now he had her full attention, though the smallest of thoughts began to make its way into her mind and a shiver rose up her spine.

"An unnatural winter has covered our home".

She closed her eyes, she knew it.

"If we don't restore the natural cycle of weather our crops will be lost, we won't be able to feed our livestock, and when the real winter comes, we won't be ready to overcome it".

And there it was. As Elsa heard his words, she started biting her fingernails subconsciously. That small thought she had, proved to be right, just like she feared. She opened her eyes and looked around, the fierce beasts were growling at her, making a display showing their fangs and sharp teeth. The temperature started to drop and a gust of wind blew through the trees.

"What you mean by that?" She asked, hoping behind hope, but she already knew the answer, and for a moment she felt like sinking, as if suddenly the whole weight of the world crumbled upon her. Her knees were suddenly weak but she did her best to hide it.

"Well… there seemed to be some sort of eternal winter… everywhere… if you haven't noticed." He answered, a bit surprised.

She tried to contain the turmoil and panic growing inside.

"We are asking for your help." The kid diverted her from her thoughts. "Since you seem to have some sort of… power… yourself, you might be able to help us" He asked hopefully.

She looked at the rider intensively, inside her, everything was in turmoil. She tried her best to keep a straight face, but she was actually one step away from throwing up.

"I don't… think." She started mumbling incoherently, trying to find the right words. She ran her hands nervously over her hair to sort them out.

"Enough of this." The voice from before intruded impatiently, this time there was something else in her tone. Elsa took the opportunity to give a quick side glance to this other rider, and two pairs of blue eyes briefly met, both narrowing to each other. Elsa's breath became more labored.

"Astrid…" The boy admonished the girl, before taking one more step towards the Snow Queen.

"That's far enough." Elsa decided, as she turned to see Hiccup immediately stop. The creature was right behind him and she noticed how the boy was almost leaning into it, as to hold him discreetly. She had to split her attention from the boy in front to the girl behind , slightly raising one arm for each, as to keep them in check, and at the same time, fight against the raw emotions inside.

"Not really helping here." The first voice, Hiccup, interjected. He gave her the impression to be a bit more diplomatic, yet she was still losing focus to her fears.

"And what's your name?" He suddenly asked, returning back to her. She left him hanging. She kept looking around.

"Can you help us with this winter?" He pressed forward; she couldn't avoid him forever. She looked at him straight in his eyes, before lowering her gaze into the ground, head down. She lowered her arms.

"No…" She whispered with a soft voice.

"What you mean no? I thought you could do… things?!" A third voice spoke, to her left. For the first time Elsa really paid attention to all the others Vikings present there. The one who spoke was a short yet bulky guy, he seemed to be riding the biggest of the dragons. Next to him was a scarlet green dragon, by far the weirdest, with two heads, and two riders to match that. On the other side was an extremely large man on a chunky dragon that seemed to be made out of stone. Finally, she only glanced at it briefly, was the one behind her, a colored one, with the girl that spoke earlier on top. It looked sharp. For some reason it scared her more than the others.

"Snotlout, it's ok now." Hiccup spoke, before returning the attention to her. She could feel the party was starting to unsettle, along with her, and considering her growing anxiety it wasn't exactly helping her.

"Do you know anything about it?" He spoke softly, trying his best to keep everyone calm. She didn't answer. She felt everyone's eyes on her, she was losing it. She took a deep breath. She was inches away from crying, and even closer to a full-time breakdown, the battle inside her raging harder than ever.

She noticed the quick glance the guy before her gave to his sword laying at his feet. Now it was the moment of truth.

She pressed her eyes shut, enraged with herself.

"I am the one doing this, it's all me, ok?!" She almost yelled. She was pissed, she was mad, and she was tired. And then it happened.

A deep silence fell over the clearing, the first snowflakes began to drop all around and the wind picked up.

What have I done?

"Is there something th…" Elsa barely heard the beginning of his sentence before everything became muffled and then quiet. He kept talking but he had lost her attention. She found herself spacing, she saw his lips moving but none of the words reached her. She was trapped in her own mind, and the wind rose in intensity.

I can't control it. She looked at her hands with hate. Suddenly the hands became blurred while the white background rose to the foreground and she focused on the snowy mantle all around her. The branches of the trees began to creak intensely, tested by the worsening conditions of the snowstorm that seemed unabated in its growth.

I did all this; this is all my fault. Now even the snow became blurred as watery eyes clouded her vision.

The clearing, once calm and serene, was now flooded by an intense sleet brought by strong gusts of wind. She tried to stop this storm but it was too late, she wasn't the one controlling it anymore, it wasn't her doing. Her breath became uneven, her hands started to shake. Often, she had to remove the hair in front of her eyes.

"I'm such a fool, I can't be free." She whispered to herself. Someone else spoke. She didn't pay attention.

No escape from the storm inside of me. Her fingers sank into her blond hair in an automatic motion.

"I can't control the curse".

More voices spoke, someone yelled, she looked up. She remembered of the others.

"Go away, please!" She yelled between the tears.

"You need to stop this." The boy spoke loud above the wind howls. With a hand covering his face from the weather, he moved closer to her.

"How?!" She almost begged him, searching for the answer she knew wouldn't come.

"I'm sure we can work something out".

"Please, you'll only make it worse!" She tried to move away from him.

"We can fix this!" He insisted, the closer he tried to get, the harder it was to breach the wall of falling snow carried by the wind. It was getting colder by the minute. He was just a couple of steps away from her, so he could see her clearly despite the conditions.

"There's so much fear!" She looked at him, begged him with her eyes to stay away from her.

Understanding seemed to flash across the boy's face.

"Don't panic." He tried to soothe her.

"You're not… safe… here." It was the last thing she could say before her head seemed to split in two in excruciating pain. She held her head tight, but the pain was causing her to start slipping from reality.

Someone screamed. It felt unnatural, she didn't know who it was, it could have been her for all she knew. Something caught her attention. Looking down she saw blood coming from her leg. There, a dart was planted inside the flesh of her leg. The Body, made of a cerulean blue was the only part sticking out, along with a few feathers on the other end. She was surprised to have noticed such a tiny detail considering the heat of the moment, but for a moment she was able to think clearly. She felt more pain on her shoulder and for a second, she believed she saw a glimpse of brown eyes and leather, before all went dark.

"You… lost them?!" He glared at the few men gathering around him. Each and every one of them was avoiding eye contact as if their lives depended upon it.

"Well?" He pressed further.

"We… uhm… have not found them, sir." One brave Viking managed to whisper shamefully.

"So, you lost them" He replied impatiently.

"Well… we know… where they aren't." The same Viking looked intensively at his feet. "Sir".

"Take him away" Viggo ordered to a couple of his minions with an unceremonious hand gesture.

"NO, wait! Please!"

He ignored the begging, as the voice became further and further away until it faded in the background. Looking around, dozens of warriors were setting up their camp, fixing the damage caused by Hiccup and his friends. He smacked the table hard with his fist, knocking a couple of tools to the floor.

As he noticed the little pieces falling to the ground, he stopped once he saw a familiar item there too. Gently, he reached down to pick up a small piece, a little man, carved in wood and part of a game set. He smiled as he looked at the tiny details of the little man clutched in his hand.

Maces and Talons. He thought briefly. It's not over Hiccup, wherever you are…

He sent scout parties everywhere, he almost had him, but apparently, they lost trace of him and the others again.

"How do you lose five whole dragons!" He yelled to none in particular. Very few people ever saw him like that. As the vein on his forehead seemed to pulse with more vigor than usual, he decided to take a break for a few moments. He wasn't getting anywhere anyway.

Without paying attention he found his hand going instinctively towards his pocket. Well, at least I have something you don't.

Stored there, safely in his pocket, an important piece of paper remained hidden from the eyes of most. Thinking back to the words on the scroll, he wondered what else was out there for them, as he gazed over the horizon thoughtfully.

He remained there, staring blankly over the forest until a red flash seemed to catch his eye for a moment, as it made its way through the trees in the distance. He had to look several times to be sure, yet there was definitively someone else out there. He at least believed to have seen a silhouette. Looking back, none of his subjects seemed to have noticed it. Taken by eagerness he decided to make his way alone through the trees, to see what was out there.

He moved stealthily, undetected, and using the trees for cover. He kept moving, hopping from tree to tree, until he even came out of range of the sounds of his camp, and for a moment he was shrouded in silence.

He instinctively ducked when he heard a twig snap just ahead, and he knew he heard some indistinct chattering. Surely whoever it was wasn't exactly covering their tracks. Viggo tried to get even closer.

"Snow! It had to be snow!" He could hear the voice now; it was a girl. Curious to see, he leaned out from behind a tree to peek.

The first thing he noticed was the locks of bright red hair and the elegant greenish dress.

"She couldn't have had… tropical magic that covered the fjord in white sand and warm…" She was muttering to herself as she struggled her way through the dense snow.

Who was this girl? He thought briefly.

"Fire!".

Wait, did she just say 'She couldn't have covered it with magical sand'? Was this the doing of a human? Or some wizard? His brain was working at a breakneck speed, analyzing all the new information he had just received. Does she know something about this? He had to act now, he absolutely had to know more, but he had to be smart about it.

Taking a moment to compose himself, he wiped off his mischievous smile and donned the mask of the Good Samaritan, eager to help a damsel in distress. He put on his best smile.

"Hey there, can I help you?" The man asked with as much cordiality and innocence as he could muster.

"Oh, hey there." blue eyes smiled back at him. "Yes… no, well, I don't know, I'm looking for my sister" She answered honestly, without asking too many questions. Without asking questions, period.

"I see… was she lost during this awful storm?" He tried to ask, testing the waters.

"Uhh no, not really" She answered, and he could not hide his now peaked interest. She must have noticed it as well.

"Actually, it was my sister who did this winter thing, but it's ok, it was just an accident." She explained raising her hands before her, as to held his judgment, trying to defend her sister.

WHAT?! If he didn't shout that out of his lungs it was a miracle as his eyes were almost popping out of their sockets.

"Your… your sister did this?" He motioned for the snow all around them.

"Yes, but she can fix this, she didn't mean it, she didn't mean any of it." For the first time she seemed a bit scared, although, it was more for the reaction she feared he could have about her sister other than anything else. Viggo was deep in thoughts, but somehow, something seemed to click in his mind.

"Well, I have a few… collaborators… with me back over there." He gestured towards his camp "What say you if we get back to them and let them help you out?" He smiled cunningly at the girl, lending her a hand.

"Sure." She agreed after thinking about it for about half a second, and quickly grabbed his hand. Before turning to his camp, he looked at her one more time, she could clearly see her freckles and blue eyes from up-close. He thought they had a hint of green in them.

"I didn't get your name, my lady." He gazed intensely at her.

"Anna".

Anna. He repeated her name in his mind.

"The name's Viggo." He elegantly bowed, hiding his grin.