Third Person POV
"I can't believe it…" Anna breathed, while eyeing the second Therondian ship by the beach of Ahtohallan in her spyglass.
Every important personnel was now gathered by the poop deck of Mother Nature. This included Nokk, whose form had been turned to ice to stand on the dry deck, Bruni, who stood on Nokk's head, and Gale, who was airborne.
The ship remained stationary, several kilometres away from Ahtohallan. All torches and lanterns were put off to maintain stealth in the near pitch black night. The only light source was Elsa's magical ice ball in the centre of the deck.
Worry painted the faces of all Arendellians onboard as none of them expected to encounter a second Therondian ship. They really were confident with their number since they thought they would only face one ship. But two? Now they were outnumbered.
Anna turned around to join the circle on the poop deck. "What do we do?"
"None of us our strategies will work, now that they have two ships," General Mattias reminded. "I'd say we act wisely. Let's send a boat to recon those ships."
Everyone processed the idea. The one who did the fastest was Elsa who responded, "No need for the boat. I'll do it. I'll have Nokk come with me."
Hiccup asked, "How are you gonna do that? Just gallop your way?"
With a smirk, Elsa responded, "Underwater. I'll climb onboard and check both ships. That's why Nokk will be coming. And let's be honest, I'm the only one here who's capable of doing this task."
That 'ultimatum' was undoubtedly true, as much as the others disliked the sound of it. Anna was the one who disliked it the most.
"Sis, you're being reckless again," Anna said in a reminding tone, her arms crossed.
"And you're not trusting in me enough, Anna," Elsa took off her blazer and cracked her knuckles. "It's the most efficient choice. Besides, I have my power with me to protect me."
Anna deemed this behaviour as something Elsa had not improved upon; recklessness. However, seeing that there was no other choice, she grudgingly undid her crossing arms and nodded. "Fine."
Luckily, Elsa noticed her sister's worry over herself. Thus, she came up with an idea. "I'll have Gale with me, too! In case things go south," Elsa added, which was replied by the Wind Spirit herself with a 'happy' whistling.
Anna merely glanced and said, "Be careful."
After a sigh, Elsa walked over to the ship's railing. She turned around to see hopeful and worried faces of her fellow Arendellians.
"I'll be back soon."
With that, Elsa hopped off the ship. Nokk and Gale followed afterwards.
SPLASH!
Anna quickly walked to the railing to see her sister. However, since there was no source of light, she could not see anything. Thus, she turned around.
"Alright… Now we wait for–Bbrrhh!"
Anna cut herself, shoving her arms together. Abruptly, a wind picked up, bringing cold onboard. Along with the wind, everyone onboard could feel the water beneath the ship becoming more choppy, too.
"I think a rain is coming," General Mattias commented.
"Yeah… this is definitely the smell of rain," Hiccup added.
"Can't we ask the water spirit and wind spirit to call the rain off?" One Arendellian guard asked. He was followed with more chatterings of the soldiers that agreed to the proposal.
"Yeah… I don't see why not…"
"That's possible, right?"
"Surely."
"No, no, people!"
Silence came after a certain Northuldran spoke loudly to gather all attention. Ryder.
"As powerful as they are, Nokk and Gale cannot simply change the weather. That is up to Mother Nature herself… Not to mix it up with the name of this ship though…" He explained.
"Aww…"
"Well, we're getting wet it seems."
"I'll definitely have a cold after this. Not to mention we're outnumbered…"
"Yeah, do we stand a chance?"
The atmosphere was turning grey at this point. Not only they learned they were outnumbered, the weather was getting unfriendly, too. Optimism was declining slowly, and Anna noticed that.
"Hey, hey! Come on now!" Anna clapped her hands to gain the attention of her people. "Let's not whine now. We've faced far worse, haven't we? Remember the Great Thaw? If we've been through that, then we can take on these fools!"
Anna was behaving very unqueenly at the moment, and everybody noticed that. However, she did radiate quite the energy. She rolled her eyes to meet each of her soldiers' while taking her pause. At that moment, she withdrew her sword.
"I believe in all of you. I believe that our manpower alone stands a great chance at the combat ahead of us. And do I need to remind you again? We literally have the elements with us!" Anna reminded. "We have my sister, Nokk, Gale! And see this little guy?" Anna gestured at Bruni, who sat on her head. "Bruni can and will help us, too!"
"Yeah… I think the horse can pull some nice tricks for us."
"Yeah, not to mention the wind spirit!"
"Don't forget the lizard!"
"What lizard?"
"Together, people!" Anna exclaimed with a loud and stern tone while raising her sword. "We can do this," she said calmly.
Hiccup took this opportunity and yelled, "YEAH!"
"YEAHH!"
"WOOHOOOO! FOR ARENDELLE! FOR NORTHULDRA!"
"FOR AHTOHALLAN!"
All people onboard chanted and cheered as optimism completed their beings. Anna delivered the speech well and it was very much needed, especially in the face of an adversary ahead of them. From the outer end of the crowd stood Hiccup, who was very proud to witness such a speech from his unbelievably-not-yet-a-love-partner friend. He clapped his hands when he received a shoulder bump from his left. Honeymaren.
"That's your girlfriend, right there," Honeymaren commented, pointing her thumb to Anna.
"She's only a friend," Hiccup replied nonchalantly. His manner threw Honeymaren off.
"You two really haven't–Oh my god…"
SPLASH!
Something broke the surface of the water overboard. It was revealed to be Nokk and Elsa, who both landed right next to Anna.
THUD!
Everyone looked at Elsa as she stepped off the water horse while being drenched by seawater.
"Elsa!" Anna called, taking off the coat she had on her sister to warm her up. "You're already back?"
"Yeah…" Elsa wiped her face clean. She accepted Anna's coat and looked up to her people.
"Both ships are empty. The beach is deserted, too. They all must already be inside the cave. We must go. NOW!" She informed.
"Oh sh–" without even finishing her swearing, Anna turned to her general and nodded. "Man the wheel. Lads, hoist all sails! Head dead straight onto the beach! Grab your arms and prepare for battle!"
"YES, YOUR MAJESTY!" Every Arendellian headed to their station in a rush.
"Nokk," Elsa called for the water spirit, who turned to her attentively. "Please push us again like previously."
Nokk nodded, understanding the command, and hopped off the ship.
"Gale," Elsa called, looking up to the air. "Same request. Blow these sails away once they're on, please."
Surely enough, once the sails were up and the anchor was reeled back in, Mother Nature marched forward at a great speed once again. The work of the Wind and Water Spirits were doing wonders as nobody onboard had ever experienced such speed on a ship.
Mother Nature headed dead straight towards the turquoise light emitted by Ahtohallan. The speck of light soon came to vision clearly. What was a distance that could only be covered within thirty minutes was done within five. Since Elsa confirmed that nobody was onboard the Therondian ships, General Mattias steered Mother Nature to casually dock right next to them. The hull of the ship made contact with the pebbly beach and came to a full stop briefly after.
Ropes were cast overboard by the railings of the ship. One by one, Arendellians made their way to meet the beach. The water was naturally freezing and some Arendellians were caught off guard.
Despite knowing and seeing no Therondians nearby, all remained quiet with their movement. While the beach was rough and full of pebbles, they made sure their steps were as gentle as possible.
"Is everybody here?" Anna asked in a low tone, low enough to be heard by her people but not loud enough to break through the sound of the wind and the seawater. She waved her hands to gather all around her, just by the entrance of the cave. Her people obeyed and did so, including the spirits and Birta the reindeer, who had been helped by Gale to land on the beach safely.
"Alright…" She turned to Mattias, who was next to her. "General. Final briefing before we proceed."
"Right," the general replied and looked around him. Fifty men and women, not including Bruni, Nokk, Gale (who was invincible), Birta, Ryder, Honeymaren, his queens, and a certain Berkian dragonrider.
"Watch each other's backs. We leave nobody behind. Remember your training."
Everyone nodded to reply silently. With that, Mattias signalled everyone with his hand to follow him.
As the water and fire spirits were about to enter the cave, they looked up to Gale, who would not join the party. They wanted to tell Elsa about it, but she seemed so focused on her current task, they would not want to bother her. Thus, they left without Gale.
The pack marched into the cave. Light was strictly limited, as the walls began to emit less and less of it. Thus, Elsa had to summon magical snowflakes among the party to show the way. The ground inside the cave gradually changed from pebbles to solid rock. The tight interior meant that only two men could walk side by side, resulting in a pretty long queue. Sound was fairly insulated inside, as all could only hear their breaths, their steps, and echoes of water drops.
Being the only one who had ever traversed the terrain, Elsa walked alongside her general. Behind her walked Birta and Honeymaren. Behind them walked Ryder, Hiccup, Anna, and the rest of the soldiers. Nokk was instructed to follow from the very end of the line to countermeasure surprises.
"We just keep following the path, my queen?" Mattias asked.
"Yes," Elsa replied. "Just follow it."
They kept walking. And walking. And walking. As they proceeded deeper, Elsa felt an absence. Something was different about the place.
"This place… something's changed, but I can't quite tell what…" Elsa commented. Mattias picked that up and raised a brow.
Trying to be helpful, Mattias gave a guess of what it could be, "Maybe the season? When did you last visit it again?"
"No, not that," Elsa rejected. "Other than that it's darker… Mmm… I feel like… 'Ahtohallan' is absent."
"We are inside it, how can it be absent? And it's usually brighter?" Mattias asked.
Elsa shook her head. "I can't tell. But it's just different. And yes, the walls should've provided us with sufficient lighting. But now…"
Rumble.
The ground shook a little. This made everyone halt and question what could possibly trigger the vibration.
"Do you hear that?" Elsa asked, turning to her general. He nodded in response. This generated urgency within Elsa's mind, telling her to pick up the pace.
"Let's walk a little faster, everyone," Elsa commanded, beginning to walk faster by herself. "Whatever caused that, it can't be good."
Everyone obeyed the former queen of Arendelle. They all picked up the pace, abandoning stealth while still maintaining vigilance. The narrow path remained bendy and possessed elevation changes as they kept on going. Finally, Elsa, being the leader of the pack, noticed the familiar bends on the path, ones that indicated that they were closing.
Elsa turned to Mattias to report, "We're nearing the hall that I mentioned previously. They could be here, be ready."
Mattias nodded and signalled the others behind him. Each person passed the message to the ones behind themselves to ensure everyone was ready.
Surely enough, Elsa and Mattias encountered a triangular entrance that would lead to what seemed to be a hall.
"Queen Elsa," General Mattias called. "Let me have a peek. Wait here."
Elsa agreed to the idea and let Mattias walk past her. He slowly walked into the hall, Elsa watching him nervously.
Meanwhile, at the middle of the pack, Hiccup readied his shield and battle axe. Bruni stood on his shoulder, positioning himself as if he was about to pounce.
"Hey."
Hiccup turned to my right to see Anna, who had her sword ready. She said in almost a whisper, "Don't leave my side. I gotta watch over you."
He frowned at the proposal. "I can't exactly promise that. Besides, that's supposed to be my line."
"You are still injured, are you not? Besides, I can protect myself. I spar on a routine–"
RUMBLE!
The ground shook again. This time, it was more violent than the previous one. Small shards of ice fell from the ceiling due to the shock and this generated anxiety among all of us.
"People, let's go," Elsa commanded from the front of the party. Thus, the entire party rushed their way out to a large opening. Inside, the room was dark. They could only see the person we walked with. The little snowflake that Elsa provided was simply not sufficient.
Not knowing where to go next, all naturally stopped on their track. The soldiers began to question each other of what to do next.
"It's so dark in here…"
"I can't see anything."
"Are we alone here?"
Soon enough, 'voices' answered from afar.
"Is… there?"
"I… footsteps…"
"Are we… do we… company?"
Everyone heard of that and zipped their mouths.
"We need light, now!" Elsa whispered 'loudly.'
To solve the lighting problem, Hiccup had an idea.
"Bruni!" he whispered, turning to the fire spirit. "Spit a flare in that direction!" He pointed to what he presumed was the other end of the room. "Hurry!"
Understanding the rush, Bruni charged a shot inside his mouth. After a second of charging it, he spat a fireball in the pointed direction. Once the fireball reached its maximum height, it dropped back down and magically emitted a bright light that illuminated the entire interior of wherever they were.
With this light, all saw what seemed to be one hundred Therondians on the other end of the hall. Behind them sat a pathway to what could be another path to proceed deeper, but blocked by giant ice pillars.
"Shit, there they are…" Hiccup cursed. "Bruni, keep doing that, provide us light!"
The fire spirit understood the assignment and hopped off the Viking's shoulder.
Right away, the Therondians were on guard.
"MEN! WE'RE NOT ALONE!"
Upon seeing the people of Therondia, Anna stepped forward and took Hiccup along to the front of the pack. Her being was filled with rage, as they were the people who had raided Berk and tortured Hiccup.
After coming out of the crowd, the Therondians spotted the chief of Berk right away and whispered things to each other nervously.
"PEOPLE OF THERONDIA! THERONDIA! ANSWER ME!" Anna hollered. "DO YOU ADMIT TO INVADING BERK AND TORTURING THE CHIEF OF BERK?"
None answered, as none did not have anything to say. However, a certain figure made his way to the front of the Therondian crowd. Lieutenant Xavier.
"No, Queen Anna!" The lieutenant responded in a loud voice, but not as loud as Anna's. "He's a fugitive of ours! He is from a barbaric nation that we raided to give the world a favour!"
Hiccup was certainly offended, but Anna was even more so. "Fucking asshole is still trying to lie his way through…" She cursed silently, though the people near her heard that clearly.
"Good try! But I won't be fooled for the second time!" Anna lifted her sword and aimed it at the Therondians. "Everyone! Strike true! CHARGE!"
All Arendellians charged to face the Therondians, valour completing their beings.
"FORMATION!" A Therondian leader commanded his soldiers. His soldiers soon formed a curved line, almost like a letter "U," to welcome their opponents, all raising their swords and shields.
While running, Elsa hopped on Nokk to take the lead of the charging party. She counted at least one hundred men and she was the only one who could take them all at once. She was aware of that.
'Here goes nothing… I'm sorry Ahtohallan,' Elsa mentally said. Afterwards, she engaged the muscles of her arms, flurries of ice forming around them. She locked her eyes to the Therondians up ahead and raised her arms with great force.
KERCHANK!
CRACK!
CRASHH!
"Whoaa–What's this?!"
"Witchcraft!"
From the ground below the Therondians towered four walls of ice that separated the formation they had made. The walls were thick; there was no way manpower could simply thaw them. With these in place, the Therondians were scattered all over the place. Some lost their balance, some lost their focus, and some certainly lost their positions.
With the walls in place, Elsa's shoulders dropped immediately. Her energy was depleted a lot. Apparently, summoning such big objects took a toll on her. She could only hope that it was worth it.
"REFORM! BACK ON YOUR FEET, MEN!"
The commander of the Therondian soldiers commanded, who happened to be Lieutenant Xavier. It did not take long until the first Arendellian sword made contact with the first Therondian shield.
CLANG!
Hiccup's POV
I joined the pack headed towards the most right of the Therondia's broken formation. My pack consisted of myself, Anna, and twelve other men and women. We ran as fast as our feet allowed us to reach the Therondians who were still recovering from Elsa's sudden attack.
There was only a couple metres between us. I locked my eyes on a Therondian man who just fixed his posture and had his shield up. He was my target.
With a strong swing, I threw my axe right at him, aiming at the head. The man noticed and ducked, making my axe land and stick on his shield instead. Seeing so, once there was no more gap, I kicked his shield with my momentum and grabbed my axe back, flinching in afterwards.
CLANG!
SMACK!
The rest of my allies reached for the other men, engaging in close combat instantly. I turned my attention back to my target, who was still trying to stand up. It was at this moment where Anna appeared from behind him and pierced his leg with her sword.
"GAHHH–"
"Good one, Anna," I commented, trying to look for action elsewhere.
My eyes stopped on an Arendellian woman who was about to be pinned by her opponent. To save her, I charged at him and rammed him with my shield.
BANG!
Due to my attack, the man hit the ice wall hard. While still recovering, I took my chance and used the crook of my axe to take off his shield recklessly. With another swing, I planted my blade on his heart. In an instant, the man collapsed.
I pulled my axe away and looked over to the Arendellian woman I just saved.
"Thank you, Chief Hicc–LOOK OUT!"
I turned around and saw a blade making its way to me from my side. To avoid it, I ducked, grabbed the wielder of the blade, and cast him off to the wall.
"UFF–CACK!"
When he was planted on the wall, I planted my blade on the back of his neck, too. He, too, collapsed.
I turned around, trying to find more action once more. This time, the action approached me again in the form of two men. They charged at me, anger seemingly fueling them. Then all of a sudden, a fireball landed on both of them from above.
"AHH! AH! WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?!" One man said in panic, fire consuming his leather armour at a great speed.
I looked up to see a small speck of purple spot on the ceiling of the cave. Bruni! He apparently brought support from up above, spitting fireballs here and there.
"Hiccup!"
I looked back to my opponents to see Anna behind them, who slashed her sword at their feet. After wincing in pain, they were brought to the ground. I took my chance and planted my axe on their backbones.
I tried to pull off my stuck axe from my enemy's body when I noticed Anna, who was merely staring at the corpse. She was not vigilant of her surroundings at all.
"Anna! Don't just–"
A man lifted his battle axe and was about to land a deadly blow on Anna from behind. In a reflex, I pushed Anna aside and shielded myself.
CRACKK!
"Gahh!"
I received such a great force and the axe took the biggest toll. The blade of the axe was planted well. By the time the man realised that this happened, he tried to pull his weapon away, only pulling me as well in the process.
"Anna, a little help here!"
I turned to my right to see Anna, who was on her knees and consumed in shock. I could see her muscles shake. Other soldiers were occupied with their own combat, so I had to deal with this alone.
I kicked the man off with my prosthetic leg to break free from him. However, his great physique meant that my kicking was doing nothing.
With a reckless pull, the man finally pulled off his weapon. In the process, I was thrown away by his pull, the shield still in my possession. After recovering my stance, I prepared myself to receive his incoming attacks.
"Raah!"
CLANG!
"Gah!"
CLANG!
"Hyup!"
CLANG!
Swing after swing, I blocked it. My arm was getting tired by just enduring the blows, so I had to counter my opponent one way or another. I came up with an idea, which was terrible, but I had no choice.
The man swung another strike from above. This time, I jumped backward and evaded it successfully. I spun, took off my shield, and cast it off in his direction with my built momentum.
CLANG!
Metal made contact with another metal. When I looked up, I saw my shield fling high up in the air, flying over the ice wall that Elsa summoned. Apparently, the Therondian blocked my throw with his axe!
Ryder's POV
"Birta, catch these guys!" I commanded.
My reindeer noticed my calling and turned around. She sprinted at a great speed in my direction, and I prepared the two men that I had disarmed and stunned. With great force, she collected the men in her horns and rammed them into the wall.
"OOF!"
"There we go!"
By the spot Birta landed stood my sister, Honeymaren. She finished these men by stabbing them in the chests.
"Nice one, sis!" I complimented while looking around for more action. With the addition of Elsa's walls of ice, the battle ground became smaller. It did not take long for me to spot three Arendellians losing a fight against five Therondians.
"Nu uh! That ain't fair, buddy!" I exclaimed, trying to get the attention of the Therondians while charging at them.
Clang clang clang!
Out of nowhere, a shield fell from the air near my path. I took the opportunity and grabbed it, arming myself with a shield and a spear now.
"Thank you, random being who dropped this from nowhere," I silently expressed my gratitude. "Here comes help, boys!"
With my declaration, the Therondians turned around to meet my incoming spear. All of them stepped backwards to evade it but one. My spear managed to catch one unfortunate heart, whose owner immediately collapsed.
"Fucking hell, Rob!" One Therondian cursed, who proceeded to resume the battle. What was a two versus five was now three versus four.
Our weapons fiercely clashed against each other's. With the new shield, I was able to attack more aggressively. I debated with myself whether or not to bring a shield previously, especially since I had no experience with it. But now, I was sure what to bring first.
CLANG!
With a great force, I 'punched' an incoming swing of a sword with my shield. The wielder was caught by surprise, his sword flying off to a direction. Now that he was disarmed, the Arendellian I fought alongside with finished him with a stab to the heart.
And that was the last Therondian on my spot. Even when outnumbered, the Arendellians and I handled the fight very well. Bruni was providing the best support, too, from up above. Catching the enemies by surprise was made easier thanks to his rain of fire.
"Ryder!"
Honeymaren. I turned around to find her. On the far end of the battle ground, among duelling men and women, I spotted her and Birta being cornered by at least seven Therondians by the wall.
In a rush, I called for the previous Arendellians soldiers that I helped. "Come on! They need our help!"
They all nodded and followed me. On my way, I hollered, "Bruni! We could use some over here!"
Whether or not the fire spirit heard me, only time could tell. By the time I reached the spot, the Therondians noticed my presence and welcomed me. Some turned around to face me while the rest remained focused on cornering my sister and Birta.
"Hang on there, sis!" I said, while blocking swings of Therondians blades.
"Take this–Gahh!"
"Ugh!"
CLANG!
"Hah! Oof! Shit–"
CLANG!
Despite having a shield, I was nearly out of stamina. That resulted in a couple of cuts on my shoulder and face. It was a losing fight, even when accompanied by other fellow Arendellians.
Once again, I called out, "Bruni! Anytime now–"
KA-BOOM!
Out of nowhere, something exploded by the ice wall. The shockwave sent me a couple steps backward. "What the hell was that?"
Smoke from the debris quickly filled the air around us. Visibility was strictly limited at this point, and so was breathing and vigilance.
Fwoosh!
Fwish!
That magical sound… it could be…
"Honey! Birta! You okay?" A familiar feminine voice called from inside the mist. Elsa!
My sister coughed from inside the mist. "Y-Yeah…"
The mist cleared a moment later, revealing a giant hole on the ice wall itself, along with remnants of Elsa's ice shots. Seeing that Elsa was on the other side of the wall, she was definitely the culprit behind that massive entrance. The absence of the mist revealed the Therondians who were still getting up, including one behind Elsa, readying to attack her with a large halberd.
"Elsa, behind you!" I warned. With this warning, she turned around and quickly formed an ice shield. Right away, she was greeted with the halberd, which easily shattered the shield.
"Gah!" She winced in pain.
"Oh, good one, witch!" The Therondian complimented.
I was about to throw my spear at Elsa's opponent when I noticed that it was broken because of the explosion. Thus, I readied my shield.
"ELSA! CATCH!"
Elsa's POV
"And, stay down!"
"Cack!"
Using my fist coated in ice, I finished off a Therondian woman after a duel. Within my side of the battle ground, I had General Mattias and Nokk to help me, along with some of my soldiers. With Nokk being able to manipulate ice, our portion of the battle went smoothly. Not to mention Bruni providing support from above.
I turned around to see the final opponent that I had deliberately spared. Lieutenant Xavier. To 'reload' my magic, I cracked my knuckles, flurries of snowflakes swirling about. Xavier was intimidated right away.
"D-Don't you dare! Drago will come for you!" He warned, raising his sword and shield. Not caring in the slightest, I advanced forward along with my men and women and Nokk.
I was about to shoot a blast right at his heart when Mattias grabbed my shoulder.
"My Queen, forgive me," he halted.
I turned to him. "What is it?"
"Think of the possibility of him giving us intel about Therondia and their plan. He should be able to tell us a lot," Mattias explained.
I processed his proposal. He had a point. We still needed to learn more about Therondia's motivation. Their whereabouts. Their military power. Their witch.
"Fine, tie him up and bring him to the boat," I snapped a finger and summoned ice right below Xavier's feet.
"Whoa–WA!"
In an instant, he lost his balance. Nokk immediately took this chance to pin him down with his leg. Two soldiers came to help the spirit secure the Therondian lieutenant.
Seeing no more combat was there to face, I dusted off my hands. "Alright, time to help the others! You two, take Xavier to the ship. Lock him up. The rest of you, follow me–"
"Ryder!"
That voice. Honeymaren! Her call for help originated from the other side of the wall. I quickly approached it and sensed her spot with my hand. With my magic, I was able to pinpoint her and, apparently, Birta, who both seemed to be cornered by some Therondians.
"Queen Elsa, let's go! We must get around the wall!" General Mattias said to me as he and his men made a run for it.
"You go ahead and flank them! I'll face them straight!" I replied.
Afterwards, I moved slightly to the right and placed my hand on the wall. I focused my power on my hand, building up as much firepower as I could to penetrate the thick wall of ice I just created. I did not know how much I had to charge, but I did as much as I could within a short time.
"HraaAA!"
ka-BOOM!
With great might, I punched the wall. The ice disintegrated into tiny pieces, generating a large white smoke. The guys from the other side of the wall received such a massive impact that they were all sent flying.
Upon gaining vision on the Therondians, I shot ice blasts at them to disable them.
Fwoosh!
Fwish!
Once the smoke had cleared slightly, I spotted Honeymaren and Birta, who were struggling to stand up from concussions.
"Honey! Birta! You okay?" I asked, helping my partner stand up.
She coughed a few times. "Y-Yeah…"
I was about to assess the situation within this new battleground I had just entered with a familiar manly voice yelled from inside the smokes of the debris. "Elsa, behind you!"
Without even looking who said it or what was behind me, I immediately turned around and formed an ice shield on my hand.
CLANK! CRASH!
A Therondian had caught me by surprise, who swung his halberd at me and shattered my shield. My knees immediately bent after the impact since he swung so swiftly.
"Gah!" I hissed in pain.
"Oh, good one, witch!" The man sassed. The man prepared for another swing when the same familiar voice called from behind.
"ELSA! CATCH!"
For a fraction of a second, I saw that it was Ryder, who threw his shield right at me. In the same amount of time, I ducked instead to evade the incoming projectile. There was no way I could catch a thrown shield like that.
THUNK!
Thunk?
I looked up and found the source of the noise. Apparently, the shield hit the Therondian instead! It hit so hard, the shield rendered him unconscious.
"Good throw, Ryder," I slightly chuckled, still finding entertainment in life-and-death situations. I picked up the shield and armed myself with it.
I quickly assessed the vicinity while helping my fellow allies get up on their feet. Honeymaren had some injuries but nothing life threatening. Birta had trouble standing up as her left hind leg had a cut. My men and women were exhausted and injured, but still alive. We were winning against the Therondians because of Nokk and Bruni providing support. Victory was all that mattered in the end. Or so I thought that was all.
"Aa-ohhh! Aa-oohh…"
That singing. Ahtohallan was calling me. In the middle of an unfinished fight?
The voice sounded from my left, where the path that led deeper in Ahtohallan sat. Apparently, it was blocked with giant ice pillars that were neatly placed to perfectly block it.
"A-Ahtohallan is calling," Honeymaren said out of the blue, slightly out of breath in her sentence.
I turned to her, "You heard that, too?"
She nodded, "Yeah…"
I turned to see the blockade once again. "Is it just me or did it sound a bit… different?"
"Now that you mentioned it… Yes, it did sound different. It's like Ahtohallan is asking for our help," Honeymaren explained.
Gentle footsteps sounded from behind, and it was Ryder who was approaching us. "Are you going to accept that call?" He asked me.
I looked at him, then to Honeymaren, then to Birta, all full of battle scars and bruises. "Can I even do that? Leaving you guys to fight all by yourself?"
"Well," Honeymaren crossed her arms. "If you could spare us Nokk and Bruni, that would be nice."
As she said that, my eyes spotted Nokk on the opposite end of the ice wall, seemingly rushing to join the combat on the other side of it. Bruni was still hanging on the ceiling of the cave, providing light and fireballs simultaneously. With their support, we were winning the fight.
"Alright," I nodded, smiling slightly. "I'll leave you guys the rest. Nokk, Bruni, and Gale–" I quickly cut myself. "Where's Gale?"
Neither Honeymaren, Birta, Nor Ryder could answer.
"She simply… never joined us when entering the cave," Ryder said.
"Huh… Well, she's probably doing us a favour by watching over the ship," I made up an excuse.
"Did you tell her to do that?" Honeymaren asked.
I shook my head, "No. Anyway…"
I walked over to the giant ice pillars. With a swing of a hand, I magically moved the pillars. All stood perfectly upright after that, providing me with a clear path to the depth of Ahtohallan.
To bid a quick goodbye, I turned around and walked backward to the entrance to face my fellow Northuldran friends. "See you guys in a bit."
"See you," Honeymaren and Ryder said in unison.
Once inside the path, I turned around to walk normally again. I was all by myself.
CRASH!
"What the!"
Something large crashed right behind me, making small icicles fall from the ceiling. When I turned around, a gasp escaped my mouth at the sight. The pillars fell back to their old position! And it was not my doing!
I quickly rushed to the pillars. I 'mentally' grabbed them with my hands and tried to unblock the entrance. It did not work!
"What the hell!" I cursed. Feeling frustrated and confused, I smacked the pillars, with hope that they would 'obey' my magic.
After multiple failed attempts to move the pillars, I gave up.
"All right…" I turned around, "It really is just me now…"
Into the darkness I walked. To light my path, I summoned glowing frosts with my right hand. Only after I did so did I realise that I still had my shield that I 'received' from Ryder.
"Oh… well, this should come in handy," I said sarcastically. Then, I noticed something near the handle straps of the shield. There was a small drawing of a… skull? But it looked like it was drawn by…
"Hiccup? Is this Hiccup's shield?" I asked myself. The drawing was distinctively Berkian. It had a pair of horns with the jaws only drawn with three teeth, each. I swore I had seen this drawing before.
"How did his shield get to… nevermind."
Minutes passed and I was still traversing the cave all by myself. The path was somehow familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. It felt familiar because I had walked down this path twice before. However, because of the 'absence' of Ahtohallan that I sensed, the place felt different.
Soon enough, the ground turned from rock to ice. I needed all the grip there was so I removed my shoes and proceeded to walk barefoot. With the help of my magic, I managed to walk just fine.
Or so I thought I would.
Rumble!
"Oh–Wah!"
The ground rumbled once again. This time, the tremor was bigger and made me slip. Whatever was taking place ahead of me was most likely causing this.
Pushed by adrenaline, I rose back on my feet and picked up the pace.
Minutes passed and I soon found yet another entrance to the place that nearly consumed my life once. It was the depth of Ahtohallan, the part that would 'drown' should one go too far.
After entering, I stood on the edge of a cliff. I looked over it and found the same projections of the woods in Northuldra. Basically the same view of what I saw when I first got here. Among these trees were nothing but darkness. No life. No nothing.
CRACKKK!
FWISH!
I could not believe my eyes for a moment. I just saw… lightning among the trees? Seemingly chasing after something?
CA-RACKK!
The same lightning showed itself again. It zapped from one spot to another, as if it was a cat chasing after a mouse. Not long after, the 'cat' and the 'mouse' shared a dialogue.
"I can do this forever, ya know!"
"So. Can. I!"
After the latter voice replied, icicles shot up from the ground and went for the source of the lightning. Along the way, the icicles caused the trees to collapse, creating an open space in an already cramped one. The lightning seemed to dodge the incoming attack. The battle continued on with neither seemed to be showing a sign of slowing down.
Then, I realised something. Lightning magic.
"Could this be… Lady Cassandra that those two spoke of?" I asked myself.
"The one and only."
I looked up to see who replied. Out of the thin air, a woman with light blue hair jumped on me with her fist aimed right at me, electricity coating it.
My eyes bulged at the unanticipated attack. At the very last fraction of a second, I simply raised my shield to endure the punch.
BONG!
The shield echoed loudly after the impact. Her blow sent me flying over the cliff. With speed this great, I could only hope that my back would not break after landing on the solid ice down below. I shut my eyes in the middle of my fall.
"Got you!"
I sensed a gentle pair of arms catching me in the air. Whoever it was, we landed on the ground safely. When I opened my eyes, my heart skipped a beat. My eyes became teary. My voice trembled.
"M-Mom?"