Love That Thaws

Chapter 23

Elsa POV

Thunder crashes above me. Lightning briefly illuminates the beach and the raging waves that stretch before me. Waves crash against the sand. I stand there watching the waves. Beyond the sea lays Ahtohallan. Beyond the sea lay the answers I seek. I nod to myself before turning from the waves and unclipping my coat. 

I throw it on a rock and quickly take my boots off as well, setting them next to my coat. I undo my braid and pull my hair back into a simple low ponytail. I set my shoulders and stare down the waves. I plant my feet and take a deep breath. I race down the beach toward the water.

As I step on the water it turns to ice beneath my feet. I run across the water but before I get far a huge wave knocks me back and I'm forced under the water. 

I make my way back to land and shake off the water. I plant my feet again, "Okay." I shake off a little more water before charging towards the waves. I slide on a bigger piece of ice before running like before. As a huge wave gets closer I dive through it and grab hold of a large rock sprouting from the water. I climb up it, nearly slipping once, before making it to the top. I slip and nearly fall off the front. I regain my balance for long enough to create a slide of ice to slide down the front. I slide down it and continue running. 

A bigger wave comes my way. I scrunch my eyes in determination and create a large platform of ice. I run along the ice up the wave before it breaks as the wave crashes down on top of me. I spin in the water a bit before I regain my bearings and begin swimming toward the surface. 

Lightning lights the surface and I see the silhouette of a horse in the water. Around me, a high-pitched whining sound resonates. I stop swimming as the horse appears in front of me. It glares at me before disappearing. That must be the Nokk Y/n was talking about. 

I swim to the surface and take a breath. I look around as small waves rock me. I hear a whine and look down to see the glowing blue eyes of the Nokk as it charges at me from the depths. I create a small platform of ice and try to climb on. The Nokk, however, knocks it hard sending me flying through the air and back into the water. 

I surface again and cough up some water. I turn around to see a huge wave approaching me. Within the wave, the Nokk charges menacingly. It lands on me and begins pushing me deep below the surface of the water.

Y/n's voice rings in my mind. "Come back to me. Come home." The locket she gave me all those years ago floats up from under my shirt. The Nokk sees it and begins swimming faster. I look around in a panic but when I see nothing, I get an idea and place my hands on the legs of the Nokk and begin freezing him.  

The Nokk pauses before disappearing. I quickly orient myself and swim toward the surface. I gasp for breath as I try to keep my head above water. Behind me, I can no longer see the shore. 

Suddenly the Nokk launches me into the sky and I land in the water with a thud. I swim to the surface and create a platform of ice to stand on. As the Nokk comes charging again I create a large chunk of ice to fall on him. He disappears under it. 

I look around as the waves try to knock me off my ice. The Nokk appears again jumping through the water near me so close it knocks me into the water. I notice the necklace had fallen off and begun to sink to the bottom. My eyes widen and I try to swim for it but the Nokk knocks me away. I create a snowflake shape out of ice to act as a shield. It doesn't work as well as I thought it would. 

The Nokk breaks through the ice and charges past me to the locket. It grabs the locket and tries to run. I grab around its neck as it passes. It runs through the water dragging me at just the height where most of the water is in my face. I cough and sputter trying to get a proper breath but it's near impossible.