Chapter 23: Homeward Bound

The party of six (Anna, Elsa, Kristoff, Pebble, Olaf and Decker) neared the entryway of the fortress. Light streamed in at a sharp angle illuminating dust that hung in the air, and casting long shadows off everything.

"Ooh, sun!" Olaf shouted and started to run toward the yellow light.

"Olaf, wait," Elsa called out. "Remember, there's an army of bandits out there. Best we proceed with caution."

Elsa was unsure how the horde of men under the Bandit Queen's spell would react now that the Bandit Queen had turned into a giant snowflake. Elsa was even less sure how the Boreal Bandits would react if the six of them emerged without the two bandit leaders.

In the cavern, Elsa had managed to freeze the mist in the air—all of the tiny drops of ice fell out of the sky with a shhhhppp, leaving the air clear. Twenty yards away, she saw Askel. The bandit's eyes darted from her to the throne, to Anna, to the striking absence of Idunn. Elsa could see the calculations in his head, as he realized that his Bandit Queen had taken the power of winter away from him.

"Nryyah!" he yelled in an indecipherable rage. He pushed his hand forward with the silver crystal tight. But he was still exhausted from creating the last geyser, and couldn't control the magic as well as he had hoped. A hiss of steam erupted from the ice in front of him, but the crack it formed spread in all directions like a spider web. One of the fissures spread backward, and with another "Nryyah!" he splashed into the water.

By then, Kristoff, Olaf and Pebble had made it across the lake, just in time to see the cracks in the ice repair themselves, with Askel underneath.

"Is he…" Kristoff asked.

"He's sleeping," Pebble answered, looking at the man below the ice. "The magic in this lake … it will keep him. For a hundred years, I'd guess."

Kristoff regarded the frozen man. "Can't say I'm too sad for him."

Anna and Elsa joined them, and five of them picked up Decker, Elsa created a staircase of ice, and the six made their way through the icy fortress.

Now they were looking out of the entrance. A light snow was still falling on the valley, but the snow cloud was directly overhead, so the low sun could still shine its light over them. This strange snowing sunshower made Elsa feel ever more unnerved. This was unnatural weather, and that was an unnatural army of brainwashed men.

But she had her ice, and she needed to get Anna home safely. She took a deep breath and prepared to step out into the sunlight.

"Your Majesty!" A voice cut her off.

"Haakon? How did you … what are you doing up …" the queen tried to make sense of the man running in their direction, dressed in the regalia of Arendelle palace guards.

"Haakon!" Anna called out. "Oh, right. Elsa, Haakon is one of the palace guards here. And it looks like he's brought friends?"

Trailing behind Haakon were three of the Boreal Bandits, with their hands bound behind their backs.

"Your highness," Haakon gave Anna a bow, then turned to Elsa. "Your Majesty … it's the strangest thing, I felt like I have just woken up from a terrible dream—one where I was serving these men … these bandits. Because of a spell cast by that Bandit Queen. Until just minutes ago, I regarded these as my comrades.… But I daresay, we can't have criminals like them running around your castles."

Elsa regarded him for a moment. "So you were under the Bandit Queen's spell?"

Haakon nodded.

"And it's lifted?"

He nodded again.

Elsa thought for a moment, then stepped out into the light. She took a few steps to overlook the valley below, and from the valley, she heard a cheer rise up. The horde of fishermen and shepherds, icers and farmers, who earlier that day had chased her down the valley, were now shouting up at their Queen, who had liberated them from the Bandit Queen's hypnotic prison.

"Queen Elsa!" "She's saved us!"

Elsa gave a slight smile and wave, then turned back to gesture to the five behind her.

Kristoff whispered to Anna, "Hey, let's go be heroes," as he pulled her out into the light.

"Wait are you sure that … because I don't think that I saved …" she began in protest as he placed her next to her sister, and the cheers rose higher. "Oh, okay." She smiled and waved as well. To her right, Olaf wore a big open-mouth bucktoothed smile as he waved his hands to the cheering crowd below. Even Decker was smiling.

After the cheers died down, Anna turned back to look at the fortress behind her. "Well, there are definitely some things I'm going to miss about New North Arendelle. But I'm glad to be going home."

"Haakon," Elsa began. "How did you manage to get up to Svalbard. You haven't been gone from Arendelle that long."

"Ships, your Majesty. At first we marched away from Arendelle, until we were picked up by ships along Norway's western coast. The bandits have a small armada, anchored in a cove not far from here."

"And can you get all of these men—" she gestured to the cheering army, "back to Arendelle on those ships? Winter is approaching, and I doubt anyone wants to spend it here."

"I'm sure we can, your Majesty. What of the rest of the Boreal Bandits? With this army, I'm sure I can track them down and bring them back to Arendelle, to face justice."

Elsa looked across the valley at the bandit encampment and realized that it stood deserted. They must have run off when they realized that Idunn's magic had worn off. "The Boreal Bandits lost both their leaders. I doubt they will be a threat to anyone again. If you catch anybody, then yes you can bring them back to Arendelle with you. But it's most important that we get everybody home."

"As you wish, your Majesty."

As Elsa started to walk down the valley, she heard Anna run up behind her.

"Wait, we're just going to abandon our colony? Not leave anybody here? What if somebody else tries to claim it?"

"Anna, Svalbard was never Arendelle's colony—it's always been part of the sovereign Kingdom of Norway. I think it's best we leave."

Anna followed Elsa, with Kristoff, Pebble, Olaf and Decker close behind. The six of them left delicate footprints in the lightly fallen snow. As they approached Elsa's ice ship, Sven and Dasher trotted up to join them, Sven nuzzling the icedeer's scruff.

"Whoa, Kristoff. Sven's got a ladyfriend," Anna said. "And she's made of ice."

Kristoff made a half frown. "It would appear that way."

"Soooo," Anna began, turning to Elsa. "How many snow pets did you make while I was away?"

"Just one more," Elsa answered, looking out over the water to see her ice whale leap over the surface and land with a splash. "We'll need him if we're going to get back to Arendelle before the first snow."

"Right! Because … the Snow Queen and …" Anna looked up at the sky, at the lightly falling snow. She closed her eyes, and wondered if she heard a voice in it.

"You hear it too?" Elsa asked.

"What's that?" Anna turned.

"The voices in the snow. I've always thought I heard something. But now that Mama … Well, now I think they're actually saying something." Elsa closed her eyes and tried to listen. She smiled. "I don't think we'll need Moby to sail us home. It sounds like a strong North Wind will be at our back all the way to Arendelle."