By the time they'd gathered everything they needed, the day had slipped into night. In the mean time, Elsa had decided that it would be prudent to make as few ripples as possible when they left, so she decided to ride in Kristoff's sled with Sven in the lead so there wasn't anyone they'd need to speak to that wasn't already in the know. In addition to that, she'd created a minor travelling snowstorm that existed only around the sled. This allowed Kristoff, Lord Derek and she to travel and leave almost no trail, as Elsa made sure that there was no snow covering the ground that they'd already passed over.

To further ensure their safety, she'd also created a pair of massive snow golems that took the form of wolves to track alongside them. Every so often they would hear howling and one of the snow wolves would go off. Shortly after, they would hear yips and then it would come back in silence. Elsa had commanded them to not kill the living wolves, but it was still a little disconcerting.

"I must say, this certainly is one of the smoothest, safest rides I've ever taken," said Lord Derek loudly from the cargo hold of Kristoff's sled after one of the snow wolves returned.

"We're good at what we do," said Kristoff from the front seat. Sven snorted and tossed his head, happy with the complement.

Elsa, meanwhile, was content to just lean against Kristoff as they rode on. She'd set the storm up to be self regulating so she didn't need to concentrate on lifting the snow as they passed over it so she didn't need to focus on controlling it. She wasn't worried about what Lord Derek may think because it seemed that he was doing his very best to miss Kristoff's and her interactions.

"This does feel nice," she said as she nuzzled into his side.

Kristoff lifted a hand from the reins and pulled her close.

"One of these days I'm going take you on a ride when it isn't life or death. High time you see some of your own country, I think," said Kristoff as he gave her a squeeze.

"I'd like that," said Elsa with a smile. If not for the fact that they were hounding after Anna to stop her from hurting herself this would have been a lovely ride.

Lord Kristoff gave out a loud, hacking cough which broke them out of their thoughts. "Call me crazy, but I think there's something out there!"

"The snow wolves'll get 'em. Hyah!" said Kristoff as he cracking the reins to make Sven go faster.

One of the snow wolves indeed went over to investigate, but Elsa wasn't sure this time. It didn't sound like the wolves or bears from before did and it put her on edge. She looked over to Kristoff and realized that, though he would never have admitted it, he too was on edge. Lord Derek just kept a beady eyed watch. Sven just did his best to go as fast as he could.

A blood curdling howl filled the air and Elsa suddenly knew that the snow wolf she'd sent out had been destroyed. "Kristoff, go faster, please go faster," she said as she clutched the sled.

"We're going as fast as we can," cried Kristoff as he tried to get Sven to go faster still.

"That might not be good enough. Damn, where did I put that thing?" said Lord Derek from the back.

The howl came again, much closer than it had been before. The other snow wolf turned around and charged into something behind them as the sky grew darker. Elsa looked behind them to see what was attacking them and saw a wave of unnatural darkness filled with gaping maws and hungry mouths. The snow wolf slammed against it and the darkness wrapped around it, fighting it and ultimately unmaking it.

"Found it!" cried Lord Derek as he held up what looked like a bottle of wine with a rag in it. "Now to light the damn thing. Where the hell are my matches?"

Elsa concentrated and raised several more snow golems with the express purpose of slowing down the darkness. They too slammed into it, slowing it for mere moments before it ripped them apart. Elsa sank into her seat, weakened. Each time it unmade one of her golems she felt weaker, and she knew that she couldn't sustain this kind of offensive power much longer.

"Bugger and blast, where the devil ... there they are! Kristoff, your Majesty, you might want to face forward for this," said Lord Derek as the darkness came ever closer.

Elsa watched him light the rag and then turned around and concentrated on creating a bridge over the ravine ahead. As they crossed, Elsa felt the darkness skittering along behind them, avoiding the edge as best it could while staying as close to them as possible.

Lord Derek, meanwhile, waited until they were most of the way across before lighting the rag. "Go back to the hell from which you came, fowl beast!" He cried and threw the bottle. Elsa watched for a moment as the darkness consumed it, then turned when she saw Lord Derek turn away.

As soon as she averted her eyes, a brilliant white flash filled the air and the unnatural darkness had vanished.

Once he was sure they were on solid ground again, Kristoff stopped and looked behind them. Both the bridge and the darkness were gone. "What the hell was that?" He asked as his eyes adjusted to the low light of evening once again.

"The thing or what I threw?" Asked Lord Derek, obviously still blind from the charge.

"Both," replied Kristoff.

Lord Derek shrugged. "I threw what we down in Weselton call a sunburst. It creates an imitation of the light of day for a brief moment. Good for shadow creatures and vampires. As for the thing itself, I'd say that it was a shadow hound. It's a being created by shadow mages to track and or retrieve people or things."

Elsa noticed that he'd hesitated before saying mages, but didn't press the issue. "Who sent it?" She asked even though the answer was already clear in her mind.

"I think it might have been your sister, Anna. I don't think that she meant to hurt us really, but I think that her teacher might not be telling her everything about what she's learning," said Lord Derek in reply, shuddering as he did so.

"Her teacher? I don't know what you mean?" Asked Elsa.

"There are a few things I haven't told you about the mirror that she stole. This is very secret information, mind you, but at this point I don't see how keeping it secret from either of you will help anyone."

"Alright then, out with it," said Kristoff as he slowed Sven down to a trot.

"Well, to start with, the mirror isn't just an antique," said Lord Derek

"What a surprise," murmured Kristoff under his breath.

Lord Derek ignored him. "It's an artifact, a magical tool that can only be used by those strong of will and pure of heart. Your heart can be pure hate, love, evil, good or anything in between, but it must be pure. If not, it can tempt you into accepting gifts of power and teaching that will lead you down a dark path."

"Pun intended?" Asked Elsa with a smirk.

"Pun? Oh, ha ha. No, I mean that it will teach you whatever it thinks will draw you most into evil. It is most skilled with shadow magic, but my research shows that it is skilled with other types of magic as well. I think that Princess Anna was drawn to it in a moment of weakness and that is has exploited her ever since then. That is why it is vitally important that we separate her from it before it is too late."

"Too late for what?" Asked Elsa.

"Too late for everyone," replied Lord Derek.

"What does that mean, then, too late for everyone?" asked Kristoff indignantly.

Lord Derek sighed. "The last Witch Queen started with almost no magical talent at all and wound up so powerful that it took a decade of war to put her down. Now, realize that since Elsa was born with innate cold magic, Anna has a much greater potential for magic. With that in mind, imagine what she could do with the mirror's teachings."

"Oh fuck," said Kristoff, eyes wide.

"Indeed," replied Lord Derek.