The Source of Mana (T)

Chapter 16

They arrived at Elsa's ice palace in the dark of night. Kristoff and Collins lead the group. They dismounted, and made their way to the door. The party entered as silently as they could. They arrived in the main chamber to find the make shift base of Maryiel. Snoogies scattered like roaches upon arrival. They continued forward, but suddenly the, up until now, dormant Marshmallow rose from the corner. "Get out!" He yelled. The team took position and Drew their blades. Kristoff broke away from the group. "I'm not a soldier, but I know where they are." Collins nodded his approval, and Kristoff ran recklessly to where he knew Elsa and Anna were being held. When he arrived the room was empty. "Where are they?" He whispered to himself. Meanwhile the royal guard jumped into action battling the massive snowman. Olaf attempted to call him, but the enchantment was too strong. Marshmallow flailed wildly and took out a few guards in one fowl swoop. Captain Collins jumped into action, barrel rolling under the tremendous blow to counter attack with a swift swipe of the blade. Marshmallow winced in pain as Collins slid his blade right through his leg. Crippled the snowman dragged himself forward flailing again. More guards shuttered and succumbed to the assault. Collins managed to get behind the beast, he jumped to straddle it. Marshmallow tried to shake off his attacker, but Collins blade was true. He sent it splitting through the cold outer layer of the snowman. Marshmallow winced in pain once again, and folded double onto the floor. The remaining guard followed in Kristoffs direction with diligence. No time to waste. Meanwhile Kristoff had found the corridor downwards, and immediately ran down it. He was so close. Backup was on the way, and Anna... Anna was so close as well. He pushed forward feverishly, ready to be her hero. The cavern got dark though, and without a light source he was forced to continue forward blindly, hands out in front of his face. He felt the wall near by as he continued. "I'm coming Anna, I will be your hero. I will protect you, even from your sister. Damn how did it even get to this point? Everything was fine, sure, he had noted the way that Elsa looked at Anna sometimes, he just never imagined it could amount to this. God forbid. He pressed forward. Nothing mattered other than getting Anna back. Memories or not she was still his everything. Eventually he could see a dim light in the distance. He ran to it, unaware of his surroundings, or what might be in store for him. When he entered the cavernous room he could see Anna. Thank God. And Elsa right next to each other, both on their knees. There were two more people in the room who seemed to be harassing them. "Stop!" Kristoff said without any kind of plan in mind. "You can't do this! You just can't! Please stop." His voice echoed acoustically through the room. His response was a Bellow of laughter. It's already too late I'm afraid. We are nearly at our goal, and you are an unwanted liability. Jace, subdue him at once." And then it was done. Before Kristoff could react he was overwhelmed by multiple Jace copies. They subdued him and held him to the ground. He could not do anything other than watch what was going to happen next. Collins gathered the remaining guard. He allowed them to reorganize and then they were off. Following Kristoff's foot steps they all silently prayed it wasn't too late. Olaf followed silently, he knew just how bad things might be, and his jovial nature wouldn't help much here. Who could have done this? And why? Nothing made sense to Collins at this point, but it was clear he was going to have answers soon enough. The party moved forward slowly in the dark of the rocky tunnel. They all were determined, but also fearful that the magic here would consume them. They didn't know it, but the magic here had the potential to consume their entire plane of existence. Finally they arrived to find a multitude of men detaining Kristoff. They saw their queen weeping silently next to the princess. They Drew their blades once again. "Stop at once! Unhand him!" Collins shouted at the top of his lungs. One of the Jaces looked up. He waved his arm and the entire troop fell to their knees. They no longer remembered why they were there, or what they were doing. Nothing really mattered, so they just sat and waited to see what would happen next. All of the sudden nothing really seemed important, they just wanted to understand what was happening. "Well well, I'm not surprised this would happen, but I'm afraid you are no match for the mind mage." Jace bowed and said "in your service, always." Something about his tone was off, but genuine. Either way everyone was trapped, and all eyes turned to Elsa.