Chapter 3….and says his prayers by night….

The light of the full moon gave way to the morning sun slowly, but Elsa, sitting in an icy chair she had created, wouldn't leave her spot at the entrance to the forest. Not until Bjorn and his men had returned. Following the stubborn pattern of their queen, Anna, Kristoff, Sven and Olaf stayed with her throughout the entire night. Granted they had fallen asleep hours ago, still Elsa would be lying if she said she didn't want their company.

Glancing at her family over her shoulder she didn't bother fighting the smile spreading over her face. Cuddled together for warmth from the frigid night air, Anna and Kristoff, she noticed, seemed to fit perfectly in each other's arms. As happy as she was for Anna, she couldn't help but wonder what would become of herself. It was a selfish thought, after all she should be more concerned about her sisters happiness, but insecurity always showed its ugly head.

What would happen to her if Anna and Kristoff married? Would she leave Arendelle? Doubtful, she couldn't even get rid of her last night, but Anna would have her own family, her own children.

Her smile widened. I'd be cool auntie Elsa.

Still insecurities nagged at the back of her mind. What would happen to her? Would she be alone? Could she ever find someone to love and would love her the way Kristoff loved Anna? She said she didn't care, but really it was on her mind more often then she let on.

She looked down at her hands folded in front of her then down at the arms that held her sister tightly.

Would she ever be held like that? Could she ever hold anyone?

Rustling from the trees drew her attention back to the forest. Poised for an attack she was relieved to see Bjorn and his men emerging from the woods. However Her heart sank when she saw that they were dragging something behind them attached to the horses.

Leaving her sleeping family, she met her guards halfway in the woods, making sure she was out of earshot when she spoke to them. Examining the men she could see blood smeared over their skin and armor, making her fear the worst.

"What happened? Are you hurt?"

Bjorn shook his head. "This is not our blood." He dismounted his horse then moved to the back of the horses.

"We tracked that… thing to some caves near the mountains. Inside we found… them." He gestured to four corpses, in various stages of decay, one woman and two men, strewn on the sheet. "We also found a few more bodies in the forest. It seems Mister Thomas had organized a hunting party. None of them were found alive."

Elsa's hands covered her mouth. "What… did this?"

Bjorn looked at his men before running a trembling hand through his hair. "I've been in a lot of battles, and seen horrible things, but I've never seen anything like this."

Elsa watched Bjorn closely, and her terror grew. The Man that she counted on to keep her and her people safe was genuinely scared.

"All of their hearts are missing too." One of Bjorn's men noted. Looking again, Elsa could see that each had their chests ripped open and their hearts were gone.

Elsa looked away, the sight becoming to gruesome for her to handle. "My queen," Bjorn called after her, "I know this is a lot to handle, but we must know, What would you have us do?"

It took her a few seconds to calm herself with some deep, cleansing breaths, and once she had her composure back, turned back to him. "Take your men and scour the woods until you find it. Do whatever it is you have too." Bjorn responded with a curt nod. "I want Dr. Rolf to examine these bodies, see if he can find anything that can tell us what attacked these poor people. Our priority is the safety of Arendelle."

—:0:—

"This is a bad idea."

"The people have a right to know."

"To know what? That there something in the woods killing people and taking hearts?"

"If they know what's out there they can act accordingly. Make sure to stay in at night."

"OR they could form another hunting party and go into those woods."

"That won't happen."

"How do you know?"

"Elsa built the ice wall all around the forest." Anna motioned to her sister who had decided to watch she and Kristoff continue their back and forth.

"That's another thing. People need to go into those woods. There's a well out there, Wood needs to be chopped, game needs to be hunted. Some people have their livelihood in those woods."

She began sputtering. "Well we've already called all of our subjects to the courtyard, so… HA! Now we have to tell them something."

He rolled his eyes before turning to Elsa at the throne. "I know you both have the kingdoms best interest at heart, but telling them isn't going to help anyone. Especially when you have no defense against whatever it is."

"Sure we do!" Anna skipped the few steps to the throne before putting her hands on her sister's shoulders. "Elsa's got this. Whatever is out there I'm sure it's not match for her ice. Right Elsa?"

Kristoff looked at the queen sympathetically. Without sleep the night before, dark circles had formed beneath her eyes bringing out her pale complexion. Her eyes were downcast and deep in thought, but didn't seem to be focused on what Kristoff and Anna were talking about.

"Elsa?"

She took a sharp inhale the second time Anna called her. "Yes. No match."

"See!" Anna rubbed Elsa's shoulders before skipping to the doors. "I'm gonna go check on Sven and Olaf. Hopefully they've been able to gather everyone."

Once she had vanished, Kristoff took a seat and the base of the steps with his back to Elsa. They were silent for a few minutes before she broke the silence.

"Am I doing the right thing? Telling my people about the attacks?"

Kristoff shrugged. "If you think it is, then I'm behind you one hundred percent. But you were hoping I'd tell you what to do huh?"

She grinned. "It'd be nice. This is all new to me."

He got to his feet and extended his hand to her. "I know, but I trust your judgment, and if you think this is the right move, I'll support you." She looked at his hand but didn't take it. As if just remembering, he pulled his hand away. "Sorry, I forgot."

She shook her head. "It's not… I'd welcome it… someday, but not now." She began fiddling with her fingers. "I just…just Anna."

He held out his hands. "You're not offending me at all." He gestures to the doors. "After you."

She clasped her hands together and gave a small bow of her head. "Why thank you." Poised and regal, Kristoff escorted the queen of Arendelle to address her subjects in the courtyard.

—:0:—

One week later

Elsa didn't bother looking at the grandfather clock as its ticking continued to taunt her. She knew how late it was, and aware that she should have been asleep hours ago. Still she just couldn't. Over the past week, Bjorn and his men had come up empty when it came to hunting down the creature. There was No sign of hair, teeth, claws, hearts or bodies.

Absolutely nothing.

This development caused Elsa to have sleepless nights, a couple hours at the most, which in turn made Anna worry about her, which made Kristoff worry about Anna, then Sven worry about Kristoff, And Olaf worry about ... we'll everything.

Sitting at her windowsill she stared blankly over her kingdom, knowing that with each passing second it's occupants were expecting a solution to this problem. The meeting with the entirety of her kingdom went as well as could be expected with mixed reactions of fear, anger, and sadness. Afterwards Families of the victims came forward and claimed their loved ones, which had probably been the most gut wrenching part of the entire ordeal.

Every day she was bombarded with the same questions.

"Have you caught it yet?"

"Why is the ice wall still up?"

"Are we safe?"

"Should we just go after it?"

Finally Elsa had to, once again, shut herself away to avoid the questions she didn't have the answers too.

Elsa wiped away the tears streaming down her cheeks, before they could freeze over. What was she going to do? How could she fix this? Freeze the forest over and hope the creature is caught in the frost?

Before she traveled further down that rabbit hole she was surprised by a knock at her chamber doors. Inside she groaned at the prospect of interacting with anyone, but Looking at the clock she was both surprised and intrigued as to who could be disturbing her at this hour.

"One moment please." She wiped her face, wrapped a loose robe around herself to cover her nightgown, and sat back down at the windowsill. "Come in."

Much to Elsa's surprise, it wasn't Anna, or Olaf or anyone else in her little family, but Gerda. With A warm smile on her face and a tray with a hot teapot and cups in her hands, she approached the saddened queen.

Gerda set the metal tray on the windowsill. "I see your still having trouble sleeping?"

Elsa was too exhausted to argue but she still managed to mutter, "What makes you say that?" Gerda didn't respond, probably thinking it was useless to, and began to pour the hot liquid from the teapot into the cups. "What is that?"

"A special potion, capable of soothing the nerves, relaxing the tightness in your shoulders and neck, and helping to ease you into a peaceful sleep." She placed a small cup into Elsa's hands. "Camomile tea."

Elsa looked into the cup curiously. She wasn't much of a tea drinker, but at this point, being desperate for rest, she decided that there was a first time for everything. She took a tentative sip, immediately feeling the effects as its warmth began to fill every inch of her. She didn't bother hiding the fact that her eyes rolled into the back of her head or the small moan of pleasure.

It was heavenly.

"Judging by your mewling I'm assuming I did well?"

Elsa, eyes still closed, slowly nodded. "Where has this been all my life?"

Gerda chuckled, taking a seat and her own cup of tea. "Warm camomile and a hint of honey always does the trick."

Elsa could feel her body slowly begin to unwind. "I can understand why." She took another sip welcoming the tea's soothing touch. "Thank you."

Gerda gave a small nod of appreciation before the pair were enveloped I'm comfortable silence. Staring out over the fjord through the window, Gerda suddenly said, "You know when I was a little girl I had an experience similar to this one."

Elsa had been feeling a bit drowsy until Gerda's statement got her full attention. "Forgive me, but I didn't know that."

Gerda shrugged. "It's not something I care to discuss, but seeing as how things have become dire, I feel I should share." Gerda got a little more comfortable in her seat before she began. "I lived in a small village about a day's journey at the edge of the Arendelle border and as a child I remember being told 'Eat your vegetables or the Striga will get you'." She contorted herself and changed her voice to make herself seem like a comical old lady, getting a small chuckle from Elsa.

As she laughed she asked, "I'm sorry, but What's a Striga?"

Gerda shook her head. "To this day, I'm not really sure, the best way I can think to describe it is an old hag like Witch similar to Hansel and Gretal."

Elsa went a bit pale...er. A witch that ate children? "B-but those are just stories. Right?"

"That's what I believed. Even when children began vanishing from my village, I was sure it was just hungry wolves or bears, but certainly not a witch." Gerda shuffled in her chair, getting a bit more uneasy as the story went on. "That was until my little brother went missing." Elsa leaned forward. "That seemed to be the final straw. Eight men from my village went into the woods to search for the children, but only three came back. Whether it was a witch, Striga, or whatever it was my village was terrified." She took a sip of her tea with a trembling hand. "I thought I'd never see my brother again."

It was easy for Elsa to see the similarities, and the thought of losing Anna horrified her. "What-what happened?"

Gerda set her tea back down on its little tray. "Well one of the village elders had the idea to contact the Artemis Order. A group of men and women chosen by the goddess Artemis herself to hunt the things that normal men and women wouldn't be able to hunt on their own. The things that hide in the darkness of our forests and our own fears." Elsa's eyes went a bit wider with wonder, as if she was a little girl again. "Two men came to our village from Greece and the next night, my little brother was back in my arms. He never told me the details of what happened, and I didn't ask. I was just so happy he was home."

For the first time since these attacks, Elsa felt a spark of hope. "Where can I find these men? Can they help us?"

Gerda's shoulders sagged with sadness. "I'm sorry dear, but the Artemis Order had been extinguished years ago. Run out by the Romans, but legend says they were given asylum and the order still functions to this day." Gerda took another sip of tea. "As to where you can find them, I believe your future in-laws have the answer to that."

—:0:—

This had to work, it had to. Gerda had made Elsa finish her tea and though the "potion" had done its job and relaxing the anxious queen, she couldn't afford to sleep now. As soon as her tea had finished, and Gerda had left her chambers, Elsa had changed her outfit, grabbed a traveling cloak and saddled a horse. The moon was only less than a half and didn't give much light, but she had made this short journey before and now it was just memory.

She had to be quick and quiet, the last thing she wanted was for her kingdom to see her sneaking into the woods when she had told them how dangerous it was. As she travelled through the darkness she held onto the fact that the forest had been calm for the past week, so in theory, she should be safe.

Right?

Approaching the trolls quarry she took notice that all the round stones, trolls, had gone. Figuring they must be hiding, She dismounted her horse and began calling out.

"Grand poppy?! Hello! Is anyone out there?!"

"Shhh."

Elsa nearly leapt out of her skin when she heard the "shushing" below her. Slowly a small stone-like mound began to emerge from the dirt beneath her feet. Once free from the sand, the female troll put her finger to her lips.

"Shhh. We don't want that thing finding us." She hushed.

Elsa knelt down to her level. "There haven't been any attacks for the last few days. I think your people are safe."

She began burrowing into the dirt again. "Well better safe than sorry."

"Wait!" Elsa slapped her hands over her mouth when she realized she was a bit loud. "Sorry, but I need to speak to Grandpoppy."

"Elsa," the queen turned around just as another troll, the eldest began to emerge from the ground, "I'm sorry, but I can not help you with this. It's much to dangerous for us."

Elsa knelt down beside him. "Do you know what is attacking us?"

He shook his head. "A creature unlike anything we've ever seen before. Something not native to these lands."

She was disheartened by the fact that he didn't know what they were up against, but there was still hope. "I'm not asking you to risk your lives. I was hoping you knew about the Artemis Order."

Grandpoppy's ears twitched along with soft rumblings coming from the ground around her. "Unfortunately Elsa, the Artemis Order is no more. The Romans forced them from Greece many, many years ago." Once again Elsa began to feel the hollowness of despair. "But they were given sanctuary in the high mountains, and eventually became assimilated with, the Knights of Kuarlong."

Elsa's mouth dropped slightly. Had she heard him right? "Th-the Knights of Kuarlong? You mean?"

Seeing her excitement, he chuckled. "Yes, your highness, Kuarlong is also home to the Dragon Knights."

Her mouth dropped further. The Dragon Knights, and the knights of Kuarlong were real? "So the Artemis Order still exists, they just go by a new name."

He nodded. "And they still maintain their oath of helping others fight those that lurk in the darkness.."

Elsa scooted closer to him. "Grand poppy, I need to get a message to them."

He held out his hand. "Say no more. Wait till tomorrow night and we shall have a response for you." Grand poppy dug himself back into the ground, the crystals around his neck glowing a bright yellow that could be seen from under the dirt. Along with his glowing crystals glowing lights traveled underground leading further into the forest and out of sight.

True to his word, the next night Elsa had received a message from the trolls that Kuarlong would be sending two representatives within the next few days to help with the creature. This, along with chamomile tea, was finally able to help Elsa rest.

So now we're getting into OC territory. Kuarlong and the knights of Kuarlong are my creations along with the Dragon knights. We'll have more to come, but don't worry they will not take the place of the canon ones.

Until next time.