Chapter 2:

Emerald Eyes

The path to the four peaks was strange to say the least. It seemed as if no one had ever crossed through this trail, nor cared to. The further, deeper and higher they went the more Elsa realized that Honeymaren was right. It was just endless wilderness, not even the Northuldra's own camp site could be seen by this point. Even she was starting to have her doubts now.

"Are we almost there yet!" Called out Elsa as the twins continued to lead the way up the grassy yet rocky hill.

"Almost!" Called out Honeymaren as the reindeers jumped over a fallen tree. It must have gotten Honeymarens attention because when she noticed the fallen tree she immediately pulled on the reindeers leash so it could hault.

"Whooaaaaa, easy girl." Said Honeymaren while petting her reindeer as she jumped and quickly turned her attention to the fallen tree.

Elsa and Nokk quickly haulted as well as they watched Honeymaren slowly but carefully approach the fallen tree.

"What, what is it??" Said Ryder as he and his reindeer made their way to Honeymaren and Elsa.

"The tree..." she muttered.

"What about the tree?" Asked Elsa.

"It's been cut down." She said as she knelt down and started to run her fingers gently through the chipped barks.

"Perhaps the lightning struck it." Suggested Elsa.

"No." Responded Honeymaren with a serious tone. She yanked a small piece of the tree bark and held it up for her brother and Elsa to see. "Lighting doesn't cut a tree down in such a perfect line."

Elsa and Ryder's eyes widened. "Let me see that." Said Ryder as he grabbed the tree bark from Honeymarens hand. He held it up to his eye level, using the afternoon sun for a better glimpse. "She's right..."

Elsa jumped off the Nokk this time as she made her way to them.

"Look." Said Ryder as he held up the bark tree for Elsa to take. "Perfect line, just as she said."

And indeed it was. Elsa could clearly see it and feel it herself. Remains of sharp-edged barks, only what kind of powerful weapon could do such damage, especially to a large tree like that?

"Perhaps it was someone from camp? Trying to gather some wood??" Suggested Elsa as she continued to study the bark.

"No one from our tribe comes around these parts, Elsa." Replied Honeymaren. "Besides, we don't possess any sort of item or weapon that could cut a tree down to that extent."

"Could it be... the man from the shadows??" Whispered Ryder dramatically as he and Honeymaren stood behind Elsa who continued to study the chopped bark.

Elsa continued to stare at the bark, remembering what Gale had told her. You have to see for yourself.

"Only one way to find out." Said Elsa as she tossed the bark back to the ground and started making her way to Nokk.

Ryder's eyes widened.

"Wait... you're not seriously going to try to find him, are you?" Said Ryder with a nervous chuckle as he followed Elsa worriedly from behind.

"That's exactly what I'm gonna do." Said Elsa as she adjusted her side bag as secure as possible.

"What!" Exclaimed Ryder with surprise and fear in his voice.

"Good idea." Came his older sisters voice from behind him who was approaching with two staffs in her hands. "Ryder and I will scope the grounds while you make yourself up to the four peaks."

"Wait, time out!" He exclaimed again as he brought his hands up. "We can't go like this!"

"What do you mean?" Asked Elsa as Honeymaren stared at her brother with a surprised yet somewhat annoyed expression.

"We're not prepared!"

"Sure we are! We have our staffs and we have Elsa. Now stop being such a baby and let's go." Said Honeymaren as she threw Ryder's staff to him which he caught clumsily.

"But... But—"

"Come on, Ryder! You should be happy, you were right! There is obviously someone living in these parts. Aren't you curious to find out who it is??" She chuckled as she punched her brothers arm teasingly and led the way around the ground site.

"Fine..." he said as he started following Honeymaren.

"Be careful you two." Elsa called out as she watched them leave.

"Likewise, don't hurt anyone!" Teased Honeymaren in return as she and her brother disappeared and turned the corner leaving Elsa and Nokk all by themselves.

Elsa turned her attention up to the four peaks and inhaled deeply as she started to move her fingers and wrists in different directions while at the same time popping each knuckle as if she was warming herself up in case she needed to use her powers.

"Nokk, I'll be right back, okay?" She said as she petted the water spirits forehead.

The water spirit neighed in response to Elsa as he dipped down in a respectful bow. Turning her attention back to the mountain, she began to walk her way up to the dark path that would eventually lead her up to the four peaks.

She understood now why nobody liked coming through these parts of the forest. It was too quiet, the wind was a lot harder and there would be occasional dust storms due to the high altitude.

She could even hear the howling of wolves in the air. The whole environment was rather uncomfortable and there was fog. Just too much fog. She grabbed ahold of her cown hoodie tighter so the air didn't hit her face. She didn't mind it being cold, she just needed to hide her face so she could see where she was going.

The further she went down the dark and deserted path, the more she realized that there were more trees that had been cut down and marked.

She brought her hands closer to her chest, her ice just barely being held back. The howling was growing louder and the trees seemed to be closing on her more. She could hear little critters crawling beneath her feet and the fog was up to her eye level now.

She stopped in her track as her eyes studied what she noticed. Just right in front of her where the path ended was a dead end and on the other side was the mountain. The four peaks. There was no way of getting across unless she created a bridge made of ice.

Her mouth slightly parted in awe. She knew the four peaks were big from what she could tell, but seeing up close was like seeing a fjord for the first time. It was large and the rocks were as dark as the night skies.

"Why would anyone want to live up here..." she muttered to herself under her cowl.

Suddenly a loud noise of crunching autumn leaves began to come through the dark hill opening from behind her that made her gasp in fear and turn around.

There was no one there but the crunching sound continued. She even noticed the sound of small critters and wolves were growing louder the more she heard the crunching leaves. Her eyebrows furrowed as she started to look around. The crunching sound of leaves grew even louder and she started to hear light footsteps just like Ryder had described it in his story. Her heart beat slowly as it began to to build up and she could sense a presence growing near her.

The strong wing had begun to bring dust from the ground up soon enough the trees were all shaking uncontrollably and she could see a few wolves from the shadows run away as if they were afraid of someone coming their way.

But Elsa wasn't the scared Queen from 3 years ago. She was the protector of the enchanted lands, the fifth spirit. And she wasn't going to coward this time. So instead she marched towards the direction the animals had fled from with as much courage she could summon.

She brought her hands up to her shoulders, ready to attack whatever it might be that was behind the large bush where the wolves had fled from but to her surprise... there was no one there.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she slowly brought her arms back down again. She could have sworn she heard something. Why else would the wolves flee? Even when she hadn't demonstrated her powers to them yet. She turned to leave until her left foot suddenly sunk into the ground, almost losing her balance.

Confused by what had happened, she looked down to her left boot and was surprised to see that she was standing in the footprint of a large boot.

Her eyebrows pressed together in surprise at seeing what she encountered as she studied the imprant. She slowly kneeled down and ran her fingers through the dirt, she could tell right away that the foot imprant was fresh, as if someone had just been in her exact spot not too long ago.

"A man..." she muttered to herself. The last time she'd seen a footprint this large was with her fathers boots. It had to be a man, there was no way a woman could make a track that large, unless that woman happened to be Kristoffs height and weight. And last time she checked, the Northuldran didn't wear boots, especially ones made of leather.

The sound of cracking leaves caught her attention again, and this time it was louder and clearer. She lifted her eyes up cautiously as she started to gaze around her, trying to see if there was someone or something.

She stood up on her feet and the sound of leaves immediately stopped. Whatever it was it felt it as if it was just behind her not too long ago. Her heart was raising but she was doing everything remotely possible to conceal it all.

With one deep inhale she opened her eyes and quickly turned around to face whatever she would be met with. But to her surprise no one was there.

Her eyebrows pressed together again and her expression grew worrisome yet confused, completely unaware of what was going on, she could have swore she had just felt someone behind her.

She was getting annoyed now. Frustrated, she shook her head in disappointment. Honeymaren was right, nothing but wolves and critters here. But then again, why was there an imprint of a mans foot on the dirt? And just as she was was going to turn around to give up and find Honeymaren and Ryder, it happened.

WHOOSH!

A loud yet fast sound made her gasp as she turned to the direction of the sound. There she saw what could only be described as a dark figure running so quickly through the forest that she couldn't even get a glimpse of it's face.

Panicked, she threw her hands up and summoned a wall made of ice to stop his flee but to her surprise he only jumped over the rather tall ice wall without a problem and landing on his feet gracefully.

Shocked by what she just witnessed, she summoned with her magic another ice wall in front of the figure only this time it was moving forward with the same amount of speed as his running towards him in hopes to stop him. But instead the dark figure jumped and in mid air kicked the ice wall so hard that it shattered into pieces.

Elsa's eyes widened with awe and fear at seeing the figure destroy her wall and continue to run and disappear into the forest. Never had she ever imagined that was possible. Without wanting to lose anymore time, she quickly sprinted after the figure before he could disappear again.

—

"Sooo, you aren't creeped out at all?" Asked Ryder as he held his wooden rod close to his chest. The Northuldran twins were still patrolling the grounds.

"Why should I be?" Replied Honeymaren with a proud smirk as she continued to lead the way with her rod resting on her shoulders. "This is our home, isn't it?"

"Well yeah but we don't visit these areas— whoa!" He exclaimed suddenly as he saw a nearby bush shake, but it was just a squirrel passing by. "Maybe we should go back."

"Ugh come on Ryder! You were the one that convinced Elsa to come up here. Now we're here. You should be happy, you were right!"

"I was?"

"Yes! There's obviously someone living here. You were right, Ryder." She smiled at him and slapped her brothers back proudly.

"Yeah..." Said Ryder as he shook his head in agreeance slowly. His expression finally realizing what his sister said. "I guess I was right, huh?"

Honeymarens smile slowly drifted away. "Okay—"

"Huh, I was right!?"

"Okay Ryder..."

"Looks like I'm the smart twin after all, huh??" He smirked at his sister proudly.

She glared back at him with annoyance. "I hate you."

WHOOSH!

The sound made both Ryder and Honeymaren gasp and stop dead in their tracks as they looked around to see what the noise was.

"Did you hear that??" Whispered Honeymaren until she was distracted again by the same noise.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Both of them quickly stood close with their backs towards each other for protection. They brought their rods up with the ends pointing out, ready to attack whatever that noise was.

The noise grew louder and louder and they started to hear fast footsteps and even noticed the large bushes in front of them moving rapidly and approaching them faster and faster.

"Get ready Ryder." She whispered to her brother. Honeymaren slowly brought her rod up to her eye level, ready to strike whatever it was until suddenly—

WHOOOOOSH!"

The noise came from over their heads and as they glanced up they were able to see a figure of a man or a person who was in mid air and jumping over them. The figure landed gracefully to his feet on the other side of the forest and wasted no time to rise up and run away.

HoneyMaren was about to charge and hit the man until she herself was hit instead. Or rather tackled.

OOF!

Elsa had collided against HoneyMaren trying to chase the dark figure so hard that they both fell into the ground leaving a stunned Ryder speechless as he stared at the two women on the ground who were hissing in pain.

"Well this is awkward..." Said Ryder.

"Uhh." Groaned HoneyMaren as she slowly got back up while trying to hold her head in place. "Elsa?"

Elsa hissed in pain as she stood on her feet and holding her left arm. But she wasn't going to lose him, so she avoided everything that was possibly hurting her at the moment and went back to chasing the figure.

"Elsa! Wait!" Called out Honeymaren as her friend disappeared into the forest, trying to catch up with the figure. "Come on, Ryder. She needs our help!"

And so now all four of them were running deep into the forest. Elsa was trying to catch up with the dark figure and the Northuldra twins were trying to catch up to Elsa.

Elsa was huffing in tiredness. She was a fast runner, she knew that already but whoever it was she was chasing was faster. But her adrenaline was over the roof as her fists clenched even tighter as she started sprinting even faster now.

He wasn't stopping, that Elsa figured out because the dark figure was jumping over every boulder, trees and even ditches. He was determined to outrun her.

That's when it hit Elsa, there was only one way to stop the stranger and that meant she needed to throw something at him. So she began to create a large icicle in the length of the Northuldra's rods but with no sharp edge at the end.

The dark figure was now approaching the dead end where the four peaks were just on the other side. She knew there was no where to run for him so this was her chance.

He ran up to a tall boulder and jumped back down to the ground. Elsa followed his example and did the same as she too jumped from the boulder but in midair she finished creating the magical icicle and threw it as hard as she could to the figure like she had been trained to do so by the Northuldra.

But just as the dark figure was going to jump and disappear into the dead end, he turned around to face Elsa and caught the icicle with his left hand, not even pushing him an inch off the cliff.

Elsa's eyes widened in shock as she stopped dead in her tracks. She was not expecting that. And what was even more shocking to her was that she could now see how he looked like.

His clothing and armor was dark and worn out with a long cape that reached past his knees. A hoodie covered the top of his head so she couldn't see his hair and Elsa could see several powerful weapons, including a musket that was tied to his back and a pistol on his side. But what surprised her was the she could only see his eyes.

His green eyes.

So green that they were emerald.

His glare was serious and cold and that partially had to do with the half face mask he had on that was covering the bridge of his nose and down. But his skin was fair. He glared at her as if he was staring right into her soul.

Her head tipped slightly to her left as she began to study his stare. His eyes looked familiar, too familiar... maybe it was his dark attire that made his emerald eyes stick out more more but she felt as if she'd seen them before in a dream or in another reality.

Stunned and unable to even come up with anything to say, the man spun around in a full circle and hurled the icicle back to Elsa with so much force that when Elsa caught it with both her hands it pushed her whole body back a couple feet backwards.

She looked up again at the strange yet haunting figure who was staring at her again before he quickly jumped off the cliff and disappeared into the fog where the four peaks were just in the other side.

"Elsa!" Came the sudden voice from Honeymaren as she and her brother were running towards her just a couple feet behind her.

Elsa didn't move a muscle, or even respond for that matter. She stood speechless with the icicle in her hands as she stared off to the shadowy cliff the figure had just jumped from.

"Elsa, are you okay!?" Said Honeymaren as she and Ryder made their way to the snow queen.

Ryder followed Elsa's eyes and stared at the shadowy cliff and then back to a speechless Elsa where she had the the large icicle in her hands.

"What happened??" He asked.

"I... lost him..." Replied Elsa darkly and with a hint of fear and shock in her voice. Not turning her attention away from where the figure disappeared just seconds ago.

Honeymaren and Ryder shared a look to each other before she stepped forward this time and placed her hand to Elsa's shoulder to grab her attention. "Come on, we should go back."

Elsa eventually agreed and turned around with the Northuldran twins as they headed back to the reindeers where they had left them tied near a tree. Honeymaren didn't bother asking Elsa what happened or what she exactly saw that had left her so stunned and speechless. Not even Ryder dared ask her which was surprising.

But that didn't mean she would eventually.

—

They were just about to arrive to camp when Honeymaren tugged on her reindeers antlers so it could stop. She turned around to Elsa who was on top of the spirit horse with her head facing the four peaks again. She was in deep thought.

Honeymaren turned to look at Ryder who only shrugged back at her. Not even he knew what had caused Elsa to feel this way.

"Elsa?" She started with a sigh. "Everything okay?"

Elsa pressed her lips together before turning to look at them. "I'm just... thinking."

"About what you saw?" Said Honeymaren.

"Yes."

"And what did you see exactly?" Added Ryder.

"I have no idea." Sighed Elsa. "But I know it was a man."

"Hah! I knew it!" Exclaimed Ryder until his sister shot him a deathly glare. "Sorry..."

"You saw his face?" Asked Honeymaren.

"No. He had it covered from the bridge of his nose down. But his skin tone was fair, and his eyes... his eyes were green."

"Green?" Asked Honeymaren with a confused expression.

"Emerald." Said Elsa more sure this time.

"Did he hurt you?" Asked Ryder.

"No, actually." Elsa looked up to the four peaks again with the sun that was starting to set. "He just threw the icicle back to me, the one I tried hitting him with and then he just—jumped."

"Off the cliff??" Asked Honeymaren.

"Yes." Replied Elsa with a hint of frustration in her voice.

"So he was a shadow then." Said Ryder.

"No, no." Responded Elsa quickly. "He definitely wasn't a shadow, but he wasn't one of ours either. His clothing and his armor seemed to come from a different kingdom, as if he was in the military or something."

Honeymaren but her lip and inhaled deeply. "We probably shouldn't mention this to Yelena, not yet anyways."

"What? Why not??" Retaliated Ryder. "We just proved the man from the shadows exists, we saw him!"

"Exactly my point, Ryder! Can you imagine how she'll react? And the children?? They'll be scared half to death. We can't tell her yet, not till we find out what he is in the first place." Said Honeymaren.

"I have to go back and find him." Said Elsa with determination.

"And we will, but not tonight. We need to rest. Tomorrow early morning we will go after him, I promise."

Elsa wanted to reject. She wanted to go now, but Honeymaren and Ryder know this forest like the back of their hands, it's their home.

"How do you know he won't come and attack us here??" Asked Ryder.

"He wouldn't dare. He's outnumbered compared to us. And it seems he's just a one many army, right Elsa?"

"Yeah, it seems that way anyways."

"Remember, not a word to anyone yet." Said Honeymaren as she looked at both Elsa and Ryder who nodded in agreeance. "Come on, it's supper time."

The Northuldra were already setting up a fireplace with many others who were cooking up supper. Reindeer meat with vegetables.

"Ah, there you three are. I was worried that you would all miss supper." Said Yelena as she greeted the three friends.

"Pfft! Nonsense! You know I'm always up to eating, especially when you share your legendary stories." Said Ryder as he patted Yelena's arm lovingly.

"As much as I admit my stories are legendary, I'm afraid tonight I will only be telling one. My throat is a little sore today." Replied Yelena as she greeted Honeymaren with an embrace.

"No worries Yelena, I'm sure Ryder will take care of the rest tonight, even though most of them are just fairy tales." Said Honeymaren as she followed her brother back to camp.

Chuckling at the twins, she turned her attention back to Elsa.

"And you, how is the fifth spirit doing? Did you have a adventurous day again??" Asked Yelena as she greeted Elsa who was dismissing Nokk back to the waters.

"You can say that again..." sighed Elsa tiredly.

Yelenas eyebrows furrowed. "Something the matter?"

Elsa smiled and shook her head. "Nothing's the matter, all is well. Just had a rather long day today, looking after the forest and all."

If there's one thing Elsa hated it was lying. And it only frustrated her more to admit that she was very good at it.

"I understand." Said Yelena smiling at Elsa. "I do hope you're hungry, we have lots of supper to give out, I'm sure that fire spirit friend of yours would love to join too."

Sure enough, Bruni was already making his way down from a nearby tree as he jumped into the palms of Elsa, stretching and relaxing himself.

"I'm sure he will." Giggled Elsa. Her smile slowly faded away as she noticed Gale floating just in the other side as of she was waiting for her.

"Excuse me a moment." Said Elsa as she gently put Bruni down. "I must speak to Gale about something."

"Of course, we'll be waiting for you." Said Yelena as she watched Elsa walk towards the wind spirit. Yelena never questioned Elsa, she didn't need to. She had a huge amount of respect towards her, being the fifth spirit and all.

"Gale." She started as she approached the whistling wind spirit. "We need to talk."

Gale whistled back with softness, it was obvious she was worried how Elsa would react.

"Why didn't you tell me there was a man living here??"

Gale whistled in return.

"Because you were waiting for the right moment?? That just—" she sighed "I'm sorry Gale, but that just doesn't make any sense to me."

Gale whistled in agreeance.

"Is he dangerous?"

Gales whistling made Elsa's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"That's up to me to decide? Why??"

Another shy whistle from Gale.

"It's complicated??" She sighed in frustration. "Okay fine, fair enough. At least your being honest with me. I'm going back out to try and find him tomorrow morning then."

—

As supper came and went, Elsa soon found herself in her hut, massaging her sore left arm from the collision he had with Honeymaren. She looked up to the millions of stars in the skies. Something she loved doing before going to sleep. Never had she seen so many until she moved here.

She looked to her left side where there was a piece of paper and pen. She hadn't written Anna this week, she sat up reached over to grab the pen and paper but soon enough dropped it back to the ground after starting at it for more than a minute. She didn't feel like writing at the moment, especially responding to her millions of questions regarding her wedding theme which she still hasn't decided on.

She laid her head back down on her bed and found herself thinking over and over again about the confrontation she had with the mysterious man.

Who was he?

Why was he here?

How long has he been living here?

Did the spirits let him in?

And his eyes... his emerald eyes kept appearing in her thoughts, and as much as she tried to think of something else she couldn't.

Because those emeralds looked familiar.

And so she ended up falling fast asleep.

Fun fact: The Four Peaks are actually inspired by actual mountains from Arizona, where I live.

No joke! Search it up yourself!

Hope you guys are enjoying this story, please feel free to leave reviews, they motivate me to write more.

Till next time!