Disclaimer - I do not own Frozen nor Spice and Wolf

Chapter 24

Anna strode to the gates, Kristoff, stumbling behind her. "Anna, wait! It's dangerous out there. Let Ragnar and the rest deal with Hans."

Anna paused just as another explosion boomed in the distance. "No, Kristoff. Hans is destroying my home, and I'm not going to sit in the castle like some wilting flower! Not when the blood of two nations bleeds to protect it!" She stormed off into the chaos of the town, and Hans looked at Sven worriedly, "Well, we can't let her go alone, we swore to protect her, remember."

Private Thomas of the Arendelle Home Guard fought his way through the streets, struggling against the throng of people moving against him. He occasionally tried to yell for them to keep calm and move towards the castle, and away from the explosions still randomly blossoming every few minutes it seemed like, but his single voice was drowned out by the screams of panic of hundreds. So many people were crushing up against him that he thought nothing of it, right up until the man in the cloak slammed into him, and he felt a sharp pain in his gut. He desperately tried to call out, but found his voice weak and raspy. He felt himself man-handled to a wall, and set down, and looked weakly into the eyes lit by madness. "Shh, don't worry...it'll be over soon." Thomas watched in dim horror as the man lit a match and held it up to an alley wall.

Ragnar ripped the fuse out of the casks, and then grimaced as he heard and felt another dull thump from a few blocks away. Snarling he raced out of the alley brought up short by the throngs of panicking people. He looked over and scrambled up the wall to the rooftops, and saw Alexis and Thorin scrambling to join him.

"We aren't moving fast enough, and the fleeing townspeople are only making the situation worse!" Alexis growled.

Ragnar nodded, "Horwitz sent in as many men as he could, but I've already found four bombs they missed in their first pass."

Thorin looked at his packmates, "Sergeant, the explosions seem to be moving towards the palace. Maybe Cristian or Hans or whatever he's called is trying to reach Anna. They do seem to have a bit of history..."

Ragnar nodded, reaching for the pouch around his neck, "Which means we need to find her, before he does."

Elsa struggled as best as she could, but was still forcibly hauled up to the deck of the Duke's flagship. She suddenly found herself staring into the dark eyes of Lord Arik. "Hello, your Majesty, welcome aboard."

Elsa glared at the taller man, "We had a deal, Arik! 24 hours, remember?"

Arik tsked, "So we did, Queen Elsa. However, we did not fire first. The first shot came from your own guns, not mine."

She shook her head, "Really, so you had nothing to do with the poisoning of my people, or the bombing that is going on right now."

The Duke looked over at his son, "What is she talking about, Arik? What poisoning?"

The younger man shrugged, "I don't know what she's talking about, Father. I must admit that I did hire someone to infiltrate the town, but it was purely on the grounds that he claimed he could capture the Queen. As to how he was planning to accomplish it, he never told me, and I never asked."

Elsa snorted, "Well, Hans, or should I call him Captain Cristian admitted to these acts. And since he was in your employ, that makes you culpable."

The Duke looked over to the two men who had brought the Queen, "Kaleb, Johann, is this true?"

Kaleb snorted, "So what if he did? She's an evil witch and her people are demon worshipers anyways."

Arik looked at his father and sighed, "Oh dear, this isn't at all what I wanted. Oh well, I supposed there's nothing for it now. We shall take the Queen back to Weselton."

The Duke suddenly snorted, "What! But what about the invasion? You were going to present..."

Arik rounded on his father, "There is going to be no invasion you senile old man! We've already lost 5 of our ships, and if you haven't noticed, the others are being ground down rather quickly. We should order Marchaunts' vessels to the line while we retreat."

Olaf wandered through the streets, towards the ocean, the sense that he needed to find the Queen growing in intensity. He suddenly pounded his snowy head, "Wait, I'm no soldier, what am I going to do when I find her!"

GAH! We wouldn't have this problem if you'd just followed her like I wanted in the first place!

Olaf shook his head, "Wait, who's that? That's not me. Or, is it me?"

Listen to me you stubborn, idiotic ball of snow, if we find Elsa, we can save her. But we have to find Elsa to make that happen. Now, Hans said he was taking her to the Duke, which means she's probably aboard their flagship. Now, stop fighting me and lets get out there.

Olaf nodded, and then stopped, "Wait, I can't swim."

GAAAHH!

Anna paused, looking into the smoke and flames around her. The last explosion had occurred only seconds ago, and she knew Hans had to be near by. Kristoff and Sven flanked her, "Anna, this is crazy, Hans probably used the fleeing crowd to escape."

She shook her head, "No...he started away from the palace to draw our forces away...this is close to where he took Elsa...there are no more bombs left here."

Kristoff shook his head in disbelief, "That's a hell of a gamble to be making, Anna!"

Anna's face was locked in cold determination. "It's not a gamble, I know he's here."

Kristoff was about to say something when the crossbow bolt struck Sven in the hindquarters. Bellowing in pain, the Reindeer bucked wildly. "Sven!" he cried, moments before a second bolt slammed into his own shoulder.

Anna raced over to her fiance, "Kristoff! Hold still!"

Kristoff grimaced in pain, "Poisoned and shot in the same day, it's just not fair."

Anna stood up and swung around, picking up Kristoff's fallen sword as she did so. "Okay Hans!" she shouted, "You wanted me, come and get me!"

Kristoff reached out to her but then grabbed his shoulder, "Anna...what are you doing?"

Suddenly a voice called from the smoke, "Hello, Anna. It's wonderful to see you again."

Anna glared at the figure emerging from the smoke. "Hans..." she snarled.

Arik looked to the Captain, "Why haven't Marchaunt's ships moved to cover us?"

The captain looked at the five ships in confusion. "I don't know, Lord. They acknowledged our signals, but, if anything, they seem to be hemming us in."

Arik looked over at the five ships and glowered, "Then open fire on them."

The Duke looked in dismay at his son, "But they're our allies..."

Arik shouted, "I said open fire! We're being betrayed you nitwits!"

As the first volley of fire splashed around the largest of the five ships, the captain smiled in grim amusement. "Took them long enough." He spied a figure in a dark cloak emerging from below decks, the setting sun's rays glinting off of his armor. "Sire, it would appear our ruse is at an end. Permission to fly the true colors?"

Nathaniel Lawrence, the Wolf King of Yoitsu, let a feral grin cross his face. "Granted."

Elsa's eyes widened in surprise as a long howl erupted from the deck of the largest vessel, to be echoed on the decks of the others. Almost as one, the banners of Marchaunt dropped from view, to be replaced by banners that displayed a rampant black-maned wolf with a crown surrounded by a depiction of the northern aurora on the left, and a golden compass rose with a pomegranate on the right. "Yoitsu!" gasped the Snow Queen.

The Duke shook his head, "No, it can't be!" he stammered.

Arik just growled in irriation.

As flames and smoke surrounded them, Hans chuckled sarcastically as Anna raised Kristoff's sword into an engaurde stance. "Really Anna, you are going to fight me...a man who has learned the art of swordsmanship since he was 12. Oh, I had no idea killing you was going to be this much fun."

Anna narrowed her eyes, and gritted her teeth, when suddenly a growl erupted from the smoke to the right. Both Hans and Anna stopped as a giant gray and white wolf emerged from the haze.

"You really are an arrogant bastard!" came a voice that Anna recognized as a distorted form of Ragnar's.

Hans quickly faced his blade towards the giant wolf, but then came another also in gray and white, one that Anna realized was Alexis, "We are the Wulfen Guard, sworn to protect the Royal Family..."

Another wolf emerged, one whom Anna recognized as Thorin, "The entire Royal Family."

Ragnar nodded, circling the 3 humans, "Our Prince has pledged himself to Queen Elsa, making her part of the Royal Family."

Alexis joined in the circling, "Ergo...her sister is part of the Royal Family..."

Thorin also circled the trio, "As is her fiance!"

Anna was stunned by the proclamation, and Hans was rapidly turning, trying to keep all three wolves within his sight. Suddenly Doctor Raehn appeared, and knelt by Kristoff, "I've got him...you do what you must."

Anna nodded and looked at the circling wolves, "I appreciate your desire to fight for me, but this is something I must do," she declared.

Ragnar let loose a growling chuckle, "Oh dear lass, we're not here to fight for you."

Alexis nodded, "We're simply making sure he doesn't do anything dishonorable, like run away."

Hans suddenly turned his blade back on Anna, who smiled sweetly, and then looked at him with a wry grin.

"Well then, Hans...I guess I forgot to tell you." She actually cracked her neck before she dropped into a perfect en'garde stance, even better than what she'd shown before. "I've been fencing since I was seven, and more to the point, you left me to die, and you tried to kill my sister, and you dared to hurt my Kristoff! You are a disgrace to even the lowest scum of the earth, and I will see you punished."

The three wolves circled, and knew full well, don't ever mess with an Alpha female's family.

Nathaniel stood impassive on the main deck of his flagship, as volley after volley slammed into it. The Captain groaned in dismay, "Sire, we can't take this pounding for long. We must return fire!"

"No," growled the Wolf King, "We can't risk injuring Queen Elsa. The ship will hold together."

The Captain gasped, "Sire, I know you designed her, but with all due respect, she wasn't intended to be a warship."

Nathaniel nodded, "No, that's why I designed her to be tougher than any mere warship. Worry not, Captain. The Noble Endeavor will not let us down."

The Captain ducked as another cannonade slammed home, "Well, then how are we going to deal with them."

Nathaniel smiled, his long canines glittering in the sunset. "The old way. Prepare for boarding actions!"

Elsa strained against her bonds, and then sighed in defeat. If only she could call upon her powers, she could help fight them. She closed her eyes, and concentrated, sensing that faint thread that was all she could now sense of her magic. Reaching out to it, she prayed, "You granted me this gift, please, help me to use it now." She felt her wrists burn, as if they were on fire.

Arik felt the temperature dropped and looked at the Queen, tied to the main mast. "Stop your trickery, Witch!"

Elsa looked at him, "It's not me," she lied. "After all, I still have this so called blessed leather strap binding my hands.

He walked over to her and checked the binding, "Hmm," he growled, but was interrupted by the Captain, "Lord Arik, I believe the enemy intend to attempt to board us!"

"Very well, prepare to repel boarders."

Elsa grimaced as she focused once more, and snow began to swirl.