One Equal Temper of Heroic Hearts

Called

Merida of Dunbroch stood with one hand on the rail of her father's ship, her other hand curled comfortably around the familiar, worn shape of her bow. Sea spray and wind mingled in her wild, fiery locks, tied back as best she could with a long strip of fabric. Her brilliant cyan eyes were searching the whitish-blue above, blinking and squinting in the light as the deck of the ship rocked slowly under her feet.

A flash of color in the sky, and the hand on the rail drifted to her quiver. Her eyes fixed on the spot, and then a large clump of other chromatic points in the sky.

Dragons.

Specifically, the dragon-riding warriors of Berk. They'd begun infringing on Dunbroch land in the last few months, and a week prior, a Dunbrochian patrol and one of the riders had fought, wiping out half the patrol and badly wounding the rest.

Merida and the watchmen on the other ships signaled to each other, passing along information about the dragons' trajectory, speed, and numbers.

"They're diving!" A voice called out from another ship, and several dragons swooped down, staggering their attacks as they aimed sweeping bursts of flame at the ships.

Merida gasped as the wind from a passing dragon fully blew the ship she was on back, grabbing the rail.

"Aim away from their lifeboats!" She heard a voice call out from above as a blur of black briefly blotted out the sun.

Merida felt rage bubble up in her chest at the assumption this guy was making. Just because they had dragons didn't mean they were automatically out of the fight.

Thoughtlessly, Merida pulled an arrow and nocked it, almost wrenching the string back. She aimed up, spotted some sort of mechanical components on the passing black dragon's tail, and fired.

The arrow tore through what appeared to be a prosthetic tailpiece, and the dragon plunged into the water ten or so feet below it, throwing its rider. Both made rather startled sounds, but the rider's shock was cut short by a strange, gleaming void in the air that swallowed him and disappeared.

Merida blinked in surprise and leaned forward a bit over the rail. "What..."

She felt something tugging at her, like the air was forming into little hands, and she yelped as she pitched forward into oblivion.

***

Eugene watched Rapunzel walk into the war room, well aware of the fact that his expression was deeply concerned even before his wife spotted it and closed the door.

"Alright," she said quietly, "hit me." She knew him well enough that she almost instantly knew when to take him seriously. This sparked a burst of fondness that Eugene had to force himself not to focus on.

Eugene sighed a bit. "Here's what the scouts have." He put down three markers on the ocean beyond Corona. "Warships with unidentified flags have been spotted here." He placed down a number of markers in the Coronan countryside, off in the distance. "Troops under the same banner." He put down another couple markers. "Scouts here and here. They haven't gotten close yet, but they're moving in slowly. Carefully. They're figuring out the terrain and any weaknesses they can find in our defenses."

Rapunzel frowned, leaning on the table for a closer look. "They're not from any of the seven kingdoms, then. Did we spot them overland or on the ocean first?"

"Overland," Eugene said, "but if they're coming overland, how did they get a fleet out to the ocean without anyone noticing?"

"They've got to be from far enough away we don't know where they're from," Rapunzel said, "so they probably have their own port access there, which means they've got to supply their fleet now that they're in Corona. The land troops must be involved. If we can figure out where they're meeting their ships..."

Eugene waited for her to finish her thought, then glanced up when she didn't. "Sunshi-"

Rapunzel had completely disappeared without a trace.

Eugene blinked, then ducked to look under the table, only to spot a strange warping patch on the floor.

"What-"

He felt the sudden, complete absence of the sensation of the floor on the bottom of his feet, and then he was falling.

***

"I don't like this," Jack said for the fifth time as the Guardians made their way through the forest on foot.

"Come on, Jack. Just because you don't like walking and the summer fae asked us to meet in a no-fly zone doesn't mean anything is wrong," Tooth assured him. "They said it was to honor your Guardianship."

Sandy was glancing around, then walked closer to Jack with a slight frown.

"Yeah, I don't like this place either," Jack muttered.

"You're both overreacting!" North said. "There has not been one sign of tro-"

Golden skin glowing and hair blazing, a dozen summer fae leaped from the bushes, the trees bursting into flames all around them.

"-uble," North finished weakly.

Bunny glared at him. "You had to say it, didn't ya?"

Jack gripped his staff and backed towards the center of the path as the summer fae closed in, feeling himself get lightheaded as the frost on his hoodie rapidly melted. He slammed the butt of his staff against the ground, and swirling arcs of frost burst out, the wind raging around them and whipping away some of the heat.

He took one step farther back, only for his foot to come down on nothing and to lose his balance, falling backwards into nothing.

***

Mahina sat at a table, lips pressed into a thin line behind her clasped hands. Her pale, bluish-lavender eyes were slightly narrowed, her wavy black hair falling in her face as she followed the argument in front of her.

"She's been infringing upon the territory of the spring fae deliberately," Queen Titania was saying.

Queen Mab was staring her down with dead, white eyes. "We have not dishonored the boundaries set by the Seelie accords- despite never agreeing to them, I might remind you."

"Alright, that's enough," Mahina said, leaning forward and placing her elbows on the table, silencing the fae queens. "Queen Titania, what signs have you seen of these infringements? You know the rules about unfounded accusations under the hospitality agreements. Queen Mab, please allow her due time to present her case."

Queen Mab clasped her hands tightly together, clearly displeased, but did as she was asked.

"We found frost and ice in the middle of February," Queen Titania said.

"That seems relatively normal," Mahina said carefully.

Titania raised an eyebrow. "In California."

"Ah. Well. Yes, admittedly that is much less normal," Mahina conceded.

Mab sat up. "Indeed," she said, frowning. "And it is an encroachment I was unaware of, which is also unsettling. I would like to discover who it is that is damaging my reputation."

"It may not have been on purpose," Mahina pointed out. She looked at Queen Titania. "Your Majesty, was there anything peculiar about the pattern of the ice? Did it look natural or like it had been left behind by magical bursts? Was it widespread or in one area? Did it appear to melt normally?"

Titania frowned absently in recollection. "It was odd, yes- one very small spot, mainly arcs of frost-"

The queens looked at each other. "Frost," they said in unison, tones those of mutual realization.

"Huh?" Mahina raised an eyebrow.

"Forgive us. We forget you have very little casual contact with other spirits," Mab said. "The newest Guardian may have been defending himself against something; he is-"

Mahina leaned forward in her seat slightly, intrigued, only to feel her chair lean the opposite way. Confused and startled, she tried to grab the table, only to end up unsuccessfully slapping at the air as she fell to who-knew-where.