Elsa's hand paused before it touched the library door's handle.
"What's wrong?"
She glanced down the empty hallway to her right before turning to Maren's confused expression.
"Nothing," Elsa whispered before gently leaning in to softly kiss her lips, "I just wanted one more second alone."
They both smiled as she pulled away. She lightly gasped as a hand suddenly pressed against her back, sending her the stumbling step forward, and Maren drew her close once more. Their lips were much hungrier this kiss.
Elsa thought she could get used to the idea of being locked in one's bedroom again. She had truly contemplated that reality this morning. Sadly, duty called.
When they again parted, Maren's coy smirk incited a roll of the eyes. The soldier adjusted her uniform, stood straight, and primly gestured to the door.
"My Lady."
Elsa tried to mask her smile, cleared her throat, and opened the door.
Books lined every speck of wall space in the library save the fireplace and the wall lined with windows. Elsa found not much had changed here, recalling her last visit when she finally learned to properly communicate with the other spirits. Without the stress of impending battle, it was easy to imagine curling on the loveseats or couches with a book.
Tea cups, a kettle, and plates of various cookies and biscuits littered the table in the center. Crumbs leading across the wooden surface straight to where Olaf sat on the floor indicated where many of them had met their demise.
Kristoff sat in the chair to the side, perusing a novel. Anna lounged on one of the couches, leaning against an armrest, leafing through bits of parchment. Elsa noted her outfit was a rather muted teal dress in comparison to the eccentric tastes she had seen thus far. The queen's hair, however, was stacked precariously high in a grand, twisted bun of sorts, appearing almost like a top hat.
Anna looked up as they entered, grinning. "Good morning. Sleep in?"
Elsa returned the smile as she started waking to the sitting area. "Yes."
"Odd," she commented nonchalantly, looking back down to the papers in her hand, "When I sent the staff to wake you, they didn't find you in your room."
Elsa froze in place midstride. "Oh? And?"
Her sister shrugged, still looking at the parchment. "Just interested in your morning, if the castle's accommodations are what you remember."
She swallowed, standing a bit straighter. "They were quite accommodating."
"And you, Maren?" Anna's eyes flashed to the woman standing at attention behind Elsa.
"Extremely accommodating, Your Majesty," Maren replied smoothly, odd expression in place.
"You're sure? Not too cold?" The devious mirth was practically oozing from Anna's pores.
Maren's lip twitched into a small smirk as she quipped, "I enjoy the cold, Your Majesty."
Elsa groaned loudly, pressing a hand to her forehead. "You two are the worst."
The queen's barking laughter now filled the room. Kristoff too was grinning madly as he shut his book. Maren looked utterly too pleased with herself.
"It's still way too easy to embarrass you. I'm glad last night went well," Anna giggled, gesturing to the couch across from her, "Come sit, both of you."
Elsa looked incredulously to Maren, who winked. She couldn't fight the little smile that now appeared on her own lips. As they settled on the sofa, Anna tossed her papers to the table.
"So, we've done our advertising and flashed you in front of the whole world. Morale is high, allies have opened their purses, and our enemies are quaking. Now we need a battle plan," she surmised, crossing her arms and reclining back into the couch, "I met with the top generals and discussed Maren's reports from Halvor and Arne. We're the magic experts. And the enemy seems to use the same kind of magic. Then there's this matter of old frozen soldiers when Elsa's magic hits them just right. There's something we're missing."
Elsa looked from Anna to Kristoff. "Have you consulted the trolls?"
"They were the ones that tipped us off about the silver," he answered, leaning on the arm of his chair, "Apparently our ancestors used it against curses or undead. They can remember bits and pieces of the past and sense magic, but they have no memory of dark magic actually walking around like this."
Elsa frowned. The spirits' collective knowledge still came up blank on the likeness of any Shadows throughout their history, and she had been meditating quite profusely on the subject since Halvor.
Following the silence, Anna waved her hands histrionically, closing her eyes. "Let's start from scratch. What do we know about the history of spirits in general?"
Everyone then turned to Maren, who opened her mouth to speak, but Olaf eagerly jumped atop the table, excitedly rambling, "Elsa comes of age, finally masters her powers, awakens the other spirits. Spirits are super angry, act all crazy. Elsa tames them. Elsa goes spelunking. Elsa finds out the truth, dies. I die. It was tragic. And then Anna breaks the dam to restore peace amongst the spirits and the people and, oh, we all come back to life again!" Olaf triumphantly finished a pantomime with a dramatic flourish of his branch-like arms.
A recollection of emotions swept up Elsa's frame. Anger, doubt, guilt…
She spoke up, "Now that I can feel them, the initial revenge of the spirits wasn't just a conscious decision. They were...corrupted somehow," she continued, trying to put vague sensations into words, "They felt sick all that time when the forest was behind fog."
She tried to focus on the fireplace nearby to clear her vision of the haze that settled. Fog. Forest. Fear. Whispers kept creeping through her mind.
Maren nodded, tilting her head thoughtfully. "What if you fixed a symptom, not the illness? What if the spirits are still sick somehow? Maybe that would explain your headaches again?"
Elsa shook her head, still staring at the mantle beside them. "I feel fine, it's just...We feel…" she trailed off before suddenly asking, "Is that Mother's shawl?"
Her eyes immediately focused on the magenta fabric draped across the mantle of the fireplace. A few statuettes, picture frames, and candlesticks lined the surface to hold it in place, but she could still easily identify the patterns she had known since childhood.
Anna offered a sad smile as she replied, "I couldn't bring myself to wear it after you left. Turned it into a display piece of sorts."
While she spoke, Elsa stood and approached the decor in question. Her fingers traced the detailed embroidery of the abstract snowflakes lining the edges. Maren had once explained the meaning of the pointed runes, the four that surrounded a central entity. Elsa herself.
And yet, despite years of observing her mother wearing the shawl, she suddenly felt as if she was looking at the cloth through new eyes, now narrowed in thought.
The design also clearly bore two dots on either side of each star-like image.
Elsa turned to the others, magically producing a small snowflake that hovered above her palm.
"Did you know, while all snowflakes are unique, they almost always contain six points?" she stated factually before exterminating the spell and gesturing back to the mantle, "There's more than just the four runes here."
Maren frowned in confusion. "There's the center, the fifth element. You."
"Well, yes. But here?" Elsa pointed to the two small purple dots.
It could easily be a simple artistic liberty, an embellishment by the weaver. However, the mathematical precision and architectural quality of ice did not lie. A shawl descended from an old Northuldran family would certainly take pains to maintain accuracy, wouldn't it?
Six. Yes, Elsa believed now this was what laid beyond the fog of her mind, even if she still could not see it.
The silence in the room told her she was not the only one.
"Impossible," Maren mumbled, eyes wide in awe and disbelief.
Anna raised a skeptical eyebrow. "Are you saying there's two more crazy powerful spirits running around we just never knew about?"
"What moves through the elements? What gives the spirits our magic?" Elsa proposed, drawing a line with her finger to connect the dots through the center of the pattern.
Why would they be illustrated differently than the main runes?
Anna nodded to Maren, arms still crossed. "What does Northuldra say?"
Maren pondered for a moment before explaining, "A lot of our traditions were erased after your grandfather attacked. We lost so many people, and we pass down most of our history orally. Everything has always been mysterious myths since then. There's some stories, songs..." she trailed off somewhat defeatedly before rapidly snapping excitedly to attention and exclaiming, "Wait. The lullaby! 'River of memory.' That's it!"
"Lullaby. So babies?" Olaf interjected from where he sat directly on top of the table, mouth full of biscuits.
Maren shook her head, a smile widening as she looked to Elsa. "No. Time."
Time. Elsa frowned. Time had not been terribly kind to her lately.
The Northuldran rattled on, gaining momentum and excitement, "Why else were you frozen for five years? And able to see the past when you first entered Ahtohallan with the help of Water? Time must be an entity we're dealing with here."
Visions from the night of the fjord swam forth.
The supreme storm, the grand wheel, Elsa at its center, struggling to maintain balance of the spirits around her unleashing their energies.
They were still unbalanced, still unable to see what laid at the opposite ends, beyond the fog, tipping the scales. The other awakened three struggled and strained to see with her.
Sick, still sick. Six.
"It's possible," Elsa conceded for now, raising a hand to rub her temple that began to pulse and ache.
Anna hummed in thought loudly before declaring, "Assuming you're correct, then there's another."
Maren hunched forward, elbows on her knees, deep in thought. Elsa, even with her headache and worries of war, fought a smile at how giddy she looked to be debating the philosophical theories of magic.
"The main five are physical. We can interact with them," Maren reasoned, pointing at Elsa as an example, "Time isn't, or at least, we can't really see it. This other spirit is across from Time. So it probably isn't either."
She huffed, resting her head in her hands and glaring at the carpet. Anna and Kristoff shared a look. Elsa glanced back at the shawl to try and inspire ideas before Maren launched to her feet, almost knocking Olaf from the table.
"I'm an idiot," she promptly announced, then she whipped around to one of the walls of books.
Elsa glanced at Anna, who only shrugged. Maren was crawling on the floor now, inspecting the bottom shelf.
"Your father's notes," she announced over her shoulder, "He also speculated not just the source of your magic but its function."
Maren paused in her motion of shuffling like a crab on the floor to explain, "The spirit of spirits itself, like energy. Aether. The quintessence of life," she rambled intently before turning back to the stacks, "It's in his journals around here somewhere."
Elsa frowned. "Why did you read those?"
"She was looking for clues on magic and how to find you, silly," Anna chided gently from the couch.
Oh, right. She really had to stop being surprised at her lover's persistent dedication.
Maren's voice called out from behind a desk in the corner of the library, "It turned out to only be theoretical, and I thought we understood more than he did at the time."
A brunette head popped up from the floor, and Maren briskly walked towards their table with a stack of smaller leather-bound books.
"He originally thought this power was the center element. They didn't know then what you were or how critical you were to the natural balance," she explained as she plopped the books on the surface and began leafing through the pages, "He speculated that all physical properties were husks without this aether to move them, to give them purpose and emotion."
Elsa walked over from the fireplace as the others leaned forward to more closely inspect the pages in her father's handwriting. Maren had settled on a sketchy diagram of a circle, four points along the circumference, and a point in the center. Arrows, scrawled notes, and question marks littered the space.
The map from the shipwreck. The mysterious runes. Now this? Her parents had poured so much, even their own lives, into understanding her magic.
There was still so much fog and unknown.
Kristoff scratched his head, hesitantly summarizing, "So it's the five we know, plus Time and...space? Energy?"
Maren nodded before confirming, "This is what the king called Aether."
Silence fell upon the room.
Fog. Anger, doubt, guilt. Elsa frowned, still staring at the page. The wheel. The map. The runes. Weakness, fear. A cloud of emotion and her at the center.
"Well?"
Elsa snapped up from her meditation to see Anna's question had been directed at her. Her eyes fell to the carpet as she sorted through the feelings and memories Bruni, Gale, and Nokk eagerly offered up. Besides herself and the Giants, there were no others with magical abilities in their collective knowledge.
"The other spirits do not recall beings like this," she stated slowly.
Nokk's images then washed over her of a raging sea, coasts devoid of life centuries ago, and Ahtohallan standing solely against the chaos.
Elsa translated and continued, "But they do speculate, as Ahtohallan is older than them, there are likely aspects of her magic even they do not know. It is hard to prove something is real that we cannot see, but it does make sense."
Her gaze returned to her father's drawing and murmured, "The balance has felt off, like pieces are missing."
Six. A migraine began to drill into the center of her skull as she glared against the mental fog. Six points, one center, the perfect snowflake, all haunting her. It was infuriating.
Anna huffed from the couch, "I hate to be the party pooper, but we have real problems to focus on. Even if these other spirits do exist, or Elsa has magical bad vibes, how do we even know it's related to the war or the Shadows?"
"We don't. But Ahtohallan might," Maren replied smoothly, not phased by the queen's outburst.
Kristoff nodded. "Maybe look again through Elsa's ice sculpture memories? Especially if the Shadows look like them?"
The Silver Hand asserted confidently, "It can't be a coincidence. Ahtohallan's the mother of everything, including magic, it all comes from her," she looked pointedly at Anna as she continued, "Plus, something always bothered me. Why the attack on two fronts? Why would the enemy labor to get through the mountains to clash with Northuldra? Why split your forces?"
The proposal was so simple, and yet, it seemed to shatter on the floor as it fell from Maren's mouth. Elsa's head throbbed.
Anna's eyes went wide as she whispered their shared realization, "It would mean they never wanted Arendelle. We're the distraction."
"They want Ahtohallan. Maybe they just don't know where or what she is exactly. Maybe they simply knew the forest and spirits had magic and therefore must protect its source," Maren theorized, "We were just too busy surviving before to ask why."
The pain was too much and threatened to crack her head like ice. Elsa shakily stumbled to the couch and collapsed on the cushions. Kristoff and Anna leaned forward to stand, but Maren was immediately sitting beside her, hand rubbing her back, asking what was wrong.
Fire, Water, Wind writhed in the corners of her mind. Like an elderly grandmother citing the ache of the bones to predict a storm, her body was shuddering and anxious for…for what?
When the dizziness settled somewhat, she held up her hand to try and smooth everyone's alarm. "I'm fine, sorry."
"You said that last time," Maren mumbled, clearly seeing beyond her white lie.
Elsa sighed, trying to blink past her swimming vision, still foggy, "Nokk, Gale, and Bruni feel it too. Like...the ache before the fever."
"Sick," Anna echoed grimly, "Before you said they felt sick all those years ago when we first went to the forest."
Fog. Six. Storm. Wheel. She wanted to scream. What was it she was supposed to know? Why did it feel like she had forgotten something so important?
But can you brave what you must fear
Can you face what the river knows
Elsa took a long, calming breath, biting down against the void and hurt.
"Ahtohallan is likely our best hope. We must go."
As soon as she said it, the headache vanished. Elsa felt immediate relief and the subsequent confusion.
Just another day in the life of a spirit, apparently.
She gave Maren's leg a quick pat to assure her she was fine, and the other woman seemed pleased with her agreement to venture to the iceberg. Her sister however, was chewing her lip. Anna looked hard between Elsa and Maren. After a moment, she firmly nodded. The royal ruler had been convinced, or at the very least, trusted them more than her uncertainty.
"If the enemy is truly searching for it, we'll need to be secretive, or we'll lead them to it," she surmised tactically, already plotting the next move.
Maren offered, "My squadron could escort her. I can summon them from Halvor."
Anna, however, shook her head. "No. Smaller. Us."
There was a long stalemate-like pause. Elsa glanced from her sister to Maren. Their friendship was a curiosity.
"Your Majesty's presence isn't exactly unnoticeable," the colonel stated carefully, wincing slightly.
"I can be sneaky," Anna pouted.
Maten sighed, saying much more bluntly, "The council will be pissed."
"What're they going to do, fire me?" the queen countered before looking to her husband, "What about you?"
Kristoff merely shrugged from his armchair. "It's your call. I'll always be by your side."
Anna looked back to the rest of them and firmly declared, "There. It's settled."
Maren breathed heavily through her nose. Elsa tried hard not to smile.
Olaf happily cheered from the table, "The old gang is back together!"
"I guess I can't argue with that," Maren conceded, reclining more comfortably into the couch. Elsa sympathetically bumped her shoulder with her own.
Anna clapped her hands together in excitement. "Excellent. We'll leave tomorrow before daybreak. Can you make the preparations, Maren? Or is it Honeymaren again?"
Elsa thought she saw the Northuldran's eye twitch at her sister's bantering. "Whichever Your Majesty prefers."
"OK, seriously, if we're going to be sisters-in-law, you can drop the formalities," Anna quipped, leaning forward to snag one of the few cookies Olaf hadn't obliterated.
Elsa tilted her head. She hadn't told her sister they were engaged yet.
As her mind caught up, she turned to Maren and asked, "Wait, she knew about the løfte before I did?"
"You were gone, we bonded," Anna snickered, chomping down on her snack, "You should've seen how moody and brooding she was about it though. 'I shall be called Maren henceforth, there will be no Honey, no sweetness in my life without her,'" she mimicked with a deep, dreary voice.
Maren looked at Elsa and deadpanned, "I'd forgotten what a joy siblings can be."
"New bow?"
Maren glanced at the wooden weapon sticking out of her quiver. Eagle wings were carved on the surface; she had picked it up at Arne.
"Maybe."
It was her third this month.
Anna narrowed her eyes. "Did you drop it this time like at Gottenburg? Or throw it again?"
Maren shrugged as she tossed a bit of jerky into her mouth. "I was out of arrows."
Anna laughed heartily before taking a swig from her water skin.
They had left very early and travelled all day, sharing saddles on two horses (reindeer and Water spirits drew too much attention). As the sun began to set, Elsa confirmed another hour or so through the forest would eventually bring them to rocky beaches closest to the Black Sea and Ahtohallan. Maren had proposed a brief rest before they plunged into the depths no true mortal had ever seen.
Kristoff was looking for wood to start a fire after grumbling something about proving he was still an outdoorsman. Olaf insisted he go with him as a guard.
The colonel finished her jerky and wiped the grease from her fingers on her pants. She had managed to find some brown trousers and a green traveling blouse to avoid any detection in her uniform.
She glanced back up to the woman stretching on the log in front of her. A large, silver great axe rested beside her. Anna's version of 'sneaky' was a black tunic, black trousers, black boots, and a black eye patch. Her hair was in a neat bun.
She blended…if they were going to a funeral.
Both women looked up as thunder rumbled in the distance.
"Great," Anna grumbled, looking up at the darkening sky.
"A little rain is fine. Good cover," the ranger commented, glancing over to Elsa's back, who sat on the edge of the clearing a few feet away.
"Ugh, you're so chipper and optimistic now, who will I complain to?" the redhead pouted, "Hopefully this weather isn't dramatic foreshadowing for our trip."
Maren looked pointedly back at the queen, holding back a witty remark. Though her friend had told her to start acting more casual...
"You're the dramatic one," Maren drawled.
A huge smile grew on Anna's face as she quickly retorted, "Sorry we all can't love hugging trees in the pouring rain like you do."
The Northuldran snorted, looking around at the surrounding greenery, easily spotting familiar varieties of wildlife. Her eyes still settled on the blonde. Elsa was absent-mindedly petting anicy rabbit sitting beside her, Nokk's compact form of travel for the day.
Maren smiled at the view and declared, "These aren't just any woods. It's home."
"I know. Sorry we couldn't stop by the village."
"We have an eye on things with Bruni and Gale there. Secret mission wouldn't be very secret if we visited," she replied as she waved off Anna's apology, "Soon."
Anna hummed in agreement before a comfortable silence fell between them. She was right; Maren felt changed. Hopeful. Right now, she was on the way to the Ahtohallan with the love of her life, for once full of promise they could do something to actually end the war. They could truly go home. She could bring Elsa back to their village with the nightly fires. They could rebuild, heal, and she would be with her wife.
By the Five. Her wife. She watched as Elsa rested her head in her hand, leaning heavily on the nearby trunk of a thick tree where she sat. Nokk, snowball tail wiggling, hopped on top of her.
"Go on. You keep staring."
Maren's attention flashed back to her friend. Anna's face bore a knowing smile as she nodded to her sister.
With a quick grin, Maren was on her feet and making her way to where the Ice spirit sat on the dirt and grass. Elsa's eyes were closed, her fingers rubbing the side of her head. The white rabbit was curled up on her lap. She gently reached out to touch her shoulder as she kneeled beside her.
"Elsa."
It felt divine to say her name aloud now. Not Highness, not Lady. Just Elsa.
Eyelids slid open to reveal darkened sapphire. Elsa's hand fell from her face, and she offered a small smile as she instead linked the now unoccupied limb with Maren's.
"Hi."
"You alright?"
"I'm…" Elsa responded quickly by default before trailing off at Maren's quirked eyebrow. They both knew she wasn't just fine this time.
"The headaches are getting worse," she admitted, voice a bit shaky but otherwise seeming calm.
Maren frowned, looking out to the woods. She hated not knowing how to help her.
"You can commune with the spirits now. Wasn't last time when they were trying to warn you?"
"They feel it too now. But we don't know what it means."
Elsa looked down at the small spirit resting. The glowing eyes dimmed slightly, as if sleepy. Maren, however, was still very much inspecting Elsa's profile. She squeezed her hand.
"Are you still afraid? Like at Arne?"
"A little. It's not as bad as a ballroom full of people," she joked lightly before turning to face Maren, "Are you?"
"No," the soldier answered confidently, "Not as long as we're together."
"Well, I did make a promise. A few, actually," Elsa whispered, her other hand brushing near her neck where they both knew the concealed pendant was safely secured.
Even with the setting sun, growing cloud cover, and cooling nighttime air, Maren felt the warmth spread through her chest. Elsa's chilly skin against her hand felt even more exquisite in contrast.
Then the hair on the back of her neck stood up.
Both Elsa and Maren suddenly twisted their heads to the east.
"You can feel it too?" Elsa whispered.
Maren nodded. "Magic. Shadows."
In a flash, they were both immediately on their feet, Nokk expertly landing with a plop on the ground. Elsa immediately took cover behind the tree she had been using as a backrest.
Maren's hand instinctively went for her quiver as she hissed behind them, "Anna."
The woman on the log looked over, immediately jumping from the log and grabbing her axe at the sight of Maren's equipped bow and defensive posture. Their bond had been forged in battle before. When Maren pressed a finger to her lips and gestured to the woods, Anna nodded once in understanding. She held up two fingers and slowly turned to sneak off in the other direction. She was going to get the boys.
Maren pressed her back against the bark of the large tree, shoulder roughly bumping against Elsa's. She slowly and carefully poked her head out, eyes narrowing in the dim light.
A light, drizzling mist began to descend over the forest, inciting a delicate hum amongst the leaves. Maren strained to hear the silent steps in the distance, searching for the slinking voids she knew so well. Instead, she saw the swirling arcane twisted and hunched over. Slow and heavy, multiple forms inched forward, big heads turning. Waiting. She saw threatening spikes protruding from their snouts.
Rhinoceros. Maren had only heard of the exotic beast from an Arendellian in her battalion after a day of trading stories on the road. In distant lands far to the south, even beyond the Isles, the horned giants had a reputation for wild power, charging aggressively like spiked battering rams. Few had even heard of such a creature after Arendelle released their control of those territories under Elsa's father.
The idea of a Shadow utilizing the solid construction of this foreign predator made Maren's heart rate spike. Her and Anna could keep up with a normal Shadow on a good day. These would be impossible. Three of the deadly monsters with their eerie purple sheen were lurking in the darkness a few yards away.
Elsa raised her hand, poised to strike, and Maren gently grabbed her wrist.
"Ahtohallan" she breathed more than spoke.
They couldn't alert the enemy Elsa was here. They were practically on Ahtohallan's front door. If they were right, if the enemy wanted the glacier, they would surely know it was close.
The Ice spirit swallowed and nodded.
Red hair caught Maren's eye. She glanced to a neighboring tree to see Anna squatting, axe ready. Kristoff was close by, holding Olaf in his arms. Maren held up her hand for them to wait before turning back to their foes and the forest.
Their destination was north, their assailants were east. They could still sneak by if they were careful. It would mean abandoning the horses tied off to the south of their little clearing, but Maren couldn't risk the lives of the three most important people in all of Arendelle, her future wife and friends. She would probably be thrown in the dungeon back at the castle if she turned up with the entire royal family gone.
Maren turned, pointing their path out to Anna, indicating she would lead them on her mark. More nods. Kristoff's wide eyes were glued on his wife, nodding as she whispered to him.
She glanced at the woman beside her to make sure she was ready. Elsa winced, but nodded.
The ranger looked again and held her breath, staring at the Shadows, waiting for an opening. They were spread out, but they were slow. She lifted her arm behind the tree, ready to give the signal. The one closest was stepping to the south, one more second and then—
A hand grabbed hers and squeezed powerfully hard. Maren turned to see Elsa's eyes screwed shut, biting down roughly on her bottom lip. She was clearly in immense pain.
Panic flared though Maren's veins, but she clung to her training. She stowed her bow as quickly and quietly as she could. The grip on her hand loosened as Elsa slid down the trunk of the tree, and Maren fell to her knee to try and steady her.
Short gasps and labored breathing. Limbs rigid and knuckles white. Maren looked down Elsa's body, searching for any wounds but found none. No cuts, no blood on the grey tunic she wore. Whatever this was, it was purely internal. She bit her tongue; she couldn't ask what was wrong or risk speaking too loud.
Elsa's eyes snapped open, staring wide at some unseen horror.
She rasped weakly, "Siege of Weselton. Battle of the Glittertinds."
Maren gripped Elsa's shoulders, trying to make their eyes connect. But Elsa still quaked with fear and pain, looking beyond her.
Why would she be naming battles during the Crocus War from over fifty years ago? Were these more strange memories, like at Arne?
Eyes darted to the trio still waiting. This was wrong. Really wrong. The worry and confusion was readily apparent on the other's faces, and Maren was sure it mirrored her own.
She leaned back, looking around the tree, trying to track the Shadows. They were still way too close.
"It hurts so much."
Maren quietly hushed her, wrapping her arms around her, trying to surround her and comfort her as much as possible. Her body was tense, straining against a silent enemy Maren couldn't stab with an arrow. The soldier dumbly hugged her tighter, not knowing how else to assist.
Elsa's hand flew to her mouth to muffle a cry. Maren could see the tears starting to stream down her cheeks.
Maren said she wasn't scared before. She was now. She didn't know what to do. If she could take the pain instead, she would've gladly volunteered.
Eyes frantically darted around for a solution. They settled on the white rabbit still nearby, ears upright and alert, glowing eyes intensely focused on Elsa.
"Help, please," Maren begged softly.
Nokk turned slightly to look at the Northuldran. The beady nose twitched. Then, they lightly hopped to the nearby shrubs and disappeared from sight.
The rain was beginning to fall properly now, and Maren hoped the sound would help muffle the whimpers escaping the woman in her arms. Water fell between the tree's limbs and started to soak their clothes.
Branches in the distance loudly snapped. Maren quickly poked her head around their tree. White blurred behind the Shadows at immense speed, heading east.
Two of the lumbering beasts immediately charged after the movement. Thank Ahtohallan. Nokk had managed to pull the majority away, all without incriminating magic.
One Shadow, however, still remained, ghastly illuminated eyes scanning the thicket.
Shit. Maybe they could still sneak around now, the pouring was loud enough to—
Elsa's body suddenly went limp, and Maren's attention flew back to her. Her head drooped against Maren's shoulder, eyes closed.
She murmured feverishly, "Anger...memory…"
"Elsa," Maren dared to whisper, touching her lover's face. It was glacial, colder than usual.
The mumbling continued, "Doubt to freedom."
Hunched low, Anna and the others appeared at their side. The trunk of the old, large pine could barely conceal all of them, even with the thick shrubs close by.
"What's wrong?" Anna muttered.
"Don't know, she's hurt."
Anna's hand touched Elsa's shoulder. Kristoff peeked around the edge at their sole enemy, Olaf holding his breath in the man's arms.
"Guilt...passion…" Elsa whined.
Maren whispered, "She's delirious."
"We'll carry her." Anna began to firmly grip Elsa's arm.
Elsa's eyes snapped open. "What is strength?"
"Shhh," Maren soothed, shooting Anna a panicked look.
"Strength?" Elsa questioned again, head beginning to toss.
"Not weak?" Anna muttered, trying to calm her sister, "We have to move you, Elsa."
Maren was trying to stand and lift at the same time, but Elsa was starting to fight and pull from her.
"No. Pain. Need to balance."
Maren stopped their struggling. Elsa was freezing in her arms. She looked helplessly at Anna, who shook her head. Kristoff turned back from monitoring the enemy.
"What is strength?" Elsa whispered.
"Fighting?" Maren tried quietly, unsure of the answers, unsure of how to save them.
They were going to die and there was nothing she could do.
"Acceptance."
They all glanced at Kristoff, who was offering Elsa a small smile.
"Strength is acceptance," he murmured gently as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Elsa stared, mouth agape.
"Yes," she sighed, frost glimmering in the air from her lips. Eyes fluttered shut and her breathing steadied.
More thunder rumbled, much closer than before. Then again, and again, closer and closer, the ground beginning to shake. Maren whipped her head towards the trees, realizing it wasn't thunder.
It was footsteps.
The Shadow turned towards the noise just before a stony arm burst from the trees and punched the monster across the face.
An adolescent Earth Giant roared at the dark creature, still towering above the rhino, as tall as the trees. When the Shadow lunged to counter, rocks and a massive foot slammed down upon the ground in a furious stomp that quaked the ground.
Another original spirit had returned. Maren looked down at Elsa, who now stared back lucidly. She nodded quickly with a smirk.
Thank the Mother. Elsa was better, and they could escape. Maren wasn't about to sit around and ask questions.
"Hurry," she commanded to the others as she and Elsa shoved off the dirt, the loud trembling of the ground from their huge savior easily masking any noise.
The heavy rain concealed them as they circled around behind the Shadow beginning to charge at the Giant. Its black horn barely scraped the Earth spirit's tough exterior before the boulder-like skull headbutted at the darkness. Maren lost sight of their continuing battle as she began to sprint northward.
Forest blurred by as they bolted forward. The pounding sounds of the Giant's attacks grew muffled and then disappeared as they rushed on. Maren kept them vaguely pointed in the right direction, the lingering image of Elsa's painfully contorted face making her push and push until even the trained warrior needed to stop, the worry and adrenaline spent.
Hopefully, they had escaped.
Maren panted as their run slowed to a brisk walk, looking to Elsa, "How did you do that? You just brought the Giants back with no magic?"
Elsa showed no signs of depleted energy from her episode or any physical exertion from running. She shook her head.
"I've been so stupid. It was never my magic that summoned the spirits. It was my emotions," she asserted, eyes wide, "I was so angry at Halvor. And then there were those weird flashbacks at Arne and again today."
They all followed her as she continued to move forward, batting away branches and ranting, "These memories and feelings I've been experiencing, the intense ones that I can't tell if they're mine or not. Dealing with them, balancing out the opposing forces, I think that's what woke the spirits. My magic just happens to reflect my emotions, so there was always this fallout. It hurt, but I was able to contain it this time."
She paused, turning to them all earnestly, hands jerking about as she spoke, "I know it sounds insane. I can't explain it. But I know it's all connected. The Shadows, the spirits, all of it."
Maren paused and placed a hand on her shoulder. She was just relieved Elsa was alright now, but they still had more urgent concerns.
"I believe you. Do we stick to the plan? Ahtohallan?"
Elsa nodded. "It's the only place that might have answers."
"Then we need to hurry," Maren warned, looking at the others.
Kristoff adjusted Olaf in his arms, still breathless from their exit as he asked, "Do you think that episode blew our cover?"
Maren sighed, "Hard to say. If we're right the Shadows can somehow report back to the Islanders or whoever controls them, they might do the math. New spirit comes back, Elsa has to be nearby."
"Agreed. Let's be quick about it then," Anna asserted, already moving forward again.
"Wait, can't we rest a minute?" Kristoff gasped, leaning his free hand on his knee to crouch.
Anna narrowed her eyes on his stomach. "I told you to lay off some of the wine."
"It's grapes. Fruit! That should be good for you!"
"You'll be fine," his wife muttered, nodding to Maren.
The Northuldran shot the prince a sympathetic look before she turned and began leading the way through the remainder of the woods.
She worried less about possible noise, hoping the continuing rain would keep them concealed to any other patrolling Shadows. Instead, she focused on speed, jogging in bursts before allowing Kristoff short walks to catch his breath. Bow in hand now, her eyes scanned the trees and twilight.
Dim, grey light pulled them from the forest and onto the far northern beaches. What little of daylight was left remained hidden by the storm clouds. Gravel and rocks lined their path rather than welcoming, soft sands. The rain was steady, bordering on torrential. The Black Sea had a reputation for ferocity and did not disappoint. Waves churned menacingly beneath cracks of lightning. Maren glanced hesitantly at Elsa.
Had she really crossed this all on her own the first time?
Her betrothed smiled as she stepped forward towards the ocean, and Maren turned back to see an animal emerge from the water; translucent Nokk whipped around the fluffy, seafoamy tail of a fox and sat patiently at the shoreline.
Elsa looked to the rest of their party. "Ready?"
Maren looked at the others. Anna shrugged, moving to properly holster her large axe to her back. Kristoff placed Olaf on the ground.
The Northuldran steeled herself for whatever came next, taking the remaining steps to Elsa's side.
Nokk turned to the horizon, ears twitching.
Water receded drastically like an instantaneous low tide, exposing the sandy underbelly of the shore. Maren frowned at the sudden surge, squinting out to the sea. The line where water met sky started to rise too quickly.
The mortals gasped as a tsunami approached them. Elsa and Nokk remained still as the deadly, towering wave rolled and bent towards the beach.
Maren tensed under the impending crash, instinctively holding her breath before they were swept under. But none came. Instead, the torrent splashed into two, spraying the shore on either side of them with powerful bursts of saltwater.
When the wave calmed, Nokk licked a paw before a wall of water held back by an invisible force. Maren felt her mouth fall open as a fish swam beside her. Ocean surrounded them on either side now, held back by an unseen barrier.
She loved magic.
"Sweet fuck."
"Olaf!" Anna admonished, looking down in shock at the snowman.
They all turned as he gestured wildly with his branches to the new watery windows, shouting, "What? You were all thinking it!"
Elsa cleared her throat with a small smile before gesturing to the fox and their way forward. "Shall we? Nokk will close the gap behind us, buy some more time if needed."
The Northuldran tried to remain calm and collected as she stepped forward to begin their literal walk on the seafloor to the center of all living things: Ahtohallan.
She generally accepted the work of the spirits with ease, but even this was beyond incredible. Seaweed squished beneath her boots as she trudged forward, staring wide-eyed at the imposing grey mass that surrounded them. Nokk's bubble protected them as they continued forward and the ground slipped down as the waters depended.
This definitely beat some of the legends she had heard around the village growing up.
Maren shook her head. Yelana would've wet her pants to see this.
"How did you know there were Shadows earlier?" Elsa asked after a few moments of walking, looking at Maren, "You seem to sense them like I do, like the spirits."
Maren shrugged, not fully sure herself. "Take your pick. Northuldra has always been more in tune with magic in the forest. I've also fought Shadows for years. I always felt this...pull to you. The Shadows feel like that, but wrong."
She was enjoying Elsa's little smirk at the more romantic part of her commentary, but Anna's voice called out and interrupted from behind them.
"New couples always say such cheesy lines," Anna said as her voice grew shrill and syrupy, "'Fate has tied our heartstrings, I am pulled to you'."
Maren glanced over her shoulder to see mocking, puckered lips blowing kisses at a snickering Kristoff. They were clearly adapting well to the fact they were in the middle of the ocean.
"We've technically been engaged for five years."
Anna continued on in high spirits, "Did I ever tell you about the time Elsa told me I couldn't marry someone I had just met?"
"Everyone told you that," Kristoff mumbled, stepping over a large formation of barnacles.
"Fair enough, but did she really need to enter a coma and have a lengthy engagement to prove a point?"
Elsa chuckled lightly at her sister's outburst before smoothly commenting, "At least you knew both your engagements were, in fact, proposals."
Maren goaned playfully, "I'm never hearing the end of that, am I?"
"You're family now, we love bringing up past, cringe-worthy memories," Kristoff laughed, loosely wrapping his arm around his wife's waist as they walked forward.
Elsa nodded in agreement. "This family is definitely more unique in that department."
"You're telling me. I'm the most normal one here," Olaf stated confidently as he physically removed his carrot nose to brush some sand off of it.
Anna flatly replied, "Your mother stirred you together out of snow."
"'Mother' seems a bit drastic," Elsa added hesitantly, the discomfort clear on her face.
Anna's high-pitched voice countered, "Oh? Sorry, his creator. Is that less dramatic?"
Maren had to bite her tongue to keep from smiling as Elsa sighed at her sister.
Olaf immediately looked up to the blonde and asked, "Mom, are they bothering you?"
Amidst a sea of giggles at her expense, Elsa leaned over to ask Maren, "Any regrets?"
The Northuldran glanced at Olaf and the others before looking into her girlfriend's glittering blue eyes.
"Not at all. I like kids."
Maren smiled as Elsa blushed.