It was then that I smelled it. The stench of smoke. I looked up, shocked to see flames of a purplish hue emanating from the angry Fire Spirit leaping from tree to tree, setting everything aflame, black smoke rising skyward. The ground suddenly rocked under my feet and my heart leapt to my throat as my ears caught an all-too-familiar sound.
It was the roar of the Earth Giants! The earth trembled with every pounding step. Had our celebration awoken them from their slumber by the river?
A shiver of fear tripped down my spine. I needed to find my family. Now.
I raced through the forest, the smoke getting thicker as I got closer to our camp, until it was nearly impossible to see. My eyes stung and watered, and my breath heaved down my throat in short gasps. It was then that I realized something else was going on amid the chaos. Something worse than the raging spirits themselves.
The Arendellians and Northuldra were attacking one another.
My ears picked up the sound of swords violently clanging against each other. The shouts of anger, then agony, rising above the crackle of flame and the roar of wind. Through the thick smoke I could barely make out shadows darting and swooping in combat, though what had begun the battle was unclear. All I knew was that the situation was very bad, and seemed to be getting worse by the minute.
I didn’t know where to go. What to do. Was there anywhere safe to retreat until this was over?
My mother’s shawl! I had to get it now, since the trees were on fire. It was the only thing I had left of her and I couldn’t let it burn.
I changed directions, sprinting back toward the tree. My throat was raw from inhaling smoke and my lungs ached. As I ran, my mind raced with troubled thoughts. The spirits were clearly angry, lashing out at everyone in the forest. Was their rage caused by the battle? Or had they started it?
Finally, I reached the tree outside the completely deserted Arendellian camp. Upon plucking the shawl from the hollow, I wrapped it around my shoulders. Hugging the fringe to my chest in relief, I looked all over. The fire was still raging, the earth still shaking. Even the wind had risen up into a monstrous gale. I’d never seen anything like it.
I was on the verge of leaving when I heard a weak cry. Whirling around, my eyes widened as I spotted a crumpled figure splayed out against a large boulder. Blood seeped from a cut in the person’s head, pouring down the rock, darkening the earth below. There was so much blood that it took me a moment to recognize him. But when I did, I gasped.
It was the boy. Agnarr. And he was badly hurt.
I glanced back at my forest. I knew I needed to return there, to our side, to find my family. To shelter in safety with them until the spirits were appeased and the battle had ceased. But what if I abandoned Agnarr and no one came for him? The crackling of the flames roared louder; the heat curled the hair on my arms. The air was filled with thick smoke. And he was in no shape to get to safety on his own.
Suddenly I heard voices calling my name from somewhere within the forest. My family was looking for me, I realized. They sounded worried. I needed to get to them, let them know I was all right. Let them lead me to where it was safe.
But then Agnarr would die.
I stared down at him, paralyzed by indecision. He looked pale as death, but I could see his chest rise and fall with shallow breaths. He was alive, but for how long? There were no Arendellians around. Even if they were looking for him, they might not find him before he lost too much blood. Before his lungs filled with smoke and he couldn’t breathe.
But—just maybe—I could save him.
My mind raced; I was torn. I thought back to the forest. The fighting between his people and mine. That made him an enemy, even if I didn’t know why.
I looked down at his drained face. And yet…he was also just a boy.
An injured boy who would die if I didn’t do something.
A tree behind me creaked, fire snapping at its limbs. A branch broke, crashing from above. On instinct, I threw myself at Agnarr, rolling him to the side just in time to avoid the fiery brand. It hit the ground where he’d been lying only seconds before, and the dry brush around it flared up.
I inhaled deeply, making my decision. Lifting my raw voice to the sky, I sang for Gale, calling for the Wind Spirit the same way I always did. “Ah ah ah ah!”
For a moment, I heard nothing, and I began to worry the spirit was too wrapped up in whatever was happening to answer my call. But at last there was a rush of wind and a breeze that floated around me questioningly. I let out a breath of relief.
“Help us, Gale,” I begged.
The Wind Spirit obeyed, scooping both of us up into its embrace and sweeping us across the forest in a fierce rush. For a moment the boy’s eyes fluttered and I wondered if he would regain consciousness. He muttered something softly that I couldn’t quite hear, then passed out again.
“Come on,” I said to the wind, my heart beating fast in my chest. “We have to hurry.”
Gale picked up the pace, rushing us faster away from danger. As we flew, my eyes darted around the woods, desperate to find someone—anyone—who could help us.
It was then that I saw the group of Arendellian horses and wagons, piled high with injured people hacking and sputtering, rubbing their eyes, their skin caked with soot. It appeared they were about to evacuate the area.
“There!” I pointed for Gale. “Put him down in that wagon.”
The Wind Spirit obliged, sweeping us forward and dropping us gently onto the wagon. As Agnarr’s back settled against the cart’s wood, he murmured something again. I leaned over him, trying to hear what he had to say.
Suddenly, everything went dark.
I reached up, surprised to find an Arendellian cloak over my head, covering almost my entire body. Gale must have thrown it over me. But why?
Danger was approaching.
My ears pricked at the sounds of footsteps, loud, and of more than one person approaching. I held my breath, my heart pounding so hard I wondered if I’d crack a rib. The wagon rocked, as if someone had stepped onto the front of it. Then, to my horror, it began to move.
I struggled to peek out from under the cloak. I needed to jump out of the wagon while I still could. Run back to the safety of the forest. But there, riding behind the wagon, were three Arendellian soldiers armed with sharp swords.
“Do you see any of those traitors?” one of them asked the others, his eyes darting suspiciously in all directions, his voice rough from inhaling smoke.
“If I did, I wouldn’t be standing here talking to you,” stated the middle one, with dark hair in total disarray. “I’d slash them all down where they stood.”
“I can’t believe it! We came in peace! We built them a dam! And this is how they repay us? With sorcery? Trickery?” the third shouted, his horse dancing under him as it felt his tension.
My heart panged in horror, refusing to believe the soldiers’ hateful words. We were a peaceful people. We’d welcomed the Arendellians to our land. Accepted their gift of the dam. Why would we rise up against them now?
As for magic or sorcery—we didn’t have any. We used only the gifts given to us from the spirits. The elders had been very clear on that from the first day we met the Arendellians.
At that moment there was another gust of wind. At first I thought it was Gale, maybe rushing in to save me from my fate. Instead, a thick, heavy mist seemed to drop from the sky, settling down onto the earth like a giant wall behind us. It blocked out the forest, from sky to ground, as far as my eyes could see.