A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but I was graduating college! I'll have a lot more free time now, so expect some quick updates!

Their blades clashed yet again, the sound ringing through the night. For several minutes now, the two warriors had been moving at equal speed, and Anna's superior strength had not been enough to overcome the skills of the more experienced swordsman. He fought just as fiercely as she, clearly eager to claim the honor of eliminating the last threat to his goddess's eternal reign.

Anna blocked another blow to her neck, then lashed out with a kick to her opponent's chest. The mage darted to the side...only this time his movement wasn't fast enough to save him entirely. The edge of Anna's boot connected with his side, and the glancing blow proved sufficient to knock the man into the snow.

Quick as a snake, he was on his feet again. The fanatic glint in his eye had not faded in the slightest. But as their swords met once again, Anna could see beads of sweat beginning to appear on his cheeks. Judging by the heaving of his chest, he was breathing heavily, while Anna herself was only slightly winded. His movements were slower now, and the Knight wasted no time in bringing her advantage to bear. She rained blow after blow on his defenses, her sword coming closer and closer to striking flesh.

His power doesn't grant him enhanced energy. Mine comes from a...Anna's thoughts were interrupted by the geyser of blood that erupted before her as the icy blade finally pierced his chest. By the time she extracted the sword from her enemy, the last of his life had already left him.

"Anna!"

The Knight whipped around. Pabbie's mist had begun to fade, and the air had grown clear enough for her to witness the furious fight that was occurring ten feet away. Eugene was frantically darting around the battlefield, dodging projectiles of hard earth that were clearly being commanded by yet another mage. The Prince's opponent wore a smirk of utmost confidence on his face, and before Anna could intervene, one of his attacks made contact with Eugene's sword. As the blade went flying out of sight, a second projectile slammed into his chest. The Prince crumbled to the ground with a gasp of pain, clearly in no shape to jump back into the fight. A pained groan escaped from his lips.

At least he's alive, Anna thought. She breathed a silent sigh of relief.

Blood pounding in her ears, Anna rushed forward. The earth mage turned to face her; if anything, the grin on his face only grew wider. The Knight's sword struck air as a platform of earth erupted underneath the grass, vaulting her opponent back several yards. He landed gracefully, the impact not even buckling his knees.

"What a brave hero," the mage commented, sarcasm dripping from his words. "You're really determined to 'save the world', aren't you? Unfortunately, I can't let that happen, so..."

Anna darted to the side as the earth beneath her feet exploded. A hailstorm of rocks landed around her, but the Knight's reflexes proved fast enough to avoid them. "Save the world?" Anna couldn't help but question as the mage retracted his hands. "I thought it was the Faithful and their Goddess that were doing that, restoring the natural order and putting the Ungifted back in their place."

Genuine laughter arose from the mage. "Seriously?" he asked. "Not everyone born into a cult is stupid enough to take their lessons to heart. I'm surrounded by fanatics, but that doesn't mean I am one. Whether or not you're 'Ungifted' doesn't matter to me." He actually seemed somewhat affronted.

Anna couldn't believe her ears. "Then why help them?" she demanded.

A cluster of rocks raced forward from his position, and again Anna dodged. "I'm no coward, but even I know there's some fights you just can't win." He darted backward, avoiding another strike of Anna's sword with a smile.

"Like it or not, the Goddess is going to return. Every word of that prophecy has come true; you really think the last line won't? And it's not such a bad world she's going to make...for me. It may be selfish, but that's the way life works, my little hero. It's a pity you won't have time to learn that lesson. "

Her enemy raised his hands, and instantly a massive torrent of earthen projectiles was racing towards her. But Anna was faster than Eugene, and her speed and reflexes allowed her to dodge each attack with relative ease. She gradually weaved through the hail-fire of earth, sword raised as she stepped closer to her opponent, and the smirk that adorned the mage's face began to disappear.

Anna was less than ten feet away from her target when it happened. A familiar sensation swept through the Knight's body as her limbs suddenly became ten times as heavy. A glance to the side confirmed her suspicions: the mage from the Tower had made a reappearance.

The reduced speed cost her heavily; two wads of hardened earth struck Anna in the shoulder and the leg. The impacts would likely have broken bones in a normal human, but for Anna they merely left the promise of two dark bruises. Summoning all of her strength, the Knight leapt to the side, momentarily avoiding the ongoing torrent of earth. Lacking any knives, she angled her sword towards the gravity mage.

She was a second away from throwing the blade when the thought struck her. Here she was, a woman who had once abhorred killing and suffered from terrible nightmares every time she took a life, about to murder yet another man without hesitation. Somewhere along the way, Anna had lost track of the number of lives she'd ended. Already, she had struck a mage down today, and not even the slightest hint of regret had made itself known.

The first night Anna had ever shared a bed with Elsa, hours after the Solstice assassination attempt so long ago, the former thief had expressed her fear that killing would become easier...that it would change her. The Queen had assured her otherwise, but Anna realized now that the monarch's words had been empty.

It has changed me. The innocent girl I once was vanished long ago. And I can't even bring myself to mourn her loss. This world needs me to be a killer, and that's what I am. Anna's sword hurtled forward, sent forth from her hands with perfect accuracy, and slammed into the gravity mage point-first. He was dead before he hit the ground.

The storm of earth found her again, but with Anna's speed fully restored, dodging the projectiles was as easy as it had ever been. Drawing upon her inhuman reflexes, the Knight reached out and snatched a clump of earth as it sped past. Whirling around, Anna hurled the stolen missile at her opponent. The mage hurriedly raised a wall of earth, and Anna's attack shattered harmlessly against it.

But the defense had cost him valuable time. As the wall slid back into the ground, Anna had already retrieved her sword from the gravity mage's corpse. Fear shown openly in her opponent's eyes; the Knight could tell he was considering running into the mist as fast as his legs could carry him. Judging by the exertion evident on his face, he had already used up a significant amount of energy.

Swish!

Anna turned around, reflexively striking out with her sword and smacking the throwing knife out of the air. Several yards away, at the edge of her mist-limited vision, stood Kayla. The gleam of eager satisfaction shining in her eyes actually made the Knight flinch.

"Lady Anna," she greeted, bearing a smile devoid of all warmth.

The Knight turned towards the young girl, keeping a watchful eye on the recovering earth mage. "I don't want to hurt you, Kayla!" Anna declared. "And you shouldn't want to hurt me. You've spent your entire life being brainwashed by this cult; you're a victim just as much as me! The Goddess and her minions don't care about you. To them, you're nothing more than a weapon."

Kayla shrugged. "So what? It's not my place to question the Goddess. I am whatever she wishes me to be; her power and will command my eternal loyalty. However..." her grin widened, "That doesn't mean I can't take pleasure in giving a whore like you exactly what she deserves."

It wasn't the words themselves that convinced Anna, but the utter surety with which they were spoken. The girl was completely beyond saving. Kayla was a casualty of indoctrination, but the line between victim and perpetrator had been blurred beyond comprehension. Already, she had committed crimes beyond those of many adults. And if the rest of Faithful, all born without choice into a culture of hate, deserved death for their actions, then Kayla was no different.

That didn't mean that striking down a child was going to be easy.

At that moment, the earth mage resumed his attack. Anna had been more than ready. But before she could begin to close in on him once again, a command from Kayla summoned an array of possessed beasts. They charged out of the mist, single-mindedly intent on the Knight's destruction. Kayla joined in personally, standing at a distance and hurtling her knives in Anna's direction.

Beset by a vortex of earth, steel, and flesh, Anna struggled like never before.

\

Kristoff climbed to his feet, his head pounding with a fierce pain. His sword, for all the good it had done him, lay not a yard away. Quickly retrieving the weapon, the ice-harvester directed his attention to the sounds of battle echoing from within the veil of mist.

How many of his family had already fallen? Elsa's forces had attacked them with incredible strength, and all Pabbie's greatest feats of magic had accomplished was to slow them down. And he could do nothing. Even the enemy apparently considered him not even worth the effort to kill. Kristoff had tried to do everything he could, returning Anna's memories and assisting her in any way possible. Yet it seemed now that all he had managed was to bring the wrath of a goddess upon his family in service of a cause that had always been hopeless.

In this moment of sheer horror, Kristoff couldn't help but think back to a time before his life had fallen to pieces. He'd never been rich, but the ice-harvester had experienced his share of happiness with the trolls...and Sven. That was all he'd really ever wanted.

Yet the world had turned against him. Forces of magic beyond his comprehension had taken hold, and what had once been a long future to be shared with his family had turned into an imminent nightmare in which an omnipotent demon would turn them all into ice sculptures for eternity.

He blamed Anna for none of this. She'd shown him that the rest of humanity still had some value, and recent events had punished her even more than they had Kristoff. Yet with the benefit of hindsight, it was clear that the day of their meeting represented the beginning of the destruction of his world. With ever fiber of his being, he wished that none of the subsequent events had ever happened. Nothing he had gained from his time with Anna was worth the destruction of everything he'd ever known.

Nothing would have stopped the oncoming apocalypse. The prophecy espoused by the Faithful made that clear, and Kristoff had lost all doubt that every word of that prediction would eventually come true. But at least he might have met his end with Sven and the trolls by his side, enjoying a couple more years of blissful ignorance before the inevitable came.

\

Isabel watched as the remaining trolls scattered into the mist, evidently having decided that dying through impalement by wooden spikes wasn't a pleasant way to go. If the pests had any sense, they would stick around and perish now rather than face an eternity as sculptures of ice. And now that they were gone, she could focus her attention on the Faithful's true targets.

"Isabel!" She turned to see Andrew running downhill and hurrying towards her. He didn't seem to have any pursuers, but his movements were frantic nonetheless. Isabel frowned. Wasn't he supposed to have been with Evangeline?

He came to a stop beside her. "One of the trolls set off a bomb of some sort. Mercury and Alecto are dead, and Evangeline's unconscious. Have you seen any sign of the Prince or the girl yet?"

The mage shook her head. "Damn it. No, I haven't, and we seem to be losing numbers fast. The only defenders I've seen so far are the rocks, and they seem to be scattering now."

Andrew's jaw clenched, and she knew what he was thinking. The mist in the air was still obscuring most of their vision, and the sounds of Kayla's beasts were echoing from all directions. It was impossible to tell which animals had discovered their primary targets- if any had. "Let's go," he ordered curtly.

Nodding, Isabel followed him into the mist.

\

Dodge the rock. Kill the wolf. Deflect the knife. Anna's brain was on autopilot as the Knight cut a swath through Kayla's minions. A dozen ferocious creatures had already fallen to her blade, but more continued to pour out of the mist. The earth mage was still firing pellets of earth in her direction, and though many inadvertently struck some of her attackers, three more had managed to add bruises to Anna's arms.

Her sword whirled through the air once again, striking through a wolf's neck and smacking one of Kayla's knives out of the air with a single swing. The torrent of beasts was slowing now; Anna guessed that about ten remained honing in on her location. But the Knight's injuries were beginning to catch up to her, and Kayla and her companion seemed as determined as ever.

Nine left. Eight. Seven. Anna had tried fighting her way towards the earth mage, but the man found it easy to stay out of her reach as she was beset by Kayla's slaves. Six. Five. If she could just finish these animals off, neither of the Faithful would be able to stand against her.

Deflect knife. Stab wolf. Four. Three. Dodge...Anna moved too slowly as a large clump of earth slammed into her shoulder. A regular human would have had his shoulder shattered by the blow. As it was, the Knight found herself rolling onto the ground, each rotation of her body adding to the agony now centered in her upper arm. But Anna was no stranger to pain. Moving with the impact, she jumped to her feet and readied herself.

Her right arm would heal eventually, but it was in no shape to finish this fight. Anna gripped her blade's hilt with her left hand, grateful that Drell had forced her to become competent with each arm. She was nowhere near as skilled with her off-hand, but her strength and speed would remain somewhat intact.

Another torrent of rocks. Anna dived to the left, ignoring the shrill protest of her right shoulder. She came up swinging, beheading one wolf with her sword and kicking out with such force that her foot shattered the rib cage of another. One.

Now she dashed towards the earth mage, jerking to the side to avoid one of Kayla's knives. Her legs moved faster and faster as she weaved through the next barrage of earth, cutting down the final wolf as she ran. Her target, his power exhausted, backpedalled quickly. But Anna was far faster, and it was not without a cry of triumph that she swung her sword at his neck.

Another geyser of red.

Anna whipped around. Kayla couldn't be that quick- a glint of silver flashed through the air! Anna moved to deflect the knife just as another flare of pain erupted in her shoulder. She swung...and her parry was a centimeter off.

"Anna!" A familiar voice screamed. It was too late. Kayla's knife buried itself into her left arm, and the agony that erupted surpassed that even that in her right shoulder. Another blade was already hurtling for her chest. The Knight reacted instinctively, bringing her right leg into the knife's path.

The metal sunk deep into her calf. Anna collapsed to the ground, her sword slipping from her bloody grip. Don't black out. Stand. Stand! There was so much pain...she climbed to her knees. But her wounded leg crumbled the instant she attempted to rise.

Then Kayla was readying another knife, and Anna realized it was already over.

\

No!

The pain in his chest had hardly abated, but Eugene had finally managed to climb to his feet. Yet he'd retrieved his sword only to turn around and see a knife hurtling towards Anna's arm with terrifying accuracy. His warning had been too slow, and the Knight had now been the victim of two of Kayla's blades. For all intents and purposes, she was now defenseless.

Kayla was too far away. His only chance was to run to Anna, and that was what he did. A quick glance at the knife-thrower revealed that she only had two knives left on her person, but she was already readying one of them to finish off her primary target. He was almost there...

CLANG! Steel met steel as the Prince somehow managed to position his sword perfectly. The deflection sent the knife hurtling harmlessly off to the side. But Eugene was still weak from the blow to his chest, and the impact was enough to knock the blade out of his hands once again. It went flying through the air before landing two feet away, and the Prince knew that another knife would be in the air long before he managed to reach it.

Kayla already had another knife in her hands and was poised to throw it. Eugene tensed, wanting to dive out of the way and reclaim his blade. If he reached it and immediately darted back...no. Anna would have been struck down long before he would be able to deflect the attack.

He had no other weapon, and no shield. The only thing standing between Anna's heart and Kayla's blade was...Me.

The young girl was walking forward now, as if she sensed his hesitation. Right now, the obstruction of his body gave her no clear shot at Anna. But the instant he moved for his sword, her life was over.

"Eugene..." was all Anna could manage.

A gentle laugh echoed through the night. "Ready to die, Your Highness?" Kayla asked sweetly.

No. No he was not. Eugene had not fought so hard for the heart of the most beautiful woman in the world only to die months before their birth of their child. After all he had done, everything they'd been through together, he could not die here and now.

But he would.

Anna was the key to everything. If Kayla wasted her final knife to strike him down, the Knight might have just enough time to recover and flee into the darkness. The odds were terrible, but it was their only chance to stop the Goddess from coming to power. And the only thing that could cause Eugene more pain than a lonely death was the thought of his family spending eternity as trophies for a monster.

Kayla let out a frustrated sigh, and Eugene could tell that she'd realized he wasn't going to move. Her arm reached back, tensing to throw, and Eugene forced his feet to remain planted.

"Tell her..."

\

Anna watched in utter horror as the Prince held his ground. Another attempt to rise only resulted in her crumpling further to the ground. Her elbows fell back onto the grass.

"Tell her..."

This wasn't happening.Anna would not lose another friend; the world could simply not be this cruel. Yet Kayla's arm was already coming forward, and Anna still couldn't manage to move.

"Get away from them!"

The Knight lifted her head to see Kristoff emerge from the thinning mist several yards behind Kayla, sword in hand. The young girl smirked as she turned around to meet his charge, knife still in hand.

No...

Kayla's arm was a blur as the knife sped from her fingers. It spun through the air, end over end, meeting its target with perfect precision. Kristoff's blade swept through the air once, and then fell from his grasp.

Kristoff's momentum carried his body past Kayla, but it was no longer a purposeful movement. The Knight's voice died in her throat as she caught sight of the knife lodged in her friend's chest. In the instant before he hit the ground, she realized that the hilt was protruding directly from his heart.

But Kayla had sacrificed her last knife. She turned around to see Eugene charging at her, his sword once again in hand, and the smirk on her face died instantly. With a roar of rage, the Prince swiped at her neck.

Within a second, her body had joined Kristoff's in the grass. Kayla's head rolled into the distance, sheer terror now frozen on its features forever, but Anna only had eyes for Kristoff. Eugene hurried to the ice-harvester's fallen form, turning him over and feeling for a pulse.

Anna's greatest fears were realized as the Prince arose not moments later, tears glistening in his eyes.

There were no thoughts in her mind. Anna's lips formed no words. For several seconds, there was nothing but all-encompassing despair as Anna lay in the grass. Then Eugene was running towards her, scooping her light form in his arms and carrying her up the hill. The pain seemed to have vanished from his chest.

Consciousness returned. "No! Go back! We can't leave him!" she screamed, but the Prince kept running.

"It's over," he told her softly. "That knife hit him directly in the...no pulse, nothing. We have to go, now!"

The Knight struggled feebly against him, but all her strength had left her. It couldn't be possible. Anna had been wounded dozens of times, and Elsa and Rapunzel had always been there to save her. Where was Kristoff's loving sorceress? Why did she have a hundred second chances and he none?

They were almost up the mountain now, and though Anna knew there were still mages remaining, none crossed their path. But when they made it out of the mist, her world suffered yet another devastating blow.

A circle of charred bodies was arrayed around a crater of soot and melted snow. At its center was a small figure. His features were burned beyond all recognition, but the blackened staff at his side was all too familiar.

"Pabbie..."

"We have to...keep going," Eugene said, and Anna realized he had choked back a sob. "We can't let it all be for nothing. As long as you're alive, there's still..." he stopped as voices erupted behind them, but they were well downhill. Ahead of them was the top of the mountain, and there sat a sleigh awaiting them. The trolls that had brought it were long gone, almost certainly having rolled down the mountainside along with any other survivors.

A flood of white flakes had begun to descend from the sky. The promised blizzard had begun.

Eugene loaded her in. "This is going to be rough, but they're coming. If we live through this, the snow should cover our path." He pushed the sleigh forward, hopping in just before it teetered over the mountainside.

"Hang on!" he shouted. Then they were speeding down into the valley below.

\

November 13

Hours later, the two of them were nestled in a small alcove of the trees that dotted the valley beyond the border of Arendelle. The ride below had been terrifying, but Anna had been too stunned to truly notice it. The trolls' skillful craft had proved itself, and neither of them would have been surprised to learn that some of Pabbie's magic had been built into the vehicle.

Both the mountainside and the valley were massive, and there was no sign of any trolls that had escaped before them (though some certainly had.) Anna and Eugene were now separated from Arendelle by a range of mountains, hopelessly scattered from their allies, and feeling more lost than they had ever been.

But they still lived. And unless the remaining Faithful miraculously followed them down the mountain and located them in this storm, both would survive to see the dawn. Eugene had removed the knives from Anna's flesh and sewed her skin back together, making use of both his tutelage as a Prince and the provisions that the trolls had thought to place in the sleigh. With her supernatural rate of healing, it wouldn't be long until Anna's body was fully mended.

But she doubted she would ever truly recover from this night.

Eugene was sleeping, their small shelter kept warm by a fire fed by the useless remains of the trolls' sled. Anna knew she had to do the same; she would need all the rest she could get if they were to make it back into Arendelle. But first, she lifted her gaze to the sky and whispered a promise.

"Kristoff, I swear to you. No matter what it takes, no matter how much it hurts me...I will destroy the Goddess."

\

Not Anna...

A/N: This story is rated M for a reason. Remember what they say about dark nights. Did anyone pick up on the foreshadowing about Kristoff's death? (Yes, he is dead. Evangeline is not.)

Responses:

Keanan765: Well, he didn't realize that he was in an Elsanna story.

Andilite: Because of Solas's powers, their speed was equal. He sped himself up and slowed her down, making it a contest of strength vs. technique until her stamina came through.

CoolNicNak7112: They find it strange, but a lifetime of indoctrination is difficult to break.

Cyrianu: The blizzard actually did Anna and Eugene a favor.

TheOriginalOn3: Well, he was brave.

Vidgamelords: Thanks! I can't wait to reveal the ending.

Guest1: No spoilers!

VelascoAnna: I know that feeling. Have fun!

DimmensionalLover: She's not, but many Faithful are.

ClaireCooper: You know me too well!

Yain: :C

Crazykrew: Thanks; I got an A!

TheChronicle: Is there a way I can PM you?

Coincidencless: I have read that list several times; I try to have the main villains avoid making those mistakes.

Spooths: It's not natural smoke, so it wouldn't work like that.

xAnimeJunkiex: Maybe I never will explain it. Maybe it's just there for no reason and nothing will ever come of it. That would be excellent storytelling, right?

Gwyndoline: Eugene and Kristoff…you have no idea how hard I was laughing when reading what your review said about them. Seriously, ouch. No, Rapunzel isn't the Goddess (though that is an interesting theory). The Faithful knew because (I guess I forgot to put this in the actual story) their ancient texts list Arnedelle as the land of the golden flower.

.Sato: Well, this isn't really a cliffhanger…

Guest2: I would never abandon this. But I do have to deal with life.

PascalDragon: She is, unfortunately, alive.

Danymah: It's my policy to never reveal spoilers to anyone, but I am very glad you are enjoying this work. It could be a happy ending, bittersweet, or a total downer. I'm not telling (though I enjoy seeing speculation!)

Jimbostevenson: Again, no spoiler policy. The story is marching towards its conclusion. The climax might start in four or so chapters.

Talon2007: I will not go Mass Effect 3 here. Your choices will matter, and the endings will wildly differ. Oh, yeah, that's right. You don't make any choices. And there's only one ending. But I think it will be satisfying.

ObsessiveImaginings: Here is the action!

JenniferSmith: Well, they know she's not a traitor now.

NyuSol: Where's the fun in that?

333: You should keep writing; you have talent! This story won't go on forever, and someone needs to carry the torch!

FrozenFairyTales: Still yay?

DarkYellowDino: Ok!

Guest3: Storytelling convention would say yes.

Guest4: Anna's parents will be an unsolved mystery. One of the themes of this story is that anyone can be a hero regardless of background, and I feel that to reveal her parents' identities would cheapen that. Even I don't know who they are, though the most likely scenario is a pair of lowlife drunks who couldn't care less about her.

CourtneyEileen: Here is the continuation!

Guest5: We all are!

Joann: The last thing I ever wanted was to write a typical story! It has its fluffy moments, and I enjoyed writing them a lot, but it has not been an easy ride for them.

Amateraszu: They weren't actually married; Elsa hadn't put on the ring before Anna woke up.

PenguinVuelve: Having a lot of tension was certainly one of my goals!

Guest6: Sorry! Life was keeping me busy but here it is!