All Frozen in the Arendelle Front

Call the Queen

The mysterious Midnight Sun illuminated the entire Sammel valley with a cold and eerie light, the Northern wind had become much stronger as the hours passed and the Arendellan troops were in a state of alarm, with the field hospitals getting ready to work and entire battalions already loading their weapons at almost every trench.

There were very fast riders taking messages and instructions between the hundreds of trenches and artillery positions, the Captains were screaming orders everywhere and the sentinels observed every movement of the enemy forces from the summit of those hills...

"General Alistair" Anna said in a rather somber voice, lowering her telescope after observing the enemy advances from the highest part of the vast Sammel Line- "I would prefer to open fire right now, before they invade this side of the valley!"

"Your Highness, that would be wise but Queen Elsa designed a different strategy" Alistair replied, and at this point there was a clear aura of coldness and cruelty in his voice- "She wanted us to let them cross the river, recall that?"

Anna and Alistair analyzed together a large military map of the entire valley, in which the Arendellan positions could be seen in great detail and everything seemed to be calculated according to terrain and scale... Anna was surprised to discover a variety of drawings like arrows and explosions, and after that her General pointed at the many parts of the river where the enemy forces had started to build great wooden bridges to get across.

Alistair then described the most likely paths that the enemy forces would follow after crossing the Sammel river, and it seemed to Anna that a deadly strategy was already forming somewhere in a dark corner of the General's cold and twisted mind...

"We have to let them advance three quarters of the way" Alistair continued, and the General displayed a wicked smile as he imagined exactly what would happen at this point of the Arendellan strategy- "They will be confident, and then... our Crackers open fire!"

Anna had a really bad feeling about it, and judging from Alistair's voice she was sure that her General aimed to kill as many enemy soldiers as possible... Anna was inclined to destroy the bridges before they could even get across, and to make things worse she did not know yet what exactly the Crackers were.

However, Anna did remember what Elsa had said at the War Council: "I expect Hans will be furious after our first offensive, and after that... Let them attack us!"

"What the hell are the Crackers?" Anna asked, looking straight into Alistair's eyes.

"They are one of the new technologies of war, a top secret weapon that Queen Elsa purchased for Arendelle two years ago" the General explained- "We have five hundred Crackers ready here in the Line, while two hundred more remain at the North!"

"What do they do?"

Alistair stayed in silence for some time after those words, Anna remained looking right into his eyes and eventually the fearsome General, displaying a mischievous smile, offered a hand to Anna and led her down the rather steep and grassy hill.

"You'll see, your Highness..."

Anna looked at the Arendellan positions as they descended, and she was surprised at how fast her forces were getting ready for the battle that awaited all of them. She could see that the Artillery teams were already taking large shells from their underground bunkers, and the Cavalry units were preparing their horses just in case.

A few minutes later they reached a deep and long trench not far from the main hill, at least twenty soldiers bowed at Anna with great pride and then a quite cheerful Kristoff and Alice Snowflake hurried to greet the Princess:

"It looks like things shall get interesting rather soon" Kristoff commented, looking down into Anna's eyes after a hug- "Have you seen those bridges they are building?!"

"Yes..."

"Here, your Highness!" Alice said, quickly grabbing a military backpack from the ground- "I have carried this bag all the way from Snowhall Forest, just had forgotten to hand it over... I guess that it's important for you."

"What is it?"

Anna was a little surprised at first as she stared at the green bag, but a few seconds later she came to remember exactly what it was: She had used that backpack to carry some of her personal belongings all the way from Arendelle Castle, but she had not seen it since the artillery attack and the savage fighting at Tannya.

How could she have forgotten all about it?

Anna realized that her memory was not working alright, but she concealed this fact as best as she could and after that, accepting the bag, she opened it immediately:

A portrait of Elsa with a cover of glass, a comb of pure silver, three oranges, a small strawberry pie, her favorite gold bracelet, a squirrel plushy toy that she had loved when she was little and a mysterious mirror all made of magical ice...

"I wish we could call the Queen and inform her about everything" Alistair commented, standing beside Kristoff- "The war has developed so fast!"

"Call the Queen?" Anna whispered, holding the ice mirror between both hands- "To call the Queen... Oh my stars, how could I have forgotten about this?!"

"What?" Kristoff asked.

"Elsa!" Anna cried out, staring at her own eyes reflected on the ice- "Elsa, can you hear me? Elsa! Come on! Elsa! Elsa!"

The perfect ice surface released a dazzling flash of white light, vague images started to form at the other side and then a cold and distant voice came from the mirror:

"Anna!"