Chapter Thirteen - Retribution

The sun was already high above the mountains by the time Anna opened her eyes, only to discover that she was sitting in a forest clearing surrounded by unwashed men wearing animal furs and carrying weapons.

"Are you okay, Anna?" she heard Kristoff's voice say, and looked over to see him sitting not far away with his hands tied behind a post and looking at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"I'm okay, other than a headache." Anna replied, realizing that she was also tied to a post. "Are you okay?"

"I have a thick skull, remember? Sven and Elsa are probably out of their minds worrying about us, though. Actually, I'm a little surprised we haven't been buried by a blizzard yet." He was interrupted just then by one of the men in the clearing approaching Anna.

"Hello, Pretty." the man leered. "Now that you're awake, how's about we go have a little fun?"

"Actually, I think I'd rather not." Anna said, trying to put distance between herself and the bandit, somewhat less than successfully.

"Well, I don't really think you're in any position to say no, now are you?"

"Leave her alone, you bastard!" Kristoff shouted, and received a kick in the face for his trouble, in addition to attracting the attention of just about everyone in the camp. The bandit then reached down and roughly grabbed the front of Anna's dress.

"Hands off, Kjall." a new voice said from behind Anna, causing the first man to jump up just in time to avoid a vicious bite directed at his wrist.

"It's just a quick tumble, Esben." he said, walking around the post Anna was tied to. "I don't see no harm in it."

"I was told to make sure she was treated well." the man called Esben said. "It's either hands off her, or hands off your arms."

"And who was it what told you that, might I ask?" Anna craned her neck to get a look at the argument, and saw that a crowd was forming.

"That's my business, Kjall, not yours." Esben was saying.

"Let me guess, it was Bjarne, our 'benefactor' in the city, wasn't it?"

"And what of it? He's the only thing keeping us out of the jailhouses."

"Your deal with that Bjarne guy's brought us nothing but trouble. I don't think you're the best one to be in charge anymore."

"And I take it you think you are?" Esben was saying.

"I don't see why it shouldn't be me." Kjall said, now just inches away from Esben. Quite suddenly, Esben's hand shot up, and blood cascaded from a deep gash along the side of Kjall's neck. Kjall gave a gurgling cry, then fell to the ground. After a moment, Esben wiped a knife in his hand on the dead man's clothes, then replaced it in his sleeve as he approached Anna.

"I apologise for Kjall, Princess." he said, squatting so his face was level with her's. "I assure you that won't happen again."

"Why did you bring us here?" Anna asked.

"I was told to, in exchange for continued protection." He then rose to his feet and walked away before Anna could ask him any more questions. Just then, an earthquake shook the camp, and all but the most agile bandits were flung to the ground before it dissipated.

~`~ ~'~

Elsa had gotten over the initial shock of Hjadvaar's earthquake by the time Serana arrived in her study, and had resumed her pacing. Almost the second the Tamrielic woman entered the room, Hjadvaar went over and said something that Elsa couldn't understand, nor could she understand the reply. After a brief exchange, Hjadvaar walked to the window.

"Feinn, zii gron!" he shouted, and suddenly became transparent and took on a pale blue coloration. Then, he jumped out the window into the courtyard below. Elsa rushed to the window and looked out, expecting to see Hjadvaar's broken corpse on the flagstones. Instead, she saw him walking towards the center of the courtyard.

"How did he do that?" Elsa asked in a trembling voice.

"He Shouted so he couldn't get hurt." Serana replied, and Elsa noticed that she was careful not to let the sunlight coming in from the window fall on her skin. "He's going to do something even more impressive in just a moment."

"Durnehviir!" Elsa heard Hjadvaar shout from the courtyard, and looked back to see something that almost pushed her over the edge into hysterics. Coming out of a ring of purple flame in front of Hjadvaar was a massive thing with grey-green scales, a thick tail, and huge, tattered wings.

"Serana, what is that?" Elsa asked, a note of panic in her voice, and noted that Hjadvaar almost looked like he was talking to the thing.

"That's Durnehviir. He's a dragon who lives in the Soul Cairn. He taught Hjadvaar how to summon him after he was killed."

"What killed it?"

"Hjadvaar killed him when we were in the Soul Cairn." Elsa didn't really have anything to say about that, so she just watched the dragon bow it's neck and then fly off with Hjadvaar mounted just behind the spines on it's head.

"Is he trying to use a dragon to save Anna and Kristoff?" Elsa asked.

"No, he's just trying to figure out where they are. Tonight is when he and I are going to rescue them. You might as well sit down, Your Majesty. He'll probably be a little while." Elsa decided that was probably a good idea, and sank into the first chair she could reach.

"I, uh, I wanted to thank you, Your Majesty." Serana said after a few moments of silence.

"Thank me?" Elsa asked. "Why do you want to thank me?"

"You saved Hjadvaar, Your Majesty. I think that merits a 'thanks'."

"I didn't save him." Elsa objected. "He saved himself. All I did was put some ice on his head."

"Your Majesty, if that ice hadn't been cold enough to fully wake him up, he wouldn't have been able to save himself. He's the only real friend I ever had, and I don't know what I'd do without him, so you have my thanks for however long I live."

"Thank you for telling me that." Elsa said, shocked that anyone would be that open with her, and completely unable to think of a reply. They both fell into silence for about half an hour, until they heard a rhythmic thrumming flap to announce Hjadvaar's return. Elsa looked outside the window to see the dragon slam into the courtyard, and then disappear in a ring of purple flame almost the second Hjadvaar was out of range. After just a few moments, he walked into the study carrying a rolled piece of paper.

"We found them." he said, setting the paper on a frozen table and unrolling it to reveal a map of the area around Arendelle. "They're being held in a clearing right about here." He emphasised 'here' by driving a dagger through the map at a spot about five miles north of the town.

"Were they okay?" Elsa asked worriedly.

"I couldn't see them very well myself, Your Majesty, but Durnehviir said that the only injury he could see was a bruise on Kristoff's face. Now, the plan is that once the sun sets, Serana and I will go to the clearing where Anna and Kristoff are being held, kill all of their captors, then bring them back here."

"I'm coming, too." Elsa said. "Anna is my sister, and I'm going to help get her back." Hjadvaar opened his mouth as if he was going to object, but was cut off by Serana saying something in that language Elsa didn't understand. Hjadvaar also said something, and it almost sounded like they were arguing. Finally, Hjadvaar threw up his hands.

"Fine, I suppose she'll tell you about it when we get back anyway, and it would be best if you saw it for yourself. Serana will stay here and make sure nothing flies to pieces. We'll bring one horse and that reindeer for mounts. On the return trip, you and Anna will share the horse and I'll ride my own mount." He then went out the door and assumed his 'on guard' pose, making it clear that he was turning the recruits over early.

~`~ ~'~

Hjadvaar was already waiting in the courtyard when Elsa walked out of the castle, and noted with approval that the Snow Queen had changed into clothes more suited to travel than her usual attire. He himself wore a belted tunic and hose rather than his armor, and only carried a single sword hanging from his waist.

"Ready, Your Majesty?" he asked when she joined him not far from the stables.

"I'm ready." Elsa said as she created a stool made of ice to help her mount her horse.

"Then I'd like you to meet Arvak." He suddenly raised his hand, and a swirling ball of purple flame appeared cupped in his palm, which he threw at the ground by his feet. The ball expanded for a moment, then retracted, revealing a skeletal horse with purple flame for it's eyes, mane, and tail which had appeared within the vortex.

"Hjadvaar," Elsa said, sounding like she was struggling not to panic while she thawed her reins and saddle. "Would you please warn me next time you do something like that?"

"My apologies, Your Majesty." Hjadvaar mounted his skeletal steed and looked back towards Elsa. "Let's go. We're burning moonlight." He then touched his heels to Arvak's exposed ribs and set off towards the city at a trot with Elsa and Sven close behind. As they crossed the causeway, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes, letting the cool night air wash over his face.

"What are you doing?" Elsa asked curiously.

"I like travelling at night." he replied, opening his eyes and trying to correct his posting rhythm, then looked up. "I'll admit that's a little disconcerting, though." He pointed to the moon in the sky. "I'm used to seeing two moons in the sky."

"Is it even possible for there to be two moons in Tamriel and only one everywhere else?"

"I gave up trying to find the difference between possible and impossible years ago."

They travelled in silence for about 45 minutes before Hjadvaar stopped and checked landmarks he had noted earlier while riding Durnehviir. There's the North Mountain, he thought to himself ...The Western Foothills… Castle Arendelle… seems like the right spot. He dismounted, and Arvak returned to the Soul Cairn.

"Alright," he said as Elsa dismounted. "Here's the plan. Anna and Kristoff are being held about a mile in that direction." He pointed to one side of the road. "What we'll do is sneak up on the clearing, then I'll go out and give them a chance to surrender. When they don't, I'll kill everyone except Anna and Kristoff. What I want you to do is call down a blizzard if I look like I'm in trouble."

"How do you know they won't surrender?"

"I'll be one man against probably a few dozen. They won't be able to resist." Seeing that Elsa didn't seem to have any more relevant questions, he turned and led the way into the woods.

It took them about fifteen minutes to reach the clearing, where they stopped to see about how many bandits Hjadvaar would be facing, and counted a total of about 3 dozen.

"You know how you asked me to tell you when I was about to do something like Arvak again?" Hjadvaar breathed. "Well, I'm about to do something like Arvak again." He then stood up and walked into the clearing.

"I give you one chance to drop your weapons and surrender!" he bellowed at the ruffians in the clearing. They responded exactly how he expected them to - they jumped to their feet and brandished their weapons. Hjadvaar grinned broadly. "I was hoping you'd say that." he said as a black mist condensed around him and his flesh turned crimson. Quite suddenly, instead of being a seven-foot-tall Nord standing at the edge of a forest clearing, he was nine feet tall with blue-grey skin and four-inch talons decorating his hands. He stretched a pair of nearly skeletal wings, and began floating three inches above the ground, at which point a light snow began to fall, and about half of the bandits turned and ran into the woods.

Hjadvaar raised his right hand, and a crimson orb formed in his palm, which he threw with deadly accuracy at a cluster of bandits, and drained the blood of everyone caught in it's blast. He then raised his left hand, and one unfortunate bandit who had fallen in the first attack rose back to his feet to attack his companions, who jointly decided their best option was to charge the abomination floating in front of them. Hjadvaar then settled to earth, and quickly demonstrated that his cruelly curved talons weren't for decoration by ripping one bandit to ribbons with one hand while he sliced the neck of another open. After just a few moments, only one bandit was left alive.

"Stay back, or I'll kill her!" he said, holding a knife to Anna's throat as the Princess of Arendelle looked straight ahead in terror and Kristoff shouted at him. Instead of attempting to reason with the man, Hjadvaar suddenly disappeared in a cloud of bats, and reformed an inch away from the bandit. He immediately sank his claws into the man's belly and raised him off the ground, then sank his fangs into the screaming ruffian's neck and began to feed as Elsa ran from the forest to embrace her sister and Kristoff looked on in horror. When he had finished his grisly feast, he easily sliced through Anna and Kristoff's bindings with his talons, then returned to his more familiar form.

Changelog:

Fixed Typos

Corrected Spelling of 'Volkihar'

Corrected Spelling of Serana

Made Hjadvaar Bigger

Get Your Mind out of the Gutter

Re-arranged Words

Made Conversations Smoother