Kristoff awoke with a groan, clutching his head, feeling as if he had spent another night in a tavern, and was waking to a hang over. It wasn't until he felt around, did he realize that he was laying in a pile of snow, and the memories from earlier coming flooding back. Lucky for me there was a fresh powder down here, but why did I fall unconscious? The man's gaze fell upon a nearby, fallen tree and guessed that a branch must have hit him across the head. Well, that explains that massive bump I just felt.

The man glanced around, noticing that it was already dark, and decided to take a few moments to try and figure out what to do. Alright, I'm 200 feet below where everyone else is; Anna has most likely been captured; I don't know if Sven and Olaf are safe, and all I have are my winter clothes and an axe... things are not looking good. The only one who might know what to is... Grand Pabbie! He has to be able help; I mean, I've seen him help those girls when I was first joined the trolls, so he must at least have an idea about what to do.

Kristoff headed off in the direction that he hoped that the trolls were, taking it slow, as each step made his headache worse. As he trudged through the snow, he could feel his thoughts drift toward the lack of companions that he was experiencing: he hadn't been alone since before he met Sven, and after that, they were inseparable, making the silence of the woods just seem even more oppressive. He hoped that Sven was alright, and that Olaf was trying to help him to the best of the snowman's abilities, but soon, Kristoff felt his thoughts began to shift toward Anna, and how, for some reason, he couldn't get her out of his mind.

Anna, no matter what, always seems to be looking on the bright side of things; there is just...a glow about her that seems to make the world seem a better place. Even when I considered to just let her go on her own to try and find her sister, I couldn't bring myself to do it; for some reason, I don't want anything to hurt her, ever. Don't worry Anna, I will be back soon, and I will be able to help you.

While thinking about her, Kristoff had subconsciously increased his pace, so that he pushing a light jog, until he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, dragging him out of his thoughts. He slowly pulled out the axe, straining to see if he could see anything in the darkness, when he heard a low growl coming from behind him. Whipping around, in the dim light, he could just make out a pair of yellow eyes glaring at him and the outline of a wolf began to take shape. Kristoff was about to try and scare it off, not really worried about a single wolf, when he noticed another pair of eyes join it, and then another; soon there was about 20 pairs of eyes, all staring at the man.

The man let out a similar string of curses to what Anna had said earlier, as he began to back away, his eyes darting around, hoping to find something that he could use to either escape, or to give him a better chance of escaping, but all he saw were trees with branches that were too high for him to reach, and piles of snow.

The wolves slowly made their way toward him, looking at him as if he was easy prey, causing Kristoff to continue backing, hoping to get some more room between them and him, when he felt his back hit the solid trunk of a tree, and he knew that he was sunk. The wolves seem to pick up on this, as they picked up their pace, closing the distance much faster than Kristoff had expected.

Kristoff felt hopelessness over take, as he watched the wolves come running toward him. Never expected to go this way; kind of always expected to be accidentally smothered by Sven when he rolled onto me in his sleep. He was preparing himself, waiting for the inevitable, when the images of Sven, Olaf, and Anna popped back into his head. No, I can't die; not yet. My friends need me and I am not planning on dying without a fight!

"BRING IT ON!" Kristoff snarled at the wolves, tightening his grasp on the axe as the first ones lunged toward him.

…

Kristoff wasn't sure how long he had been fighting off the wolves. It could have been only ten minutes or ten hours; either way, he was exhausted and not sure how much longer he could continue. The axe in his hand was shaking, from the amount of exertion that he had been doing, and the man could feel the wounds that the wolves managed to inflict on him taking their toll, draining him of his strength. The snow around his position was stained red, from both the wolves' blood and his own, and he could still see the steam rising from the last few wolves that he had managed to kill.

He let out a grunt of pain as he leaned against the tree, feeling the bite on his leg send a bolt of pain through the rest of his body, as he warily watched the remaining eight wolves circle around him, obviously trying to figure out a way to get to him without dying. Kristoff could hear the voices in the back of his head, telling him to let go, that he had fought the good fight, and it was time to sleep, and as much as Kristoff wanted to accept the voices' advice, his friend's faces would appear in his mind again, justifying the reason why he had to continue and couldn't give up.

The man watched as the animals circled closer, guessing that they either feeling that victory was close at hand, or just wanted revenge for all of their fallen pack mates. He groaned, pulling himself off of the tree, and prepared for another wave that he would have to fight off, when Kristoff heard what the sound of a horn being blasted somewhere farther in the woods, echoing through the trees. The wolves perked their ears for a moment, glancing warily around, but after hearing nothing for a few moments, turned their attention back on the man. Kristoff braced himself, preparing what looked to be the final assault, when dozens of small boulders came tumbling through the snow, slamming into the wolves, sending them flying.

Kristoff blinked, not sure if the lack of blood was making him hallucinate, as he watched the rocks unfold themselves, turning into the trolls he had know for most of his life, except wearing some sort of black, stone armor and carrying weapons of the same material. They assembled around him, appearing to be making a shield wall to protect him. The wolves picked themselves up, and seeing that their prey had gained allies, growled, before turning tail and fleeing back into the safety of the darkness.

Once the wolves were gone, the trolls turned toward Kristoff, but where he would have normally seen seen the bright, goofy, happy faces of his family, he instead saw determined, hardened looks of warriors going off into battle. He slumped to the ground, too tired to continue standing, as he felt the trolls begin wrapping his wounds.

"Kristoff."

Kristoff raised his head to see Grand Pabbie standing before, but unlike the other trolls, he wore no armor, only his usual garments of grass and moss. Kristoff attempted to stand, but at the sight of Grand Pabbie raising his hand, stayed put.

"Grand Pabbie, what are you doing here? What's going on?"

Pabbie sighed, and Kristoff noticed how old he appeared to be. While Grand Pabbie was the oldest among the trolls, he did a decent job at keeping up the appearance of having much more energy, but now, he just looked old and tired.

"Magic is a powerful thing," Pabbie started, looking more as if he was talking to himself than Kristoff, "that is all around us. Most beings are unaware of it, unable to feel it unless it is directed at them. However, there are a select few, that are given the ability to not only feel it, but be able to harness it; whether through being cursed, or being born with it, these select beings are able to use magic for whatever they so choose.

Many years ago, a family came to me, with a daughter who was born with the powers of ice and snow. After helping them the best I could, I felt something... something that told me that that the girl would play an important part in something that was to come in the near future. At the time, I didn't know what, but I felt it, and I knew that I would keep an eye on her."

"You mean Elsa, right?"

Grand Pabbie, startled by the question, nodded, before continuing.

"Then, just a few months ago, I began to feel strange magic; magic that was similar to Elsa's, but much darker. Much... eviler. Someone, or something, was using magic to probe the magical defenses of this world, while also gaining intelligence upon the girl. I used what I could of my powers to keep it at bay, but it was strong, managing to slip through more and more, until, yesterday, it broke through the barrier and entered the world.

Kristoff, whatever this thing is, it means to harm the girl, and engulf this world into darkness."

Kristoff sat stunned for a moment, processing all the new information, when he felt the need to ask something. "Okay, but you still haven't explained what you are doing here."

"We're here, to stop that thing, and send it back where it came from." Grand Pabbie said matter-of-factly, before turning away from the man and heading off toward a large group of trolls, who Kristoff recognized as some of the leaders.

A thousand thoughts raced through Kristoff's head, each leading him to more questions than answers. What did Grand Pabbie mean by, 'barrier'? What does this thing want with Elsa? What about Anna? What's going to happen to her?

"Grand Pabbie."

The old troll turned around to see Kristoff standing there, blood already staining the bandages, slightly shaking from exhaustion, with a determined look in his eyes.

"Count me in."

AN: Well, good thing I didn't promise :) I would like to apologize for how long this chapter took me. I actually wrote most of this chapter in November, but due to a minor case of writer's block, couldn't figure out an ending till now.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed, faved, followed, etc! You are all awesome and keep up the good work!