Chapter Two: the Raven Comes and More
Elsa swept her gaze around the courtyard of the palace, at all the faces of her citizens shining with anticipation. "Are you ready?" she asked them. The crowd cheered and clapped, far beyond ready to see their beloved queen's powers. Elsa clapped her foot to the cobblestones, covering them with a smooth sheet of ice. She lifted her hands toward the fountains in the courtyard and froze the water into intricate, swirling sculptures. And she launched a bolt of magic into the air that exploded into a soft snowfall that glistened in the sunlight.
Elsa smiled warmly at the sight of her people, young and old, enjoying themselves so much. For thirteen years she had lived in fear of her powers, in fear of what people would do if they found out about her. That fear had left her two years ago, and now she could use those very powers to bring her people joy.
A shout of panic caught her ears and Elsa stifled a giggle as Anna landed on her backside, still so clumsy on the ice. Though, in fairness, she had gotten a bit better. Elsa slid along, perfectly balanced and at peace on the ice, and helped her sister up. Anna wobbled for a moment, but reclaimed her balance and hugged Elsa, who melted into the contact. Anna sped away, led by Olaf, and began to practice more advanced moves that almost always landed her back on the ground.
Elsa rolled her eyes and moved on, making small talk with her subjects and overall enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. After a few hours, as the ice began to melt, the people began to head for home, pausing to thank their queen and wish her good health. As the last of the crowd began to leave, Elsa felt a shiver run up her spine, as if she were being watched.
Elsa looked around and saw a large bird sitting on one of the fountains, a raven. The raven tilted its head, as if regarding her, then croaked a shrill call and flew away over the castle. Elsa raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. Something about all that left a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.
"Never liked those birds," Kristoff said as he approached her, also looking the way the bird had flown. "They seem … unnatural, like they know all the bad that's gonna happen to you and do nothing to change it." Elsa had to agree with her brother-in-law, at least about that particular bird. She shook off those superstitious thoughts and offered the ice harvester a smile.
"Come along, Kristoff. Anna's probably ready for us by now," she said. Anna was always quite adamant about the family sharing at least one dinner a week with each other, and both Elsa and Kristoff weren't swamped in work. Kristoff silently followed his sister-in-law.
As they headed back to the castle, neither the queen nor the Ice Master deigned to look up. Neither saw the hooded figure sitting on the roof, wrapped in a blue cloak with his face hidden in the shadow of its cowl. As the royals entered the castle, the figure stood and hopped over the arch of the palace roof. He had had a long night ahead.
Deep in the wilderness, miles from the city of Arendelle, sat large mounds of earth and stones, almost like unnaturally round hills. These were the ancient burial mounds, built to house warriors of old that had fought to defend their homeland. For centuries, these gravesites had been undisturbed by the locals in respect to those who had fallen in battle. Those who had paid the ultimate price for their countrymen.
The sun sank below the horizon, just as it did every day. But unlike most nights, the northern lights did not appear. In fact, the air itself seemed unnaturally tense, as if the earth itself were holding its breath in trepidation. In trepidation for what was about to happen.
One of the mounds shifted ever-so-slightly, the grass-covered soil wriggling as if covering a restless sleeper. Which, in a way, it was. The soil broke apart, releasing columns of mist that rose in putrid green streaks. The vapors swirled and parted, revealing a figment of long-forgotten nightmares.
A pale, blue-grey figure with rotting skin peppered with gaping wounds, rose from the mound and shambled to the forest floor. Pink fluid oozed from its long-dead wounds like blood and its eyes were milky white. A grating moan escaped through the creature's few teeth in a mockery of the breath it had had in life.
The creature was undead. Blood drinker - flesh eater - monstrosity. A draugr.
The draugr limped forward, drawn toward a member of the living. It knew what - who - it was searching for, and it would stop at nothing to find it, to tear and consume it. The draugr was unaware, or perhaps uncaring, of the multitude of its fellows that rose from the mound and shambled behind it. For all bore the same drive. The same purpose.
Princess Anna breathed deeply as she awoke in her husband's arms. She felt something was off for a moment before she realized what it was: she had to use the bathroom. Anna briefly considered trying to hold it, then discarded the notion. It would be hours before dawn.
Anna carefully rose from the bed, trying her hardest not to disturb Kristoff, and moved as quietly as she could into the hall. For anyone else it would have been difficult to navigate the alls at night, but Anna had explored every nook and cranny in this castle since childhood. She knew her home like the back of her hand. Wait, what? Where did that expression even come from? Who took the time to memorize the back of their hand? On impulse, anna looked down at her own hand before remembering it was too dark to see detail. Oh well.
Anna soon found the privy and relieved herself, vowing to never again have two cups of hot chocolate before bed. One cup was enough. Maybe. She smiled as she thought of being back in bed, feeling her husband's warm arms wrapped around her. As she reached for the knob to their room, Anna paused, some instinct telling her danger was near. Something was very wrong.
Anna's eyes widened as a faint light seemed to permeate the nighttime darkness, making everything clear without hurting her eyes. She didn't stop to think that she was seeing in the dark, it was as if the dark were just … not dark. And in that not-darkness, she saw something that really should have frightened her but didn't. She saw a large black wolf sitting in front of her, its head level with her shoulder. Given her past experiences with wolves, she should have been scared to death, but she wasn't. It was just sitting there on its haunches, like a faithful dog.
Anna stiffened as that instinct came back, ice crawling up her spine. And with that she heard a faint, ominous noise. A kind of shambling, overlaid by an ill groaning noise. She slowly turned to find a man-shaped figure at the end of the hall limping toward her. It was making the groaning noise, the sound becoming harsher as it sped up, moving toward her. Anna backed away, fear blossoming in her chest.
As the creature drew nearer, the not-darkness allowed her to see what it was. It was a pale, rotting corpse, its body peppered with festered wounds and blazing red eyes burning in its head. Its jaw hung loose in a fearsome snarl as it emanated that groan. The scent of rotting flesh hit the princess like a wave, making her gag. The thing lifted its hand to reach for her, as if beckoning her to come closer. Anna's scream died in her throat, strangled by primal horror.
As the creature drew closer, almost within arm's reach, a vicious snarl pierced the night and the wolf leapt for the monster, ripping and tearing it to shreds. After a few moments, the wolf stopped and looked at her in the not-darkness, its muzzle unblemished and its eyes glowing in the night. Did they do that before? One was a deep sapphire, the other a startling gold.
The wolf stood stock-still, just looking at her. It turned its head to the side as if pondering the situation. They stood there, princess looking at wolf and vice versa until shouting was heard, the guards coming and getting closer. The wolf looked in the direction of the noise and back to her, then loped past her. Anna turned to see the wolf crash through a window and vanish into the night.
Anna felt like all the feelings inside her had stilled, as if the weirdness she had seen had topped some kind of limit. She sat back against the wall as the guards rushed to her, shouting about the corpse and asking if she was okay.
Anna didn't answer, still trying to process what had just happened.
An hour later, Anna sat in the castle library wrapped in a blanket, thinking furiously over what she had seen. It clearly wasn't a dream given she was in the library right now, unless this was a dream and she was pretty sure it wasn't. Kristoff sat with her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. He didn't know what had happened and it didn't concern him as much as the fact that Anna, his bubbly, talkative Anna, hadn't spoken two words since whatever had happened.
Elsa had spent the entire time since the guards found Anna discussing what they had found. They had reported that the princess had been found sitting in the hall with a ruined body, apparently long-since dead. The castle physician had been woken to investigate, and he had confirmed that the body was quite old, in a state of natural preservation. The wounds inflicted on it, however, were new.
The guards had investigated the broken window, but had determined that it had been broken from the inside. Either someone inside the castle had broken it to allow someone else in, or it had been used as an escape by someone. Or perhaps something.
Elsa thought about all of this as she looked at her sister, who seemed less frightened than thoughtful. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. Coming to a decision, she pulled up a chair in front of her sister and waited. Anna, perhaps sensing the action, broke away from her thoughts and looked her sister in the eye.
"Anna, what happened?" she asked. Anna looked away and twisted her mouth in thought. If she told the truth, would they believe her? One look back at elsa promised that she would do what she could. Anna took a deep breath and tried to order her thoughts.
"I woke and needed to go to the bathroom," she began, the ridiculousness of the situation making her chuckle. "I was coming back to our room when something happened. The darkness seemed … thinner. It was just as dark, but I could see around me. And sitting next to me was a big black wolf." She locked eyes with elsa, searching for a hint of disbelief. Elsa seemed surprised, but not unduly so. It was an odd statement, even Anna had to admit.
"The wolf was just sitting there, looking at me. He wasn't growling or threatening, or anything. It was just like a big wild dog. Then I heard something from the end of the hallway. I turned and saw," she swallowed as she replayed the memories in her mind, 'a walking, groaning dead guy. It was awful, all pale and rotten and just … walking and groaning. It came toward me, lurching like it couldn't walk right. It freaked me out; I couldn't move, I couldn't-" She cut off and sighed, calming down.
"Then the wolf snarled and jumped at it and ripped it up. The wolf was at it for a while before it stopped and looked at me, like it just … wanted to make sure I was alright. Then I heard the guards coming. The wolf must have heard them too because it just ran off and jumped through the window." She looked up at her sister's, eyes beseeching. "Elsa, I swear it really happened. I'm not crazy!"
Elsa lifted her hands, trying to placate her sister. "Anna, it's okay. I believe you," she said soothingly. Anna's eyebrows rose in surprise, then narrowed in slight suspicion.
"You're not just saying that to calm me down, right?" she asked. Elsa chuckled at that.
"No, I really do believe you," she assured. "I mean," she conjured a small flurry over her open palm, "we have a fairly strange life. What's a walking dead man and a heroic wolf compared to this?" Anna smiled at Elsa's calmness. Of course she wouldn't toss her in the nuthouse. Not that Arendelle had a nuthouse, but she had heard a lot of stories from merchants when she visited the market and the thought just crossed her mind, and- She stopped her thoughts before they got any more off-topic.
Elsa regarded her sister and brother-in-law. 'Both of you go and get some rest. I'll have two guards outside your room for the rest of the night to make sure nothing else happens." Anna shrugged and stood, taking Kristoff's hand and guiding him along. Just as Elsa had said, two guards came with them.
When the couple had gone, Elsa's look of calm assurance changed to worry. She really didn't think Anna was crazy, but she wasn't as accepting of the circumstances as she had seemed. A walking corpse? Her father had collected the old stories of the Northmen as a hobby in his youth, and they spoke of something eerily similar. The draugr. Could that have been what Anna encountered? And the guards had mentioned seeing footprints of dust that resembled a large wolf. What was that wolf that saved anna? Why would it do that?
Elsa snapped her fingers, a recent habit to help clear her mind when it began running with questions that she could not answer. And tonight, she couldn't answer any of these questions. She decided to return to bed and try to figure it out in the morning.
Like Anna and Kristoff, Elsa posted a pair of guards outside her room for the night. Caution never hurt anyone, after all. As the Snow Queen settled back into her bed, she tried to relax and eventually found sleep.
Unbeknownst to the queen, a raven was perched outside her window. The bird turned it head to the side, just as the wolf had, and flew off into the night.
TeamArendelle: Thank you for your poignant observation. I had fully intended to put this in first, but there was a mess up with the chapters, totally my fault. Thank you for your comment!