Disney Fan-Fiction - Price of Magic Ch. 7

“Let me go! I’m going to hit this guy so hard his own mother will feel it!”

“You’d better talk fast, Rumpelstiltskin,” warned Kristoff as he struggled to hold back his enraged fiancé. “I have half a mind to let her go.”

“Well, if you do I won’t stop her but I think that she should let her sister have first dibs,” said the sorcerer, eyeing the grip that the mountain man had around Anna’s body. “I’m here to help so maybe we can save the beatings and the questions until after the crisis is over?”

“If you ever wanted to help us, you would’ve come a long time ago!” shrieked Anna as she struggled against her lover’s grip. “Do you have any idea what we’ve been through? What Elsa’s been through over these past months? She loved you! She loved you, and you left her—“

“I know!” Rumpel shouted over her. A shadow was cast over the whole room for a few seconds that quieted everyone before shrinking back. He took a deep breath and continued softly, “I know. It was agony to not being able to tell her how I felt, and not being able to see her after all this time. I tell you that despite our separation, she never strayed far from my thoughts, and I knew about her…problems. I even tried to help her, and, for a moment, it looked like she would begin to get over me and continue living her life. Obviously, something drastic happened. Something made a change within her.”

“It was this,” Harold stepped forward and presented the glass shards to the Dark One, who took the pieces into his hand. He waved his right hand over them, and they reassembled themselves to form a small, clear vial. With a shake, the glass began to glow purple before shifting to green, and then lastly, white. Rumpel’s yellow eyes widened even more at the sight and his jaw went slack.

“What is it?” asked Anna, relaxing a little although Kristoff continued to watch her out of the corner of his eye.

He answered in a voice that was close to a whisper, “It’s a potion that could make a person lose their memories.”

“I thought Grand Pabbie said that due to Elsa’s age, her powers, and her emotional attachment to those memories of you and her, that couldn’t happen,” interrupted Anna.

“He couldn’t be able to do it,” corrected Rumpel. “But there were other ways, and in the case of this potion, those ways can be crude but effective in accomplishing what it’s meant to do. I can only determine that by the forceful removal of these recollections, and the emotions that Elsa had attached to them, it left a hole in her heart, which triggered these repressed memories and feelings of her youth, and those filled her up with fear and anger. Essentially, her heart is frozen again.”

“Well then, we just have to thaw it,” said Anna with a hint of optimism as remembering the last time Elsa’s heart was frozen.

“Easier said than done, Dearie,” he pointed out. “As I’m sure you know. Especially since she’s bringing her army down here right now.”

“All right, fine then. What exactly are you going to do?” she questioned.

At that moment a guard entered breathlessly.

“My Lady, there’s a huge blizzard approaching from the north. It’s going to reach Arendelle soon.”

“That storm is covering the Snow Queen’s approach,” explained the wizard with a sly smile. “Never occurred to me that she was a strategist.” He then turned to Anna. “I suggest, princess, that you order the captain to call for everyone to gather in the castle and make preparations for an attack.”

“What about sending help to those with magic?” asked Kristoff repeating Anna’s suggestion from before.

“And just pray tell how we are going to manage that?” Rumpel replied curtly. “We can’t send horses because all of the passes are blocked by the storm and Elsa’s army. We can’t send ships out because we need every available man here to fight back. Furthermore, if we were to send out ships, the amount of time that the couriers would take to reach Agrabah and Camelot and for Genie and Merlin to come to us would be too long. However, since I’m here, such efforts won’t be necessary.”

“All right, let’s get to work,” said Anna firmly, which called for an adjournment to the meeting.

Soon after the bells within the castle and the church rang their song, alerting the citizens to the coming danger. Able-bodied men and boys were asked to assist the vastly undermanned Royal Guard in setting up defenses within the city and even a few brave women offered their services as well. Barricades made up of carts, furniture, and loose masonry was set up on the outer edges of the city. Sharpened stakes formed a semi-circle around the barricades, the points directed in the direction of the coming storm. Barrels of pitch and oil were positioned next to windows that overlooked the streets with lighted braziers that kept them warm and unlit torches were at the ready alongside them. Spare braziers were set up in a similar manner, their coals glowing orange within the iron caskets. Trees and poles that were around the city were brought down and used to create more barriers within the streets with just enough space at the bottom for the defenders to flee under.

At all fall back points and barriers Rumpelstiltskin provided ballistae that shot bolts that were as long as a man’s arm as well as two catapults in the city center that could throw rocks beyond the city limits. He further provided protection on the walls and roofs of buildings from fire and set up blazing torches and fire pits at the entrances and along the streets, making them even narrower to travel through. Completing the magical protection of the city, he recreated the same spell that he had used to save it from the Maleficent’s Curse but without the need of the invisible chalk and staff.

For the men, boys, and some women that volunteered to defend the city, whatever spare swords and spears were given to them. Suits of armor that once had collected dust in the castle’s armory and hallways were now dispensed amongst them, with some having a mismatch assemblage of helmets and helms, breastplates, pauldrons, vambraces, greaves, gauntlets, and plackharts as well as chainmail. Bundles of javelins were deposited at barricades and other strongpoints around Arendelle. A mishmash of pitchforks, axes, picks, spades, and knives tied to broomsticks were gathered from the houses and stables while some had taken up fishing spears, hooks, and nets from the docks. Rumpel even chuckled at the sight of a couple that wielded frying pans with cleavers tucked into their belts.

“I gather your kingdom doesn’t do much fighting,” Rumpel told Anna, Kristoff, and Sven as they watched the preparations for the catapults. One of the more older and experienced guardsmen was training a score of sailors and peasants on the proper way to crank the basket back, load it with rocks (that were provided by the sorcerer), and launch the contents.

“I can’t recall the last time that I heard or read about an attack on Arendelle,” answered the awestruck princess. “We’ve got the mountains to protect us from the north, and we’re mostly a maritime kingdom so we usually depend on our navy. Such conflicts are usually thought up as happening to others than to us.”

“And you also have your Queen,” he pointed out.

“Well, that wasn’t always the case.”

Rumpel chuckled. “Too true, my lady.”

“How do you know so much about this sort of fighting anyway?” asked Kristoff curiously.

The wizard gave him a small smile. “I’ve read quite a few books on the subject. That tends to happen when you’re alone.”

“What exactly did you do this whole time?” inquired Anna, giving him a look.

The smile stayed on his lips. “All in good time, my lady. I’m sure you’ll hear all about it when I tell my tale to your sister.” His faltered as he gazed at the coming blizzard. “To tell the truth, I’m not looking forward to facing her.”

“Should you? Is there any other way? I mean, the snowmen army that she has used to be little baby snowmen.”

“You and I both know that it takes more than words to get her highness-ness to change her mind once it has been made up.”

Anna opened her mouth but no sound came out.

“He’s got a point,” added Kristoff.

Rumpelstiltskin then turned to the veteran soldier that was ordering the recruits on the proper way to work the catapults.

“Crank that rope down, double time! You there! Get more rocks into that basket! You’re here to fight, not pick daisies! You’re all slower than my nana, and she’s only seventy-two!”

“How goes the drills, lieutenant?” asked the sorcerer.

The soldier ordered everyone to stand at attention at the sight of Rumpelstiltskin and the princess before bowing to Anna. “Well, sir, they’re mostly sailors and fishermen, so they’ve got the experience of doing hard work.”

“Just not this type of work,” observed the sorcerer.

He nodded in agreement. “Aye, sir, that’s true. If we only had more time I could get them to be a well-run machine.”

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of time, soldier. Since aim won’t be a necessity in this battle, I only want them to be able to swiftly barrage the city limits with as much shot as you can load on the baskets. Oh, and one more thing: I’m no ‘sir’ so there’s no need to call me that.”

“Begging your pardon, sir, you are a hero. Everyone in this town has heard of your deeds and you’ve even saved us from two curses. You deserve all the praise that you get.”

Rumpel shook his head in defeat, as there was no use arguing with this man. Several of the people either casted glances at him as they whispered to themselves or openly stared at the warlock.

“Very well. Carry on.”

“Sir, yes sir!”

The trio left the veteran to continue to drill the recruits as they made their way to the market next to the city center. A score and a half of townspeople were positioning the carts and stands into another defensive position, their weapons off to the side but ready to be picked up once the battle begins.

“It’s not a matter of whether or not I deserve it, it’s whether or not I want it,” the sorcerer muttered just loud enough for the couple to hear. “Some of those people were confused on who I was.”

“Why wouldn’t you want it?” asked Anna.

“And why would they be confused?” asked her fiancé. “You’re a hero to them.”

“Yes, but not the one that they had believed or hoped,” replied Rumpel turning toward the storm that was now beginning to pass over the mountains that overlooked Arendelle, chuckling to himself. “I’d imagine that when they heard of me they had thought me to have shoulder-length, luscious brown or blonde hair, a smooth, handsome face, maybe with a beard, blue eyes, a gentle, affectionate, confidant voice, and wearing white and gold armor astride a pure-bred horse. They didn’t expect an impish, grotesque wizard in black leather.

“And therein lies the problem. When people like them hear of heroes and their deeds, they develop a certain picture in mind, although the details may shift from person to person, the overall qualities of the hero are kept the same. They defeat evil, have magical powers, maybe divine maybe not, most of royal birth or something fantastic. However, when reality sets in, that concept or image that they have engineered for themselves is shattered. That’s one of the reasons why I didn’t wish to return, or at least publicly. I didn’t wish to destroy that heroic image that most people have for me, since it makes them happy, or at the very least, content. It gives them hope. I know that many kingdoms, including here, had erected monuments in my honor but several of them don’t have a description or image or statue of my physical features, and so when people become ingrained on their version that they’ve imagined as being the right one, anything that disagrees with that version is…denied, even if I actually appear to them.

“I don’t want to be praised because sometimes it’s forced and unnecessary. They applaud me because that is what’s expected of admirers of heroes, even if the hero is not a pretty sight to look at. They don’t have to commend me if they don’t want to.” He smiled to himself. “Most of the time, I had help in my battles against the Villains. So others deserve as much praise as I do.”

A short silence fell upon them before Anna spoke up again.

“Wow, whatever happened to the witty but coolheaded Rumpelstiltskin that we all know and love?” she asked sarcastically.

He grinned back at her. “He’s just wearing his ‘serious face’ for the day.”

“There it is!” pointed Kristoff, smiling but only for a moment as he gazed behind Rumpelstiltskin.

The wizard turned around to see that the blizzard was halfway down the slopes and was quickly approaching the magical barrier. A horn blared from the castle, sounding the call to battle. Soldiers and recruits alike rushed to positions and prepared themselves for the coming attack.

“Anna-“ began Kristoff but she interrupted him before he could continue.

“If you say that I should stay within the castle, I’m going to break your nose,” she warned, taking up a pick axe from a pile next to a barricade. “That’s my sister out there and I’m going to do whatever it takes to stop her.”

Kristoff looked to Rumpelstiltskin, who threw up his hands in protest.

“Don’t look at me. You’re the one marrying her.”

He looked at Sven, who also shook his head and gave a series of grunts.

“Thanks. Both of you are loads of help,” he sighed in defeat before helping Anna put on a helm, greaves, and gauntlets, who did the same for him.

Once they were ready, he told Sven to stay behind the barriers before he, Rumpel, and Anna climbed over it and made their way through the narrow streets to the outer defenses. Here most of the castle guards and veterans were stationed as well as the mountain men and hunters. Torches and fires were spaced out as well as buckets of arrows and bolts for the archers and crossbowmen. An eerie silence descended upon all the defenders as they watched the storm approach closer and closer like a wall of white. They could hear the wind as well as see drifts of snow piling at the edge of the spell, but no breeze threatened to flicker away the fires or chill the fighters further.  

Everyone watched with anticipation as the blizzard struck the spell; flakes of snow changing direction as if they were being yanked by millions of invisible strings off to the side. Soon a small rise of snow began to accumulate at the edge of the spell, rising higher and higher. A minute after the storm had blanketed the city in its embrace, they could hear another sound mixing with the wind: the beat of hundreds of footsteps marching.

“Archers at the ready!” came the call from the captain.

Archers and crossbowmen knocked their arrows and bolts to their bows, clumps of cloth on the ends dipped in pitch, waiting to be lighted by the torches and fires. Through the swirling flakes, Rumpel could make out massive shapes moving closer and closer.

At that moment, the captain approached them.

“My lady, what are your orders?”

Anna turned to Rumpelstiltskin with an unsure look.

“You’re in command here, princess,” he told her gently. “I’m simply our weapon against Elsa.”

She nodded in understanding and turned back to the captain.

“Don’t fire until they cross over. That goes for the catapults. This could be a show of force, and perhaps they will go back once they see just how ready we are.”

The soldier saluted and echoed the order to the ready archers and to the signalmen on the roofs.

“Well said, princess,” complimented the wizard.

“This is the first pitched battle that I’ve ever been in,” she said to him, shifting her grip on her pickaxe. “I don’t want unnecessary bloodshed.”

Everyone watched and waited anxiously as they saw snowman after snowman came within two meters of the magical barrier. Even from a distance and through the snow, everyone could make out the individual features on each of the monsters. Some carried weapons such as spiked maces and clubs, spears, falchions, double-bladed battle axes, and even a couple of great swords, all made up of ice within their clawed hands, while others had ice limbs in the shape of crude weapons as well as claws, spikes, and teeth. Wherever Rumpel glanced out of the corner of his eyes, he could see many of the men falter and tremble at the sight of the monstrous army that stood just within arrow range.

“Steady everyone!” he yelled, the gleefulness in his voice again was replaced by a more serious tone. With a wave of his hand, the broadsword that he had used to defeat the Horned King and that he had kept above the fireplace in the tower, appeared, belt and all, at his side. The order was passed amongst the rest of the barricades but it had only brought little relief as the sound of more marching could still be heard behind the growing line of snowgoons. However, the effects of that order were immediately neutralized as the sound stopped, only for it to be replaced by roars and chanting that erupted from the ranks. Weapons and feet stamped on the ground, fist pounded against fist, weapons raised repeatedly into the air, snow flew from both the ground and their bodies as they intimidated the defenders.

“Steady!” Rumpel ordered again although it was quickly becoming apparent that no one was going to last for much longer.

“Do you see Elsa?” Anna asked him over the chanting.

“No,” he replied. “She could be directing from the rear.”

Suddenly, a roar from the rear of the army drowned the chanting and reverberated across Arendelle down to the very bones within the defenders.

“Or she could have something else in mind,” continued the warlock. “Look out! Here they come!”

The line of snowgoons charged through the magical barrier and made their way to the city defenses and the scattered defenders within them like a great tidal wave of white. Rumpel nodded to the captain, who gave the signal to the lookout on the roof. Within seconds, two-dozen rocks bigger than human heads flew over the buildings and the defenders and landed amidst the charging snowmen. Cries of surprise and pain erupted from them with the loss of limbs, heads, and body only to be quickly drowned by the horde.

“Archers ignite your arrows and fire!”

The pitch-coated cloths on the arrowheads were set alight by the torches and fires and were launched at the front line of charging snowmen. A mixture of growls and roars of pain came from them as each of the arrows hit their marks, with steam emanating from the wet snow bodies. They had managed to fire two more volleys into the horde before the snowgoons reached the stakes surrounding the barricades.

At once the archers dropped their bows and drew their various weapons that they had armed themselves. Steel and iron met with ice in a clamor that reached all the way to the castle.

Rumpelstiltskin had ignited his own fireballs with his hands and shot them at the charging monstrosities, melting limbs straight off, and taking two or three at a time with a well-aimed shot. However, the growing numbers proved to be too great even for him and he was forced to draw his sword. The enchanted blade did equal if not more damage than the fire spells as entire snowmen would disintegrate with one slash or hack.

“Stand together!” he called out to defenders who were having a hard time keeping the horde at bay on either side of him. “Don’t try and fight them one-on-one! Work in small teams to bring them down quickly!”

Another volley of rocks flew over his head and struck a half-dozen of the monsters; removing or wounding their limbs and bodies, and even one losing a head only to continue to walk aimlessly. A fire spell from Rumpelstiltskin melted the rest of it only for more of its comrades taking its place.

“We can’t keep doing this!” shouted Kristoff as he fell one of the snowgoons only for Anna to behead it with a sword that she had picked up. “We bring down one of these things and two more take its place!”

“Agreed!” replied Rumpel as he took off one weaponized limb before spinning around to shatter a great sword, both of which disintegrated by his strikes. The snowgoon howled at the loss of its weapon, and reached with a clawed hand at the warlock, only for him to stab at the extended palm and shatter it as well. At that moment a soldier came up through the streets.

“Sir, the fjord is freezing up!” he told them, dodging an ice spear that was thrown at him. “Some sort of streak of ice from the air is turning the whole harbor into –“

However, the same roar that had sounded before the charge interrupted him, booming around the city and nearly drowning out the chaos of the battle.

“What is that? It sounds bigger than that wolf-thing,” said Kristoff, stepping aside from an axe swing before he struck at the wrist of the wielder.

“I have an idea, and it’s not a good one,” replied the wizard, destroying two more snowgoons with his blade. “Call for a retreat into the city. That should even the playing field against this horde and allow us to defend the catapults from whatever Elsa is planning. I’ll deal with whatever is freezing the fjord, otherwise we’re going to be caught between the hammer and the anvil.”

He teleported just before a spiked mace came down on the spot where he stood before, only to reappear behind the snowman to shatter him into pieces with his sword. Ducking below a spear, he rolled forward and destroyed another with a strike to the knee. Igniting a small blue fire in his free hand, he swung it in a long sweep, which sent the fire all across the barricades. Snowgoons, whether in the way of the fire or rushing forward, were instantly melted by the spell and soon the rest came to a halt with a cry of frustration.

“That should provide you with enough cover to retreat,” the sorcerer told Anna as he helped her and Kristoff kill three of the snowmen that remained on their side of the fire. “It’s not going to last for very long, so get the fallen into the city and the castle as fast as you can.”

“Thank you,” said Anna as she and her fiancé rushed to relay the order to the captain.

Rumpelstiltskin teleported from the battlefield to the harbor to see that the messenger was right: the fjord was frozen over with ice that reached all the way into the harbor. Ships were anchored further in place with ice covering their hulls. He appeared again at the entrance to see that the ice continued to extend out to sea only to disappear into the storm. A growl rumbled through the air, and small tremors shook the ice, which groaned with a few stray cracks appearing. Through the swirling flurries a massive shape appeared and continued to move closer to the Dark One. As it got closer, he could make out a long, sharp snout, a mouth full of teeth the size of short swords, bright blue eyes that glared at him, a long, sinewy neck covered in ice scales, muscular arms as tall as him that ended in clawed feet with the points as keen as sharpened razors, wings bigger than sails extended from its shoulders and were just as white. From its neck base, he could see Elsa wearing what could be described as a cross between armor and a dress.  Segmented plates covered her body while she wore greaves and gauntlets on her arms and legs with a small, thin cape flapping behind her. Her helmet was fashioned in the shape of her crown with ear and neck coverings and icicles jutting out from the tiara-piece.

“All right, that’s a new one,” Rumpel said to himself as the dragon growled at him. “Well, Dearie, you’ve sure made some changes to your traditional garb.”

“Who are you?” she demanded, the dragon growling with her.

“Wow, that potion really did a thorough job on you,” he commented again.

“Are you just going to stand there and make snide remarks?” she asked coolly.

“Maybe,” he answered pleasantly despite the danger staring right at him.

Elsa growled with the dragon this time. “Step aside, or else you’ll end up like everyone in this kingdom: frozen over.”

“Hate to break it to you, Dearie, but I can’t let that happen,” he told her. “And you’re not the only one with an imagination.” His arms extended out with his palms facing to the grey sky. “Drais noghri ebn abtha suka blakka! Etha ava rhaegahn!”

Shadowy tendrils suddenly appeared as if made of smoke and began to surround Rumpelstiltskin. Within seconds he had disappeared behind the turbulent mass that twisted and curled at random in front of the Snow Queen. She watched curiously as the black monolith began to grow bigger, soon reaching halfway up the lighthouses on either side of the harbor entrance, and yet it still continued to grow. When it had finished, the column was as taller and wider than the body of Elsa’s dragon, and its rounded top had black vapors drifting off, even though there was no wind. All of a sudden it began to shift and waver before it broke into two pieces that extended forty feet outward, nearly touching each side of the harbor entrance. The pieces were conjoined at the middle, where a monstrous dragon, black and thick as chimney smoke with wide jaws that glistened with iron teeth. Rumpelstiltskin himself with his black leather seemed to blend into the fumes that emanated from its body; he was as part of his creation as Elsa was to hers.

Anger shone from Elsa’s clear blue eyes, and she gave a cry of rage that was echoed by her steed before charging at the newly made beast of Dark Magic. The black dragon gave a roar of its own at the challenge before it met with its adversary. The massive beasts clashed together with enough strength of a half-a-dozen bull rhinos, their riders nearly thrown off from their mounts due to the amount of momentum. Claws raked the magical skin and limbs, while teeth snapped and bit at the necks. Snow, ice, and shadow were thrown into the air from the ferocity of their attacks.

Elsa raised her hand to unleash a torrent of sharpened hail at Rumpelstiltskin, but he had created his own spell that shielded him from the attack.

“Don’t do this, Elsa!” he shouted over the din of the fight.  “Don’t make me hurt you!”

“Ha! Why do you protect these people?” she called back. “You’re not one of them! You don’t owe them anything!”

The two dragons disengaged from each other, and Elsa’s mount opened its mouth to unleash a blast that struck the other on the shoulder. Rumpel’s dragon was forced back by the impact of the attack, and the cold nearly broke the sorcerer’s personal heating spells that he had put on before arriving. Fortunately for the Snow Queen, the strike offered just enough of a break in the fight for her dragon to extend its wings and take off into the blizzard. Its blue and white hide quickly hid it from sight in the midst of the billowing snow. The Dark One’s dragon gave a roar before a column of green fire shot out of its jaws into the snowstorm. It whipped its massive head back and forth, the fire sweeping through the air with an intensity of a hundred the hottest forges. Seeing that it had not reached Elsa’s dragon, Rumpel repaired the damage to his own dragon and directed it to take flight as well.

As soon as Rumpel and his dragon flew through the magical barrier, the fury of the storm was equal to that of the Curse that Maleficent had enacted over much of the kingdoms several months before. The wind was strong enough that it nearly threw him off the base of the beast’s neck, and even the magical creature had difficulty in keeping steady through the turbulence. The intensity of the falling snow was such that he couldn’t even see the castle much less only a few feet around him.

“I may not owe these people anything but I don’t do it just for them,” he called out to the storm, his voice magically magnified so that he could be heard. “I am doing it because I owe you everything!”

“Liar!” Elsa’s voice shouted at him from above and he turned to see her dragon diving at them. Rumpel’s shadow beast managed to twist around quickly enough for the two of them to collide and grapple with each other in a mass of limbs, wings, claws, and teeth. One of shadow dragon’s claws had pinned its opponent’s by the shoulder, leaving its neck bare for its iron teeth to clamp down. A great roar of agony sounded from the beast’s throat as claws and limbs randomly tried to strike at its adversary in an effort to get free. It saw one of the dark thin wings flapping in front of it, and opened its mouth to let out a blast of ice that froze it still. In a cry of pain that echoed its opponent’s, the shadow dragon disengaged from the struggle and plummeted down to the sea.

Before Rumpel’s dragon could crash into the frozen fjord, he relieved the magical beast’s wing of the ice. With a few mighty beats, they were airborne again but had lost sight of their quarry. At the sound of a roar from behind, Rumpel directed his mount to loop backwards. As he pressed tightly to the shadowy hide, the dragon flapped its wings once before tucking them against its body. The rapid shift of gravity nearly made Rumpel slip out of his grip, but he quickly commanded the shadowy tendrils to grip him in place while they came up behind Elsa’s dragon. A chase immediately ensued between the two of them as the ice dragon dived down to break through the magical barrier with the other following close behind.

As they glided over the harbor, Rumpel ordered his mount to fire a stream of flame at Elsa’s dragon. The ice dragon had no choice but to swerve away from the green column and the city center. As they passed over Arendelle, Rumpel looked over to see that the defenders had been pushed further through the city with many of them having to use the ballistae in the barricades. Dozens of snowgoons also lay in crumpled pieces with several of them showing signs to having melted from the fires and coals. Many streets were blocked by pitch and oil that were set alight from the flames with some snowy mounds melting and forming puddles within them. Some of the snowmen that still walked looked like pincushions or hedgehogs with arrows, bolts, and javelins sticking out of their white bodies at random. Others had lost their weapons that they had carried only to sprout icicles from their bodies that they began to wield to devastating effect.

Meanwhile, the defenders looked to be pushing to near the breaking point. Groups that would gang up on one snowgoon were growing smaller and smaller with the fallen being carried to mounted volunteers that would take them to the safety of the castle and be treated for their wounds. Rocks were still being launched by the catapults, which continued to wound the inner ranks beyond the city. To the surprise of the warlock, he saw Anna, Kristoff, and the captain fighting against a transformed Olaf, who wielded icicles in the shape of blades on his arms. None of them could get close to the snowman, and even from a distance, Rumpel could see the princess trying to talk to him, to convince him that what he was doing was wrong.

The two dragons broke through the barrier on the other side and reentered the storm, but Rumpel’s shadow dragon kept a close pursuit on Elsa and her ice dragon despite the reintroduction of the whirling snow and strong wind that threatened to draw them off course and conceal their quarry. Just as quickly as they had entered, they exited the storm and began to make their way into the mountains. Turn for turn, roll for roll, climb for climb, dive for dive, Rumpel’s magical beast mirrored the other’s every movement. Up and down snow-covered slopes, around steep, rocky cliffs, through narrow gorges and rock structures, the two of them chased each other in the mountain range.

Finally, Rumpel’s shadow dragon got close enough to launch a well-aimed fireball at the ice dragon’s right wing. Taking advantage of the distraction on the limb, the black beast gripped the tail of its adversary, sending it onto a large, flat ledge close to the ice castle on the North Mountain. The two dragons faced each other, growling deep in their throats as they began to circle each other.

“We were companions, friends, Elsa!” Rumpelstiltskin told her from the back of his mount.  

“Then were you the one that I had wanted to forget?” she sneered at him. “Remind me, what’s your name again?”

“S…Rumpelstiltskin,” he answered.

“Rumpelstiltskin,” she echoed, laughing. “I’m beginning to see why I drank that potion.”

“Please, Elsa, stop this. I know who you are and it is not this.”

“Isn’t it?”

“Yes! You are loving, kind, and compassionate. I never told you this before, but I love you and I know for a fact that you love me. I told you this once, but if you follow this path of anger and hate, then it will consume you.”

“Is this how you’re going to stop me? With words and a dragon that you made? You’re going to have to take more drastic action!”

The ice dragon opened its mouth to unleash a steady column of ice only for it to be met by the green fire from the other. While the colossal beasts struggled to overpower each other, Elsa repaired the damage to her mount’s neck, wing, and tail. She then raised her hand to the mountaintop above them, and immediately an avalanche began to descend down to Rumpel’s position on the ledge. Just before the cascading snow and ice could sweep them over the side, the two dragons disengaged from their contest and took flight once more, with Elsa and her dragon making their way back to Arendelle. Rumpelstiltskin on his magical beast quickly recovered from the attack and followed the pair, the thunderous echo of the dragon’s wings sounding through the mountain range.

He knew that Elsa was right. He had to be more persistent, to take more drastic action to stop her. She had become so convinced that everyone was out to keep her contained that it’s possible to think that she would unleash herself against the world just as she was doing to Arendelle. That was something that he couldn’t allow.

But how can one fight against someone that was totally convinced that they were in the right, and ignorant of anything that didn’t fit into their belief? Rumpel smiled knowingly as urged his dragon faster. Such challenges were few and far between and he relished in solving them.

They reentered the storm and passed through the barrier that still encircled the city that still continued to smoke. The defenders had been driven to the last remaining barricades before the city center and the marketplace. In an effort to not allow Elsa’s dragon to attempt again to destroy the catapults that were still manned, Rumpel directed his beast to fire a stream of its breath underneath the other dragon. The tactic worked as expected as the icy beast turned so that now it faced vertically. The warlock then ignited two fireballs in his palms and unleashed them on the dragon, catching the edges of its wings. Although it only damaged them lightly, it was enough to slow down the magical creature and allow it to be caught in the clutches of shadow dragon.

For the third time, the two beasts of mysticism clashed in the air, their roars deafening all around them.  Hind legs scratched at each other’s bellies, while their glistening talons struggled for dominance. However, Rumpel’s dragon already had the advantage as its iron-toothed maw clamped down on the ice-constructed tendons in the wings of its opponent. A screech of pain from the white beast’s lungs nearly made Rumpel let go of his grip on the hide of his dragon to cover his ears, but he gritted his teeth and cringed at the intense throbbing in his eardrums. He had barely enough time to react to the other dragon’s attack at his mount’s neck, but he quickly unleashed repulse spells to drive it away.

Now Elsa’s dragon was at the mercy of Rumpel’s and it took quick advantage of the fact. Flapping its wings, it brought the two of them higher and higher in altitude. Any struggling from its opponent would result in the wound further crippling it, and in an effort to keep it and its rider off balance, the black dragon continued to strike with its legs, claws, and tail as well as shake its head. Higher and higher they climbed until they had burst through the top of the raging storm into clear skies.

It was at that moment when Rumpelstiltskin decided that enough was enough. He mentally commanded his dragon to release its grip on Elsa’s beast. With a mighty kick, it sent it hurtling down to the ice-covered fjord before diving to follow. Both beasts rolled together, interlocked by their limbs and jaws, as their riders struggled to keep their grip. Hundreds of feet rushed past their sight in a white and grey blur before Rumpel decided to take action. Time seemed to slow as he noticed the distance rapidly close between the two struggling dragons and the frozen waters, and in an instant he teleported off of his mount. He reappeared behind Elsa and embraced her before teleporting again only seconds before the two mystical beasts crashed into the fjord. Chunks of ice from both the monster and the sea exploded outwards from the hole that formed, while shadows from Rumpel’s dragon evaporated into nothingness.

Rumpelstiltskin reappeared with Elsa next to the crater within the harbor only for him to push her away as pieces of ice hailed down on them from above and cracks from the hole expanded outwards, threatening to drop the two into the freezing dark waters. Once they had reached a safe distance, Rumpel turned to see if Elsa was all right only to jump out of the way of a block of ice that had icicles facing him.

“Stop this, Elsa!” he shouted at her, destroying another block with a spell of black fire. “Do you not understand what’s going on? Do you not see the destruction and bloodshed that you are causing?” He destroyed a series of icicles that arose in front of him. “All this because you think that they caged you?”

“Yes!” she answered unleashing a series of more attacks that Rumpel batted away as if they were an annoyance. “They deserve it!”

He shook is head in defiance. “I refuse to believe this is who you’re really are, Elsa. I love you-“

“But I. Don’t. Love. You!” she unleashed all of her power into a blinding ice blast at the wizard. However, her attack was met and blocked halfway by the black fire that Rumpel had ignited from his hands. As they struggled to keep and intensify the pressure of their spells, the two of them began to step toward each other. Energy crackled in the air around them as they neared, with no indication that either was going to give up. They were only a few inches from each other when the pressure from their opposing spells couldn’t be contained anymore, and a great wave repulsed the two of them apart and shattered the ice underneath them to pieces.

Rumpelstiltskin was the first to recover from the sudden event at the sensation of ice-cold water filling his lungs. He had only been in the freezing water for a brief moment before he teleported to safety on the ice field that still remained in the harbor. His back and shoulder throbbed from when it had struck a piece of ice before he had fallen into the water. He looked around the harbor to see no sign of Elsa, and he stood up to get a better view only to be met with more ice floating freely on the salty, sea water. Above and around him, the storm had spontaneously ceased with not even a single snowflake drifting freely in the air.

“Oh no,” he said just barely above a whisper and panic began to stab at his heart. Immediately, he began to run carefully along the edge of the hole, shouting desperately, “Elsa! Elsa!”

However, the only movement that he could see was the pieces of ice floating within the harbor. As he came upon the other side of the hole, he noticed a small, white shape lying on the ice. Picking it up he could see that it was Elsa’s crown, cracked with a couple of the icicles broken off. Looking at the edge of the hole only a few feet away, he tossed the crown to the side and dived into the water.

Despite the protection from his heating spell, Rumpel could still feel a slight discomfort on his clothing and body but he ignored it as he began pump his arms and legs in a series of strokes. At the sight of the dark, murky water around him, he couldn’t help but recollect the time when he killed Ursula and searched for Prince Eric in the ocean. He swam around, his head turning this way and that in his search for the queen, as well as avoiding from being smashed between the floating ice floes.  His lungs burned for oxygen, and he climbed up along the sides of one of the floes to steady himself as he took gulps of the cold, crisp air. He called out Elsa’s name several times more only to receive no answer. He then dived back down into the water, and with a few gestures from his hands, formed several balls of light. With a sweep of his arm, they scattered out into the water, zigzagging between the ice in their search for the queen. Fortunately, their search was incredibly quick, and Rumpel was able to swim over to where they were gathered only a short distance away.

As he came upon the still form of Elsa, he could tell that she was unconscious, but whether it was from her landing on the ice from the repulse or from descending into the water as the ice broke up beneath, he couldn’t tell. Her mouth was agape with only a trail of bubbles that continued to grow thinner.

Taking her into his arms, he teleported out of the water and onto one of the docks of the harbor. In the light of day, he could see that despite having spent an unknown amount of time in the freezing water, she didn’t have bear any of the signs that normal people tended to have. He pressed his ear against her mouth only to be met with no breeze. Setting his hands on top of each other, he began to press repetitively on her chest, counting and muttering under his breath. At ten, Elsa began to heave and convulse before spitting out several cups of salt water.  

Rumpel helped her to sit up against a post as she continued to cough up the water from her lungs.

“Now what would your captains of your merchant ships think when they see that you gulped down all their water, eh? Not very sporting of you, your highness-ness,” he quipped in an attempt to lighten the mood.  

“Why…did you…. do that?” she sputtered, her body tired, sore, and weak.

“I told you that I loved you,” he explained gently to her as he dried her clothing with his magic. “And you said that I had to take more drastic action in order to stop you.”

Elsa gave a sigh of annoyance.

Rumepl chuckled. “It doesn’t matter if you had changed into someone different, I will always love you, and I was never going to let you die. Even if it meant my own death.”

She looked up confusingly at him to meet his eyes. “You would really risk your life to save me?”

“I believe I just did…twice now,” he replied with a smile.

“It’s just…no one has ever done anything like that for me before,” she said softly.

“No one you remember,” he told her, his smile disappearing.

Despite the soreness in her limbs, Elsa reached up with her hand to stroke his face gently. Then she leaned forward and her lips met with his. Rumpel’s eyes widened for a moment before his face softened and accepted the gesture. When they parted, it was Elsa’s turn for her eyes to widen in recognition.

“Rumpel…” she said as a smile began to grow at the corners of her lips.

“Hello, Dearie,” he answered, smiling happily.

Immediately, she threw her arms enthusiastically around his neck and kissed him even harder. Responding to her passion with his own, he reached down and picked her up to spin around on the dock with her. A joyous giggle came through Elsa despite her mouth still locked with his. It was only when they had to breathe did their kiss end.

“Wow, that was something,” Rumpel finally said.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time,” Elsa’s face had flushed deeply, and she could have sworn that Rumpel’s gold, scaly complexion had gotten a bit darker, but it could have been a trick of the light.

“So have I, but how about we fix this mess you made before spending the rest of our lives in each other’s arms,” he offered as he gently let her stand.

“Right,” she agreed, her hand holding onto his.

With their remaining hands, they reached out to the harbor. At once, the ice and snow all around them began to melt into pieces and evaporate. The giant snowmen all transformed into the tiny, joyous snowgies, and even Olaf reverted back to his former state, despite having fought against his “brothers” once Anna had managed to get through to him. He would later reminisce on how he enjoyed being a little bigger.

Once they had finished, and the cloudy sky had given way to sunshine, Elsa changed her clothing to her traditional garb but with some changes. The blue of her dress had become darker and the cape had turned gray.

“You look beautiful,” complimented Rumpel.

She smiled before turning at the sound of her name to see Anna, Kristoff, Olaf, and Sven running towards her from the other side of the dock.

“Actually, there is one more thing I need to do.”

“What’s that?” he asked only to be answered with a hard punch to the nose that sent him over the edge of the dock and into the water.