"Fly faster Cyra! We have no time left!" Aiden yelled towards his companion, "We need to reach the other side!"
"I'm trying to flap my wings, Aiden! But they feel so numb..." Cyra reasoned. She hissed in anticipation once both of her fiery wings stopped doing their tasks. She gave a startled squawk once she fell onto the frost covered ground, her entire body losing its warm colored glow.
Aiden's frantic steps came into a halt, his face contorted in panic. He quickly kneeled before his feathered friend, examining from her claws to the feathery tip of her head.
"I can see my own breath..."
"It's getting colder here, A-aiden." Cyra stammered, "W-we have to make it out soon. I'm not regretting my words, we should've brought our own horse.. Or something.."
"Horse... Cyra, you're a genius!" Aiden beamed. "W-well damn.." The fire bird muttered under her breath, "He finally c-came to his senses." "We need to find.. Find water," Aiden desperately ran around the area, hoping to find any sign of water. To his bad luck, he did not find any drop of water.
"Why are you looking for water?" Cyra questioned in confusion.
"If... Elsa can call The Nøkk.. What if I can call him, too?"
"You make a smart point. But isn't this place half a forest and a glacier? Aiden, use your logic."
"... Apologies."
Aiden cleared his throat and sang the calling tune as melodious as he can, his voice echoing further and further towards the clearing of old aged pine trees. The lone leaf clinging onto a dying tree left its place and flew with Aiden's voice with grace; and soon, the winter air helped carry the leaf to whom Aiden desired.
Aiden blinked.
"Shoot. We're doomed." He sluggishly fell on his backside to rest beside his friend, "I don't even know if this place is near the Dark Sea."
Clop, clop, clop...
"Hey, Aiden, do you hear something?" Cyra perked up, her feathers recovering its fiery glow. Staring her way makes Aiden only mesmerized since she obviously differed from the dimness of their surroundings.
"Probably chunks of ice again." He sighed. "No, no, this one's different. I feel it coming this way.."
____________________________________
"You don't have to be shy to ask me to go faster, dear king." The water spirit exclaimed as he majestically bounced from one mile to another, "Or you get dizzy easily?" Nøkk playfully bantered.
"The first," Aiden blushed, "Did.. Did it reach you?"
"Oh ho, I have to say, impressively your voice did reach me. Gale did his job quite well today..."
"T-the cold air was Gale? He goes to the dark side of the forest?"
"He does, he does. But usually he would not take leaves with him when he goes to the dark side. Oh, we're nearly here."
The Valley Of The Living Rocks came to full view once Aiden took his eyes off from his sleeping companion, his heart quickening its pace in doubt. Noticing his worry, the water spirit looked at him in utter confusion, "Is.. Is something the matter?"
The fire king took in his words, and shakily answered, "I just hope it's not too late."
I just hope it's not too late to even get to say goodbye...
No. Don't think like that, Aiden...
"Hey," the water horse smiled, "Don't think that way now, she'll be fine. If she managed to get us to calm down, she can survive."
Shooting the Nøkk a grateful smile, he finally found the courage to unmount and take Cyra's sleeping body on his shoulder.
The Nøkk nodded at him once more before dissolving into a puddle of water. The puddle slowly crawled away, then nervously headed towards the series of trees just beside the rocky tavern.
Aiden slowly walked to the entrance, only to be greeted by the sight of the huddled forms of trolls. A certain ginger head rushed up to him with intense fury in her eyes.
That look doesn't seem promising.
"YOU!" Anna growled, "W-what took you so long?"
Aiden's self esteem shrunk, "I... It.. It was so far.."
"S-she's freezing solid, Aiden! What are you waiting for?!"
While her furious approach did not help his nerves at all, all Aiden sees is a desperate little sister in need of help. He understood her quite well, since the ginger head clearly cares so much about her older sister... He could've sworn that if Elsa is forced to choose between him and her sister she'd struggle.
Aiden carefully walked over to the opening path, ignoring the disturbing mumbles and gossiping whispers coming from his in law's family.
His heart almost dropped once he saw the terrifying sight in front of him.
He quickly fell to his knees in front of Elsa, his hands cupping her cheeks as he winced because of the harsh bite of the cold. A single, icy tear ran down the Queen's cheek as she stiffly held her husband's hand in place.
It was just like their wedding during the giving of vows.
Iduna covered her mouth to control her hidden cries, holding onto Agnarr for dear life. Agnarr was trembling himself, and everyone knew it was not because of the cold that is coming from his daughter.
It is painful to see her visible breaths floating and fading into the air. He shuts his eyes for a brief moment before reopening them again, this time in a similar state as his wife's.
As Kristoff held Anna, the woman in his arms kept repeating the same thing inside her mind again and again like a memorized mantra.
This is all too familiar scene.
Even almost encased in ice; she was still so breathtakingly beautiful.
She tried to speak, tried to utter a single sound.
"Shh," Aiden silenced gently, a small smile gracing his lips. He was just so happy to see her again. His fingertips traced the fine patterns of snow adorning her face.
But reality must ruin everything.
"I'm here to heal you, love. Don't move."
Taking a giant leap of faith, he moved his hand to her chest slowly, his emerald green eyes beginning to glow.
Contacting every ounce of his power, Aiden closed his eyes and concentrated transferring heat to his wife. He tried his best to not cause a single burn— or a mark.
For the first time in forever, he finally understood his mother's words.
𝐈𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.
𝐈𝐭 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐚 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬.
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬.