'Elsa!' Anna's piercing scream sent a jolt of panic searing through Maren's chest. She whipped around instinctively on the narrow stretch of earth, just in time to see Anna reach out her hand in attempt to snag a staggering Elsa.
Elsa was falling.
Falling…
It happened so fast—between heartbeats—and Maren's mind couldn't catch up with what her eyes were seeing. Elsa was lurching towards the water, and Anna had not been able to reach her. Time seemed to freeze, Elsa was falling, and Maren was powerless to help her. Her immediate and only instinct was to dive into the acidic water after Elsa, and she nearly did until—
'Kristoff!' Anna shrieked, just as an alarmed Kristoff materialized behind Elsa. He quickly stepped forward, snagged her under the arms and pulled her into his body, supporting her weight as she sagged limply.
Kristoff had caught her.
Maren let out a long sigh of relief—but all she could hear was a thudding heartbeat behind the rushing in her ears.
'Elsa…' Anna croaked, and started moving towards them.
'I've got her, I've got her. Anna, calm down. Take a deep breath and turn around—carefully. Don't come this way.' Kristoff spoke calmly, but there was panic and tension in his eyes. He hadn't moved, was still easily supporting Elsa but looked desperate, as though he realized he couldn't catch Anna should she too slip.
Maren's brain finally caught up with her actions. Kristoff had Elsa securely, she was certain of that—and now he needed her help.
'Anna.' Maren injected calmly, despite her own shaking hands. 'Anna, Kristoff has her. Just come slowly this way, we need to get off the lake before another tremor hits.' Anna stopped in her tracks, the apparent realization of Maren's words hitting her. She was still frozen, still staring at Kristoff and Elsa, so Maren dared to move in her direction. They had to stay calm, Anna had to stay calm. She had to get Anna off this lake. Now.
'Anna c'mon.' Maren said softly when she was near enough to touch her. Kristoff seemed to relax upon seeing Maren close in, then lifted Elsa into his arms.
Anna turned to face her, her eyes terrified and wet with tears.
'Follow me carefully but don't stop, let's get out of here.' Maren encouraged with a calm intensity, never taking her eyes from Anna's. Anna took a breath, seemed to regain focus and nodded resolutely.
Maren never stopped, never looked back despite how desperately she wanted to check on Elsa. She kept the pace, slow yet steady, kept her eyes focused on Bruni while begging the spirits that there would be no more surprise tremors.
She was in the zone, a sort of trance like tunnel vision she fell into when hunting or fighting or doing anything that required a great deal of focus and precision. Instances where failure was not an option. She could sense Anna and Kristoff silently following on her heels, so she kept going until wordlessly, tensely, miraculously they made it across the treacherous lake.
As soon as they were across, a gust of wind picked up, blowing the toxic fumes away and allowing them all to finally breathe clean air.
Gale.
Kristoff laid Elsa down, and Maren was beside her in an instant, searching frantically for a pulse and letting out a sigh when finally she found it.
'What happened to her?' Kristoff asked through labored breaths and fits of coughing. Anna had pulled Elsa's head onto her lap and was trying to shake her awake. Maren hesitated—unsure how to answer his question.
Anna looked up, fear and confusion in her eyes. 'The fumes?' She implored, her question verging on desperate—as if she knew it was more serious than that, but by sheer force of will, could make it not be so.
Maren couldn't do it. She couldn't look them both in the eye and lie about this—not now.
'No.' She answered flatly, meeting their eyes with a dreadful feeling of sadness and remorse. Both stared at her with a mixture of confusion and anticipation, waiting for her to elaborate.
'The Vættir.' She answered despondently, hating the sound of that word on her own lips. 'Using her powers has started to drain her strength.'
A long pause, then: 'What—already?' Anna hissed in shock, her voice nearly breaking again.
Maren nodded solemnly, there was nothing more to be said.
A mixture of emotions flashed across Anna's face in rapid succession: hurt, anger, sadness, pain, fear, then possibly—understanding? Her features softened, and though she said nothing, it seemed some form of fiery determination rekindled anew within her.
'Elsa wake up.' Anna stated firmly, then continued to gently jostle her. 'Wake up.'
Maren was momentarily confused by Anna's quick shift in mood. It was clear she was upset—perhaps that Elsa had kept yet another secret from her, but more likely, because her sister was dying. Maren shook her head and pushed that thought away.
'Elsa, you have to wake up.' Anna pleaded, again with a determination as though she could will it into being using words alone. And to Maren's surprise, it worked.
'Els, hey.' Maren said with a smile when Elsa's tired eyes found hers. 'You ok?'
Elsa nodded and sat up, which sent her into a coughing fit. 'Take it easy.' Maren urged and rubbed her back.
Elsa glanced around at the three of them staring intently at her as she gained her bearings. 'I'm fine,' She announced finally, without meeting anyones questioning eyes, then ran a hand over her head—a nervous habit Maren noticed she did whenever she did not want to talk about something. 'I'm sorry, I think these fumes just got to me. Is everyone alright?'
They all nodded in response and Maren chanced a glance at Anna who remained silent, her expression unreadable. Anna's uncharacteristic silence caught Elsa's attention too.
'Anna what's wrong?' Elsa questioned, a look of worry on her face. Anna's stern expression softened at Elsa's words and she let out a breath.
'Nothing. You scared me, that's all.' She said, shaking her head and reaching out a hand towards Elsa. 'Let's just, hurry out of here, please.' She added exasperatedly, then helped Maren pull Elsa to a wobbly stand.
Elsa stared at Anna for a long moment, then pulled her into a tight hug. 'You scared me too.' She said simply, then released her. A stray tear rolled down Anna's cheek, but again she remained silent, glancing down and brushing it away.
'Well both of you scared the daylights out of me.' Kristoff chimed in, folding his arms across his chest. 'Then again, what else is new?' He added sarcastically, raising a displeased eyebrow at both girls. Maren chuckled, understanding exactly where he was coming from.
'I second that.' She added before grabbing Elsa's hand and squeezing it. Elsa threw her an apologetic look, squeezing her hand in return. Maren found herself staring at Elsa, trying to gauge those eyes for just how unwell she really was feeling.
'I'm fine, really.' Elsa whispered with a reassuring smile. 'Quit worrying.'
Maren shook her head with a sigh, if only Elsa knew how impossible that was.
'Look,' Elsa said, changing the subject and pointing towards Bruni who was bouncing in front of the cave opening. 'We're all keeping Bruni waiting, let's not be rude.' She added, pulling Maren towards the opening. Maren heard the faintest snort come from Anna as she and Kristoff followed them into the dark crevice.
Once inside, it was apparent that Gale's help was dwindling. The fumes resurged with a vengeance, and the deeper in they ventured, the worse it became. The darkness also began to swallow them the further away from the entrance they moved—which is when Maren's anxiety started to creep in.
Suddenly she felt trapped.
She tried a few deep breaths as Elsa had taught her, but all she sucked in were the toxic fumes that made her want to gag. The heat was becoming unbearable too, and it took everything she had not to turn around and run out of the cave.
Elsa must have sensed this, because suddenly the air around them all cooled to a more pleasant temperature.
'You don't have to do that, please.' Maren choked out quietly, not wanting Elsa to waste her strength.
'It's ok don't worry, just try to focus on the coolness and my hand in yours.' Elsa whispered near her ear. Maren did as instructed which did seem to help a bit, but the darkness was still oppressive.
The only light by which they could see was Bruni's little glowing body, alight with pink flames as he led the way—it began to feel like the dark walls were closing in on her.
At least, that's how it seemed at first.
As Maren's eyes adjusted to the darkness, she realized in awe that there were liquid blue flames licking their way up the sides of the cave walls.
Blue fire? How was it possible?
The eerie sapphire glow filled the rocky corridor, illuminating just enough so that they could see where they were going. Between Elsa's cool presence and this new light source, Maren was able to get her mounting panic under control.
'Have you ever seen anything like this?' Anna mused aloud.
'I never knew fire could be this beautiful.' Elsa added, glancing around in wonderment. Her wide eyes were practically glowing—alight with the reflection of the sapphire flames. Fire burned within those icy eyes, and indeed, Maren had never seen fire look quite this beautiful.
'Me neither.' Maren added, still staring at Elsa who found her eyes and smiled. Even the ice crystals on her tunic refracted the strange blue light in such a way that seemed as though she was radiating light. A beautiful light in this very dark place, and Maren couldn't help but smile.
'Woah Elsa you're glowing!' Anna chimed in, her mouth hanging agape. 'Your eyes look kinda creepy though.'
'So do yours.' Elsa chuckled. 'Let's keep going.'
So they pressed deeper still, following and trusting where Bruni was leading them until—he led them to a dead end.
'Ok Bruni.' Anna said, placing her hands on her hips. 'Now what?'
As if in answer, Bruni slithered off and disappeared though a small tunnel near the floor, leaving them all in the dim blue firelight.
'Oh. Ok.' Anna said with a shrug.
'Not ok.' Came Kristoff's voice from the dark. 'I can't fit through that.'
'I'm not even sure we can.' Maren said, bending low to assess the tunnel. Upon inspection, she realized that she, Elsa and Anna could fit through, though Kristoff would likely get stuck. The idea of shimmying into that tight space sent a wave of nausea over her.
'Yes we can, easy.' Anna said confidently. 'I'll go first.'
'Ah, no.' Elsa said, quickly snatching Anna by the arm. 'We have no idea what's on the other side. I should go first.'
'No.' Maren announced, her voice echoing in unison with Anna's.
'Yes.' Elsa rebutted defiantly. 'My powers—'
'Are weakening aren't they?' Anna shot back, cutting Elsa off. Uncomfortable silence permeated the cave for a long minute. 'Elsa stop lying about this, I could feel the temperature fluctuating bizarrely while we were walking in. It's because your powers are waning, aren't they? Tell me the truth.'
Another long pause then simply: 'Yes.'
Anna took a deep breath. 'Ok. Thank you for being honest, no, you know what Elsa I'm just so—' Anna cut herself off and sighed. 'It doesn't matter. Let's just get though this so I can yell at you later.' She rambled in irritation.
'I'm going first.' Maren added sternly, putting an abrupt end to this little feud. 'Then Elsa, then Anna. Kristoff, depending on how hot it gets once Elsa leaves the area, you may have to wait for us outside. You won't fit through there.' Maren finished, eager to get on with it and not waste another moment of Elsa's strength.
Kristoff paused, seeming uncomfortable with the idea of leaving them, but nodded in answer. 'I'll wait here.' He added simply.
Elsa shot her a displeased look but did not argue with her instructions.
'Wait for me to get all the way through. I'll send Bruni back once it's clear there's no danger.'
'Be careful.' Elsa breathed, worry flickering in her glowing eyes.
Maren nodded, then bent down to crawl into the tunnel. Panic hit her immediately when she realized what a truly tight squeeze it was going to be, but started shimmying herself through anyway. The quicker it was over the better.
Up ahead she could see Bruni's glow around the bend, which eased her somewhat. If there was one thing she had, it was faith and trust in the spirits. Bruni would not lead her astray. So with that, she pushed on as fast as possible, using her forearms to claw herself forward while digging into the soft ground with her toes.
Around the bend the tunnel opened up and she could see light that did not belong to Bruni. She exhaled upon realizing that this tunnel was markedly shorter than she'd anticipated.
As she pulled herself out, cool air and the smell of mossy earth greeted her. To her surprise, she had emerged in a large canyon like cavern, which held a massive underground lake—and this lake was filled with monolithic crystalline structures shrouded in misty steam.
Crystal shards of white with hues of blue, purple, turquoise and pink jutted out of the lake like spears—criss-crossing with each other at odd angles like interlocking fingers. Patches of sunlight streamed down from small holes high in the cavernous ceiling, reflecting off the surface of the lake and irradiating the misty steam that hovered above. Moss and ivy clung to the rocky canyon walls, cascading down like green waterfalls. The lake reflected a pristine image of the mossy crystalline landscape above, permeating the illusion that the cavern was endless.
Maren stood speechless at the amazing sight, never before had she seen a place quite as magical as this.
'Els, can you hear me?' She called down the tunnel, pulling her eyes away from the mystical chamber.
'Yes!' Came Elsa's echoed voice. 'Are you alright?'
'Yep, come on, you have to see this!' Maren called excitedly. 'It opens up just around the bend, it's not a very long tunnel.'
Moments later she could see Elsa's blonde hair emerge from around the bend. Elsa was taller than her, and seemed to be struggling to wriggle herself through. So when she was close enough, Maren reached for her and helped pull her the rest of the way out and into her lap.
'Hello there.' Elsa said with a smile, blue eyes gleaming up at her. They were no longer glowing, but now sparkled in the sunlit canyon.
'Hello.' Maren smiled, then leaned down and kissed her deeply, unable to stop herself. 'You need to see this place.' She whispered finally, her eyes still closed as the lingering effects of the kiss overcame her. Elsa opened her eyes and Maren smiled, then helped her to a stand.
'Look.' Maren said, turning Elsa to face the crystal lake. Elsa's mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide as she took in the cavern.
'It's beautiful… it reminds me of Ahtohallan.' Elsa said absently, her eyes still roaming over the crystalline surroundings. 'I think we're definitely in the right place.'
'I agree.' Maren responded and turned back towards the tunnel to call for Anna. To her surprise, Anna was already coming around the bend.
'Ugh!' Anna's voice echoed from the tunnel. 'Agh, Maren help me, my stupid boot is stuck and it's really hot without Elsa!' She bemoaned.
Maren chuckled and reached for her hand. Elsa was beside her in an instant taking hold of Anna's other hand. They both tugged on her arms as Anna kicked her foot loose, then they slid her out of the hole.
Anna lay on her back on the sandy earth catching her breath. 'Well, I guess it's good I didn't go first.' She said finally between labored breaths, splaying her hands out on either side of herself. Elsa smirked and shook her head.
'Ok up we go.' Elsa said as she and Maren hauled Anna to a stand, turning her to face the lake.
'Woah.' Was all Anna managed to get out, her mouth agape as her eyes fixated on the crystals. She blinked several times in silence and then: 'It looks like Ahtohallan!'
'Thats what I thought too.' Elsa responded. 'The only difference is that I don't see the fire crystal.'
'Hm,' Anna mumbled. 'Where did Bruni go?'
'Over there.' Maren pointed towards a crystal jutting out of the wall on their left. Bruni was perched on it, his fire flared when he noticed them watching. Then he quickly jumped onto the wall and skittered into a small crevice. He came back out, flared again, then slithered back in. Clearly that was where they needed to go, but it was just a crack in the wall. It was amazing Bruni even fit through.
'Ok we definitely can't fit though that.' Anna stated plainly and folded her arms.
'There must be another way.' Elsa added, her brow furrowed in thought.
'Under.' Maren spoke on instinct, suddenly understanding what Bruni wanted her to do. 'There must be a way through under the water.' Maren wasn't sure why exactly that thought had come into her head, but somehow she knew it was right.
Sure enough, as they approached the bank of the lake, below the crack where Bruni had escaped, appeared to be an underwater passageway. It was perfectly visible through the crystal clear water—as to where it led, was anyones guess.
'Another tunnel.' Maren muttered. Was there no end to the tight spaces she would have to scuttle through on this day? 'I'll swim down there and take a look.' She announced and started to remove her tunic.
'Wait wait wait.' Elsa's voice stopped her. 'Let's make sure this water isn't like the lake outside.' She added with a raised eyebrow, then turned towards the shore and began scouring it for something.
'Is this what you used?' Elsa asked, holding up a white piece of coral that she found amongst the stones.
'Yep.'
With that Elsa moved towards the shoreline and dunked the piece of coral into the water. She held it there for much longer than Maren had done outside, then smiled and pulled it out of the water for all to see. It was entirely unscathed.
'I think it's fine.' She announced and tossed the coral aside. 'But unfortunately it's much too hot. The steam nearly burned my hand until I cooled it. So I should be the one to swim down there.'
'Elsa.' Maren said somberly and walked over to her. Elsa met her eyes with a puzzled expression. 'Do you really feel that you're capable of swimming down there, while keeping the water cool?'
Elsa blinked and hesitated, pulling her eyes away from Maren's, which answered the question for her. 'I know you aren't strong enough right now Els. Let me do it.'
Elsa huffed a sigh and returned her gaze to Maren's—her eyes full of fear. 'I don't want you going down there. What if I can't keep the water cool enough while you're in it?'
Maren took a breath. That was a very real possibility, but in this instance there was no other choice—it was her life or Elsa's, and she chose Elsa's. 'Elsa I trust you, and I love you. We have to try, this is the only way.' She could see in Elsa's eyes that she knew this was the truth, even as she began to shake her head.
'No…' Elsa said barely above a whisper. 'I can't…'
'You can. And you will. We will, together.'
'Maren maybe I should go instead. I'm a pretty good swimmer.' Anna tried, but Maren shook her head.
'Anna your head injury is still too new. I have the best chance. Stay here with your sister and keep her alive. Keep us both alive.' Anna nodded but said nothing, yet Maren could sense the fiery determination emanating from her again.
With that Maren finished removing her tunic and kicked off her boots so that all she was left in was her undershirt and pants. Elsa was still staring at her with eyes so pained that it broke Maren's heart to witness. She took Elsa's hand and walked them forward to the waters edge, Anna followed close behind.
Elsa closed her eyes as a tear rolled down her cheek, then opened them and found Maren's eyes. 'I love you.' She said in a whisper.
Maren leaned forward and kissed her then, deeply, longingly, lovingly—trying to memorize and ingrain the feeling upon her soul, in case this was the last time.
'I love you too, always.'
'Always.' Elsa whispered, then released her from the embrace and turned towards the water.
'Be careful.' Came Anna's voice and Maren turned as Anna pull her into a hug.
'Anna if something happens, get her out of here. Get both of you out, promise me?' Maren whispered near Anna's ear. Anna pulled away from her then, a deep sadness in her eyes and grave nod in answer.
'Are you ready?' Elsa asked, her back turned to them while still facing the water.
'When you are.' Maren answered. Elsa took a breath and suddenly Maren felt the temperature drop. Not as drastically as other times when Elsa had done this, but the air was definitely much colder.
Maren watched as Elsa slowly made her way into the water until she was knee deep. The water around her hissed and fizzled, but did not freeze and the steam around her began to dissipate.
'Test the water first, make sure it's not too hot or too cold—my senses are always skewed when I do this.' Elsa stated.
Maren did as asked and dipped her hand in to find that the water was pleasantly cool. 'It's perfect.' She announced, then waded in until the water was halfway up her thighs.
She turned around to take one more look at Elsa. She was standing with her eyes closed in concentration, her arms outstretched towards the water. A sunbeam arced down on her from above and Maren smiled, capturing that image and fixing it in her mind. Elsa then opened her eyes, smiled a small half smile and mouthed 'hurry.'
Maren did not hesitate. She nodded, turned, took a deep breath and plunged head first into the clear depths.
The cool water washed over her as she dove, kicking hard down, down, eventually landing at a pace that would conserve her energy. There was always something oddly calming about being in water, the sensation of peaceful weightlessness helped her focus as she glided through a silent world of translucent blue water and colossal crystals.
Or maybe water just made her feel closer to Elsa.
Down.
Down.
Down.
As she approached the narrow tunnel, she could see light streaming down from the other side of it, which indicated there would be somewhere to surface. Her downward angle leveled off and she swam parallel to the ground, grasping onto the rocky walls of the tunnel to pull herself along. Several large crystals jutted out of the wall, criss-crossing and blocking the already narrow path. She maneuvered down, up and around just barely squeezing past them, again pulling herself along using anything she could grab hold of—but she was running out of air. Her lungs were burning and her arms and legs were already beginning to fatigue.
But the light was getting brighter, and she was finally able to begin her ascent—one final kick off the rock wall should do it.
Almost…
Maren's head burst to the surface, her heart racing and lungs gulping down air. The hole through which she emerged was not much larger than her body, and she clutched the side of it as she caught her breath.
Large crystal shafts jutted out of the walls at every angle. As she pulled herself out of the small hole, she realized that she was in small cylindrical cavern, very narrow and very very tall. At the top, light streamed down from a small opening.
The entire shaft was laced with crystals—they impaled the small chamber, criss-crossing far above her head and imbedding themselves in the walls. Even the floor seemed to be made of low stepping crystal platforms—four in particular, each surrounding her.
As she neared one of them, it became clear that there was a diamond shaped inscription embossed on it—she recognized it as the elemental symbol for water.
Then she moved around to inspect the other platforms and as she suspected, each had the other three elemental symbols inscribed on them. She came to a stop near the fire symbol and ran her fingers over it, wondering how these designs came to be, or by whom they were made. Was it the woman from the visions? The previous fifth spirit?
Elsa's spirit…
One thing was painfully clear though, there was absolutely no sign of the fire crystal. She sighed. Perhaps magic was needed, if these designs were any indication, this place was probably activated similarly to how Elsa activated Ahtohallan. Perhaps Elsa should've been the one to come here after all, and not her—what was she supposed to do now?
Maren turned back towards the hole from which she'd entered and for the first time, realized that it was shaped like a four pointed star—the fifth spirit symbol. Whoever or whatever designed this place clearly had spirit magic, and it was obviously designed only to be accessed by others who wielded spirit magic.
Elsa.
As Maren approached the watery hole, intent on going back for Elsa, something was different. Steam was rising out of it and Maren's heart leapt up into her throat—the water was hot and if the water was hot, then Elsa…
She threw herself onto the ground near the hole and dipped her hand in, recoiling quickly and hissing in pain. The water was nearly boiling—far too hot for her to swim back.
Maren quickly started to panic—what had happened? Had Elsa simply taken a rest? Or had something worse happened… Was she now trapped in here…?
Don't panic.
Maren took a deep breath and tried to focus. She glanced upward, perhaps she could climb her way out… but it was so high—she had no idea if she could make it or not.
The water suddenly started bubbling and spilling over the edge, which surprised her, as even the lake hadn't done that—and it gave her an uneasy feeling.
What was going on?
In her volcano research with Elsa, hadn't she read about things like this? Steam vents, geysers or lava shafts? Her heart sank realizing this cylindrical cavern matched those descriptions almost exactly. She backed away from from the hole, starting to appraise her surroundings for the best path to start climbing out, when Bruni suddenly materialized. He bounced around on the crystals, then on her head and finally, landed on the fire symbol platform.
He flared his flames and Maren had the sudden instinct to go stand on that platform. So she walked the short distance and stopped just short of it. Bruni skittered up her body and perched on her shoulder.
Go on! The thought came into her mind so suddenly that she turned to Bruni as if he had said it, which was of course ridiculous. Nonetheless, she stepped up onto the platform and stood atop the fire symbol.
Immediately the four symbols began to glow and a ray of colored light arced from each one, a pink ray shot through her chest and met the others in the center, right over the boiling hole. Maren watched in awe as the steam over the hole started to glow pale pink, slowly becoming brighter and brighter until—a small diamond shaped crystal materialized out of thin air.
It hovered over the hole, suspended by the four beams of light. Maren blinked several times, making sure she was witnessing this correctly. The crystal remained suspended and so she stepped off the platform and walked over to it, concluding she was indeed not hallucinating.
As she neared, the fire symbol flashed within the pinkish crystal then was gone in an instant.
It was the fire crystal!
The steam above the hole was punishing, and she realized she could not stand there for long, so instead of reaching for the crystal, she placed her hand beneath it and in her mind, asked for permission to take it.
As if in answer, it dropped instantly into her hand and the beams of light receded. Maren staggered backwards away from the blistering steam and bubbling water and looked down at the crystal.
Finally. The last piece they needed, and it lie in the palm of her hand.
How odd that it felt as though it were pulsing, emanating some type of energy that felt—alive. She was accustomed to feeling other peoples auras and energy, but never had she felt such a pure and powerful life force as what was emanating from this crystal—the closest energy to this that she had ever felt before, was Elsa's. Therein she concluded that the crystals harnessed some form of powerful spirit energy, and if the four were brought together—well, she couldn't begin to imagine what might happen.
Suddenly a burst of steam and water shot straight up and out of the hole, startling Maren and blasting her backwards. She threw her arms up to block her face, but the force knocked her down, and she landed hard on the crystalline floor.
For a moment she thought she was fine, but then her arms started to sear with burning pain. She winced in pain and looked down at them—they were raw and red with blistering burns. The parts of her that were clothed seemed to be fine, but she needed to get out of here before that happened again.
She sprang to a stand and slipped the fire crystal in her pocket, then started scrambling up the nearest crystal, Bruni once again leading her. With no real plan in mind, she climbed the crystalline spears as if they were tree limbs—scuttling up one then boosting herself up onto the next highest.
Higher, and higher.
Maren was a skilled tree climber, but this cavern was taller than any tree she had ever climbed—and she had no idea if she could make it to the top or not. Again she put her trust in Bruni, following the path he was taking ahead of her. At least if she got high enough, perhaps she could escape another blast of steam or boiling water.
Higher and higher she climbed, until the crystal branches she was climbing on abruptly came to an end. She chanced a glance downward, a fall from this height would kill her instantly. The steam was again rising rapidly—which meant something must have gone wrong with Elsa. She quickly shut that thought out and tried to focus. Bruni had skittered up onto the wall—the cavern had narrowed this high up, and she could possibly climb the rest of the way if she too scaled the rocky walls. She had climbed cliffs before, though never at this height, but what other choice did she have?
With that, she moved to the wall and started feeling around for stable rocks that she could grip. Luckily the walls were craggy enough that finding decent footholds was not exceedingly difficult. So she dug her toes in and gripped the rocks with her fingertips and started slowly scaling her way up, ignoring the searing pain in her arms.
The steam was rising again, making the walls slick with moisture and the temperature dangerously hot. Maren was struggling to catch her breath and had to stop, clinging to the wall as she tried desperately to figure out what to do.
Her mind slipped into a strange meditative state as she focused, an almost out of body dissociation—her thoughts turned to her mothers in that moment. Had they been rock climbing when they disappeared? They loved to climb and hike together and though she never had gotten an answer as to how exactly they disappeared, in her mind she'd always imagined that they'd had some form of rock climbing accident.
Perhaps now, that would become her fate too.
When she opened her eyes, Bruni was right in front of her face. You can do it! The little voice in her head cried. The fact that she now felt the need to speak for Bruni the way Kristoff and Ryder spoke for the reindeer was disturbing in its own right, but that was the least of her problems right now.
She glanced upward—she was almost there, she had to get there. She didn't want to join her parents just yet—she wanted to stay with Elsa.
The pressure was building below her again, and she could sense that if the steam erupted again it was going to be massive and she would not likely survive it. But she was also terrified that if she made a move to go higher, her wet hands would slip on the slick walls.
Just then, as quickly as the steam had built, it subsided.
Elsa…?
Maren couldn't think of that right now, her toes and fingertips were slipping and she was scared. 'Aughhh.' She cried out in frustration. 'Not yet, not yet…'
In that same moment, a strong gust of wind blasted down from the sky above, instantly drying her hands and surrounding walls. The gale force wind caused her to lose her footing, however she quickly regained it and clung to the suddenly dry wall.
Thank you Gale.
Maren had a second chance now, and she did not hesitate—she scaled the rest of the way up as fast as she dared, and eventually reached the top. With her feet planted firmly on the rocky wall, she threw her arms over the top, and took in her surroundings—she'd emerged on the highest peak of this caldera. On one side was the lake, on the other, craggy mountain peaks.
Glancing down there was nowhere for her to go—a near vertical slide down the mountainside. She clung to the edge, having absolutely no idea what to do. The steam was at it again, she could feel the energy building below her and building fast.
Please don't erupt now. She clutched the side of the peak, hoping that the steam would recede again, but this time it didn't and suddenly her legs felt like they were on fire. It was too hot, she was going to get burned again. So she did the only thing she could do—clambered up the rest of the way and slid her legs over the outside of the peak. She let her body hang down the slope, clinging to the edge with only her fingertips.
Just then a tremor rocked the peak and a burst of steam blasted out of the hole from which she'd just emerged. She cried out in desperation to hold on, but ultimately couldn't do it. Her arms were too weak—and the steam had burned her hands.
She lost her grip, and began to slide down the side of the volcano.
Kristoff fell to his knees before the acidic lake, drenched in sweat and coughing profusely from the fumes. He couldn't catch his breath. Without Elsa, the heat in that tunnel had been so oppressive that he had had to sprint out of the cave, or risk passing out. He prayed that Elsa was ok, because he knew that the girls may not make it out of there without her. He stayed on his hands and knees, staring at the ground as he caught his breath, trying to formulate a plan.
His purple crystal swung from his neck and dangled right in his line of sight and suddenly, he had an idea. An insane idea, but these were insane circumstances—and this idea might just work. A few more deep breaths and then he was up, moving once again back across the acidic lake.
He crossed it swiftly and clutched the crystal around his neck that Pabbie had given him.
They will call to you.
Pabbie's words about the elemental crystals rang in his mind. Call to you. And the crystals had indeed called to each one of them. Then—were they somehow alive? He could feel some type of heat or power emanating from the crystal, which he knew wasn't unusual for crystals. All the crystals the trolls possessed felt like this in some form or another—but he had never felt one as powerful as this.
Then there was the incident on the way here with the earth giant. He'd dismissed it at the time, but now wasn't entirely sure. He had sensed that earth giant before any of the girls had—not because his senses were particularly gifted, but because he had sworn that he'd heard a voice. That way. It had spoke in a low tone—but it had been inside of his mind. He'd assumed it was just his own thoughts—but then the giant had pointed out the correct direction as if to reinforce the message. Was it real? Was he crazy? Was the earth giant speaking to him somehow? Admittedly it didn't feel very different from reading what Sven wanted without using words—and Elsa had been able to hear a voice that no one else could that turned out to be real, so perhaps this wasn't any different. Perhaps the crystal Pabbie had given him had given him some sort of connection to the earth spirits?
He couldn't deny how connected to the mountains he had always felt anyway—growing up with the trolls in the valley and eventually living on his own up there. To him the mountains had always felt alive, felt like home. Perhaps he had always had this connection…
This was the logic he was running with, which really wasn't sound logic at all yet somehow it felt right—and it was all he had to go on. Elsa after all had a deep connection with Nokk and Anna already had animated conversations with Gale on the regular—which of course he'd assumed was just in her head. Then again, maybe it was? Was it so far fetched to think he could have that with the earth giants? He had after all, witnessed many a crazier thing in his lifetime.
Please come, we need your help! He called in his mind, gripping the earth crystal in his hand.
He made it to the other side of the lake and started to sprint towards the valley. When he finally rounded the boulders and made it down to the valley, he stopped dead in his tracks.
There, towering above, already walking across the valley directly towards him, was a single earth giant.
'Maren!' Elsa yelled again and tried once more to crawl back towards the boiling lake.
'Elsa stop.' Anna said again and grabbed her sister by the waist, easily holding her back from flinging herself into the water. 'You've already tried too many times, you're too weak right now.' And it was true. Her sister had passed out not long after Maren had disappeared under the tunnel, and Anna had had to drag her out of the water before they both got burned. It took far too long for Elsa to regain consciousness that first time, which scared Anna to death—and then she kept attempting to cool the water again and again, which would work for a short time before Elsa would collapse again and again.
Anna glanced at Nokk standing stoically in the steamy water, watching them both with deep soulful eyes. Elsa had summoned her to go check on Maren, and when she returned, Elsa somehow knew that Nokk had not seen her. Anna chose not to entertain the idea that Maren was dead, but instead, that she had found another way out.
'I can't leave her in there.' Elsa whispered, finally breaking down into tears as she sat on the sandy earth. 'Why don't you ever work the way I need you to!' She shouted in anger, glaring at her own hands, then smacking them down on the sand. She looked so broken and defeated, and it broke Anna's heart to see her like that. So she pulled her sister into her chest as she cried, holding her tightly.
'Elsa, Maren may have found another way out of here. We can't stay here, we should go look for her.' She said it as much for Maren's sake as she did for Elsa's. If indeed something happened to Maren, they still had to find the fire crystal and get to the Sieidi, or she was going to lose her sister too. 'Come on, we still have a duty to save Arendelle and the other magical creatures—Maren would want you to remember that.'
At that Elsa peeled away from her and turned two tear filled eyes on Anna. Then she nodded slowly and rose to a stand.
For the briefest moment, Maren was certain she was going to die. Many things flashed before her mind, Elsa, Ryder, Anna and Kristoff, Yelena, her mothers... Elsa. The forest and the spirits... Daisy and her unborn calf—Rune. And as the parade of people she loved marched through her mind, a great sorrow overcame her—she wasn't ready to die yet—but she was sliding down the side of a mountain with no way to stop.
But then, as suddenly as she'd slipped, she felt her feet hit solid rock and she went stumbling backwards. Two hulking arms caught her around the middle, stabilized then released her. She spun around, baffled by what had just happened, to find herself face to face with Kristoff.
'Kristoff…what?' Maren tried, unable to piece together what had happened or where they were. Then, behind Kristoff, she saw the towering head of an earth giant—she glanced down then back up at Kristoff. 'Is this… are we…on an earth giant?'
'Yep. Where are the girls?' He asked nervously.
'Still inside, they didn't come this way.' Maren answered and gestured towards the cliff she had just tumbled down.
'Ok, hold on then.' He stated and pulled her down to a sitting position. He squatted next to her and patted the palm of the earth giants hand. 'Alright buddy.'
At Kristoff's command they were suddenly flying through the sky. The earth giant's arm was moving and they were being lowered down to the ground on the far side of the lake.
The giant laid its hand gently on the ground so Kristoff and Maren could easily slide off.
'Kristoff were you—how did you find me? Can you communicate with them?'
'Apparently I can. I was trying to use him to make an easier path back across the lake for you all, when I saw you up there.' He said simply, then his brow creased in concern. 'Maren what happened to your arms?' She looked down at her raw, burned skin and winced.
'Steam burns—but, look.' Maren reached into her pocket and pulled out the fire crystal.
'You found it!'
'Yes, but Anna and Elsa still think I'm trapped inside. We have to go back in and get them.'
'Come on sis.' Anna breathed as sweat dripped across her brow. Her arm gripped Elsa's waist as she dragged her through the scorching cave tunnel. The heat was unbearable, and Elsa was barely staying conscious after several attempts at trying to cool the temperature around them. Anna had kept talking to her to keep her awake, but Elsa was only mumbling incoherent answers, and Anna's energy was starting to flag. Her head was pounding from the injury or maybe the fumes—and with Elsa's arm slung over her shoulder, she was supporting most of her sister's weight.
'Almost there…'
'I let her down Anna…' Came Elsa's quiet voice. 'Let you down, I failed everyone… Why can I never do anything right?' At least she sounded more alert, more like the sister she knew.
'Elsa you didn't let anyone down, come on we're almost out of here…'
They were close enough to the entrance that Anna was able to feel Gale's presence as a cool breeze swooped in and blew the fumes away from them, helping Anna clear her head. Like an old friend, Gale always seemed to know and show up exactly when Anna needed her most.
Almost there, almost…
'Anna!' Kristoff's voice echoed from up ahead. Then he was running towards them, Maren not far behind. Anna let out a sigh of relief.
'Kristoff!' Anna called back. 'Maren! You're ok!'
'Maren?' Elsa's voice sounded even more coherent and she extricated herself from Anna's grasp. 'Maren!' Elsa cried when she saw her running towards them. Her arms and hands were wrapped with strips of cloth and Anna wondered what had happened to her.
'Elsa.' Maren breathed when she was upon them, and pulled Elsa into her arms. Anna smiled at the sight. Kristoff grabbed her hand and together they all emerged from the heated cave.
Once they were out Elsa fell again, but Maren broke her fall and together they sat on the ground holding each other. 'Maren I'm so sorry…' Elsa mumbled. 'I couldn't… and I thought… I thought you…' Her voice broke and trailed off.
'I'm here, I'm here and I'm fine.' Maren reassured, tipping her forehead to touch Elsa's.
'You're hurt…' Elsa whispered, noticing the cloth strips that looked very much like bandages. Parts of Maren's neck looked red and raw too as if—as if she'd been badly burned.
'Elsa I'm ok, and look.' Maren said with a smile and reached into her pocket. Anna's eyes went wide as Maren produced a small pink crystal.
The fire crystal!
'You did it.' Elsa breathed and placed her hand over Maren's own and the crystal. Then her sister leaned in and kissed Maren. Anna smiled at the sight, then turned away and let Kristoff wrap her in his arms. She rested her head on his chest and breathed a sigh of relief that they were all still alive, and had found what they came here for.
A loud thud echoed behind them, startling Anna and causing them all to turn towards the source of the noise. Anna broke away from Kristoff's embrace and her mouth dropped open at what she saw. Staring at them from the other side of the lake, was a monstrous earth giant.
'What's it doing there?' Anna verbalized her confused thoughts aloud.
Kristoff looked down at her with a guilty smile. 'He's our ride.'
A/N: Hi everyone, it's been a minute! Life gets in the way, you know how it is. I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone for the wonderful comments and say how thankful I am that you are all so invested! Also I have every intention of finishing this fic, I have each final chapter planned out exactly, it's just a matter of writing it out. I hope you'll enjoy it, I can't wait for you all to read it!
Also I recommend this music as you read the chapter, it has a very mystical crystal cavern vibe: Phendrana Drifts Piano cover by Lara6683 on the youtubes.
And, blue sulfuric fire is a real thing and I think it's so cool! You can look up videos of it, Kawah Ijen is a famous volcano that has it.
As always I hope you're all staying safe and sane out there. Take care!
