The next morning Honeymaren, the sister of Ryder and close friend of Elsa's, was up early to survey the Northuldra campsite. She looked around, and shook her head and tutted when she realised that Elsa had not yet woken. With a smile, she went to Elsa's tent and cleared her throat.
"Elsa!" she gently called. "Elsa! Are you awake?"
Honeymaren folded her arms and rolled her eyes as she heard rustling from inside the tent.
"You haven't forgotten what day it is?" Honeymaren asked as she narrowed her eyes and smirked.
"No, not at all," came a weak reply from the tent.
Elsa's head popped out. "Sorry, I didn't sleep much last night," Elsa said before yawning.
"Yeah, that was some storm!" Honeymaren shrugged. "But it's passed now. The camp is fine!"
"Oh good!" said Elsa as she looked around before clambering out of the tent.
"So, today's the day!" Honeymaren said excitedly. "Are you all ready for Anna's wedding?" she asked.
"Yes!" Elsa replied, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "I'm all set to go back to Arendelle!"
"You will remember what I said about my brother, won't you?" Honeymaren asked playfully. "I know that being the best man is a big responsibility, and I'm worried that he will find everything a little too much."
"Don't worry!" said Elsa as she put her hand on Honeymaren'st arm. "I'm sure Ryder will be fine. Of course I'll look out for him."
Just then Bruni, the fire spirit that took the form of a salamander, scurried up to them. Elsa picked him up and he started to run around in the palm of her hands.
"What is it?" Elsa asked curiously.
Bruni turned around, and beckoned Elsa to go north. She found the elder Yelena, and put together a scouting party to follow Bruni.
They embarked out of the camp, and soon they could see smoke billowing from the forest in the north. Now with a sense of urgency, they ran there as quickly as they could. When they reached the edge of the burning forest, the young woman in the red dress emerged, creating fire from her feet as she walked. She stood a good distance away from Elsa's party. Bruni had run on ahead, and he scampered up to the young woman.
"Aren't you cute!" the woman enthused while bending down to pick Bruni up. She held him in the palms of her hands, unfazed by how hot he was. Bruni scowled and looked like he was ready to pounce while flames rose up from his back. The young woman opened her eyes wide, tilted her head forward, and leaned in close to him.
"Oh, you make fire! Just like me!" she marvelled. "Do you want to be my pet?"
Bruni shook his head and cowered. He leapt out of her hands and scurried back to Elsa, who had just caught up. The young woman smirked as he ran away from her.
"Who are you?" Elsa asked the young woman fearfully.
"I am Freya, the Rizucian Queen of Fire!" she declared, raising her arms in the air. "And this forest is now part of my kingdom of ashes!" She laughed at Elsa's party, her eyes glowing bright.
"Well, Freya, I am Elsa, protector of Northuldra," Elsa replied as she narrowed her eyes. "And it's my duty to take care of this forest."
Elsa began to use her magic to put out the fires. Freya gasped as she stared at the icy shards emanating from Elsa's fingertips. She hunched over, and her gaze darted between Elsa and the trees.
"No!" Freya cried. "Stop it!"
Freya used her powers to start setting the trees on fire again, but Elsa quickly extinguished the flames. Freya clenched her fists and gritted her teeth as she glared at Elsa through fiery eyes. She cast a wall of fire in front of Elsa's party, and they all took a step backwards. Elsa put out the fire in front of her, and began to slowly walk towards Freya with a determined look on her face.
At the sight of this, Freya jolted upright, raised her arm over her mouth, and began to back up. "Keep away from me!" she shouted, and she shot a jet of fire right at Elsa. Without hesitation, Elsa raised her hand and fired a jet of ice to meet it. The streams of magical ice and fire met in the middle, reacting to give steam and water. The two women stopped where they were and faced each other down, not wanting to be the first to stop using their powers. After a few seconds, Freya smirked then pretended to be bored. She held her other hand up to her mouth to feign a yawn, then she inspected her nails.
"Do you want to do this all day, grandma?" Freya said to Elsa sarcastically.
"No, not really," Elsa replied with a smile.
With that, Elsa increased the power of her ice beam, and it started to edge it's way closer to Freya. She raised her other arm as she tried to fight back, but Elsa's power was too strong for her. The ice beam reached her, and she was quickly engulfed in a great flash of powdered snow. When it settled, Freya found she was lying on her back, encased in a huge block of ice with just her head sticking out. Elsa smiled at Freya's helplessness, quickly put out the rest of the fires, and slowly walked over to her.
Elsa knelt down next to Freya. "Now, perhaps we could talk?" Elsa said calmly.
Freya scrunched her face up and tried to look away from Elsa. "I'm not telling you anything, you old witch!" she shouted as she struggled to break herself free from the ice.
"You're not going anywhere soon!" replied Elsa. "So, Freya, where did you say you were from?"
Freya rolled her eyes back and sighed, then stopped struggling as she realised how helpless she was. "I'm from Rizucia," she said before tutting. "I finally broke free from my parent's castle, and now the whole town belongs to my flames!" she said with relish.
Elsa looked concerned. "You mean, you burned down a whole town?" she asked nervously.
Freya looked up at Elsa with fire in her eyes. "The houses, the shops, the school, everything!" she declared through gritted teeth.
Elsa gulped. She'd never seen someone so full of gleeful anger before.
"The...the school?" Elsa stuttered. "Does that mean…?" she said nervously, fearing the worst.
"Ha! No!" Freya laughed. "I watched from afar as the kids watched it burn. No school for them! Aren't they lucky? The looks on their little faces were priceless!"
Elsa breathed a sigh of relief. "One more question. Just how old are you?" she asked.
"I'm sixteen," Freya told her. "My reign has only just begun!"
Elsa felt a chill run down her spine as she got up to talk to Yelena.
"What do we do with her?" Yelena asked. "Just look at the forest!" she said, gesturing towards the hundreds of burnt trees that Freya had left in her wake. "I've never seen such destruction!"
"The ice looks to be holding her, and she doesn't look bothered by how cold it is," Elsa replied with concern in her voice. "Her magic must be keeping her warm inside."
"We can't leave her in the ice forever," said Yelena. She then looked up at Elsa with wide eyes. "And you have to go to Arendelle for your sister's wedding today. We all know how important that is. You can't miss it!"
"Let me out of here!" Freya screeched as she stared at Elsa.
Elsa was torn. She knew she couldn't miss Anna and Kristoff's wedding, but now she was faced with a danger the likes of which she had never seen before. Freya had already destroyed so much of the forest, who could tell what she would do if she was let out? Yelena came up with an idea.
"Leave her with us," Yelena said. "We will take her to the outskirts of our camp. There, we will dig a deep pit and put her in it. That should hold her for a couple of days. Then when you return, we can find a more permanent solution."
"Are you sure?" Elsa asked cautiously. "I don't want to leave the forest. If she got out…"
Yelena took Elsa's hand and interrupted her. "It's only for two days! If we really need you, we can use the wind spirit to send for you!" she said with a smile.
"Well, okay, if you're sure," Elsa replied, still not entirely convinced. "I'll do all I can to make sure she can't get out before we leave."
With that, Yelena told the rest of the Northuldra what her plan was. Two men hauled Freya's block of ice upwards, so that she was standing up.
"Just you wait until I get out of here!" Freya snarled.
They tied a rope around the block of ice, and the reindeer began to drag her back to their camp. Along the way, Elsa and Yelena talked about Freya's powers.
"I never imagined the spirits would give someone power over fire," Yelena said, sounding puzzled.
"I don't think this magic is a gift from the spirits," Elsa replied. "I can't sense anything. This magic is completely new to me."
"Are you two old hags talking about my powers?" Freya asked angrily. "If you must know, I was born like this. My parents didn't know what to do, so they locked me up in the castle tower. But my powers grew too strong for them to contain, and I escaped. That's when I began my reign as the Fire Queen!"
Freya cackled and her eyes lit up as she reminded herself of the destruction she caused. Elsa looked up at Freya and frowned in worry.
They reached the edge of the Northuldra camp, and they began to dig a deep pit to keep Freya in. Meanwhile, Elsa wondered about the right thing to do. In the end, she wrote a note for Anna, telling her to put the Arendellian soldiers on guard, just in case. She really didn't want to worry her sister, but she felt that she had to warn her too. She called the wind spirit and sent the note to Arendelle.
The Northuldra dug for hours, until the pit was too deep for anyone to clamber out of on their own. They pushed Freya in, her ice block snugly fitting inside it. She reached the bottom and looked up.
"What are you doing? You can't just leave me here!" Freya shouted angrily.
"Don't worry," Yelena called back. "This is just until we figure out what to do with you. We'll get you some food."
Elsa put her hand to her chin and looked down. "It's not enough," she mused. Just then, she clicked her finger and opened her eyes wide. "I know!" she exclaimed. Turning her face to the breeze, she closed her eyes and gently smiled. She opened her eyes, turned to Yelena, and let out a sigh. Yelena smiled in return.
After a few moments, a great thumping noise could be heard coming from the north. The ground shook as the thumping got closer. In the pit, Freya looked up and her head darted from side to side. "What...what is that?" she yelled.
Elsa knelt down and looked into the pit with her arm draped across her knee. "I've summoned a guardian of the north to watch over you!" she calmly told Freya.
Freya looked up in terror as she was bathed in darkness. From the north, an Earth Giant had joined them. It squatted down and its huge, cold stone face loomed over Freya. All she could do was tremble.
"Don't let her out of that pit!" Elsa commanded the Earth Giant. The Giant stood up, its body creaking. It gave Elsa a slow, knowing nod, then sat down with an enormous crash, making everyone flinch. Once the dust settled, the Northuldra looked at Elsa with contented grins.
"You can go now," Yelena softly said with a smile. "Go to your sister. We can take care of things here. We'll watch her round the clock."
"Well, alright," Elsa smiled back. "Let me know if you need me straight away, okay?"
Elsa said her goodbyes, then summoned the Water Nokk, the physical embodiment of the water spirit that took the form of a magnificent horse. She climbed on its back, and it galloped across the water to Arendelle.