"When the will defies fear, when duty throws the gauntlet down to fate, when honor scorns to compromise with death - that is heroism."

-Robert Green Ingersoll

August 3rd, 1840,

Royal Palace, Arendal

Anna gritted her teeth as she opened her eyes, her lungs hurting from the blunt force of the fiery explosion. She'd pin it on an assassin's bomb, but she was once again getting the overwhelming feeling of despair, uneasiness, and outright wrong she had felt that night with Rapunzel. Which of course, could only mean a Draugr.

"You know; I'd like to go one week without some trying to kill me." She spoke to no-one in particular, rising to her feet in a stagger. Remembering that Elsa was also thrown from the room, Anna's heart skipped a beat, as she frantically looked for her sister, calling out her name. "Elsa!"

"Anna…" A familiar voice called out, catching Anna's attention instantly.

"Elsa!" Anna yelped, before running over to her sister's voice, finding her lying down against a snow pile, looking the worse for wear. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know Anna. My everything hurts." Elsa grinned painfully at her joke, before wincing in pain.

"Can you do magic yet? Like any at all?"

"No Anna, I can't. Why do you ask?"

"No reason. It's just that I think the Draugr is back…"

Elsa paused, her eyes studying Anna for any sign of a joke, before accepting the conclusion. "Why can't we catch a break?"

"I don't know Elsa, I really don't." Anna said, as she braced herself for the coming struggle. As the fiery glow from the window the was getting brighter, Anna wasted no time or courtesies and grabbed Elsa, and began to drag her against the snowy courtyard.

As an afterthought, Anna noticed the alarm bell had been run since the explosion, and as was typical, Guardsmen made themselves available to Anna right away. Out of breath and a little twitchy the soldiers began to inquire giving Anna no time to respond.

"Your Highness, are you alright? What happened? What can we do?"

Before she could respond, a roar was heard, as the fiery glow revealed itself to Anna as not the hooded woman but some new Draugr. With smoldering flames roiling over his body, this one was literally a large bearded man on fire, bearing a knife and a spout of flame from his left hand.

"Hey, it's a new Draugr." Anna quipped, before shaking her head and refocusing. "But yeah, Guardsmen? Can you shoot that thing?"

The soldier fumbled over himself, before responding. "Of course!" Bringing his rifle to bear, the soldier shouted to his other. "Open fire! Kill that flaming son of a bitch!"

As rifles began to crack, Anna wasted no time in dragging Elsa away from the threat, moving as fast as she could through the snowy courtyard. But as soon as she began to move, the Fire Draugr did as well. Stepping off the now burning roof, he quickly pursued Anna while ignoring or shrugging off the incoming bullets.

In an attempt to stop the flaming monstrosity, the guardsmen on the scene attempted to form a firing line between the Royal sisters and the Draugr. However, Muspell knew his powers and was not fazed. Anna could only watch in horror as the men sworn to defend her either were struck down or were set aflame, their cartridge pouches cooking off as they crawled or ran away in agony. And while a few managed to fire into Muspell at point blank range or impale him with bayonets, this ultimately did little.

Before long, there was nothing between Anna and the Draugr but the dying and the maimed, with the Draugr not slowed down one bit. A single guardsmen walked past her with a bayonetted rifle, terrified but committed to his duty. However, Anna grabbed his arm, gaining his attention.

"Take my sister and get her out! But give me your sword first!"

Hesitant, the Guardsman ultimately decided to take the course of action that wasn't suicide. Unsheathing his sword, he passed it to the princess before slinging his rifle and beginning to drag the Queen to safety. Finally armed, Anna took up a defensive position with her sword held high, scared but determined. But as the Draugr closed in, it was clear that he was not impressed. Casting a flame bolt at the Guardsman dragging Elsa away, he squared off with Anna before speaking.

"It's not her I'm after, you know. Even so, I'm not going to let your sister get away. Not because I have too, but because I can."

"What do you want, you bastard?"

Chuckling, Muspell held up his dagger, before responding. "In a word? You. Someone wants you dead, and is offering something very valuable for it."

Knowing that her death here meant that Elsa would die, Anna steeled herself and spoke brave words, ready to fight. "Do your worst, monster!"

Chuckling at Anna's seemingly empty words, slowly moved forward. As he did, the fire bolt in his hand shifted form, changing to a sword made of fire. With black smoke vaping upwards from it and drips of embers and ash steadily falling from it, the sword was frightening to behold. "Oh but I will."

With both the sight of his fiery sword and his terrifying and unnatural presence, a chill ran down Anna's spine, her legs shaking a great deal in her stance. Unlike the Guardsmen before her, she was not fanatical in her duty, but instead felt the full terror of the monstrosity facing her grasping her heart with icy fingers. But her heart and head remained committed, determine to protect her sister with her life. She didn't notice it, but her current actions washed away the white shocks in her hair, leaving it the natural strawberry blonde of her birth. At the moment, all she could do was brace herself.

"Stupid little girl, playing hero like it's going to change anything. I've killed many a "brave" and "heroic" man and woman before. And that was before I got my powers. So go ahead Hero, stop me if you can!"

And with that Muspell began to swing his blades violently, making up for his lack of skill in two weapon fighting with raw power and brute force. Thanks to her father's instruction in sword fighting, Anna could see the attacks coming easily, but as she began to parry she found that stop each savage strike was like trying to stop a steam engine. As such Anna used all her strength to keep the two blades away from her, giving her no chance to counterattack.

Watching Anna strain under his blows, Muspell began to taunt the princess. "Come on, Hero! Or are you too tired already!"

Breathing heavily and focused on the task at hand, Anna had no words for the Draugr. Instead she parried strike after strike, blow after blow, getting ever more and more exhausted. Finally, she made an error. Muspell's blade of fire came crashing down on her guard, raining embers as it did. Unable to deflect it this time, Anna winced from its intense heat, before she saw the dagger come in low and fast. Unable to parry, Anna tried to shift her body away to save her own life. She succeeded, but not fully, as the blade sliced a deep gash across her lower left rib cage.

Anna cried out in pain, collapsing to the ground mere feet from Elsa who sat in pain, burnt and battered from both the explosion and the fire bolt. Laughing, Muspell approached, dagger in hand. "Like I said, Princess. You aren't the first, and you won't be the last. But I expected so much more from you, Hero!"

As he raised his dagger to finish off her off, Anna noticed the dagger glowing red and trembling, as if even it knew what it was about to do, and wished to not do so. Anna raised her sword in defense, but at this point, Anna didn't expect much. But before the blade came down, a blast of ice struck Muspell in the hand, causing him to drop the blade as he howled in rage and staggered back.

Anna looked over to see a weary Elsa with her hands in a casting position, breathing hard. Anna's face twisted in confusion, remembering Elsa's claim of being unable to cast her magic. But before Anna could say or do anything, Elsa paid the price for tapping on her nonexistent reserves by passing out from a combination of pain and exhaustion. Rising to her knees, Anna readied herself as Muspell recovered, the Draugr still literally burning with rage. Having his final victory yanked from his grasp, no matter how briefly, was more than enough to set him off. The flames erupting off of him, he casted his eyes on unconscious Elsa and blocked at everything else as he moved forward, screaming. "I WILL RAPE YOUR FUCKING CORPSE, WITCH!"

Determined to save the life of the sister who had just saved hers, Anna parried his even more clumsy than normal move. And for the first time this entire fight, she saw an opening. With her blade still locked, Anna did the only thing she could think of, driving a fist in his right side as hard as she could. Expecting little, Anna was quite surprised to see Muspell stagger back and recoil in pain, far more than he had from the bolt of ice.

Has Anna caught her breath, she rapidly begun to think to herself what had just transpired. A Draugr, which Anna had sheen shot and bayonetted, had been seemingly hurt for the first time by her fist. It made no sense.

At this time, the Draugr recovered, clutching his ribs in pain as he breathed in a ragged motion, further catching Anna's eye and perplexing her even greater. But more noticeable than all was the look of panic in Muspell's eyes, as he didn't understand why his prior invincibility had failed him. Furthermore, Anna could see his eyes dart towards the dagger on the snowy cobblestone, desperate to end things quickly.

So Anna was ready when the Draugr leaped for the blade, allowing Anna to block and land her first sword blow on him, which while it didn't have the effect she hoped for, it did deflect him from the ancient Norse dagger. Seeing the unstoppable abomination make such a desperate move for such an odd weapon, Anna quickly seized the dagger from the snow. As she did, she heard a whisper.

You must use the dagger on the Draugr, child. It is your only hope…

Recognizing the voice as that of Queen Frida, Anna moved forward, casting the sword aside. After all, Queen Frida had never lied to her before. Been stupidly cryptic? Yes. Untrustworthy? No.

Recovered, Muspell felt a chill as he saw Anna had the dagger, which was replaced quite quickly with anger at the thought of his freedom slipping away so quickly from him. Rushing forward, he quickly grasped Anna's wrists, and struggled to turn the blade against her.

As such the two stood there and struggled to gain control of the knife, grunting and gasping as they did so. However, before long, a clear winner began to be seen, in the most surprising of sources: the young Princess Anna, who stood a foot shorter and a hundred pounds less in weight. It wasn't just surprising; it was outright impossible.

As the ancient, jagged blade began to push slowly but steadily towards him, Muspell could not accept what was happening. Even if they were both human, it'd have been inconceivable that the smaller Anna would over power him. Beat him in a fight? Perhaps, if she struck savagely and quickly enough at weak points. But this wasn't that. This was her overpowering him with pure brute force. Impossible when he was a man, outrageous now that he was a Draugr.

As the blade began to push against his clothing, it's second effect began to do its work, showing him for what he really was. As such, the flames vanished, revealing nothing but an old, grizzled man, fighting viciously to live purely for the sake of survival itself. His eyes wide with terror, he stared deeply into Anna's now glowing blue eyes, before demanding in a shaky voice, one final answer.

"You're human… How!?"

Once again, Queen Frida's words came to Anna, as she remembered her words from the other night. Like a chilly autumn wind on a bright afternoon, she let the words wash over her.

…but the strength of a hero triumphs all. Even magic, even a Draugr.

Invigorated Anna smiled, before speaking softly in between her heavy breathing, answering Muspell's question. "How? It's like you said… I'm a hero, you son of a bitch!"

Before he could respond, Anna rammed the dagger in Muspell's heart. Muspell gasped and shuddered, before collapsing to the ground. As he slid down, his eyes remained fixed on Anna's own, silently reacting in horror as they made some dark, cruel realization, until they faded and grew dim. As the Draugr grew still, Anna took a moment to catch her breath and take in her surroundings. As snow gently fell around her, Anna realized that the Draugr's unnatural aura was no longer present, finally allowing her to relax.

As she fell back onto her rear, she turned her attention over to the passed out Elsa, who breathed regularly and was beginning to make the first subtle movements of one about to wake. Her sister alive, Anna was content to sit and recover, doing so until the first groups of reinforcing Guardsmen arrived. There they found their Crown princess, clutching a bloodied dagger near the corpse of the monster they had all seen shrug off gunfire and bayonets, who had cleaved through over a dozen men. To stand against that and kill it, they thought, took bravery on a whole other level. Not just bravery, but a lack of fear itself.

So it was that as Anna sat battered, numb, and content, that the whispers began. Whispers that would follow Anna for the rest of her life. The awe struck whispers that bestowed upon Anna her earned name, a rare and prized thing in Viking times, which was carried on to this day.

Whispers that proclaim the young 18-year-old woman before them as 'fearless.'

And thusly, history would remember then Crown Princess Anna Idunnasdottir av Arendal very simply as Princess Anna the Fearless.