It broke through the glass doors, Caiden giving a heavy oomph of air as it tackles him, crashing through the furniture of the library and into the wall.
It's something pulled from the deepest pits of hell. Everything about it is forged by ash. Its hairless skin stretches tightly across its horned head, displaying a gaping, lipless jaw with bone white fangs. It's long knobby arms drape to the floor, standing bipedally with animal haunches. With its back to her, Anna can tell it was fast, agile, and powerful.
In a smooth motion, the creature turns to look at her through the crack in the door. It cocks its head, those crimson eyes boring into her soul.
Its slitted nostrils sniff twice.
Anna can't stop her whimpering as the demon-creature's thin lips stretch wide from ear-to-ear in a horrid grin.
There's a heavy and loud roar that fills the entirety of the library and then heavy footsteps make Anna cower further into the deeper corner of the room.
Then another roar – a familiar one – echoes throughout the library, and the demon-creature roars back as the skin of its shoulder is ripped off by a Caiden's hand, the other gripping the handle of the sword embedded in its back.
Anna stares, clutching Olaf like debris in a stormy sea, immobilized fear and disbelief. His hands have been enveloped in those shadows, curving his fingers into long, bone-shredding claws. But the rest of him is still human, if his clothes have been shredded.
The creature screams as the Caiden tears into it. He seems so much smaller compared to it, but still he manages to make five deep scratches into the creature's skin. Even ripping out massive chunks before the creature reaches back one of its long arms and wraps its fingers around his body. It slams him into the floor enough that he bounces and tumbles back towards the secret room. Standing over her, protecting her.
The shadow weaver is on his feet before he even finishes rolling. Dark blue blood soaks the torn clothes and drips from his forearms, pink-purplish gore clinging to those taloned nails. Caiden hisses and roars at the creature, bellowing his challenge.
The creature sinks back into its haunches, poised to spring. It hisses back, scraping its claws along the wood to indicate its charge. Anna forces herself to stand, screaming at herself to try and be useful, but she also knows she can't fight this creature – let alone win.
The other half of her mind is praising the gods and goddesses of all kinds that Caiden is here.
As the creature snarls, Anna watches Caiden tosses the sword aside, securing the daggers at his waist. With another roar that shakes the castle, the creature runs for them.
Caiden doesn't move. He only widens his stance and braces himself.
"Caiden?!" Anna cries.
The shadow weaver doesn't respond, doesn't even turn his head as the creature comes closer. The collision between the two sounds like a thunderous, splintering boom and the creature screams as Caiden's claws stab into its side. Caiden skits a little bit, but he remarkably holds his ground against a creature that's twice his size.
Anna watches as he stabs his left hand into the creature's chest, just missing the heart and actually lifts the creature up off the ground. He grunts while lifting, but that doesn't stop him from having it up above his head, and then ramming it down, cracking the creature's ribs across his knee. The pops and cracks are loud enough to make Anna sick to her stomach.
It roars in agony and Caiden then wraps his arms around the creature's middle and hurtles it far back to the other side of the room. The floor dents underneath its weight, and the creature pushes itself to its feet and screams again, blood now leaking from its sides.
It charges at Caiden again, but this time manages to block Caiden's attack, swiping up and its hand connecting with the side of the shadow weaver's face. Caiden flies into the wall, denting beneath his mass and sending stones crumbling to the floor. Anna screams as the sound rings throughout her ears.
She clenches her eyes shut, huddling into Olaf who is trembling like a leaf. From the sounds she hears, the creatures drags Caiden across the wall before throwing him across the room like he did to it.
She hears him skip across the floor like a stone on water, hears him crash into a shelf.
Then groaning wood, the sound of books toppling to the floor and a loud crash that has Caiden grunting in pain.
Then those heavy footsteps, the gait slow. Approaching.
Anna releases Olaf, grabbing the little snowman and says, with a quivering lip, "Olaf, stay here."
With a trembling hand she slowly pushes the panel aside. It'll do them not good if their fighting causes a collapse that traps them in here.
Anna peers out and sees Caiden pinned beneath a toppled bookshelf, the demon-creature slowly approaching, its head tilting from side to side, judging how it will end him. He's already pushing himself up, an animalistic snarl stretching his lips.
The table they had been sitting at no more than a few minutes lies in fragments. Her shaking fingers wrap around one of its wooden legs, silently lifting it over her shoulder.
The creature roars and Anna flinches, jumping and pressing herself against the wall as the creature grabs Caiden by his head – its entire hand wrapping around it – and yanks him from the pile of wood and crumbling bricks. It throws him to the other side of the room, sending him crashing into another shelf, denting it and toppling more books.
She doesn't think, doesn't feel.
She moves, fast like Michael had taught her, brutal like he'd made her learn to be.
"Anna, no!" Caiden yells.
She slams the table leg into the creature's head so hard that bone and wood crack. The reverberations bite into her palm.
It's thrown off him and whirls, its back legs twisting beneath it while its arms gouged lines in wallpaper, through the paper and into the wood and stone. It blindly surges for her, but another thunderclap of sound rings nearly ruptures her ears as Caiden tackles the creature. The two of them rolling across the floor before those shadow claws swipe at creature's chest.
Anna follows the walls towards the library doors as the two swipe, lunge, dodge, and roar.
"Olaf!" Anna bellows when she reaches the doors, near sobbing as her hands wraps around the handle. The little snowman pops his head out of the secret room, yelping as Caiden crashes into the wall to the snowman's right.
Without hesitation, he pushes off that wall and slams himself back into the creature. Motioning him over, he scurries to her side as she yanks open the door. once he's out, she follows, but pauses and looks back to Caiden as he lands a punch.
"Caiden –?"
He glances over his shoulder at Anna and screams, "Run!"
Without a second thought, Anna turns and takes Olaf and runs like hell.
The creature charges for Caiden again and this time it tackles him, sliding along the ground. He hears the crack as Caiden punches the creature on its face, but she doesn't stop to look back.
She doesn't know what she's going to do. This thing can't leave this castle. And she can't lead it out to the open courtyard where it can feast upon everyone else in Arendelle. But she needs to get help, where can she go . . .
A high-pitched shriek interrupts her thoughts. The creature roars again and the castle shudders. Anna's feet halt at the vibrations of an impact, the sound like an explosion followed by dropping wood and stone. Anna looks back down the hall to find Caiden flying through the wall of the library and into the hall. Any hallway furniture and any priceless heirlooms shatter by the impact. Caiden already on his feet, his shirt having been torn to pieces.
He looks beat up, but mostly bruises and a small trail of blood leaking from the corner of his perfect mouth. He still snarls, his the tips of his ebony claws dripping blue.
The creature looks in worse shape and readies to leap for them on last time. Caiden doesn't say anything to Anna, he barely acknowledges her before the creature leaps for him again. Caiden lunges towards it, drawing his claws once more and swings.
Anna watches as blue blood sprays as Caiden drives his claws through the creature's face. It grunts and stumbles, Caiden impaling his second set of claws into the creature's heart. Again, and again, and again, and again.
She would've stopped him, but besides wanting to make sure the thing is dead, Caiden seemed to be in a dangerous state right now. Finally the creature's eyes turn dull and it sags atop him. But still the shadow weaver yanks out his right claws and drives them into the neck of the creature, his left claws shred the thing's eyes into ribbons before he snaps its head and slices its head off.
It falls to the ground with a vulgar thud.
Caiden yanks out his shadow claws and finally sheathes them, his hands raw and bloodied. At some point, Anna had collapsed onto the floor and she's still quaking as Caiden turns to look at her.
His muscled torso gleams with sweat and stone dust and smears of blue and red blood. Anna can only stare dumbfounded at the lack of injuries on him, safe for a few already-blooming bruises and a dried streak of blood at the corner of his mouth, at his left temple.
.
Caiden slowly approaches, dripping gore and blood. Olaf huddles into her side, her arm immediately wrapping around the little snowman, fearful of that blue blood tainting his snow-white body. He stops a foot from Anna and spits a mouthful of blood and possible bits of skin onto the floor.
"Are you okay?" He mutters, his voice deep and dangerous.
Shaking pathetically like a leaf, Anna tries to stand on her own, but fails. Caiden's strong hands are there to help her to her feet, and she braces a hand against the wall. She turns to Caiden, pale as death. "Thank you." She says hoarsely.
A terse nod. Then a smile crawls across his lips. It would've bene charming were it not for the promise of death still lingering in those crimson eyes. Eyes just like the demon, but more, warm – still more human. "You've got guts, princess. I respect that. Not too smart, and a little brash. But still."
She would've countered, but her mind is too fogged. The shock of the situation settling over her.
Without warning, Anna's legs give out and she collapses to the floor. The room tilts and blurs, and the princess welcomes sweet relief as she vomits into the corner.
"Easy," Caiden coos to her, though he doesn't touch her. "You're alright."
Shouting sounds from the down the hall. The guards. The servants. She barely hears their words through the ringing in her ears.
But then, one of the shouts something. She only hears the words, "– the queen!"
Panic seizes her heart and suddenly Anna is shoving herself to her feet. Caiden protest, but she pushes past him. Surprisingly, he lets her.
Gods. Oh, gods.
Elsa!
Despite the world still tipping, Anna forces herself to follow the route to Elsa's room. She can hear Caiden behind her, carefully following her.
Elsa!
Anna can't tell if she thought the word, or said it out loud.
Dear gods.
Please.
Please.
Please –!
Michael hurtles down the forest trail, along road into the kingdom, through the city streets, discarding his cloak and heavier weapons as he goes, anything to give him additional speed, anything to get him back to the castle before Elsa . . .
Before Elsa—
The only presence is the sword sheathed at his spine. A clock begins sounding somewhere in Arendelle, and a lifetime passes between each booming peal.
It's late enough that the streets are mostly deserted, but the people who see him keep well out of his way as he sprints past, his lungs nearly shattering. He pushes that pain away, willing strength into his legs, praying to whatever gods still cared to give him swiftness and strength. He could have sworn he heard hooves thundering after him, but there is nothing in the world except her and the distance to Elsa.
Please.
Please.
He'd destroy them. Whatever threatened Elsa's life, he'll destroy them. Consequences be damned.
He doesn't care if she doesn't speak to him again after tonight, so long as he can see that face still alive and glowing.
The castle looms closer, its windows glowing with a buttery warm light.
Not again. Not again, he tells himself with each step, each pound of his heart.
Please.
Faster, Michael, whispers a strange, soft female voice in his head that is at once old and young and wise. You race against doom.
As he comes closer, what he sees makes his heart stop.
A crowd is gathered in front of the open gates, their worried whispers and casting glances make his stomach turn.
Move, Michael, that wise female voice begs him, as if there are only so much she might interfere. Faster –
He can feel a little wind pushing at his feet as if it can hurry him along. And he knew that it was a goddess peering over his shoulder, a lady of wise things. Who perhaps has watched over the sisters their entire life, mute without purpose, but since if she is free here . . .
He isn't even paying attention to his direction.
Michael can hear shouts from behind him, but he won't stop. Even knowing he's been spotted, he doesn't stop. He will stop for no one.
His rage takes him to places where he only knows three things: that Elsa's life is in danger, that he is a weapon forged to end lives, and that if Elsa is hurt, no one is going to walk out of this alive.
Everything is slipping away, and suddenly his body feels so far away. His hands feel far away, his mind, his control . . .
Not again.
Never again.
Please.