It was odd, really.
Blood in her hair?
She didn't care.
Her cape in tatters?
No one was around to give fashion advice.
Her dress hanging by mere thread?
Who cared as long as her body was covered.
Truth be told, it was hard to care about anything.
What used to matter to her, seemed so trite and trivial.
Ever since the entire sordid affair began, her priorities underwent a massive shift. She never had time to sit and reflect, unless she took a break, like she was doing now. She had to sit down and decompress, or she would lose her sanity.
Inevitably, the guilt would kick in.
She knew that people needed her.
But she was human, despite her extraordinary abilities. While she had help of the magical kind, most of the war effort depended upon her and her powers.
She couldn't help feeling the massive pressure to help win this war and not let people down.
She knew the entire world was counting on her.
But she was so tired.
It was all she could do not to collapse in exhaustion. She was running on fumes and adrenalin. Occasionally, she relied on coffee to keep awake as she had human limitations just like anyone else.
Unfortunately, she couldn't afford to show any weakness.
The enemy would pounce otherwise.
She stared dully at her reflection. The ripples of the pond would occasionally obscure her features.
But she knew what the pond would show once the water settled: her dirty face, caked with dried blood. Her no longer pristine white hair, hanging in uneven clumps, caked with blood. Her cold, ice-blue eyes.
Bereft of happiness and hope.
When was the last time she saw a friendly face?
It felt like ages since she last saw another human being. All she could remember were the demons who were intent on getting their pound of flesh. She was sickened by the malicious bloodlust shining in their eyes with an unholy glow. She wasn't blind. She knew they had sinister intentions for her person.
She felt dirty and polluted just thinking about it.
However, she developed a curious habit.
Ever since she killed a demon or a human, enemy soldier, she would try to find the nearest water source with only the Nokk to guide her. She would scrub furiously at her sudden unclean hands.
But she felt like she could never wash the blood away.
Tears ran down her dirtied cheeks, her chest heaving with sobs as she washed her hands in a futile gesture. But she knew she would always feel unclean. Her hands would be forever stained with the blood of her victims. It was only then she could understand why General Matthias would gain a haunted look in his eyes.
It made sense.
He was no stranger to blood and conflict.
Feeling like she wanted to hurl something at the nearest tree in frustration, she let out another sob and scooped a bunch of water into her hands. She brought the water to her face and wiped furiously at her skin despite the tears staining her cheeks. She repeated this motion several times, but she still felt dirty.
Finally, she had to concede defeat and give up.
She glanced at the sky.
No more did she take nature for granted. The sky was blacker than ash and it felt like ages since she last saw the sun. She would pay a king's ransom to see the sun and the blue sky once more.
Hell, she would be happy if it rained or snowed!
But the sky never changed.
Not only were there no sun or clouds, she never saw the moon and stars either. The earth itself was blackened and scorched. It was stained with the blood of innocents as war engulfed the planet.
All of the trees were bereft of leaves.
There wasn't a flower or single blade of grass anywhere.
For someone like her, it was heartbreaking to see as she was one with nature. It was up to her to maintain the balance between humanity and nature. She couldn't help feeling she was failing in that regard.
But her duties had to take a backseat.
People relied on her and her powers to keep the enemy at bay.
While she knew it was the right thing to do, she couldn't help feeling the pressure. Her shoulders felt weighed down with her responsibilities. At least the other elements could aid her.
She knew that she could rely on the Nokk, Gale and Bruni.
All of them were of tremendous help in her battles.
But she didn't know how much time has passed since she last saw everyone she knew. She was separated from the others, courtesy of the war council.
They felt she would more effective on the frontlines.
She understood it, even though she couldn't help resenting their decision.
When was the last time she saw a friendly face? She was a solitary person by nature. It was not only a part of her reserved personality, but it was something that became enforced after she was sent into isolation, no thanks to her parents. All of a sudden, she found herself craving company.
One that didn't include a demon or enemy soldier.
She wanted to see Olaf.
She wanted to see her sister.
She wanted to see Kristoff.
She wanted to see Sven.
Hell, she would have settled for Grand Pabbie at this rate!
At least Olaf was safe. The friendly snowman knew that he would have been a liability if he tried to join them in battle. It would have devastated her if something happened to him.
Her sister would no doubt feel the same.
She gazed at her reflection again, wincing at the shadows underneath her eyes.
When was the last time she had a decent night's sleep? Then again, sleep wasn't high on her list of priorities. She had to force herself to eat, as everything tasted like sandpaper to her.
But she knew that she had to maintain her energy.
She wouldn't do anyone any good if she collapsed from hunger.
She stiffened when Gale whistled by sharply in a flurry of dead, dried-up leaves. She stiffened even further when she learned that Kristoff was in danger. The same could be said of Matthias and Lieutenant Eamon.
She brought her fingers to her lips and whistled sharply for the Nokk.
She mounted the animal with practiced ease and formed an icy set of reins and a saddle.
The Nokk whinnied its defiance and used its powers to make water rise from the pond. She and the elements didn't waste any time as they rushed as fast as they could to aid Kristoff and his forces.
Part of her was angered and horrified to see Kristoff, Matthias and Eamon were the only survivors.
She let out a roar of defiance as she jumped off the Nokk.
Her anger fueled her attacks as she fought the enemy. She would either freeze them or unleash powerful, icy blasts to force them back or send them flying into the air. She didn't need to see that the other elements were aiding them in battle. She was soon engulfed by the frenzy of bloodshed and battle.
There was no time to think.
Even though there were constant waves of enemy soldiers and demonic monsters, she kept going.
She couldn't afford to stop for an instant. They kept on coming in relentless droves, but she didn't stop. She refused to give up as every second counted. Kristoff, Matthias and Eamon did their part.
She was too busy fighting to realize that Kristoff had stopped.
Nor did she hear his sword and shield clattering on the ground.
She grunted as she unleashed a powerful icy wave with a massive sweep of her arm. The enemy flew back, bringing the humans much needed breathing room. Her entire being focused on fighting the oncoming swarm.
She never noticed as Kristoff was impaled by a sword.
Nor did she see him collapse in a pool of blood after muttering something unintelligible.
Instead, she poured her all into the battle.
She became determined to triumph.
She never saw the attack coming.
One moment, she was hurling icy attacks in every direction. The next, she felt something large and painful hit her in the back. She was sent flying into the air and impacted against the nearest tree.
She fell with a grunt.
Her head was spinning and her vision was swimming. She slid to the ground, stunned.
All of a sudden, her hearing was muffled as she felt like her head was wrapped in cotton. Her head was throbbing and it was hard for her to focus. Absently, she pressed a hand to her throbbing head.
She brought her hand down when she felt something warm and sticky.
Blood?
Hers?
Why couldn't she focus?
Why was she so confused?
Then she felt another sharp impact as something hit her, hard, in the stomach. She grunted and reflexively wrapped her arms around her throbbing body. She felt the damage to her ribs.
All of a sudden, it was painful to breathe.
It was all she could do to stay awake.
It was as if she was witnessing everything from a distance. She could only glance up helplessly as a large boulder was hurled in her direction. She barely managed to dodge just in time.
But it cost her a lot of energy and focus.
Her vision continued to get more and more murky and blurry.
Adrenalin kicked in as she continued to dodge the boulders. But it wasn't easy, due to her throbbing head and her caved-in ribs. Blood continued to leak from her new wounds, draining her even further.
She could barely make out several large figures with eerily glowing eyes.
They were the ones throwing the boulders.
For some reason, she felt like she should know who these beings were. But she couldn't understand how. It was so hard to remember anything. Hell, she could barely remain conscious.
But she couldn't help the nagging feeling that she should know these figures.
However, this wasn't the strangest part.
Standing in front of the figures was someone wreathed mostly in shadow. It was hard to make out if they were male or female. All she knew was that they were human.
In their right hand, they were clutching a bloodied sword.
Just before she lost consciousness, she noted one thing: the person had red hair.