"I thought our bonds were indestructible,
We overcame everything thanks to this unspeakable love.
But now a shadow settles between our hearts,
And I feel lost, without landmarks, without light."

Anna's trembling voice rose, half muffled, as the queen slumped against the balcony railing. She raised her head, paying no attention to the tears streaming down her cheeks or the strands of her fiery hair falling into her eyes. Through her teary eyes, she watched the roofs of the sleeping town, not really seeing them, when something caught her attention out of the corner of her eye.
In the distance, a thick black cloud hovered above the sea, below the horizon. Anna wiped away her tears and squinted, trying to understand this strange phenomenon. With horror, she realized that the fog was advancing at an alarming speed toward Arendelle. The queen hurried inside the castle, calling for the guards, her grief replaced by growing anxiety. To her great relief, she quickly ran into Mattias, the head of the royal guard, in a corridor, and ordered the evacuation of the city. The inhabitants had to be guided safely to a high point on the slopes of the surrounding mountains.
Mattias had just left when the echo of hurried footsteps sounded behind her. Turning around, she saw Elsa and Kristoff heading towards her, looking worried.

"What's going on?" Kristoff asked.
"Something is happening to Arendelle," Anna explained hastily, carefully avoiding looking at her sister. "Some kind of large black fog. It's coming straight for the kingdom, as if it were alive! We need to evacuate the city until we know what it is!"

The other two nodded, and all three hurried to help the guards. Elsa didn't exchange a word with her sister, but kept giving her insistent looks that Anna tried to ignore. When they reached an intersection, the young blonde turned down a different corridor from Anna and Kristoff's to go and warn Aodhan and Olaf.
Outside, the inhabitants were coming out of their houses, still sleepy and mumbling. Above their heads, the sky darkened as the fog advanced, devouring the horizon in its wake.
While the guards directed the inhabitants to the heights, Anna felt a ball of anxiety forming in her throat. Kristoff slipped up beside her and took her hand.

"It will be alright," he murmured. "We'll figure this out together."
"How...?" she replied imploringly.

The young man didn't know what to say, but he didn't need to: the crowd of inhabitants pressed around them. They were waiting to be guided by their new queen, and she had no choice but to lead all of Arendelle to the heights. The fog was beginning to seep into the streets, producing an unsettling rustle as it slowly advanced.

Half an hour later, after ensuring that all the inhabitants were safe, Anna, Kristoff, and Mattias cut through the crowd to find Elsa, Olaf, Sven, and Aodhan. Around them, an uneasy murmur rose.

"What's happening now?" one person asked.
"If they mention forest spirits again, I swear..." grumbled another.
"Ladies Elsa and Anna will solve it again, right?" worried a woman.

Anna exclaimed triumphantly when she spotted her sister's platinum hair above the crowd. She rushed over and stood facing her, determined. But before she could say anything, Elsa interrupted her by raising a hand, looking just as bewildered as the others.

"This time, it's not my doing. I didn't awaken any other spirits from an Enchanted Forest."
"Then what's happening?" Anna exclaimed, pointing to the kingdom below."

"The latter was now barely visible, totally engulfed in the black fog. Its dense smoke moved unpredictably, almost alive, smothering any light from the windows of the houses or the street lamps. It even seemed to absorb sounds, casting a heavy silence over the city. The outlines of the buildings were blurry, as if dissolved in this opaque darkness. Only the tallest tower of the castle managed to pierce through this unsettling black mass.
Elsa and Anna, their faces tense with worry, scanned the fog in hopes of detecting any clue about what was happening. Kristoff, on the other hand, stood by his fiancée's side, wrapping his arm around her waist to hide his own trembling. Even Olaf, usually so cheerful and carefree, gazed at Arendelle with a bewildered expression. Not far from them, slightly apart, Aodhan also observed the black cloud, looking as bewildered as the others, his fingers nervously playing with the buttons of his dark red coat.
Then, a sinister laughter rose from the depths of the darkness, silencing the worried murmurs of the inhabitants. As they searched for the origin of this laughter, fighting against a shiver of fear, some pointed fingers to show something inside the fog. A silhouette emerged from the complete darkness, that of a tall man with an imposing build. He rose into the air as if walking on the billows of smoke, until he faced the royal group, who could now see him clearly.
The man's face, hidden under long, greasy black hair and a several days' beard, was lined with the wrinkles of time. He was dressed in a long, equally dark coat that floated behind him as if made of the same darkness that covered the city. Behind the strands of his hair, one could distinguish two dark eyes resembling bottomless pits absorbing all light and reflecting no glow. He stared intensely at Elsa, who was once again overcome with a shiver.

"So, Elsa, the great queen of Arendelle, the spirit of ice from the Enchanted Forest... is nothing but a child," he said.

His voice was deep, hoarse, and guttural, as if he hadn't spoken in years. He observed them like a wolf watches its prey, floating above all and towering over them with his height.

"What could you possibly have that's so special?" he continued. "Why did the spirits grant powers to such a frail girl?"

Elsa frowned and prepared to reply, but Anna stepped forward, standing in front of her sister, ignoring the fear gripping her heart.

"I am Anna, the queen of Arendelle, and I won't allow you to insult my sister!" she exclaimed. "Whoever you are, you are not welcome here!"
"I care nothing for you," the man spat disdainfully. "I have come to reclaim this kingdom, which is rightfully mine."
"I will stop you!" Elsa protested, pushing her sister aside slightly, her fists clenched with rage.
"Try! Despite your powers, you are nothing but a child incapable of protecting her kingdom! See how easily I invaded Arendelle! Now, bow down before me, and celebrate the return of Roderick, your true sovereign!"
"Never!" someone in the crowd yelled.

Immediately, a wave of cries and protests rose from the inhabitants, and the two sisters felt a surge of gratitude seeing their people defend them like this.
But the man called Roderick simply smiled, a sinister grimace that made him look even more dangerous.

"Arendelle doesn't belong to you. We will fight if we have to!" Anna retorted.
"I would like to see that," the man replied simply.

He stepped back, still floating in the air, and his sinister smile disappeared into the darkness. At the same time, a worrying scratching sound echoed at the bottom of the cliff. Elsa approached to discover the source of the noise.
Creatures were climbing the cliff. Their deformed silhouettes stood out against the black fog, revealing angular shapes and indistinct outlines, as if they were emerging from the darkness itself. Their yellow eyes shone with a sinister light, piercing the darkness like demonic lanterns. Their elongated fingers resembling sharp claws dug into the rock as they continued their ascent, gaining ground, and their shrill, inhuman cries echoed in the air. Seeing them, some inhabitants screamed in terror.
One of them jumped right in front of Elsa, who fell backward. The creature, which had eluded her vigilance, advanced threateningly with its long claws. A shiver of terror ran down Elsa's spine as she watched the creature approach slowly.
At that precise moment, Aodhan rushed to Mattias without thinking, seized his sword, and in the same motion, swung it at the creature. A piercing cry resounded as the blade split the monster in two, dissipating it into a whirlwind of black smoke. After returning the weapon to the captain of the guard, he reached out his hand to help Elsa up.

"Thank you," she whispered.
"You'll thank me when we're safe," he replied.

He smiled at her nonetheless, relieved that she hadn't been hurt.

"He's right," Mattias agreed, turning to Anna. "We're not enough to face all these... monsters. We don't even know how many there are; we need to flee!"

The queen of Arendelle's gaze passed from the crowd of inhabitants to the loved ones standing in front of her. They were all waiting for her instructions. She finally nodded.

"Let's go! Follow us!" she exclaimed. "Hurry before the rest of the creatures arrive here!"

As the group set off, they realized the true extent of the threat looming over them. The encounter with this monster had revealed the full sinister power of the darkness besieging them, prompting them to flee their beloved kingdom hastily.

"Where are we going?" Kristoff asked, catching up to Anna.

He took her hand in his and tried to keep up with her pace. The redhead was striding forward with determined steps, casting worried glances back at the inhabitants behind her, making sure everyone was okay.

"Toward the nearest allies of Arendelle," she declared resolutely. "I hope the Northuldras will agree to take us in."