A Saga Of Ice And Fire

Chapter Sixteen - A Twist Of Terror

"No. . . .No. No. No. No. . . .Hiccup? Hiccup do.. d'you see her anywhere ? "

Hiccup raked his eyes around the crowd. "I don't—"

"I can't see her!" Elsa said shakily as her neck turned in every possible direction it could, her face paler than usual.
"ANNA!?"

Hiccup nearly flinched as he felt her grip his hand like a vice. Her skin felt incredibly cold against his. It was like someone was grabbing a sheet of fresh ice and pressing it against his hand roughly. He realised that some of the passersbys had begun to notice the sudden, drastic change in temperature around them, even though it wasn't as sudden as to the point of it starting to snow or anything.

"Is it . . . . getting colder?" Hiccup heard an old man walking by them ask out audibly, squinting his eyes and adjusting his glasses, looking skyward.

Most of the Coronians around them didn't seem to have noticed it but Hiccup was sure he hadn't imagined the tiny specks of white materialize out of thin air around Elsa, who seemed oblivious to everything else as she stared around the square for her missing sister, biting into her bottom lip, her eyes wide as saucers.

"What the—"another young woman gasped in confusion and Hiccup caught sight of her breathing out onto her hand, glazing eyes sprung wide as her breath fogged up.

From what Elsa had told him so far, only a very few group of people, himself included, knew about her magic. If he couldn't get her to calm down in the next minute or so, he was pretty sure that group would soon include the entire population of Corona. But after Elsa had shown him her powers, King Agnarr had asked him to keep it a secret until they themselves had made an official announcement about it to the public. That wouldn't be necessary if things went on the way they were at the moment. He needed to change her focus but the problem was, he didn't know how.

As he tore his gaze away from her hand gripping onto him and looked up, his face lit up as he caught sight of the kite they'd purchased , soaring through the sky up ahead, being buffeted by the winds on it's perilous crusade.

"Elsa! Look!" he exclaimed as he yanked her along with him , uprooting her from her spot.

Her face regained a tinge of the colour as she caught sight of the kite up ahead of them. Hiccup didn't know if Anna was still chasing after it but it was the only thing he could do to get Elsa's attention. The two of them raced through the crowd, trying to avoid being knocked by the adults clamouring here and there , looking around at one another in confusion as to the sudden temperature fluctuations. It wasn't a normal phenomenon , after all.

Finally managing to break through the thick wall of Coronians, the two children found themselves on the edge of the town . And at the other end of the stone bridge that connected the island with the mainland, they spotted a flash of red hair bounding towards the sea of green , away from the chattering crowds and bustling streets , chasing after the kite that now seemed to be slowly gliding back down to earth, losing altitude.

A visible wave of relief seemed to have washed over Elsa as a tentative smile played on the edges of her lips.

"ANNA WAIT!" she called urgently , taking off after her sister , with Hiccup bringing the rear.

At the sound of her sister's voice, Anna spun around and her face lit up with glee . "Come on, Elsa! The one who doesn't get the kite first is a rotten egg!"

The little red head then resumed her chase of the kite, with her sister and the Viking boy chasing her in turn. As they ran, the stone walled floor soon changed into a winding, earthy road and the leaf laden forest floor crunched beneath their feet with every hasty step as they cut away and followed Anna down the banks of the water body that separated the island from the mainland . Hiccup didn't know how far off they were now from the blacksmith's stall but he knew it'd be useless to try and go back now to get the grown ups. He didn't know the way and if they'd peeled off now, they'd lose sight of not only Anna, but they'd also be lost in a land they were unfamiliar with. Well , he knew that at least he'd be lost .