The call had been given and the Knights of Arendelle began quickly moving the population of the small city into the castle for protection. Queen Else was insistent that they save as many as possible. Chances were good this would be a costly fight, and she refused to let any life be added to that cost. A large line formed from the city to the castle gates as the people moved into safety, three people in particular walked with them.

The party of 3 moved through the line calmly, watching the people around them. Faces of nervousness and barely hidden fear were all around. Clearly the rumors were already spreading. The youngest of the party, a young boy with spiky brown hair, led two slightly older women on ether side. They spoke in whispers as they moved.

"We cannot just leave these people to their fates." The raven haired woman spoke, looking around in pity. "If this monster is one of the 'shadows', then we have to help them. You know that."

"Easy, lass." The other woman, a curly red head, responded in her Celtic accent. "We don't know what this thing is and it would be foolish to get involved until we do know. With what I've heard of this place, just throwing magic around could cause a panic."

The boy was about to stop the bickering, when he felt something strange come close. Turning, he found a silvery blonde haired woman in a blue dress. She radiated power and walked with purpose that could only come from a royal. For just a second they locked eyes. The boy smiled and waved at her. Queen Elsa looked slightly confused but returned the wave all the same, moving on in the direction of the city with a knight by her side.

"Well, I think we'll be just fine." The boy, named Sora, smiled brightly as he moved a little closer to the man next in line and began asking some questions of Arendelle's mysterious Snow Queen...


Elsa hurried past the three strange visitors, Captain Bryson close on her heels. Something about them, namely the boy in the middle, seemed off. They didn't strike her as people wanting to cause trouble but she still felt uneasy about them. As she passed a random guard she left instructions for him to keep an eye on them just in case. He nodded and moved back up the line.

For now, however, Elsa pushed those thoughts from her mind. A more serious and present threat was on its way, and she needed to be ready. The sky over head was quickly turning black as the strange 'darkness' rapidly covered Arendelle. Judging by the Troll King's accounts, this meant the beast was nearby. She could already feel it, a sinister force was in the air as she climbed a battlement facing the lake.

On the wall, Elsa found a row of archers standing at the ready, eyes slowly scanning the area, and arrows notched at the ready. Elsa followed their gazes to the forest on the edge of lake's shores. It suddenly frightened the young Queen to see just how open the castle was out on this lake. Water on all sides, save for the small canal that led out to sea, and forest on every shoreline. Easily able to hide a monster and allow it to attack without warning.

She turned to this group's commander. "I would like a report, Commander." She spoke with authority, leaving no room for pleasantries.

"You Majesty." The Commander saluted and began his report. "Twenty minutes ago we tracked movement in the trees directly opposite us on the shoreline," He pointed to a row of trees near where the archers were scanning. "Something chased the local wildlife out of the forest, causing them to flee into the lake or run along to the banks to other parts farther away. The trees themselves began moving as if something was pushing them around. After that, the movement stopped and everything went quiet. Even the wind stopped."

"Any visual conformation?" Bryson asked from Elsa's right.

"No, sir. The sky darkened as the event began. Combined with the forest's natural shadows made conformation impossible."

Elsa nodded and ordered the man back into formation. She turned to Bryson with a serious expression. He stood at attention as she spoke.

"Captain, while I do intend to fight this creature myself, I am no warrior." She paused, allowing Bryson to comprehend what she was about to say. "As such, I'll be following your lead on this. Until the battle is over, I am at your command. But I need to know how you plan to fight."

The Captain nodded and quickly looked around at their defenses before settle his eyes back on the young queen. A strategy formed in his mind, a very poor one. He hated just how unprepared they were. Rows of archers, catapults, a whole battalion of knights, and even some Roman Fire. All great weapons against any invading army, but he had no way of knowing how effective it would be against a giant monster of dark magic. From what he knew, it had already attacked another kingdom, one that was sure to have similar defenses but clearly, they had failed.

The info he got from the Trolls made sure they were at least ready for an attack, but beyond that, there was so little information about the beast. Arendelle had never battled any magical creatures and thus had no experience to fall back on, no basis to figure out a solid battle plan. How would it react to this situation? How did it fight? Would it fight? Did it have magic like Queen Elsa? Would normal weapons even work on it?

So many questions, so few answers. There were too many unknowns. And it was clearly intelligent, that much Bryson knew. The actions he just had described to him by the Commander sounded all too familiar to some hunting practices he knew of. It was staking them.

He turned back to Elsa. "I won't lie, Ma'am. I have no idea yet how to fight this thing. The only thing I can promise is to watch the battle carefully and change our strategies accordingly. The opening fighting will be mostly experimental, seeing what does what to this thing and planning from there."

Elsa nodded. Like Bryson, she really didn't like the plan. However, also like Bryson, she could see no other way to improve it. Until Anna could get some information out of Micro Jack, they would be fighting blind. She moved into formation and the group settled into a tense silence.

It was more than a little creepy to Elsa. The 'dark' was now fully over Arendelle, casting everything in a dull dark grey light. There was no sound, save for the breathing of herself and the soldiers. All was quiet and no one dared break it for fear of starting whatever storm was about to fall upon them.

Elsa's eyes slowly turned from the distant trees to the calm lake surface below. Without the wind, the water remained a giant black mirror, reflecting everything around it. The queen continued to watch the water, something about it both calming and unnerving. It reminded her of the ice she'd created last year and she found herself closing her eyes to relax as vague and unpleasant memories floated into her mind. It worked, until she opened her eyes.

As her stared turned to the lake, Elsa was horrified to see the lake was staring back. Two cold yellow eyes glared up at her from the depths growing bigger and bigger until the giant creature broke the surface and stood to its full height. The giantess had arrived...