Thaw (Jelsa Fanfic)

Death

Elsa did not let herself falter. She could not afford the luxury of grief, for too much depended on her. She tore down the hallway, racing the seconds, praying with every step that Jack would be okay when she returned. That the others would still be standing...that Death would have been thwarted.

The scene that greeted her as she skidded through the mouth of the cavern could not have been more unexpected.

Famine had been defeated, the horse's emaciated carcass lying on its side, it's bloodied rider just a few feet away. The sight gave her a surge of hope...three of the horsemen had been felled, and that left only two contenders.

Two very merciless contenders.

Pitch had been thrown from his mount, which was alive but broken, kicking blindly as it struggled to rise. It's front legs had been torn by North's sword, and Elsa was quite sure that it's days of galloping through nightmares were done.

The Guardians were still standing. Still fighting.

A sigh of relief escaped her as her blue gaze passed each one. They'd been weakened but were alive, and that was enough. Tooth was attempting help against Pitch, who was wielding a large and wicked looking scythe. She was no longer flying...one wing, Elsa noticed, hung broken against her feathered back. North had slowed considerably, likely from the loss of blood from his wound. It did not stop him, however, from fighting gallantly against the Nightmare King. Bunny did not appear to have been wounded further, and Sandy appeared unscathed. Both were fighting a losing battle against the Reaper, who evaded their attacks as if it were doing no more than playing with small children.

And finally, she saw Jack.

Like the others, he was no longer on the offensive. He moved with the same calculated precision, but even from a distance Elsa could see that he was struggling to fend off Grim's relentless attacks. Wounded and weakened, he still fought hard...meeting every swing of the Reaper's deadly weapon with blasts of ice and energy. Elsa knew he wouldn't stop, not until the very last breath had left his body...for that was Jack's design. He was a protector, a Guardian...qualities branded on his soul since his birth so many years ago.

But her blue eyed boy was failing. And as he'd protected her, she would do the same for him.

It was not clear to Elsa at first just how the Reaper had taken the upper hand. The Horsemen had been felled, their bloody and beaten corpses scattered across the cavern floor. Only Pitch and Grim remained, and while Pitch was dangerous, the Guardians had always been able to overpower him before. The Reaper's powers were great, but he was still only one entity...how was it possible that he could be unscathed against the three?

And then, she saw the reason.

The Reaper was not fighting alone.

The small, dark beings had been almost impossible to see as they moved so quickly. But as one attacked Bunny, tearing through fur and flesh as it sped by, Elsa realized that the Reaper had brought forth a legion of demons to his aid. For even Death could not Harvest every soul. Like Tooth, he needed help to collect...though their purpose was dark and sinister. They were hideous, almost reptilian in appearance with segmented wings like an insect. The teeth of the demons were the most intimidating feature, however...their maws lined with rows of lethal, serrated fangs so large they could not even close their mouths fully. The air was thick with them, and whenever one was struck down, another seemed to replace it.

A gruff cry startled her, and Elsa looked in the direction of where Tooth and North were battling Pitch. North had stumbled, hitting the cobblestone floor hard. Tooth lunged at the Nightmare King, but he threw her aside like she were no more than a rag doll. His lips curved into a wicked grin, Pitch lifted his scythe high, the cruel tip pointed right for North.