Mark pulled his blanket over his shoulders more, answering Grand Pabbie prompting. "It's something Nathan told me. He said that he saw me hurting people but that he could tell that it was to defend myself. That unlike other people... he liked looking into my eyes. He said the only other person he could do that with was Prince Hans." Grand Pabbie tensed, mumbling out almost to himself. "That's not possible..." Mark shrugged, asking coolly. "Why not? The mirror has to have some weakness, right?" Grand Pabbie locked eyes with him, replying firmly. "The magic within the mirror can't be countered or defeated. It is a reflection of one's soul. Magic lives in everything. It is what connects us all to each other. Our very life force. It would take some powerful magic to deflect the magic of the mirror." Mark huffed, telling him with a shrug. "Well, he still sees things I've done... So, it's not deflecting anything." Grand Pabbie looked him over more closely, saying under his breath. "I guess... I'd have to know more. Can you take me to him?" Mark glanced toward the North Mountain, telling him softly. "I don't know... I feel like something bad has happened."

Grand Pabbie hugged his staff closer, telling him cautiously. "The dragon...?" Mark nodded solemnly, regaling to him. "I have to go. He could be hurt. Aputsiaq... The dragon, has never done that before." Grand Pabbie reached out to touch his knee, saying with soft concern. "Mark... I must advise caution. If something has happened to him... He may no longer be the man you know. Beware the frozen heart." Mark didn't move or say anything to let Grand Pabbie add gently. "The shards of the mirror melted into Nathan's eyes. It has clearly messed with his head and his perception of people around him but through it all, his heart has kept him balanced. He's turned the pain inward and as bad as that is... It has saved him from a fate far worse. Mark... if the ice within him is allowed to spread to his heart... his heart will freeze. If that happens, he'll be lost to the cold." Mark straightened up, asking a little distressed now. "What do you mean? How does it spread?" Grand Pabbie snapped his fingers to create a small burning flame on his thumb, before answering stoically. "Magic is a force of nature, Mark. It will always do what it was designed for. Fire burns. Water flows. Air blows. Earth grows. The Spirit nurtures. Together they work to keep the world in balance. When angered... They have the power to remove the problem."

Grand Pabbie blew out the flame on his thumb, then informed him seriously. "The last time someone messed with the power of Ahtohallan... It sent the world into an ice age that took years to thaw. Even today, glaciers and snowy lands still remain. Pain and anger are powerful emotions. Once sparked into existence... There isn't much that can be done. And out of all the elements... Ice is the most unstoppable, because the cold feeds on those emotions to become stronger. It doesn't burn out when there is nothing left to burn... It remains permanently frozen in time. It becomes a frozen prison for the mind and body. It saps any trace of warmth until everything is frozen is silence. Do you understand, Mark?" Mark exhaled out heavily. "You think I'm too late?" Grand Pabbie's face fell to a grim expression, when he told him honestly. "I've seen the snow dragons before... They coat the world in ice. We barely survived. We guarded Ahtohallan to keep that from happening again... This time. I don't think we'll survive it." Grand Pabbie straightened up, telling him coolly. "I'm going to take the clan to Ahtohallan. I'm going to beg forgiveness from Lady Borealis. And hope that she is merciful enough to try and help us weather this storm. But yes... I believe it is too late. And I would like you to come with us while you still can... my son."

Mark slowly rose to his feet, walking to the edge of the mountain to look out at the horizon. Bowing his head, he told Grand Pabbie with a heavy heart. "I can't go... I can't leave him. If what you say is true, then he needs me." Grand Pabbie's voice blurted out with deep concern. "Why? It's not your job to save him. It's not your fault that he's like this. Mark, I won't let you die for nothing!" Mark turned slightly to look at him with fragile eyes, upon blurting out in a broken voice. "It's not for nothing. I love him." Grand Pabbie's jaw dropped a little and he leaned on his staff more to steady himself, when he uttered out very gently. "Oh dear... That... That does complicate things a bit." Mark dropped to his knees, hugging the blanket around himself when he told him truthfully. "You told me to follow the Northern Lights once and it just kept leading me to the North Mountain... I thought it was a sign that I was destined to start my ice business there. But I think it wanted me to find him. Grand Pabbie... I can't explain it... but I feel drawn to him. I think I'm supposed to save him. I think I was...helping him somehow." Grand Pabbie was silent a moment, lost in thought before he uttered out in sudden realization. "You know something... I think you might be right. Go to him. Quickly."

Mark nodded, getting to his feet to rush off to find Donner. He found him eating carrots as a healing Troll checked over his healed wounds to make sure their magic had worked without issue. Pulling off his blanket, he whistled to get Donner's attention and told him in a bit of a rush. "Let's go, Donner. We've got to go back." The Troll healer raised a hand to stop him, until Grand Pabbie called out from the overlooking ledge. "Let him go, Garnet. He has somewhere else to be right now." Mark hopped up onto Donner, then nodded to Grand Pabbie. Grand Pabbie raised a hand to wave to him with a slightly sad look on his face. Without wasting a second more, Mark kicked Donner into a run and raced back toward the North Mountain. The snow flurries hit his face and chilled him to the bone, but he ignored it. He had to find Nathan before it was too late. Donner panted heavily when they finally reached the top of the North Mountain. Mark's heart sank, when he saw the wall of ice and broken ice railings of the bridge. Any tracks had been buried in the layer of fresh snow, but clearly someone had been here. Hopping off Donner, Mark rushed to the bridge and saw the blood sprinkled down the icy steps.

Gulping with worry, Mark carefully made his way up what remained of the bridge to reach the castle. He saw the bolts of crossbows impaled into the ice wall of the castle and a wall before the front door, causing him to clench his jaw. He prayed that he didn't find Nathan dead. Slipping cautiously into the castle, he gasped at the sight of two men impaled to the wall with large shards of ice. In the center of the room were large broken pieces of ice from the chandelier that had once been hanging above. His gaze locking onto another crossbow bolt in the ceiling. Seeing the crossbow in the hand of one of the dead men, he wondered if he'd tried to commit suicide by taking everyone out. He rushed to the center in the hopes of not finding Nathan buried beneath the bits, calling out loudly. "Nathan?!" His distress was building. Where was he? When he saw no body, he resorted to looking for blood. Had Nathan gotten away? Was that why there was blood outside? Was he looking in the wrong place? Seeing a few droplets of blood by the hall, he followed them and winced. There was a spot in the hallway that was stained in blood. Kneeling, he touched the bloodstained ice, trying to piece together what had happened.

However, the second his fingers made contact with the floor, he gasped with a sharp pain. For a brief moment, he saw the scene flash before his eyes. He saw Nathan get impaled by the ice before getting hit with it and falling to the floor. Jerking his hand up, he looked at his fingers in shock. That had never happened to him before. He made a note to ask Grand Pabbie about it but kept his mind on the task at hand. Following the blood back out into the area with the dead men, he walked up to one of the men and reached out to look at the man's uniform. He wasn't a local. He had a different sigil on his shoulder. It didn't belong to Arendelle. Ripping the patch off the man's jacket, Mark headed to the open doors of the castle to look out at the horizon. In the far distance, he could faintly see the castle of Arendelle. These guys weren't from here. Which could only mean that they came from the Port in Arendelle. Someone had come to collect the bounty and he was going to find out who. He started to step outside, until he heard the deep shuddering whines of something BIG. He wasn't alone. Wondering back through the castle, he followed the noise to a hallway in the back behind the grand stairs. The tunnel started as ice, but eventually turned into the cold grey rock of the mountain.

Cautiously creeping down the tunnel, he stopped at the set of icy stairs that lead into a large icy cave. Curled up in the cave, Aputsiaq was whining and crying tear shaped ice shards that smashed apart as they hit the rock floor. She was far more intimating up close. Her head alone was massive, and she appeared to squeeze herself in here to await Nathan. She looked scared and worried. She sniffled, finally catching his scent and letting out a deep aggressive snarl that rocked the cave. Mark raised his hands, telling her calmly. "Whoa, easy. It's just me. Do you remember me? Aputsiaq?" Her large glowing eyes turned to look at him, her snarling slowly fading away into a whine. Easing down the steps, he told her comfortingly. "It's ok, girl." The second he moved off the steps, she turned her head and shoved her nose against the tunnel he'd come from to sniff deeply like she thought Nathan was behind him. When she didn't smell him, she whined louder and shifted as she panted in distress. Mark moved up to her, placing a hand gently on her large icy nose. She tiled her head to lean into it a little and Mark told her lovingly. "It's ok. We'll find him."

Back in Arendelle, Nathan slowly opened eyes. His head was throbbing, and his vision was a bit blurry, but it was slowly clearing up. The darkness helped save his eyes, but the lantern light coming from outside the door was still too bright for his sensitive eyes. He started to turn over on the uncomfortable bed, before the soft rattling of chains made him realize that his hands felt weird. Sitting up slowly, the wool blanket that had been placed on him slipped off his shoulder. Moving his hands out from under the blanket, he gasped as tears brimmed his eyes. From the wrist down, his hands were encased in metal. He could feel the inside lining was shackled to his wrist so tightly that he'd never be able to slip from them. The outside of them had locks and each hand was attached to a heavy iron chain. It was hard to keep his hands up or even on his lap without the metal hurting him. Setting his hands down on the bed to ease the weight, he took in the dark dungeon room. If the place was cold, he didn't feel it. He hadn't realized just how uncomfortable a bed of stone was. His heel hit the bedpan that was tucked under the bed, causing a guard outside to tell someone in a hushed voice. "He's awake. Inform Prince Hans."

Wincing from the throbbing pain in his head, he noticed the little nook window with crossed iron bars. It was almost torture to see the outside world from within a cage. Getting to his feet, he tried to see if Mark had been telling him the truth. Was Arendelle covered in snow? Walking toward the window, he grunted in pain as the chain pulled tight to keep him from getting too close to the window or even the door to the room. It pained him greatly to know that his father had designed this. That this was to be his fate. Staring longingly out the window, Nathan's emotions hit a new level of shame. Arendelle was completely frozen over. He could see the ships locked within the Fjord. Their decks and sails heavy with a fresh coating of snow. All the trees and homes were practically buried in deep snow and still more was falling. Bowing his head, he uttered out to himself grimly. "Oh no... What have I done?" Nathan started to move closer to the center of the room where the chains were attached to an iron ring on the floor, until he heard voices outside the cell. Nathan couldn't make out what they were whispering about, but they sounded afraid and desperate.

The wooden door unlocked, creaking as it opened slowly. Nathan tensed up, then watched Prince Hans peek in with the warm glow of his lantern. Setting the lantern down on the other stone bed in the room, Hans calmly closed the door. Nathan noticed the eyes of other people peeking into the little window of the door to watch with baited breaths. He recognized them from Court. Men that had so easily turned on him after knowing him his whole life. Turning his eyes on Hans, Nathan asked him bluntly. "Why did you bring me here?" Hans' breath puffed before his face and he rubbed his arms to fight the cold, when he told him gently. "I couldn't just let them kill you. You are, after all... The King of Arendelle." Nathan shook his head, retorting darkly. "They tried to kill me... I'm no longer the King of anything. You made a mistake bringing me here. You've put everyone in danger." Hans reached out to touch his shoulder, caressing it soothingly when he stated lightly. "They are just scared. If you could just stop this winter. It would go a long way into rectifying this whole misunderstanding. It would prove that you didn't intend for this to happen. That despite being one of them... you are one of us and not a traitor."

Nathan narrowed his eyes on Hans, telling him firmly. "Where is the King's Regent? I wanna speak to the man in charge of Arendelle." Hans shrugged, telling him a little coyly. "He's not in charge anymore. I am. And I don't think you understand what kind of situation you've gotten yourself into, Highness." Nathan took a step back, mumbling out in shock. "What...?" Hans gave him another innocent shrug, informing him lightly. "You killed the next heirs in line for the throne of Arendelle. The Court wants me to sentence you to death for treason and two accounts of murder. But I'm trying to save you. Just bring back summer and I can lessen the sentence to a life of imprisonment instead. It might sound just as bad, but maybe in time you can repent for your actions." Hans bit his lower lips, adding a bit uneasily. "Since I'm so popular in Arendelle right now... The Regent has made me King. It will be made official when we get this whole thing sorted out. So, please Highness? Just bring back summer." Nathan took a step toward Hans, telling him with teary eyes. "Don't you see? I don't know how. You have to let me go. You're putting Arendelle in great danger by keeping me here."

Hans took slow casual steps back from him, telling him in a sweet gentle voice. "I will try to do what I can... but my hands are tied, Highness. You either bring back summer... or they'll demand your head." Hans turned away, walking toward the door. Nathan lunged out to try stopping him, pleading out in a broken terrified voice. "Hans?! Please! I'm no traitor! I don't know how to stop it!" Hans didn't look back. He simply picked up his lantern and walked out as someone opened it back up for him. Nathan tugged on the chains, then gasped as he heard a soft crackling sound. Looking down, he saw frost starting to appear along he metal shackles and chain. He was starting to lose control already. Dropping his hands, he asked the people outside the door in a broken voice. "Where is the King of Trolls? Do you have him?!" When they didn't answer him, he turned around to look out the window and pleaded out breathlessly. "Mark...? Where are you...? I need you..." To Be Continued...