Elsa stepped aside allowing the numbers that rivaled an army's of rocks overtake Kristoff with a small smile of amusement. Some trolls tugged gently at the hem of her white skirts urging the woman along as they passed the clearing to a cave with a large and rounded entrance.
Elsa heard the chorus sounds of her name, Kristoff's and other excited exclamatory remarks that were drowned out by the cacophony their visit had brought.
Both Elsa and Kristoff ducked low to avoid being jab by the teeth of the stalagmites and stalactites that claimed the roof of the cave's entry tunnel. Crystals of varying sizes and colors lit the way in the same glowing semblance as the ones that hung from some of the trolls' necks, just larger and more luminescent, no doubt from being connected to their original sources.
Elsa was careful to not trip on the rolling boulders that filtered into the cave at surprisingly high speeds past her legs. Kristoff less careful maneuvers faired easier than she already past the low hanging ceiling into the dome mega-den of the trolls. Holes of varying sizes littered the walls leading to different rooms and sections. It always reminded Elsa of a anthill, alive and humming with life and constant activity. She lowered her head quickly as a speeding troll flew past her head ramping from one hole to the next.
The ceiling once inside was covered in moss and thousands of Panellus stipticus troops and other species of bioluminescent mushrooms.
Probably much safer, Elsa considered, to have overhead than crystals.
As Kristoff asked one of the older trolls about the whereabouts of Bulda and Pabbie Elsa's eyes trailed from him to a small young troll staring at her from his elevated perch on an actual stone. She grinned awkwardly offering a small wave. His gaze and smile didn't falter. "Can you help me to that ramp?" said the small voice. Elsa's line of sight followed to where he was pointing seeing the ramp he referred to to her left. "Um..." Her consideration of this was heavily influenced by his sweet and cute smile. "Ver-very well."
When Kristoff returned after going back and forth with one of his cousins in a terribly irritating guessing game they finally relented thus ending his suffering and rolled off to fetch Pabbie and Bulda. He smirked crossing his arms taking in Elsa's predicament. He heard her labored breathing from a few feet away. Her face beet red from helping one of the unexpectedly heavy troll younglings off the rock platform and onto a ramp. She turned to help the next, and then the next but paused before taking him into her arms. "Wait I just did you." He awed and rolled to the back of the line.
"Alright guys that's enough of your game." All the children booed and jumped off the rock dispersing the line filed. "Game?" Elsa gasped nearly dropping the child in her arms but instead placed him down gently.
She followed after Kristoff arms dead at her sides. "They used to pull that with me, I stopped at age twelve." Kristoff informed as they followed his cousin into one of the larger tunnels. Elsa nearly caught her breath, chest still heaving heavily. "He said he needed help to the other side."
"Elsa that ramp leads to nothing, the kids have access to all the places they are allowed to go." She groaned tiredly, her arms didn't even burn this much when she used excessive amounts of magic. Kristoff's smirk never died on his lips. He didn't look back at her expression which probably had her brows drawn together in confusion. "Why didn't you just use your magic?"
Elsa raised a delicate eyebrow, staring at the side of Kristoff's face. "He said my magic could hurt them, they don't have their crystals yet." she explained as if it was obvious common knowledge.
kristoff should have known.
He pulled back the moss curtain for Elsa to enter first, replying nonchalantly. "Another lie."
She stood there for a moment, her face placid and deceptively hard to read, a million conclusions could have been drawn up from her eyes alone, before entering with a small shake of her head.
Inside the smaller cave lay perfectly circular gours, connected like the roots of a tree. Much more intricately built crystals, larger ones housed smaller ones at the foot of the crystalline beds. Mossy beds housed different trolls completing different tasks, while adolescent trolls guided by those more mature than they held their hands over the crystal deposits till one shined at their proximity and was delicately plucked. The younger and now excited trolls followed the ones carrying the crystal away to a different room.
Bulda and Grand Pabbie overlooked the entire menagerie of small ceremonies with serene faces. The trolls as if sensing their presence turned to the two. Bulda lit up at what Elsa guessed was the sight of Kristoff but was corrected when Bulda rolled over enclosing four legs in a hug instead of two. "Elsa we haven't seen you in..." Bulda held up her stone fingers and began counting. She looked to Grand Pabbie who nodded softly, then turned back to the spirit supposedly settling on an unspoken number. "You shouldn't be a stranger sweetie."
Elsa smiled apologetically, her hands folded in front of herself when she glanced away. "Being a spirit kind of keeps me occupied most days, Bulda, Grand Pabbie. I'll try to make more frequent visits." She jabbed her thumb over her shoulder. "Not to play 'Help me from this rock to the ramp' with the little ones though." She ended in a chuckle. Both trolls joined.
Bulda nodded satisfied, then to Elsa's and Kristoff's Shock jammed a hard and somewhat painful finger into his knee. He yelped and rubbed it furiously. "And you Kristoff! What's your excuse?"
"Being a prince consort isn't easy either, specially when Anna has me read her letters while she signs papers." Elsa's not so well hidden wince and pursed lips had him starring narrowly at her. Her avoidance of eye contact confirmed she had something to do with the redhead's "ingenious" idea.
"Still Kristoff there's no excuse for you to not visit, we're your family too." Bulda reprimanded with a still pointing finger.
Kristoff aggrieved gestured to the deceivingly innocent looking Elsa, silently asking why her excuse was acceptable.
"And I'm guessing you came cause you need something." Bulda sharply pointed out while Pabbie chuckled quietly, holding his staff in both hands.
"Actually..." He began with a smug half smile. "Elsa is the one who brought something she needs you and Pabbie to look at."
Bulda and Pabbie looked to the spirit who half smiled and half cringed. "Well what did you bring us sweetie? I'm sure we can figure it out." Elsa wasn't certain of the unfair treatment that was parried in her favor but she wouldn't complain nor question it.
Kristoff balked and then sulked away mumbling. "I'm going to go play 'Help me from this rock to the ramp'."
Grand Pabbie gestured for them to sit on a moss bed. "Before I actually show you, I just have one question?" Both trolls regarded her with inquisitive eyes.
"What do you know of dragons?"
They both chuckled which for a moment had Elsa thinking she had made a foolish or ridiculous inquiry. It was when she recoiled slightly that Bulda rested a reassuring hand on her arm. Grand Pabbie spoke once composure was gained again. "Forgive us Elsa, it's just that asking such a question in that manner would be like asking you about the plant life of Arendelle, the enchanted forest, and all the surrounding land." It was true her fascination with fauna had inspired Elsa to keep track of the many different species of plants, flowers and trees, noting their heeling or poisonous properties. She now understood, it wasn't that her question was foolish, it was much too vague.
"My apologies, what do you know of dragons in Arendelle? If there ever were any." She hoped her rephrasing yield some results. Grand Pabbie looked down as if reminiscing about such a time. It was difficult to tell if the question made him feel repentant or simply nostalgic.
"There haven't been dragons in the northern realms for centuries. There used to be a age when they dwelt in all realms but the age of the dragonslayers had brought that time to a close." Elsa frowned. Not the most conceivably joyful of starts to this already bleak conversation.
"The North was the most aggressive in the war with dragons producing some of the most fiercest dragonslayers, dragons where not the blood thirsty monsters as they were portrayed as nor were their murderers heroes as the romanticized tropes in stories." Elsa's mind imagined the plethora of dragon books she read in hope to find some answers but they all began or started as more of the same. Dragon kidnapped princesses or terrorized town, knight or dragonslayer was employed to slay the beasts rescuing those plagued by them. All ended in the same outcome. Slain dragon. It rendered her heart in a constricting painful grip when she thought of her dragon. Elsa had seen firsthand intelligence, mischief, curiosity and fear in those eyes...
Her chest tightened as did her hands around her satchel. This did not go unnoticed by Pabbie or Bulda who shared a certain look.
"Already scarce the last of the dragons skaddadled east, where some worshipped them or other's revered their nature." Bulda added.
"Then what?" Elsa asked, leaning forward. "Are they still there?"
Grand Pabbie's grim eyes answered her question. Bulda resting a sympathetic hand on his back sighed. Elsa too felt commiseration for the troll. It was not lost on her how spectacular dragons were if her friend was anything to go off of, she didn't envy the troll who probably had to watch such an astonishing species be killed off by man's lust for death and glory. "Dragon slaying although not as popular in the East still resided there non the less. In the end the violent humans seemed to be the ones to decide their fates." A thick lachrymose over took the air that surrounded them juxtaposed by the giggles and idle chatter that filled the rest of the caverns.
A determination entered Elsa's eyes setting them ablaze when she silently decided that the fate of her friend's kin would not befall her. Her magic sizzled beneath her pores. Grand Pabbie and Bulda exchanged glances before sharing their visible bafflement with what had shook the woman's core and magic.
"I have possibly the last dragon with me in the enchanted forest." Bulda gasps turned into a high squeel clutching her hands to her cheeks happy tears pooling in her eyes. Pabbie did not seem so convinced as Elsa met his apprehensive stare with her own resolute one. "Are you sure child? How can you be sure? Perhaps you have mistaken them for another."
But Elsa remained absolute. "I don't know of any other being with wings that breathes fire." Instead of confirming this only bewildered Pabbie even more. "Wings? Fire? No dragons from the East breathe fire or have wings."
Elsa shrugged at a loss until the other spoke lifting her moral. "Western dragons do! More specifically ones from the North, South and West!" Bulda chimed in, clearly she was not willing to barge Elsa with doubt of the possible Dragon's existence. She took both her hands firmly speaking with the most conviction Elsa had ever heard from her. "Elsa the life you are tending to is very important, there are perhaps many who would wish to capture them or harm them, control them!" Elsa nodded understanding perfectly what the Troll woman meant, she tried to move to reach for the arrowhead satisfied that this segued perfectly into her next question, but her hands were still held ransom.
"And precious," Pabbie contributed moving in closer toward the hunched woman. "Dragons are creatures of pure light, they brought a balance to the world that it has not experienced in a long, long time. Eastern dragons bringing water and life, and yes even Westerners which were thought to only bring fire and death. They all had a light inside them that took form of either fire or water when released from their bodies, that could not only destroy but heal and create as well. If what you say is true Elsa than you may not only be the protector of Arendelle and the Enchanted forest but the protector of the last Dragens lys."
Elsa's mouth parted slightly as she absorbed every bit of the information given no matter how overwhelmingly daunting it was. Pabbie chuckled at her mesmerization. As if breaking a spell she shook her head and retrieved the green Arrowhead from her white satchel. Once retrieved she hoped that a sign of recognition would show in the trolls' eyes as they looked on at the weapon closely but saw none so she went on explaining carefully.
"I found this embedded in the dragon's leg last night." This brought a grim expression to them as Bulda more delicately than she needed picked it up holding it even closer to her face. After two minutes she handed it off to Grand Pabbie who had his hand outstretched.
"This is Kanji." He said rubbing his chin. "The stone is Jade." He continued his examination without much more explanation so Bulda stepped in.
"Kanji is the Japanese alphabet, these here mean Mikoto, I'm not sure what the crest means, I've never seen it before." Elsa was taken aback glancing at the arrowhead squinting if only to catch another glimpse of it as it was carried away by Grand Pabbie to a better light source. "Jade is a very strong stone- stronger than steel- found in China."
"This weapon is very odd to have been found in what-"
"I described to be an Western dragon. An unsettling Peculiarity indeed." Grand Pabbie and Bulda both look impressed by the woman who also now stood and began pacing.
"Unique weapons like these were treasured for their hardness and ability to pierce a dragon's hide."
"It means either the dragon has traveled a great distance and encountered an experienced dragon hunter in east to which they'd most likely follow her here," Elsa had drawn in her arms hugging herself as she wrung her hands, her loose braid now trapped between her body and arms. "Or they traveled here all the way from the East looking for her. Both possibilities-"
"Very very very bad." Bulda finished. Elsa looked up at Grand Pabbie who also seemed to be in deep methodical analysis of the situation albeit more quietly.
"Elsa we must protect her and the enchanted forest, no doubt an experienced dragonslayer would see you and the the spirits as prizes as well." Elsa nodded in agreement before she could turn and leave in haste Bulda gripped her sheer blue skirt. "There are many nuances to housing and associating with a dragon Elsa, no Doubt Grand Pabbie she'll need someone to-"
"Bulda wishes to visit so she can see the magnificent bringer Of light under the guise of giving you lessons about Dragons and the intricateness of their societies." He approached with a much warmer smile for now impish Bulda, that gleamed with a playful fondness.
"I'd appreciate a few lessons disguised under any intention from you two." Elsa admitted, it seemed she was completely inept on those intricacies, feeling some anxieties this visit had brought quell down at the idea of the two much more experienced trolls taking over the situation.
"We will meet you in a week once this class of younglings have settled into their crystals, do you think you can keep her safe and healthy until then Elsa?"
Elsa was very tempted to ask if they truly both had to stay but did not want to give the impression unreliability on a task as great as this. Taking a breath she nodded twice. "I better keep this here for research," Grand Pabbie stated placing the arrowhead away in his moss cloak. "Hopefully by the time we venture to the enchanted forest I'll have answer for you."
Elsa surged forward down the tunnel, fixing her satchel on her shoulder to discover Kristoff had indeed been playing with the younger trolls. Elsa caught his eye immediately, spotting her he grunted placing the boulder baby down who booed simultaneously.
Before leaving Elsa constructed a small ice slide they could easily climb gaining their cheers and possible place as their favorite visitor. She and Kristoff ran through the entrance. "You just have to keep making my family like you more than me eh?" Elsa's giggled echoed through the tunnel as they raced towards Sven who bellowed a greeting and Sleigh.
"Onward Sven!" Elsa heroically exclaimed pointing Northward after jumping in enthusiastically. Her newly acquired role as protector of the Dragens lys fuelling her dramatic flair.
She hadn't however realized that Kristoff was not in the sleigh but taking out a troll child stowaway.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" He cursed as he ran after them.
Elsa glanced back then turned forward to Sven. "Oh, stop Sven." The reindeer huffed annoyed but complied. Without having heard the request the sleigh halted causing Kristoff's momentum to shoot him forward into the trunk flipping onto his back.
Elsa guilty, hunched her shoulders as he grimaced and crawled over the seats into the front. "Sorry." She apologized quietly.
"No you're not!" He said indignantly, cracking his back then spurred on Sven who double checked that everyone was on board this time. "Oh I'm getting old."
A swift light smack to his arm followed the comment. "What?"
"We're the same age." A slightly vexed Elsa pointed, out placing her hands gracefully on her lap.
"Oh right of course... Well you're getting old."
With a flick of her wrist swift justice was served to her cheeky brother in law who complained about his now frozen hair.
