Disclaimer: I don't own any aspects of holiday figures, snow queens, talking snowmen, or anything else referenced in this story.

Chapter 14

A Dream Returned

North looked up, the scythe coming down close to his chest. After all these years, to have his life ended like this. So much left to do and so much left undone. Well, ok, the yetis could handle the day-to-day operations, and Bunny had been talking about helping out with Christmas tasks here and there, but that didn't mean the time for succession had come.

It's surprising how much of your life can flash through your eyes in your last few moments. Most of North's memories, from his time as a Cossack to his early days as a Guardian, including being inspired by the saint who gave gifts secretly, flowed through his mind. One memory in particular played out for him in full. A recent meeting with the Man in the Moon, who was also called the true King of Kings.

Ever since North had been chosen as a Guardian, there were several ways that the Man in the Moon reached out to him. Sometimes it was through shadows from the moon shining down, other times it was a dream. Sometimes, it was even a moonbeam flying down to deliver a message. In the case of the meeting, the moonbeam had been the main messenger.

Even though North had called the army of the North Pole to arms for this battle, that wasn't to say that he was confident of their success. Even though he had received the idea from the King to head to the lake, North's doubts had been growing stronger and stronger as they had journeyed to the battleground. Fears sent by Pitch and by even worse entities plagued North to try and stop him and the other Guardians. They kept whispering to him doubts and fears, planting worries that could tighten his heart if he focused on them. North was usually able to counter these fears by turning them over the the true King.

But the night before the battle had been the toughest. Even though he turned it over to the Man in the Moon, the fears kept coming at him, and continued to try and plague him. North had crouched on the field, afraid of what tomorrow would bring.

But that night, everything changed with a moonbeam. Moonbeams can look like rays of the moon that travel down to earth. If one looks closely, though, they may notice that they look human-like and have wings. They usually come on behalf of the King to deliver messages or protect humans from the invisible evils threatening them.

This moonbeam, however, was accompanying someone. As North stood there, looking at the moonbeam, he felt a strong, calming presence overwhelm him. The presence gave him a sense of calm he had not felt since before his first experience with worry. As he stood there, North heard a voice talking to him.

"Nicholas, why are you worried?"

Well, that was a rather weird question. It was kinda obvious, wasn't it? "The battle is coming, and Pitch's forces are overwhelming. If they get past this line, then they'll reach North Pole. Then, without central point to deliver gifts, there won't be much light to combat darkness against us," North said.

But even as North said this, a thought popped into his head. The presence of the Man in the Moon was powerful, even more powerful than anything coming against Him. Nobody could defeat the true King.

Another thought quickly popped into his head: God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. This thought was right, the Man in the Moon would deliver them from this difficulty, no matter how tough it was. The King was in charge, not North.

North then felt the presence show him something. North saw the battlefield zoomed out. Pitch's forces seemed to swarm the lake, with no sign of any of North's forces. Suddenly, a huge wave of light came in from the side to combat the black sand. The brightness moved in and the vision faded.

North turned to the presence. "When will this happen?"

The presence turned back to North. "When the time is right."

North was about to object, when another thought popped in his head. "Don't be afraid… Those who are with us are more than those who are with them. North realized, in this case, that the 'them' meant Pitch's forces and he obviously knew who the 'us' was.

A slight pain made North come back to the present. Pitch's scythe had started to touch his skin, and as it went in, black sand started to spread all over him. North just lay there, a defiant face displayed prominently. Even though the fears were hitting him hard, North remained steadfast. If the Man in the Moon promised that reinforcements would come, then North knew that the reinforcements would come. When the time was right.

Just as the black sand prepared to envelop North's face, a bright light suddenly appeared. The black sand stopped spreading. In fact, everyone in the battle had stopped moving. All eyes was turning towards the ridge where the light was coming from, shielding their eyes from the brightness.

If they had been able to see it, the sight would have overwhelmed them. There stood the Man in the Moon Himself, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings, atop a majestic white horse. He was valiant to behold, wearing glorious armor and holding a large shield and a book with a cross that seemed to change into a sword. Behind this magnificent Lord was a mighty army, all of them in armor that was almost as astounding as the Man in the Moon's, and all prepared for battle. Nobody in the universe had ever seen such an army, and would not see another like it until they would see the end of time for this earth.

The nightmares didn't have much time to account for this before the army of light charged in. Everywhere the light went, the darkness was pushed back. Yetis were cleansed, elves healed of their wounds, and eggs put back together again. All the darkness was either obliterated or pushed back. Soon, the brightness filled the whole lake.

A second later, the light vanished. As the Guardians' eyes adjusted, they saw that they were not in their boats anymore. Instead, they were standing over a long lake frozen in thick ice. Beneath the ice was water, though if one looked closely, they could see dark sand skirting underneath the ice to try and break out. Not a single nightmare or fearling was on top of the lake.

When the Guardians looked around at each other, alive and well, they all smiled. There was lots of cheering and celebrations that night. Everyone had some hot chocolate, marshmallows, and even a little unpleasant viking dish that North was fond of called yak nogg. There was not a sad or fearful face in all the land, for everyone knew that evil had been completely vanquished this day.

Or so they thought. One individual had survived the battle, Pitch Black. He had been flung clear of North, beyond the lake into a deep pit, filled with nothing but darkness. Pitch felt no power or control anymore. It would take hundreds of years for his powers to return to what they had been. Still, Pitch had learned a valuable lesson tonight, one of faith and belief. Belief was a powerful tool. It could be used to strengthen a foe, sure. But if belief in that foe were removed, would the opposing individual be weakened? Only one way for Pitch to find out. He knew he couldn't hit the Man in the Moon, nothing could. But a Guardian, now there was a good target. Oh, Pitch was a cunning and patient fellow. He could wait.

And now we know how the ancient conflict was resolved. As well as where Pitch might have gotten the idea for the scheme he got in the film. I thought the Man in the Moon should play a role in these events. I hope you enjoy that as well as the aspects of faith and belief that are a core tenant of the movies. As always, please rate and review.