Winter Moon (Jelsa)

Chapter 14: Elsa

I had just finished descending the bookshelves when Jack flew down and landed beside me. He was carrying a glowing orb of light in one hand and his staff in the other.

It was just my luck. School hadn't even started, and I had already met not one, not two, but three Elites, who were all intent on wiping my memory. It had been foolish of me to agree to try and find Merida. I wasn't going to let history repeat itself. The Elites would not be wiping my memory.

"Ella, wait!" Jack called.

I took off running, lifting the skirt of my gray dress to move faster. It wasn't very smart of me, since I had no light and because Jack could easily catch up to me. What kind of magic did he have? Just flying? Or something more?

"Ella!" Jack reached out and snagged my arm. 

Don't lose control. Don't lose control.

When I felt fearful or angry, my magic acted up. When Jack had grabbed me and flew me to the top earlier, I had been too shocked to even think about accidentally freezing him. Now, all I felt was sheer panic. 

He was a Elite. He couldn't find out about my ice powers.

Calm down, Elsa, I chided myself. Now, think.

"Look, Ella, I don't know why you're so afraid of getting your memory wiped. It doesn't hurt or anything," Jack was talking, but I was barely listening to him. His grip was loose around my wrist. 

I could feel my magic roiling under my skin, fighting to get out.

Stop panicking. Conceal it. Don't feel it. Don't let it show. 

My magic kept coming. I couldn't control it.

"Let go of me," I gasped. I was shaking now.

"What's wrong?" Jack released my wrist, watching me with a concerned frown.

The temperature plummeted. Frost began to creep across the floor, stemming from where I stood.

Don't look down. Please don't look down, I thought. 

Jack's gaze dropped to the floor and his eyes widened. 

I could practically feel him putting the pieces together.

"Are you-" he started.

I did the first thing that popped into my head. I took off running. Ice spread under my feet. I waved my hand, and a solid wall of ice materialized, preventing Jack from following me. 

There was a thud behind me, and the ice cracked. Whatever Jack's power was, it could most definitely break ice.

I stumbled through the dark, keeping one hand on the wall, periodically creating walls behind me. 

Ahead of me, a low groan echoed down the hall, like the stones themselves were moving.

I kept running.

Suddenly, the walls and floor dropped away, and I pitched forward, tumbling head over heels.

With a thud, I landed on my bottom. The floor was solid rock. 

I groaned, rubbing my behind. Sore, but I would live. Now, I had to escape.

Then, a torch ignited a few feet away from me. 

Letting out a shocked noise, I stared at the person holding it. Although I had only met her a few hours ago, I would know those wild red curls anywhere.

It was Merida.

"Merida?" I gasped, momentarily forgetting my pursuer. 

"Hello," Merida smiled in a very un-Merida-like way. "I'm glad someone finally found me."

Why was she acting like this? 

I glanced around. We were in a stone pit with walls of about eight feet. Not exactly a fatal fall, but it had definitely hurt.

"I have a message for you," Merida continued in a sing-song voice.

"A message," I said dubiously. We were trapped in a stone pit as an angry Elite was chasing me, and she wanted to deliver a message?

"Can it wait?" I asked.

Merida cackled. She lunged and seized me by the throat, slamming me against the wall.

I made a choked, wheezing noise. Hands wreath in ice, I reached up to rip her off me, but she didn't seem affected.

"Your nightmare has just begun, little princess," Merida growled in a voice that wasn't hers. Her eyes rolled back into her head, and she crumpled to the floor.

The torch rolled a few feet away and extinguished.

The darkness swirled around me, pressing in. I could feel it seeping into my mind, filling it with fear and terror. 

I was going to die.

Suddenly, there was the sound of another ice wall shattering, and a brilliant light appeared, blinding my senses. 

Jack peered down into the pit, taking in the scene. In one hand, he held the orb-light, which pulsed like a glowing star.

In an incredulous voice, he demanded, "What the hell just happened?"