Sitting on top of a large Highland pony of soft chestnut color, Hans smirked as he sat off to the far side of the wood line with his small group of men. He had the Hunter split off from them to hide where he was more comfortable with his dogs. The Hunter was bitter that they'd be seen, and it would ruin his hunt. Hans had assured them that they wouldn't be seen or heard. His men didn't believe him. Their horses and clothes didn't blend into the snow or green trees of the environment at all. Especially not while sitting astride their horses. Hans took position in the front of his men, making sure that no one could look back and notice him. As the Hunter started the mating grunts with his grunt caller, Hans used a little trick of his own. A little Troll magic to shield his men from people that he didn't want to see them. His fingers just seeming to flex on the reins strangely. Seeing Mark made his heart race. He had taken the bait. Just like he knew he would. He was so close to the reindeer for reasons that he just didn't know. It had to be a Northuldran thing. A weakness. Smirking to himself, he watched Mark ride off down the mountain with the starved dogs and the Hunter right on his heels.

Glancing back to his men, he nodded and silently gestured them to start moving up the mountain. The horses struggled to walk through the deep snow and stumbled a bit but made their way up the path that the reindeer and come down from. As they rode up to the peak, Hans gawked at the massive ice castle. It was a glorious display of the power that he desperately wanted. He'd be the most powerful Troll in the North with a power like that! He'd be like his ancestor of old that sent the world into the first ice age! Only this time, he'd succeed in the extinction of the Human race! He was so close and yet had to play this part extremely careful. One wrong move and all that power could be lost to him. As they rode up to the icy bridge, King Nathan suddenly burst from the doors of the ice castle, calling out. "Mark? Did you...?" Swallowing, Nathan's eyes darted to look at the men in turn, before asking aloud. "Hans? What do you want?" Hans kept his voice as calm as he could, shouting out. "I'm sorry, Highness. You are under arrest for your actions against Arendelle. Come willingly and we'll give you a fair trial." Nathan shook his head, stepping back as he told them seriously. "No. I can't! Just leave me alone! I'm trying to fix it!"

Hans shook his head, retorting loudly. "That's not an opinion, Highness. Come with us willingly or we'll have no choice but to use force. You will answer for your actions like your ancestors before you. Magic is too dangerous for a person like you to have." Nathan blinked, then asked a little defensively. "A person like me? It was an accident! I'm learning!" Hans gave his men a worried look. The men glanced at each other, whispering amongst themselves. "He's trying to get stronger. We have to deal with him before he becomes too much to handle." Hans looked back to King Nathan, stating aloud. "I wish we could believe you. But you're Northuldran. Just come with us and I promise that no harm will come to you. We'll clear this all up." King Nathan hesitated, shifting on his feet, until one of the young men raised his arm and fired his crossbow. Hans caught the act in his peripheral vision and jerked his hand up to swat the crossbow. The hit knocked the bolt off course, causing it to pierce into one of the icy doors over Nathan's shoulder. Glaring at the man, he snapped out. "What are you doing?!" His frustration clear in his voice to the others. He didn't want to kill Nathan. He needed him alive long enough to take his eyes! He couldn't guarantee that the power would remain if he died.

He had been so close to getting him to come willingly and once again, Humans ruined everything! Beside him the other Duke's son, raised his crossbow toward Nathan, yelling out. "MONSTER!" The bolt shot through the air and Hans punched the man off his horse. The bolt went straight for Nathan's chest, but Nathan threw his hands up and a small pillar of ice shot up to block the bolts path. The bolt impaled through the ice but stopped a few inches from Nathan's palms. Hans raised a hand toward Nathan, trying to calm him as he said coolly. "Highness, please!" The other men climbed off their horses, racing toward the icy bridge as they stated aloud. "Move in! Contain him!" Nathan narrowed his eyes on them, yelling out angrily. "LEAVE ME ALONE!" Without thinking about it, he raised his hands and curled his fingers. The icy bridge they were rushing up started to snap and pop as if it was suddenly under heavy pressure. The bridge shifted under the weight of the men, causing them to yell out. "He's destroying the bridge! Hurry!" Two of the men dived off the bridge, rolling up to their knees to fire their crossbows at Nathan. Rushing back into the castle, Nathan slammed the door as the bolts pinged off it. Hans cursed, rushing up to the bridge to slam his hand on the step.

No one was looking. So, he quickly used a binding spell to hold the bridge and then raced after his men. His men ran to the door, bashing at it until the frozen seam was forced open. As the doors swung open, Nathan stood in the center of the room waiting for them. The men tried to rush in, but Nathan raised his hands to create a wall of ice and pushed it out toward them, yelling out. "GET OUT!" Two of the men leapt to the sides to avoid the wall, but the rest hit the wall and were pushed by force back out the door and toward the bridge. Hans tried to resist the force of the wall, but he wasn't strong enough even with the two other guys with him. The men screamed in a panic as they approached the cliff and icy bridge. One of the men slipped and slide painfully down the bridge. Hans tried not to slip on the ice, but as the wall struck the bridge, the railing shattered, and it sent both him and the other man off the sides. Hans gripped the frozen steps and broken bits of the railing to keep himself from falling into the dark abyss of the North Mountain. His nimble Troll body was much easier to avoid situations like this, but in this form, he had to rely more on his strength.

The icy wall stopped moving and Hans managed to pull himself onto the bridge with his upper body and feet. Rolling onto the bridge, the other man clung to a piece of broken railing, calling out to him. "Prince Hans, help! I'm slipping!" For a split moment, Hans had the urge to kick the broken rail to send him falling into the abyss but fought it down just as quickly. He needed witnesses to confirm his good deeds. He needed Arendelle's trust and resources until he had what he wanted. He couldn't do that if everyone was dead and there was only his word to recount what happened. So, he reluctantly reached out to help him up. Inside the castle, Nathan stopped pushing the wall of ice to flick icicles out toward the two men that were trying to get the drop on him now. They split up to make it harder on him, until he had to stand in the center of the room and turn to keep them both in his general sight. Raising his hands, he eyed them both for any trace of movement. With every tiny hint at movement, he shot icicles at them, causing them to scramble to avoid them. They shot bolts rarely at him because the reload on the crossbows had to be done by hand and it was a slow process. Forcing them to wait for a shot that was worth the risk to take.

Nathan saw one of the men lift his crossbow up just a tad, but it was enough for Nathan to act. Thrusting out his hand, he formed icicles that came out of the ground at an angle. Two of them went under the man's arms and hefted him up off the ground to pin him to the wall. Then to make sure that he stayed there, two more icicles impaled themselves snug against his shoulders. Uncurling his middle finger caused a fifth long sharp icicle to grow out toward the man's jugular. The man gasped, wincing as the icicle menacing inched toward his throat. On the other side off the room, the other man suddenly yelled out in distress. "STOP! Don't! Let my brother go!" Nathan glared at the older brother, snapping out angrily. "Throw down your weapon or I'll kill him!" The older brother's hands shook on his crossbow, hesitating to follow his orders. Nathan extended his middle finger out more to press the icicle to the younger brother's skin. Prompting the older brother to toss down the crossbow away from him, shakily yelling out. "OK! Let him go!" Nathan locked eyes with the brother, seeing visions of the women he married and poisoned to steal their family's money to reach the position that he was in.

Prying his eyes away to look at the younger brother, he saw his plans to kill his own brother to boost his position in his father's eyes. The most painful was the image of him hiring a hunter that revealed flashes of Mark and Donner. He'd hired the hunter that had lured Mark away! Anger flared within him, making his eyes feel colder and caused his breath to puff out like smoke from his lips. They didn't deserve to live. They were cruel and greedy. They enjoyed hurting others and needed someone to HURT THEM! Thrusting out his other hand, he impaled two icicles into the other brother's shoulders, lifting him off the ground to slam him hard against the wall. Turning to look at the other brother, he sneered out in a numb bitter voice. "You both are monsters! Cruel and unfeeling! You don't deserve to keep breathing!" Nathan stared down the older brother, growling out mercilessly. "How can I be a monster... if YOU exist!" The brothers looked at each other, before the older one asked him confused. "What? What are you talking about?" Nathan clenched his teeth, his voice hissing out mercilessly. "If you won't leave me alone and I'm too dangerous to keep alive... Then maybe you'll fear a monster!" From the door, Hans yelled out desperately. "NATHAN! Wait!"

Nathan jumped in surprise, looking over his shoulder. There were survivors? Hans' jaw dropped when he locked eyes with Nathan. Nathan didn't look right. His eyes were flashing from their dark brown to a bright white and his skin looked paler. There was even strange frost starting to appear along his neck. Hans raised his hands, blurting out desperately in the hopes of calming him down. "Highness, please! Don't be the monster they fear you are!" Nathan slowly lowered his hands as those words brought Mark to the front of his mind. Where was Mark? Was he ok? He should find him. Hans blinked in shock as Nathan's eyes cleared to their normal dark ones and the frost on his paling skin melted. For a moment, Hans was thrilled that he'd reached Nathan and calmed him down. That's when the younger brother slowly raised his hand with the crossbow toward Nathan's back while he was distracted. Hans glanced up at the large ceiling as the only place to divert the arrow safely. Dashing over, he managed to shove the crossbow up, but he'd miscalculated. The bolt was shot out too early, causing it to whizz through the lustrous chandelier overhead to strike the connection piece before impaling the ceiling. The chip in the thick connection piece was enough that it could no longer hold the heavy chandelier and broke.

Hans yelled for everyone to take cover as the massive ice chandelier rushed toward the floor. Nathan ran toward the nearest hallway to try and get to cover. While the chandelier smashed into the floor and sent ice shards and blocks of ice shooting out in every direction. Nathan slipped on the ice floor, falling to his knee and taking an ice shard through his shoulder. A scream of pain left Nathan, sending out a pulse around him that frosted the walls and covered the place in fresh snow. Then a small block of ice struck him across the head, and he fell unconscious on the floor. Hans stumbled out the front door with the man he'd saved but was forced to leave the other two inside. Hugging the walls outside the castle, they listened to the sound of shattering ice and sharp screams, before a gust of snow puffed out the open doors. The snow swirled unnaturally, the sound of Nathan's scream hanging in the air like the ringing of a bell as it echoed down the North Mountain. Then farther down the North Mountain, within the forest, a louder snarl rippled back up the mountain as if in response. The hair on Hans' arms rose as he recognized the sound, but it was impossible. They didn't exist anymore!

The man on the other side of the doorway, turned very slowly to look out into the distance upon asking fearfully. "What the fuck was that?" Hans tensed, his Troll eyesight narrowing in on the trees in the far distance. The trees were acting strange now. Shaking. Bending wildly without any wind. Then from a swirling snowball that built up far above the trees, the ball of snow burst. Snow was sent out in all directions and at the center was a VERY large dragon made entirely of shimmering flawless ice. Its massive wings outstretched to their full length, before unleashing a frightening roar into the sky that resonated like thunder throughout all of Arendelle. The roar even seemed to conjure grey clouds, blocking out the sky as it began to snow. Shivering from the increased drop in temperature, Hans told the other man in a rush. "Find the King. Quickly! We've got to get out of here and back to Arendelle!" Together, they rushed back into the castle, navigating through the rumble. The Duke's boys were dead from being impaled by the chandelier, but the man found Nathan. He was still alive. Hans wanted to take his eyes now, but the man told him a bit terrified. "He made a dragon after just getting hurt? What would have happened if we had killed him?! What are we going to do?"

Hans bit his lip; he was under so much pressure. The dragon would be arriving soon, and he had to think of how he was going to deal with THAT on top of getting Nathan's eyes. Unable to make up his mind, he decided to play it safe. Picking up Nathan, he told the man in a calmer voice than he felt. "We'll figure it out. We need to get back and warn Arendelle. Let's go! Hurry!" Rushing out, Hans used his Troll tricks to call their horses back. Then mounting up with the injured man at the bottom of the steps, they rode off into the woods just as the dragon flew overhead toward the castle. To Be Continued...