Anton and Hans briskly made their way through the ranks of charging soldiers. Anton found his adversaries no match for his own experience and skill as his sword readily deflected every attack without slowing the pace of his steed. Fortunately for Arendelle's army, Anton was too focused on reaching his true target to bother stopping to finish off any of his attackers, leaving them in his wake without a second thought.
Trailing behind Anton, Hans found little resistance as his brother handily cleared a path through their opposition. He almost wished it wasn't going so well. Hans knew an easy victory would only make Anton even more arrogant and insufferable in the end.
Suddenly, Anton and Hans broke through the last waves of Arendelle's forces, leaving an unobstructed way forward. Anton eagerly spurred his horse onward, up toward the distant solitary figure standing stoically ahead of them, and Hans grudgingly followed.
As he reached the top of the rise, Anton sensed that the situation was not as he thought it should be. He realized the motionless form he had been pursuing was merely an ice sculpture. Frustrated, his muscles tensed and he tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword.
"What is this?" Anton muttered angrily to himself.
"It's a ruse!" Hans said, smirking.
"What are you smiling about?" Anton growled.
"She tricked you, and you fell for it!" Hans said, trying not to laugh at his brother's error. "I warned you not to underestimate her."
"Shut up!" spat Anton. He rode his horse up to the icy chariot and closely examined the ice sculpture. "This may have been a ruse, but she is here somewhere."
Anton looked around anxiously before glancing back down at Lillehaven and spotting the clouds that had engulfed his ships in the harbor.
"There!" Anton shouted, pointing with his sword to the harbor.
Seething with rage at the deception that had successfully drawn him away from where he needed to be, Anton lashed out at the ice sculpture. With a single broad stroke, Anton's sword sliced cleanly through the neck of the icy decoy. As the decapitated head of Elsa's frozen replica landed in the snow, an evil grin spread across Anton's face as he imagined the real queen meeting a similar fate.
"Come along, Brother," Anton said, turning his horse back toward Lillehaven. "Let's finish this!"
Anton drove his steed charging back down toward the village. Before following his brother, Hans glanced at the decapitates ice sculpture. The image of Queen Elsa's frozen head in the snow gave him a chill that the frigid weather could never equal.
In the midst of the battle, Lars strained to maintain his precarious balance on Sven's back, clutching tightly to the reindeer's fur with his free hand as he swung his sword at a soldier from the Southern Isles. As their swords clashed, Lars found that Sven's greater momentum and surefootedness in the snow worked to his advantage as the soldier's horse hesitated and the soldier was knocked from his saddle.
Lars was holding his own in the battle, but the same couldn't be said for the soldiers of Arendelle. They didn't seem to have had as much training as Lars had received in Weselton, and they were no match for the experienced forces of the Southern Isles. Though they had numbers on their side, Lars could tell the battle wasn't going well for Arendelle.
Lars spotted another mounted soldier charging toward him. He didn't have to worry about steering Sven; the reindeer knew what to do. Lars readied his sword, again deftly subduing his attacker without slowing Sven's stride. Ahead in the distance Lars saw a soldier from Arendelle struggling against an adversary from the Southern Isles. Lars took his crossbow from his shoulder and loaded a bolt.
As Lars took aim with his crossbow, neither he nor Sven noticed as another enemy soldier quickly rode in from behind. At the last second, Lars happened to catch a glimpse of his foe just in time to draw his sword and deflect the blindside attack while still holding his crossbow in his other hand. The sudden strike was powerful, however, and Lars wasn't entirely prepared for it. The force of the blow sent him flying from Sven's back down the snow-covered bank, as his crossbow was knocked out of his hand and landed harmlessly out of reach in the soft fresh snow without firing. Dazed and gasping for breath, Lars saw his assailant jump down from his horse, sword drawn. As his dizziness faded, Lars recognized the rank on the soldier's uniform as that of a lieutenant. Lars desperately scrambled for his sword and got to his feet.
"I don't know what you think you're doing here," Verner called out with a confident grin as he advanced down the slope toward Lars, "but it's about to come to an end."
From the brig of the Valkyrie, Anna and Kristoff could hear a commotion on the decks above, though they had no idea what was going on. The two guards assigned to watch them were unsure what they should do. They felt like their comrades might need their help, but they would have to abandon their post and leave their escape-prone prisoners unguarded. Eventually, the noises coming from above sounded serious enough to spur the guards into action, and they climbed up the ladder to the deck above.
Anna and Kristoff marveled at their sudden turn of fortune. Anna quickly pulled out the disfigured hairpin she had turned into a lock pick, but before she could get started, an ominous quiet abruptly fell over the decks above. Anna and Kristoff looked around nervously, unsure of what was about to happen.
Suddenly, a diminutive snowman dropped through the hatch from the deck above.
"Olaf!" Anna exclaimed.
"Anna! Kristoff! I found you!" Olaf replied excitedly.
"What are you doing here?" Anna asked.
"We came to rescue you," Olaf said.
"We?" Anna asked.
Just then, Elsa climbed down the ladder from above.
"Elsa!" Anna shouted.
"Anna!" Elsa said with relief.
Elsa rushed over to the cell. With a wave of her hand, she sent a hardened icicle driving through the lock of the gate, instantly freezing and shattering it. Anna burst out of the cell and into her sister's arms.
"I knew you'd rescue us," Anna said as she hugged her sister tightly.
Elsa wrapped her arms around her sister, so relieved to know Anna was safe that she felt as if she could hold onto her forever. Despite her feelings, Elsa knew they had to escape quickly, but she still found it difficult to let go of Anna. Finally, she reluctantly broke the embrace.
"Come on," Elsa said, pulling Anna toward the ladder. "We have to get out of here."
"Elsa, wait," Anna said, resisting slightly, "There's something I have to tell you..."
"Anna," Elsa interrupted, "whatever it is, you can tell me later. We have to go!"
"Yeah, but..." Anna tried to continue before Elsa again interrupted.
"Hurry!" Elsa said, pushing Anna toward the ladder.
Realizing that Elsa was too anxious to listen, Anna proceeded up the ladder. As they made their way to the main deck, Kristoff paused to take a sword from one of the unconscious guards they passed.
"What's that for?" Anna asked.
"Just in case," Kristoff replied.
"Well if you get a sword, I want one too," Anna said, taking a sword from another knocked-out guard.
"Come on!" Elsa said impatiently.
The foursome hurried to the main deck, where the ship's crew was still trying to make their way though Elsa's icy barriers. They rushed down the staircase Elsa had made and onto the frozen fjord. As they started to make their way across the ice, they heard a voice call out from behind them.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" said Anton.
The four of them turned to see Anton standing at the foot of the dock, having just raced back from Elsa's decoy. Elsa was momentarily perplexed by the strange antique helmet on Anton's head, but she quickly shook off the confusion and stepped forward to face her opponent.
"I am Elsa, the Snow Queen of Arendelle," Elsa announced defiantly.
"Ah, Queen Elsa, of course," Anton said with a customary bow, though he still spoke with his tone of contempt which was not lost on Elsa. "I am Prince Anton of the Southern Isles. it is a pleasure to finally meet you. I must say that before I came to Arendelle I thought the reports of your powers might have been exaggerated, but I have to admit," Anton gestured grandiosely with his arms spread wide, "this is impressive!"
"My powers can do much more," Elsa said, "but I don't want a war, and I have my sister back. If you end this now, I will allow you and your men to return to the Southern Isles in peace."
"That is a most generous offer," Anton replied, "and it's one I'm not sure I'd be willing to make if I were in your place."
"Then I suggest that you take it," Elsa said.
"As tempting as that might be, I just can't do that," Anton said. "This isn't over yet."
Anton let out a loud whistle, and the Valkyrie began to rock side-to-side, cracking the ice that surrounded it and causing the stairs Elsa had created up to the deck to collapse. A muffled moan emanated from deep inside the massive ship's hull.
"What is that?" Elsa asked nervously.
"Why it's a surprise for you, Your Majesty," Anton replied ominously, "because I know it takes a monster to destroy a monster."
Just then, the head of Anton's creature burst through one of the cargo hatches on the deck of the Valkyrie and wriggled its way out of its confinement. It's massive body was long and lean, almost like a snake, but with four muscular legs and a skin of silvery-gray scales that matched Anton's helmet. The reason for the Valkyrie's immense size was now plainly apparent to all as the creature nearly capsized the massive vessel as it slithered over the side of the ship, damaging the rigging and railing as it crawled down to the ice, which cracked under its weight. Now free from its containment, the creature towered over everyone and everything, stretching its long neck to reach its head above the tallest masts of Anton's ship.
"Yeah, that's what I was trying to tell you," Anna said, stepping to Elsa's side. "He has a dragon!"
"Oh," Elsa muttered, too paralyzed with shock to say anything else.
Anton smiled as the dragon looked down at him with its fiery orange eyes. He pointed to Elsa.
"Kill her," Anton commanded, "along with anyone who gets in your way."
The dragon immediately turned its gaze to Elsa. Its giant orange eyes narrowed as it let out a low growl.
"Anna, run!" Elsa said.
"I'm not leaving you," Anna replied.
"You can't help me with this," Elsa said. "I need you out of the way, so I know you're safe. Go!"
"Come on, Anna," Kristoff said. "Elsa knows what she's doing."
Anna reluctantly allowed Kristoff and Olaf to lead her away toward the nearest shore, while she kept her eyes locked on her sister. The dragon moved toward Elsa, the ice cracking with each step. Elsa used her powers to create a barricade of icy spikes in front of the dragon, but the dragon merely crushed them under its feet as it stomped over them. Backing away toward shore, Elsa tried to create a wall of ice between her and the dragon, but it smashed through the wall almost as if it wasn't there at all.
As the dragon continued to advance on her, Elsa kept backing away, eventually finding herself stepping onto the shore some distance from Anna and the others. Elsa knew if she kept going, she would lead the dragon into the village where it would do more damage and might hurt other people. She stopped and stood her ground. The dragon paused and stared down at her.
The dragon inhaled and opened its mouth. A stream of fire shot out of the dragon's gaping maw directly at Elsa. All Elsa had time do was close her eyes and instinctively raise her hands in what would have been a futile gesture for anyone else, but Elsa's powers reacted without her conscious thought to protect her, blasting from her hands to block the fire. The reaction between the dragon's fire and Elsa's ice produced a cloud of steam between them, lit by the bright orange of the flames and the bright bluish-white of Elsa's magic.
Elsa opened her eyes, surprised she hadn't been incinerated. Instead, she found herself in a deadlock with the dragon, which continued to inhale without stopping its barrage of fire against her powers.
Due to the cloud of steam, Anna couldn't tell exactly what was happening between Elsa and the dragon, but she knew she had to try to help her sister. She turned to look up at Anton on the dock. With a satisfied smile on his face, he turned away to return to the conventional battle. Anna stared at the ancient helmet on Anton's head. She knew what had to be done.
"Come on," Anna said to Kristoff and Olaf. "We have to get that helmet!"