It was almost noon when the trees began to thin and Anna's horse broke out of the dense foliage onto a wide snow covered path. She snorted in disbelief, immediately recognising her whereabouts. For someone with really poor interpersonal skills, Anna decided that Elsa was a master at predicting human reactions. It was exactly as Elsa had deduced; the Southern Isles troops will make camp in the Arendelle outpost once it had been vacated and Anna could see the tops of the squat buildings making up the outpost at the end of the snowy path.
Two soldiers in the indigo and magenta tunics on their tan fjord steeds stepped out from between the trees and flanked her silently as she made her way to the camp; their horses' hooves kicking up slurries of melting snow and dirt as they trotted past the low walls and onto the muddy ground. Soldiers glared daggers at Anna as she passed; the presence of her escorts probably the only reason as to why she had not been stopped or worse yet, killed on sight.
"Ah. Princess Anna. You certainly know how to keep a man waiting." Hans greeted as he stepped out from the shadows of an ordinary building with stone walls and a thatched roof.
Anna raised an eyebrow, cocking her head to the side as her horse halted.
"What, no friendly greeting? Surely you'd have some kind words to spare for your ex-betrothed." Hans leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his chest as he smirk at Anna.
Still receiving no response, he shrugged nonchalantly. "I see both you and your wife have taken on a vow of silence. That reminds me, congratulations on your happy union." His voice laced with sarcasm as he bowed mockingly.
"Are you done talking? I'm here now. Where's Elsa?" Anna demanded; her tone cold and unyielding.
"Good to see you still have that feisty spark in you. I've always like that." Hans pushed off from the wall and sauntered over. "Your beloved's waiting. I've been keeping her warm for you." He chuckled.
Motioning at the guards tailing Anna, Hans inclined with a jerk of his head. "Take her to the pit. I believe we owe our guests a little chat." Without waiting for a response from either Anna or the guards, Hans slinked back into through the doors and into the building.
One of the guards rode forward, grabbing the reins of Anna's horse from her hands and leading the way deeper into the outpost.
The sickening stench of burnt flesh permeated her nostrils, the smell so overwhelming that Anna nearly gagged. Then her heart clenched painfully as it nearly shattered into pieces when the sight of Elsa came into view.
"No…" Anna whispered in anguish and she clumsily dismounted from her horse, barely noticing that the stallion was still walking.
Elsa was strung up by her wrists with her ankles spread apart, her limp body dangling over a makeshift pit packed with glowing stones and coal. Occasionally, a flare of fire will burst to life, a flaming tendril snapping just inches away from Elsa's bare feet.
Anna broke into a sprint, skidding to a stop when she neared the heated stones stacked around the perimeter of the pit. Even from two feet away, she could feel her skin protesting at the extreme temperature; she loathe to think how much more pain Elsa must be going through. The blonde's shirt was stained with blood and ripped in so many places, displaying pale skin marred with opened gashes charred around the edges. Elsa was staring into the pit beneath her, eyes glazed over, pupils dilated and reflecting the red-hot coals. Her platinum hair, still in its single braid hanging over her left shoulder was caked with clumps of dirt. Soot was smeared over her cheeks and a small cut over her right eyebrow was still bleeding.
"Elsa…" Anna called out, nearly choking on the two syllables. She barely registered her 'escorts' dismounting and taking up positions just out of earshot.
Elsa stirred at sound of Anna's voice and she dragged her head up to meet Anna's eyes. A small smile graced her lips as she focused on her wife, convinced that she was hallucinating.
"Anna…" Elsa mumbled weakly.
"I'm here, Elsa. I'm going to get you out of there. Just stay awake for me, Elsa." Anna pleaded, her eyes roving frantically around her, searching for some way to lower the blonde. She tentatively touched one of the iron pillars, hissing in pain as heat from the pillars transferred through her leather gloves and onto her fingertips, causing her to wrench her hand away.
"Are you alright?" Elsa asked in concern, her voice drowsy.
Anna chortled, the sound leaving her throat in a strangled cry as she half laughed and half sobbed. Elsa was strung up like an animal roasting over a pit and she was still worried about her. It was just so typical of Elsa.
"I'm fine, Elsa." Anna managed to choke out, tears brimming in her eyes. Was there really nothing she could do? Anna had never hated herself as much as she did right now. Elsa had always come to her rescue and now that it was Elsa's turn to be in need of saving, Anna was too useless to be of any assistance.
"You are really here, aren't you?" Elsa asked quietly, her vision no longer clouded and her mind clear.
"Of course I'm here, Elsa. Where else would I be?" Anna put on a brave front, unwilling to cause her wife any more distress.
"Please tell me you brought the cavalry."
Anna did not respond, choosing instead to avert her eyes.
"You shouldn't have come alone, Anna. You have to leave. Get away from here. Please." Elsa's voice had dropped to a hoarse whisper, her eyes frantic. "Hans intends to hurt you. Please Anna. Run. I can't bear to see you hurt." She begged.
"He can't hurt me anymore than he already has by hurting you, Elsa." Anna gently reminded, wanting more than anything to be able to touch the blonde. "I'm not leaving you. We'll figure out something." She insisted stubbornly.
"We don't have much time left. About what I asked of you this morning, have you changed your mind?" Elsa asked, holding Anna with a determine gaze. The consequences of invoking some preordained spell be damned. Elsa was willing to turn into the very monster that others have openly called her as long as it meant Anna will walk away from this unscathed. The act will no doubt weigh heavily on Anna's conscience, but what other choice did they have? Dying was not an option.
"I…" Before Anna could respond, the sound of approaching footsteps interrupted them.
"Time's up, lovebirds." Hans drawled, a small group of leering soldiers close on his heels. "Hope you've said your goodbyes."
"You are sick." Anna spat, injecting as much hatred as she could into her voice.
"That I am. But unlike your wife, I am no monster. Did she tell you about the thousands of Southern Isles men, women and children that she froze to death when she – what was it that your father called it? Ah, lost control?" Hans sneered in triumph at the surprised expression on Anna's face. "I thought so. She's a monster and monsters have to be put down."
"No, I am the monster."
Anna had long suspected Elsa's mercy towards the enemy on the fjord had probably stemmed from a grievous trauma, one that still had a hold on the ever kind and gentle blonde. There was so much that she did not know about Elsa, of the nightmares and the haunting memories. She was starting to get a grasp of the troll's cryptic message; interpreting it based on her own knowledge. A weapon required a wielder to single out the enemy and set it on the right path. If Anna was the wielder to Elsa's weapon, it was obvious that the decision to release a destructive force lay solely on Anna's shoulders. This time, Anna will be the one to bear the brunt of the burden; this time the lives of others will weigh on her conscience instead and maybe, just maybe, the guilt of killing will not gnaw so much at Elsa.
Leaping up onto the low stone wall around the pit of heated coal so she would be almost level with Elsa, Anna drew the dagger from a hidden sheath along her lower spine. She bit down on the tips of her left glove, yanking it with a jerk of her head to expose her wrist. Pressing the blade against her skin, beads of blood formed along the gash and Anna reached up to make a similar incision beneath Elsa's collarbone.
"United by blood." Anna murmured as she pressed her bleeding wrist against the wound she inflicted on Elsa. Their blood mixed, smearing against their skin. Locking gazes with Elsa and in a voice that did not sound at all like her own, she commanded. "Don't hold back, my love. Send them to their icy graves."
Anna hardly noticed the searing pain that erupted against the skin above her heart. Neither did she notice their self-inflicted wounds healing unnaturally, the blood seeping back into torn capillaries as the skin reformed. All she saw was Elsa's cerulean irises glowing an eerie bluish hue as the blonde's pupils constricted into dark pinpricks. Cold was surging through her veins and Anna briefly wondered if this was what Elsa felt whenever the blonde used her powers, this otherworldly surge of strength that bordered almost on immortality. Anna no longer felt fear for Elsa's life or her own, she no longer felt hatred for Hans who had engineered the entire war; all she felt was a soothing serenity that engulfed her entire being. If she could see her reflection, Anna would have stumbled back in shock at her aquamarine eyes glowing unnaturally, the swirl of blue and green in her irises piercing and so very abnormal.
"With pleasure." Elsa's grim voice was no longer feeble and instead resonated with a wintry chill.
Elsa felt her magic pulsating in rhythm with her heart, each surge stronger than the last; she had never felt so alive, heady from the magic coursing through her body. The dull throbbing from the injuries that she had sustained were so completely and utterly dampened down that she wouldn't have been surprised if they had healed. Her body was no longer exhausted from the strain of over using her powers; instead it was rejuvenated from the influx of magic that had stemmed not from within herself, but through her new bond with Anna. This indescribable power originated from within Anna, unused and possibly unlimited; and Elsa was curious to see just how far she could push herself.
There was no longer a need to concentrate as Elsa channelled her ice. Just a fleeting thought was enough to cause her powers to manifest itself. The shackles around her ankles froze over, hardly impeded by the heat still transferring through the iron chains, the thick wrought iron band snapping beneath the pressure of the ice into jagged shards that clattered onto the hot stones. The stumps of metal encasing her from the wrists down were next; frost forming snowflake patterns against the heated metal and spreading outwards until the metal restraint was covered in the opaque white of ice. Hairline cracks formed within the iced over metal as frost crawled along the attached chains. There was a sharp crack and Elsa was free from her restraints, falling gracefully.
Anna watched with a mixture of wonder and awe as Elsa landed lightly on her feet, the glowing coals already smouldering from the cold the instant Elsa's toes had made contact. The frost crawled outwards lazily, effortlessly negating the high temperatures of heated stone and coals, coating everything within the pit in a thick layer of ice. Anna's eyes remained glued to Elsa's lithe form as the blonde hopped off the edge of the pit and sauntered towards her.
"That's impossible." Hans sputtered in disbelief as he took several steps back, his wide eyes flicking between Elsa and the frozen forge pit. "You're a monster…" He whispered.
"Tell me something I don't already know." Elsa retorted, smirking with amusement.
Ice blasted from her fingertips, impaling two soldiers whose hands had twitched towards their swords, the pointed spikes of ice piercing through chainmail and through their hearts before protruding from their backs. The soldiers were dead before their bodies fell to the ground, eyes wide in surprise.
"What the hell are you idiots standing around for?! There's only two of them! Kill them both!" Hans shouted angrily at his men and they responded by charging forwards.
"Ready?"
Elsa turned to regard Anna, an ice replica of a short sword with edges jagged by spicules of ice forming in her right hand. It would have been so much easier and quicker to freeze every living soul within a five mile radius, but Elsa yearned to shed the blood of her enemies. Draw out their deaths as painfully as she could; reduce whatever hope they had of winning and staring into their eyes as death took them.
Anna smiled grimly. "I was born ready." Without hesitation, she drew a borrowed one handed sword from its scabbard, her favourite long sword at the bottom of the fjord.
Together, they held their ground, standing back to back as the enemy swarmed around them, deflecting the blows from the first wave of attackers.
Whatever weird magical bond that Anna had forged with Elsa seemed to have increased Anna's physical strength. Anna's sword swished through the air, blood splattering onto the muddy ground, shortly followed by cleanly sliced off body parts and howling soldiers gripping at stumps of their limbs. Twisting her body, Anna unleashed an arcing back kick, driving the heel of her boot into a soldier's face with a satisfying crunch of bone. As soon as her foot was back on the ground, Anna had darted forward, her sword coming down in a stab that pierced through muscle in the small space between a soldier's neck and shoulder. With a palm pushing against the dead soldier's head as he crumpled to his knees, Anna yanked her sword free and drove it without hesitation into the opened mouth of an enemy charging towards her, screaming a battle cry. The sound died in his throat as his eyes widened in the characteristic shock of a dying man before a swift kick to his chest sent him flying backwards and sliding off the blade with a disturbing squelching.
Elsa's ice sword glistened with warm crimson that ran in rivulets down the blade and dripped onto her hand as she raised it to deflect a blow with a lazy flick of her wrist. Flinging out her left arm in a slow arc, icicles erupted from the ground, their pointed tips catching the noon sunlight as they launched into the air simultaneously. Some of the enemy soldiers managed to jump out of the way while others weren't quite as fortunate and were impaled, the ice spikes sticking out from their bodies as they collapsed to the ground, pools of blood forming beneath them.
Anna's impression of Elsa's already formidable skills raised several notches higher. She was beginning to understand why others thought Elsa a monster. Yet there was a certain beauty in the blonde's ruthlessness. Each move was executed with a deadly precision. The same power that had created beautiful life forms was also capable of death. As sadistic as it sounds, Anna would have simply stood aside to watch as Elsa literally ripped her way through the enemy line if she did not have to fend off any attackers herself. It was so enticing that Anna could not help but be captivated.
"Attack together you damn oafs! You lot are letting them pick you off one by one!" Hans shouted as he loitered behind his men, letting them take the brunt of Anna and Elsa's bloodlust.
The enemy soldiers formed a tight circle around the pair, carefully stepping over their fallen comrades as they approached as a unit, their swords held out before them as they backed the women into the centre.
Elsa pressed her back against Anna's, her mind already analysing their situation, trying to formulate a plan. There were far too many soldiers for them to fight off one by one. They had to force the enemy to break ranks and send them scattering. Elsa pressed her ice sword into Anna's left hand, freeing both of hers to better wield her magic.
There were cries of alarm from the back of the enemy line, the commotion causing the soldiers to glance at each other in confusion, momentarily taking their eyes off their trapped prey.
Seizing the opportunity, Elsa conjured up two walls of ice that rippled across the earth, slamming into the soldiers and pushing them backwards, effectively blasting gaps within their ranks. She felt rather than saw Anna launching forward, and heard the sound of metal ringing against metal and ice followed by cries of pain and muffled thuds. From her peripheral vision, Elsa caught sight of Kristoff's pollaxe arcing through the air and bashing into the skulls of soldiers. The blond knight, on Sven's back charged through the throng of disorganized soldiers. Sven did not slow as he approached the back of the enemy line, using his antlers to gut one unfortunate soldier and tossing the man aside like a rag doll.
Anna grinned when she spotted the familiar mop of blond hair. "Kristoff's here!"
Sven skidded to a halt after breaking through the enemy's formation and stopped before Elsa. Kristoff hopped off the reindeer and flashed the women a toothy grin.
"Sorry I'm late."
"Better late than never." Elsa smiled back warmly. "I hope you brought back up."
"I am your backup." Kristoff winked.
"Try to keep up then."
And Elsa was off, slamming the heel of her palm against a soldier's throat and following up with a spinning back kick to his head. As she stalked another soldier with a predatory glint in her eyes, Elsa conjured twin katars that extended from the back of her hands, encasing them from the wrists down in a thick layer of protective ice. The blades whizzed through the air as Elsa twirled in a fatal dance that left chainmail shattering from the cold and slicing skin and muscle to shreds.
Kristoff hung back, letting Anna and Elsa pave a path through the never ending swarm of enemy soldiers while he covered their flanks and put some distance between them. He twirled his pollaxe over his head, the gleaming blade spinning around in dizzying circles, rapidly gathering speed before he slid his hands down the length of the shaft to grip the wood tightly near the butt pike. Using the accumulated momentum and taking advantage of the pollaxe's longer reach, Kristoff arced the weapon around at neck level and parallel to the ground, extending its reach further by stretching out his arm. The blade on the head pike caught the exposed necks of several soldiers, splicing through skin and leaving a trail of gushing jugulars. Kristoff yanked the pollaxe out from its swing and into a curve that allowed him to regain a hold on the shaft near its centre.
"Eight down, hundreds to go." Kristoff muttered under his breath.
The enemy did not seem at all fazed as they stepped over their fallen, fresh blood staining their boots. They did however hesitate when faced with a charging Sven, the reindeer lowering his head and running forward in bursts of speed, the pointed tips of his impressive antlers catching soldiers by their chainmail and tunics before an exaggerated toss of his head sent them flying and knocking over groups of their comrades.
Anna blocked a swing with the ice sword in her left hand, pushing away her attacker's blade before driving her own into his throat. With what seemed to be a permanent boost to her physical capabilities, she was finally able to dual wield, a form of sword mastery that she had always envied those with the physical strength to master and now one that she too could accomplished though she wished it wasn't under such circumstances. Checking another blow with the ice sword, Anna had her other arm crossing behind her attacker's weapon to rip a deep gash through his neck.
Warm blood splattered against Anna's cheek but she hardly took noticed. If she stopped to think, her conscience would no doubt eat away at her for taking the lives of so many. Sure, they had been trying to kill her. Yet, they were also individuals bound to serve their kingdom as she was and probably have family that they would never see again. No matter the reason or how justifiable the act was, taking the life of another should never be an easy decision. Kill or be killed as the generals used to say in the written accounts of past battles that Anna had read. Perhaps it was due to her naivety stemmed from a life sheltered from the harshness of the world, but that motto was never one that she could live by. Yet she found herself repeating it like a mantra in her head now. Kill or be killed. Was this how soldiers were conditioned to think? To still their hearts, to quell their worries as their swords plunged into another man's chest and they looked into dying eyes? Does this not make each and every one of them a monster?
The enemy had regrouped, eyeing Sven warily and staying well of out the reindeer's reach. Elsa glanced around her surroundings. They had been herded for lack of a better word, away from the outpost central area and halfway along the wide passageway with stone buildings flanking their sides and swarms of enemy troops before and behind them. Elsa wouldn't be surprised if this was another one of Hans's traps.
"Sven! Stay close!" Elsa called out to the reindeer whose ears pricked at his name.
"You don't give him orders, I do." Kristoff quipped in mock indignation. "Sven! Stay close!" The reindeer obeyed, moving backwards until he bumped against Kristoff's leg.
"Give up this pointless fight. We have you surrounded!"
Sure enough, Hans was standing on the roof of the building on Elsa's right. He had one foot propped against the central support beam forming the peak of the thatched roof, one hand on his sword and the other on a hip; striking what he presumed as an arrogant pose to exude dominance.
His smiled faltered when the trio merely stared back defiantly.
"Or don't. Either way will end in your deaths. By nightfall, I'll have your heads mounted as I march into Arendelle and claim the throne for myself."
Anna felt Elsa's fingertips grazing over her wrist, a light sprinkle of frost forming over her gloves, the chill seeping through the leather and immediately understood the gesture. Elsa was silently asking her to buy them time.
"Since we're about to die anyway, it wouldn't hurt for us to know how we were bested by your sheer ingenuity, right?"
As predicted, Hans took Anna's bait, never one to miss out on an opportunity to brag.
"A fair request, my dearest Anna. I've always considered myself a generous man and it's the least I can do seeing that you've come all this way, serving yourselves on a silver platter, figuratively speaking of course."
Anna fought the urge to roll her eyes. She could feel the waves of power radiating off Elsa's body, the magic so great that it literally hummed. It was strange how no one else seemed to have noticed. The enemy soldiers' obliviousness was expected considering they were standing quite a distance away, but Kristoff was less than a feet away from Elsa. Surely he too could feel the air buzzing with magic?
"You must be wondering why I've gone to the trouble of recruiting the Duke of Weselton only to kill him."
Anna felt Elsa stiffened slightly in surprise.
"You see, I needed a distraction, a decoy while I set up my little trap for the ice queen. Besides, it would be suicidal to sail into Arendelle waters. Unlike Arendelle, the Southern Isles are not particularly known for naval warfare. But I'll admit you did force me to move up my plans. I wasn't expecting the Weselton forces to be subdued so quickly." Hans chuckled mirthlessly. "No matter. I no longer have any use of them. They have done well with the assassination of the previous King and Queen on my orders of course."
Anna trembled in rage and would have lunged forwards with murderous intent had Elsa's hands not wrapped around her wrists, holding her back.
"You don't seem particularly surprised. You have more brains than I gave you credit for." Hans asked in curiosity, noting Anna's reaction. "Then again maybe not." Hans added thoughtfully. "If you had the mental capacity, you'd have gone through with the betrothal with me instead of agreeing to your late father's wishes. You'd have gotten to keep your little blonde pet, well pets on second thought." Hans eyed Kristoff in bemusement. "I'd rule Arendelle as king. The hostilities between the Southern Isles and Arendelle will stop with our happy union. Perfect ending, wouldn't you think? But, no. You just had to ruin my plans. Your men are dead because of you and soon, you will get to watch as I cut off your wife's pretty little head, Anna." Hans snarled, spittle flying from his mouth.
With a subtle twitch of her fingers, Elsa covered the supporting beams of the roof with frost that ate into the wood and sent it caving in beneath Hans's feet. Before the enemy soldiers could react to help their prince, twenty cyclones of violently rotating ice and snow formed in the space between them, the whirling masses expanding then dissipating into fifteen feet tall snow golems with ice spikes jutting from their joints. The creatures roared, exhaling breaths of chilly air and hail that pelted against the soldiers who raised their arms to shield their faces. The men began scampering back as the golems advanced, cries of panic erupting as they realised they were trapped by more of the hideously enormous creatures that had formed behind them.
In the chaos, Hans managed to crawl out from the debris of the collapsed roof, sustaining only a few scratches on his forehead and right cheek. As he pulled himself through the doorway of the building and getting mud on his armour, a shadow fell over him and he craned his neck up.
Elsa stood over Hans sprawled on the ground. "We have you surrounded." She reiterated his words from earlier, not bothering to conceal the smirk of amusement on her face.
Hans gaze flitted to his men desperately trying to fight off the snow golems. He watched in helplessness as the oversized creatures swatted his men aside like flies, their chests caving in awkwardly as they flew through the air before tumbling to the ground in lifeless heaps. A surge of hope swelled within him as a group of his men managed to slice off a golem's thick leg, sending the creature off-balanced and collapsing to the ground. But that little spark of faith faded away as the golem, undaunted by the loss of a limp, swept up two men in each hand and crushed them with in its fists before pounding its boulder-sized fists still clenching the dead bodies into the remaining men, flattening them into lumps of blood and broken bone into the muddy ground.
His shoulders slumping in resignation, Hans hung his head in defeat. "I surrender."
At his words, the golems sat back on their haunches, bending their large torsos to the ground and folding their arms beneath their heads; their semblance to sentient beings faded as they turned into mounds of snow and ice. The soldiers that they had been engaged in battle with stared in bewilderment, eyeing the harmless looking mounds of snow with apprehension, convinced that it was a trick to lure them into dropping their guard.
Hans pushed himself to his feet, staggering back a few paces at the pitying gaze Elsa fixated on him.
Mustering up what little he had left of his dignity, he raised his voice. "Drop your weapons. We've lost this battle."
The glances of relief that the men shared was not lost to Elsa as they threw their swords to the ground, signifying their surrender.
"I commend you for putting aside your ego and making the right decision." Elsa squared her shoulders, fixating Hans with an icy glare. "Enough blood has been spilled today. Take your men and return to the Southern Isles. My golems will escort you out of Arendelle's territories. If you ever return, I'll make certain it will be the last time you will ever set foot in my kingdom." She left the threat hanging, turning her back and striding away.
Hans seethed quietly, his clenched fists trembling by his sides. Even after all that's happened, Elsa was still so gracious. Her nobleness irked him to no end and only made him loath himself more. She embodied everything he could ever hope to be; the perfect child that his father would have preferred, the sibling that his brothers would have been proud of, the ruler of a kingdom that would no doubt prosper under her rule. His initial intents to claim Arendelle's throne as his own had somehow turned into a quest to prove himself better than Elsa, a nobody, an orphan, a witch, a monster; yet at every turn, he had discovered that he would never best her, not in sword mastery nor in war strategies. He wouldn't even come second best and that knowledge led him to despise himself even more. As much as he valued his life, he refused to live as a result of her benevolence. Not as if he had anything left to go back to. He had vowed to succeed in his quest to claim Arendelle in exchange for troops. With his failure, his father would strip him of his princely title and exile him. Even if by some miracle he was allowed to stay, his brothers would no doubt ridicule him for his overly ambitious attempts to prove his worth. All he ever wanted was acceptance; from his father, his brothers and from his peers.
Before he could fully comprehend what he was doing, Hans had drawn his sword, the weapon held high as he threw his full weight behind the swing that would decapitate an unsuspecting Elsa who had her back turned to him.