Inflamed - a Frozen story

1. Unrest in the Enchanted Forest

The Nøkk dashed across the meadows at full gallop. Any other rider on the imposing water horse would certainly have been thrown over backwards - but not so the young woman on his back. Despite the speed, she showed an undeniable elegance - as always. It was a mystery to Honeymaren how Elsa could maintain this grace in every situation. While she followed on a reindeer right next to her brother Ryder, she could only imagine how disheveled her braid and how sweaty her face must look. Elsa's blond hair was blowing in the wind in front of her and when the Nøkk came to a stop, it swirled around her face and flushed cheeks before it wrapped itself perfectly around her shoulders. How did she do that? 

"Here, take a look at this", she heard Elsa say when they caught up with her. She pointed to the ground in front of her. "The closer we get to the mountain, the more withered plants we find." Honeymaren looked at the dead blades of grass at the reindeer's hooves. For days they had been watching how more and more grasses, flowers and entire meadows just dried up. It was a hot summer, no question about it, but the Northuldra had never seen a drought like this before. 

"So do you think it's spreading?" Ryder asked, looking worried. "It seems so. And it comes from there!" Elsa pointed to the dark mountain on the horizon. "The Mountain of Fire", Honeymaren stated. "According to the old stories, there is a roaring fire inside of this mountain. But for ages it has stood there as black and quiet just as it is right now - not very fiery. " 

Elsa looked silently at the dark stone mass, as if she was trying to see something helpful. Honeymaren knew what was coming next. "We should have a look at it", she heard the snow queen say. She searched her gaze, like she always did when planning a next move, and Honeymaren saw the determined twinkle in her eyes. The two women shared a certain enthusiasm for unexplored places and lurking adventures - and even though an unsettling development had brought them here, Elsa's gaze made Honeymaren's heart beat a little bit faster. Certainly her heart raced because of the adventure... or maybe it had something to do with these ice-blue eyes? As the heat rushed into her cheeks, Honeymaren immediately pushed the thought aside. 

"I hate to spoil the fun, but it's already getting dark and you know what's coming up tomorrow", Ryder said. "How could I forget that", Elsa answered with a smile. "Gale has brought me a letter from Anna almost every day for the past week. She is so excited. But..." She looked over to the mountain. "I'm afraid whatever is going on here will ignore the fact that we want to celebrate the summer solstice in Arendelle." "We should tell Yelena where the drought is leading - and then we'll see", Honeymaren suggested and even if Elsa continued to look critically at the Fire Mountain, she agreed. Since they were a day's ride away from the Northuldra village, they decided to ride back a little more and then pitch camp for the night.

Elsa set up three tents with icy sticks and the wrapped tarpaulins, while Ryder tried to light a fire and Honeymaren gathered a small dinner from their provisions. After several months together in the enchanted forest, the three had grown together to form a well-coordinated team that regularly explored the forest and its surroundings and, wherever necessary, tried to bring nature and people into harmony. They had successfully looked for runaway reindeers and brought them back to the herd, freed animals from awkward positions and old, forgotten traps and also rescued one or the other Northuldra teenager from rivers and crevices. However, they had never encountered anything as mysterious as the growing drought. 

Honeymaren could see in Elsa's concentrated face that her mind was preoccupied with more than just building a tent. She conjured the tent poles with an almost ridiculous ease, as she was also capable of completely different, spectacular ice magic. And yet Honeymaren found herself again and again fascinated by every little movement of Elsa's hands. A wink here, a little swipe of the finger there ... The blonde young woman still seemed like a miracle to her. Of course Elsa was human and she had quickly become a friend to her - and yet she was also the fifth spirit and blessed with abilities that normal mortals could only dream of. As good as Honeymaren felt around Elsa, she also felt quite small and simple next to her. Just like they lived in different spheres - and Elsa in one that Honeymaren could only look up to. So close and yet so far...

"Maren... Maren!" Honeymaren turned to Ryder. "I know it's always exciting to watch Elsa - but do you have to go deaf right away?" He laughed at his sister. Embarrassed, Honeymaren quickly tried to turn the subject away, "You'd better tell me where the berries are."

"That's what I just said, if you would listen to me... There is a hole in the bag. They are all gone. "

"Seriously?" She sighed. Typical Ryder. "You know, without the berries, the mush only tastes like ... mush."

"Maybe you can find some somewhere", her brother said, blinking innocently. Then he began rubbing pieces of wood together again.

"Well, I'd better hurry up before we don't see anything anymore", she said and got up. "If I can't find my way back, you can look for me..."

"Wait", she heard Elsa's voice behind her. "We go together."

She had already caught up with Honeymaren and nodded to her smilingly. Suddenly, there was a flutter in the Honeymaren's belly. Her fingernails dug into the heels of her hand while she scolded herself - this was a nice gesture from Elsa and certainly not a reason to get nervous! "So you leave me here - all alone", Ryder complained, but Elsa winked at him: "Starting the fire is the most important task right now by far." Ryder shrugged and started rubbing sticks again.

The two women took a few steps into the forest, which was growing darker and darker with every minute. With narrowed eyes, Honeymaren scanned bushes and shrubs in search of the sweet berries she wanted, but in the end it was Elsa who stopped in front of one: "Maren, this one?" "Yes, you have eagle eyes even in the dark." "Maybe I'm just hungry", Elsa smiled. But as they started to pick the first berries, her eyes grew cloudy. She sank back into her thoughts. 

"Are you worried about the drought?" Honeymaren asked. Elsa hesitated before answering. "I really don't want to worry anyone ... especially not now as there's a festival ahead of us. But... yes. What comes from this mountain is unusual. And threatening. " "Don't worry. We'll take care of it," Honeymaren said and even if she didn't know what exactly she wanted to say, she tried to put all confidence in her tone. "So far, we have overcome everything, haven't we? Every obstacle, no matter how big or small ..." 

A berry fell from Elsa's hand and both women reached down at the same time to catch it. When their fingers touched, Honeymaren felt a cold sting on her skin, as if she was hit by a sharp hailstone. Both of them flinched suddenly. "Sorry", Honeymaren said, though wondering what she was apologizing for. "No, I'm sorry! Did I ...? Was there ice? " Both had taken a step back from each other.

"Ice? No - uh ... "

"I'm so sorry ... "

"It was pretty cold for a moment, but ice ... Um ..."

"I hope I didn't hurt you - something like that usually doesn't happen to me any more! Such uncontrolled outbursts... I am very sorry!"

"It's nothing, really ..." Honeymaren said, but rubbed the spot on her hand. It tingled. 

"Show me," said Elsa and took her hand. She brought it very close to her face and narrowed her eyes to see something in the increasing darkness. Honeymaren caught her breath. 

"Yes, you are all red here... I iced you", Elsa muttered and her tense expression gave way to an alarmed expression. "Oh, that little spot", Honeymaren said in a choked voice. 

Suddenly Elsa dropped her hand and backed away again. Her eyes flickered like those of a shy deer and Honeymaren had a heavy heart, "Hey, it's really nothing ... everything is fine." But Elsa just looked down at her hands and then uncertainly at Honeymaren. They looked at each other for a moment, a thousand silent questions between them. But Honeymaren felt her heart throb in her chest and even if it struck her as strange, she was quite sure - if it meant getting closer to her, she would have let Elsa freeze her over and over again. Elsa, however, looked at her as if she was simply afraid. 

"Maren! Elsa! The fire is burning high and warm and I'm really hungry", Ryder's voice echoed through the trees. The snow queen straightened up, pulled her shoulders back and rubbed her thumb over the hand which had just touched Honeymaren's. Without looking at her, she finally said: "I'll go right behind you."