The Head That Wears the Crown

Chapter Thirteen

Alliance

"Everybody freeze!" Kristoff whispered. "Don't make a sound!"

The party stood perfectly still, hardly daring to breathe. Elsa moved her eyes about the glade, searching for the movement they had seen moments earlier.

The air in the glade suddenly felt oppressive, weighing down the party. Anna glanced at Kristoff, hoping whatever the threat was had passed.

After a few more tense moments, Kristoff relaxed. "Okay, I think they're—"

The attack was swift and sudden. A terrifying roar echoed throughout the glade. Anna screamed as she was pushed to the ground by a massive figure.

"Anna!" cried Kristoff. He rushed to help her, but before he could reach her, he, too, was pinned to the forest floor.

Jansen looked about in a panic, unsure of where to go. "Get them!" he screamed at the guards. Before they could react, the guards were assaulted by a hairy, clawed arm that cut through their flesh with little resistance. The guards fell to the ground, throats slit, bleeding to death.

Elsa stood alone, Isarn on the ground next to her, arms still bound behind his back. "Stay back!" she warned whatever it was that had attacked them. A sudden movement caught her eye. Whirling on her heel, she unleashed a frigid blast at the figure that had launched itself at her. A primal scream filled her ears as the figure slumped to the ground, limbs coated in ice.

Another roar filled the glade and their attackers immediately stopped. They pulled into a straight line, standing at attention as their leader approached.

"What . . . What are they?" Anna asked, her heart pounding in terror.

The companions stared in horror at five large, hulking creatures. Their bodies were coated in thick fur. Sharp fangs and claws protruded from their faces and arms. They stood over Elsa and her companions, their tongues protruding from their mouths in anticipation of the meal they would soon consume.

Isarn sighed. "They are the skygge folk," he said. "The shadow people."

Jansen's heart sank to the pit of his stomach. "I've heard of these creatures!" he whispered. "The stories say they are the ones who drove the wood dwellers from this forest."

"Or ate them!" Anna replied, her face twisting in disgust as one of the creatures unleashed a torrent of saliva upon the forest floor.

The leader stood in front of the line of creatures, examining them. One of the creatures, unable to wait any longer, moved forward to begin the feast. The leader growled, slashing at the insubordinate with his claws. Chastened, the obstinate creature slunk back in line.

The leader turned and faced his quarry. Snarling, he opened his mouth and hissed, "Who are you? What are you doing in our forest?"

Elsa gasped. "You can speak?"

Now it was the leader's turn to react in astonishment. "How do you know our tongue, human? None but our kindred speak our language!"

Elsa frowned, confused. "I don't understand! You are speaking in my language."

The leader shook his head. "What matter of tricks are these?! You dare to insult me by accusing me of speaking with your filthy words?"

Elsa turned to Anna, Kristoff, and Jansen. "You heard him, didn't you? He's speaking in our language!"

Anna shook her head. "No, he's not, Elsa. You're speaking in his!"

"No, I'm not!" Elsa insisted. "I'm speaking perfectly normally." She turned to Jansen. "Aren't I?"

Jansen's face was white. "Majesty, when you conversed with that . . . that creature, you were making the most horrible sounds!"

"I don't understand!" Elsa cried. "None of this makes sense!"

"Elsa," Isarn said quietly. "It appears the gift of tongues has been passed to you."

"What . . . What gift? What are you talking about?"

Isarn stood, rising slowly, cautiously, so as not to upset their captors. "Among my people, the gift of tongues is passed on from one generation to the next. But only a few are fortunate enough to inherit it."

"Do . . . Do you have this gift?" Elsa asked.

Isarn shook his head. "I was fortunate enough to receive many unique abilities. But this is one that unfortunately eludes me."

The leader glared at Elsa. "Enough with this endless talk!" he hissed.

Anna looked nervously at her sister. "Elsa, do you think you can talk them into letting us go?"

"I . . . I don't know!" Elsa whispered.

"Well, you need to try!" Anna replied. "I think they're getting very, very hungry!"

Elsa turned to the leader. "Please," she said. "We did not mean to defile your forest. We were merely passing through. If you would give us leave, we will leave your forest and never return."

The leader growled at Elsa. "Foolish woman! What makes you think we will permit you to leave while you still live?"

Elsa took a deep breath. "I am Queen Elsa of Arendelle. Perhaps you have heard of me."

The creatures gasped and chattered amongst themselves. "The snow queen? Yes, we have heard of you. Your reputation precedes you."

Elsa bowed before the creatures. "Then, I trust you understand that we mean you no harm. I humbly ask for your permission to leave this forest."

The leader hesitated. Elsa sensed that he was having doubts. "I assure you my word is true. You need not fear reprisal from me for the soldiers you killed earlier. Please. Let us leave, and we will ensure you are left in peace."

The leader hissed. "Normally, Your Majesty, I would grant your request without hesitation. However, it has been days since we have eaten, and I cannot deny my followers the opportunity to taste fresh meat."

The creatures licked their lips and began to advance upon the group.

"Elsa?!" Anna asked. She could feel herself beginning to panic.

"Please!" Elsa begged. "Reconsider! If you let us go, I will formally consider you an ally of my country. We can provide you with all the meat you could possibly want! Just let us leave you in peace!"

The leader bowed his head. "I am truly sorry, Majesty. But I cannot allow you to leave."

The creatures were in a frenzy by this point, their hunger overriding any rational thoughts. The leader turned to them. "My brothers, you may now feed!"

"NO!" Elsa cried. The creatures surrounded the party, cornering them.

"Do we have a Plan B?!" Kristoff cried.

"Yes, we do!" Elsa raised her arms and fired a blast of ice at the nearest creature. Screaming, it suddenly stood still, its entire body encased in ice except for its head. The creature emitted a bone-chilling howl of agony and frustration.

The remaining creatures looked at each other, then back at the group. Roaring in rage, they lunged forward.

"RUN!" Elsa screamed.

The party didn't need to be ordered twice. Anna, Kristoff, Jansen, and Isarn ran as fast as they could. Elsa followed behind them, periodically turning to send another blast of ice at their pursuers.

"Stay on the path!" Jansen cried. "If we lose the path, we'll never find our way out of here!"

"What do you think we're trying to do?" yelled Anna.

"Just shut up and MOVE!" Isarn roared.

Elsa continued to rain ice upon the creatures as she ran, but it was getting harder and harder for her to keep up with the group and still distract the creatures.

Isarn turned back and saw Elsa's plight. "Anna!" he cried. "Cut my arms loose!"

"Yeah, right!" Anna said. "So you can kill us once we stop running? I don't think so!"

"There's no time to argue!" Isarn said. "Elsa can't do this by herself. Please! Let me help her! Let me help my daughter!"

"Anna! No!" Kristoff cried. "This is a very, very bad idea!"

Anna glanced behind her and saw that Elsa was faltering. She doesn't have the strength to do this much longer! Her mind made up, Anna pulled her knife from her belt.

"If you betray us, Isarn, so help me, I will kill you!" she whispered, severing the bonds that restrained Isarn.

Isarn stared at Anna incredulously for a moment, not believing she had actually set him free. "Thank you," he said, bowing before Anna.

"What are you waiting for?" Anna asked. "Elsa needs help! NOW!"

Isarn turned and rushed back toward the tiring snow queen, hoping he wasn't already too late.

Elsa didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. Her feet ached, her entire body shook with exhaustion. The creatures no longer scattered the moment she threw a blast of ice their direction. They had gotten bolder, daring her to try and kill them.

Elsa was so focused on keeping the creatures at bay that she lost sight of where she was running. She tripped on a protruding tree branch, landing on the ground with a painful thud.

The creatures saw that had fallen and quickly moved to take advantage of the situation. Elsa raised her arms to fire another wave of ice at them, but she found she no longer had the energy to do so. Try as she might, she could not summon the ice.

The creatures salivated profusely as they approached her. Elsa closed her eyes and braced herself for the inevitable.

A howl of agony jarred her back to reality. Opening her eyes, she saw one of the creatures had been completely encased in ice. Another darted forward to attack her. Before it reached her, it, too, was frozen solid with a loud scream.

Elsa looked behind her and gasped. How . . . How did he . . .?

Isarn's face could not mask the fury he felt. Mercilessly, he fired wave after wave of ice from his fingertips, daring the creatures to try and attack Elsa.

One of the creatures was still reckless enough to do so. Screaming, it launched itself at Elsa, claws ready to slice off her head. Isarn concentrated, and the creature froze in midair, falling harmlessly to the ground.

The remaining creatures, seeing they had no possibility of succeeding, retreated, returning back to the depths of the forest from whence they had come.

Isarn knelt next to Elsa. "Are you all right?"

Elsa turned to him in disbelief. "Yes. I . . . I'm fine. How did you . . . I mean, why are you . . .?"

A small smile tugged at Isarn's lips. "Don't thank me. Thank Anna. She's the one who freed me so I could help you."

"But . . . But, why? Why did you come back?"

The smile vanished from Isarn's face. "Survival, of course. Our chances of staying alive increase significantly if we have two party members capable of controlling the ice." He stood, offering Elsa his hand. "Come. We must catch up to the others."

"Is . . . Is that the only reason?" Elsa asked.

Isarn turned away. "Of course," he whispered, the lie sliding off his tongue. No, it's not! he thought briefly. He quickly cast aside the wayward thought. No distractions. No distractions.

"This way," he said, and the two ice conjurers ran down the path to the edge of the forest.

"Anna! You're not going back in there and that's final!"

"Dammit, Kristoff!" Anna cried. "You can't stop me! Elsa's still in there and we are NOT leaving without her!"

"Your Highness! Please!" Jansen cried. "While we all fear for Her Majesty's safety, we cannot allow you to risk your life as well!"

"You can't allow? Who do you think you are?!" Anna roared. "You don't control me! I will save Elsa myself if I have to!"

"Fortunately," said a voice from behind her, "you don't have to worry about that."

Anna spun around and smiled. "Elsa!" she cried, flinging her arms around her sister.

Elsa allowed Anna to hold her tightly, cherishing the feeling of her sister's arms around her neck. "It's okay," she said quietly. "I'm here."

"Elsa," Anna whispered, still clinging to her sister. "I thought . . . I thought I lost you. But you're all right!"

"Thanks to Isarn," Elsa said. "If it hadn't been for him, things would have turned out very differently."

"Oh, well then," Anna said, turning to Isarn. "Thank you. For saving Elsa. That's all, I guess."

"It was my pleasure," Isarn said, uncertain of what more to say.

"So . . . what do we do now?" Anna asked.

"We have to return to Arendelle," Elsa said. "We need to get there before the Wanderers attack."

Isarn snorted. "You really think you can stop them? You could barely stop me. How do you plan on dealing with a whole army of ice-wielding attackers?"

"You know what?" Kristoff said. "I think I've had enough of you for one lifetime. I vote we leave him here to fend for himself. Anyone else agree?"

"Agreed," Anna said. "Come on, Elsa. We need to get going."

Elsa was unresponsive, deep in thought. "Elsa?"

"We can't leave him here," Elsa said. "He saved my life. I owe him."

"Are you kidding me?!" Anna cried. "The only reason we're out here is because he almost killed you! And you're worried that you owe him?"

"He comes with us." Elsa's voice was firm. "That is my final decision."

She turned to Anna. "We need him. Without him, we have no hope of calling off the attack from the Wanderers. If we keep him with us, we may still be able to negotiate a truce."

"Unlikely," Isarn said. "The desire for vengeance against Arendelle burns deeply in my brothers' hearts."

"Does it burn so strongly that they will jeopardize the safety of their leader?" Elsa asked. "The safety of the man responsible for keeping them together?"

Isarn did not respond.

"Majesty, you forget," Jansen said. "We've lost our horses! Even if we could negotiate with the Wanderers, we are days away from the kingdom on foot. Isarn's deadline will have long since passed by the time we arrive. By then, Arendelle will be utterly destroyed!"

Silence fell over the party.

"Then, all is lost," Elsa whispered. "I . . . I have failed our people."

Isarn cleared his throat, startling the group. "Elsa, there may yet be a way. I know these lands better than anyone. There is a shortcut from here to Arendelle. It is treacherous, but, if you are willing, I will lead you."

Elsa stared at Isarn, stunned. "You . . . You will?"

Isarn nodded. "Yes. In exchange for my freedom upon our arrival, I will lead you to your kingdom."

"Elsa, no!" Anna said. "Don't trust him! He could be leading us into a trap!"

Elsa grasped her sister's hand. "What choice do we have?" she asked. "As unsettling as this is, he is the only hope we have of saving the lives of our people."

Elsa turned to Isarn. "Very well, Isarn. You have your terms. However, I want to be perfectly clear. I have the final say in all matters on this expedition. If at any time I suspect you are leading us into a trap, or planning on harming us in any way, I will freeze you without hesitation and leave you to die. Do I make myself clear?"

Isarn nodded. "Crystal, Your Majesty."

Elsa turned back to the group. "We'd better go. We are losing precious daylight. Lead the way, Isarn."

The five set off, no thought on their minds beyond the hope that they would arrive home in time to save Arendelle from destruction.

AN: A tentative alliance has been formed. Where it may lead has yet to be determined. Please, read and review!