39- The Journey

Sven followed a concealed and unknown path in order to reach Arendelle Town as soon as possible, sometimes climbing between rocks and other times crossing dangerous frozen lakes while carrying Anna on his back.

The reindeer would rarely take some time to get food and water, they had to escape from wolves three times and it was a harsh travel for Anna, to say the least…

She remained sickened and weak, gasping for air and fearing all the time that she would suffocate to death any moment. The normal hunger that any person would feel transformed into starvation as the days were passing, and very soon she developed a terrible thirst.

It was true that the unnatural Winter created by Elsa was losing strength with every day that passed, but the nights remained very cold and Anna, tied hopelessly to Sven, would shiver for hours as they continued their journey through the forests and fjords…

The cold was so deep that Anna passed out from hypothermia two or three times every night, protected from death only by the body heat generated by Sven.

She just wished that the torture would end, that she would arrive back home and see Elsa again...

Anna would think of Kristoff, Matthew and the others that she had left behind, wondering what would happen to them without reinforcements and supplies.

She knew that her friends were relatively safe a good distance from Hans and his troops, but they were stranded anyway and by this point, for sure, the enemy forces would have started already their invasion towards the North.

Would Elsa have realized by now that something terrible had happened? How many men did Hans really have? Would they be able to stop the enemy forces before it was too late?

Anna realized that they were advancing faster than she had imagined it would be, soon the landscape became more familiar and finally they arrived at the Town one sleepy morning after four days of journey...

"Your highness!" Alistair cried out, dashing towards Anna and the reindeer followed by a few Guards of the Palace- "What the hell?!"

Sven had stopped at the Fountains Square not far from the entrance of the Palace, not sure what to do now that the journey was over. It was very early in the morning, the sky was clear and few people were already in the streets, a peaceful silence broken only by the birds and the soft whispers of the wind.

Anna opened her eyes to discover the fountains and the palace, she cried and sighed with a fantastic relief and the next thing she knew was that Alistair and the Guards were cutting the rope with their daggers…

"Princess Anna!"

"Hell… Hello, Alistair" Anna said, her voice harsh and barely able to produce any sound- "There was a poison… poison gas attack, fe-few survivors… The-they need help… We need to send the Army again… Tell my sister… Fast!"

Alistair took the half frozen Anna in his arms, and then the group dashed into the Palace and quickly crossed a hallway after another on their way to Elsa's bedroom… many of the servants and the medical staff were shocked to see the Princess, people were screaming and very soon they arrived at a large wooden door.

"Your Majesty!" Alistair screamed, trying to kick the door open- "Queen Elsa!"

The door was opened slowly by a sleepy-looking Elsa, the Queen was wearing one of her silvery nightgowns and her blue eyes opened widely in shock as she realized who it was that Alistair was carrying…

"Anna?!"