Hey guys :) Been a little while. Again. But not nearly as long as last time, so yay :)

It's late and I'm tired, so I'll make this brief: Thank you to everyone who took the time to leave a review on the last chapter. You're all amazing :)

Chapter has barely been proofread. Beware of typos.

Disclaimer: Not Disney. Don't own Frozen

Chapter 5 – Darkness and Fire

Anna was pacing back and forth in the throne room when Kell burst through the doors, Fier on his heels.

"What happened?!" he demanded, hands clenched into fists at his sides as he stormed across the room. The throne room was dim with the curtains drawn and maybe it was Anna's imagination, but she could have sworn that the air was darker around him, as though the shadows were attracted to his rage.

"We don't know," Anna said, fingers curling and uncurling anxiously around the paper in her hands. "When I went to wake her this morning she was gone, and this was on her bed."

She handed the paper to Kell. His eyes scanned it furiously and his expression darkened. The paper crumpled as he crushed it in his fist, face cold.

Anna could understand why. She'd been frantic upon discovering that note that morning, and she'd read it so many times since then that the words were practically branded on the inside of her skull; 'We have your queen. If you want to see her again, tell the black-haired one to come to the abandoned warehouse at the corner of the docks at midnight tonight. He comes alone and unarmed, or she dies.'

"What are we going to do?" she whispered. Though it had been two years, it still felt as though she had just gotten her sister back. She couldn't lose her again. She had to do something.

"I'm going to the warehouse tonight, that's what." Kell's face was a stone wall of fury and Anna had to suppress a shiver.

"But…" Her protest faded off. She wanted to help, but…

"Black isn't exactly a common hair colour in Arendelle," Kell pointed out. "I'm the one they're asking for. If anyone else comes with me or goes instead, best case scenario they just won't give Elsa back." He didn't mention the worst case scenario, but Anna felt sick at the thought.

"But we can't just trust that they'll keep their word!" Kristoff protested, face taut with anxiety.

"No, we can't," Kell replied. "But I can handle that when it comes. For now, we wait for nightfall." He paused, tilting his head pensively. "Do you have any ideas about who it might have been? The more prepared we are, the better."

Anna shook her head. "We already thought about that. There are a number of people who disapprove of her, mostly nobility or foreign royalty, but that's politics for you. I can't see any of them doing this. And if it were one of them, why would they ask for you specifically? It doesn't make sense."

"It could be a romantic rival," Kristoff suggested suddenly. "Someone who saw you dance with her."

Anna blinked in surprise. Why hadn't she thought of that? "I bet that's what it was! But who?" She threw up her hands in frustration. "There were any number of people who wanted to dance with her that night!"

"Hey, hey." Kristoff's voice was gentle as he grasped her shoulders. "We'll figure it out. We'll get her back."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, nodding as she did. He smiled and, though his face was still lined with the same worry that she felt, she felt a little better.

"What about the assassins?" Kell asked quietly.

Anna glanced back at him. He stood turned towards the door and she couldn't see his face, but he radiated anger so frigid that she would have thought he had ice powers too.

"The guards have been interrogating them all morning," she answered softly. "But they haven't said a thing."

"We'll see about that," he murmured, and swept from the room.

Fier glanced after him, then looked back at Anna. He trotted over and touched the tip of his muzzle to her hand gently before turning and following Kell out of the room.

"I'm worried." Kristoff said after a moment.

"We all are," Anna murmured, leaning into him.

"I'm worried about Kell," he clarified, wrapping his arms around her. "He seems really upset over this."

"We all are," she repeated, not sure where this was going.

"But he seems like he might do something that would get him killed. Or that he'll live to regret."

Kell stalked through the depths of the castle with one thing in mind. Break them. If they knew where Elsa was, he would find out. However necessary.

There was an urgent buzz at the corners of his mind. –Kell.-

He ignored it. Nothing would get in his way. Not today.

He stormed into the dungeon and came to a stop before the cell of the scar-faced assassin. The guard looked at him questioningly, seeming slightly unnerved. Kell supposed his expression must have been quite terrifying.

"I'm here to question him."

The guard shook his head. "I don't think that will do much good, sir. We've tried everything, but he won't talk."

Kell seriously doubted that they'd tried everything, but that was a moot point. He could do things ordinary humans couldn't.

"Let me talk to him anyway."

The guard eyed him for a moment. Then he nodded, unlocking the door and stepping aside.

The assassin was sitting against the far wall, eyes cold as he watched Kell enter. The door slammed shut and Kell stood motionless, regarding the assassin in silence for a long moment. Then, slowly, deliberately, he crossed the room and knelt in front of the man.

"The Queen has been kidnapped. What do you know?"

The man remained silent, appearing almost bored at the question.

Kell snarled. "You can tell me now and make it easy for both of us, or…" He lowered his voice into a menacing growl. "I can make you. And I can assure you, you've never seen anything like what I can do to you."

-Kell.-

He ignored the buzzing voice and kept his focus on the assassin. "Well?"

Slowly, languidly, the assassin met his eyes. Or came as close as he could with Kell's camouflage in place. In a soft, lazy voice he drawled, "You can't break me."

Kell smiled, but there wasn't a drop of humour in his body. There was only rage. "Last chance."

The man smiled coldly back. "Take your best shot."

Kell stood silently. "My best won't be necessary." He slipped open the ties of his arm wrappings and let them unravel from his fingers. "But as you wish."

The room grew dark. The torches guttered under the flow of an unseen force, a quiet malevolence that breathed softly through the room. In the corners, shadows writhed and twisted, crawling up over the walls and ceiling and creeping towards the prisoner.

The prisoner's face went pale. "What…? How…?" He looked up at Kell, aghast. "What are you?!"

"Someone who wants to know where the Queen is," Kell responded, face emotionless. "Tell me."

Fear began to creep over the chained man's face. "I don't know where she is."

"No?" The shadows crept closer, spreading across the floor and inching closer and closer to the prisoner. "Why should I believe that? You targeted her."

"P-please," the man stuttered, drawing his legs closer to his body. "Our orders were to get her out of the way. If we failed, we were to say nothing and another team would try again in a few months, after everything had calmed down. Kidnapping was never part of it. Please!"

The shadows kept inching forward. "Your orders from who?"

"A man named Greger!" Cold tendrils of shadow began to creep over his legs, his hands, the sides of his face. "In Loresholm! He came to our guild headquarters one night and hired us to kill Queen Elsa. That's all I know, I swear!"

The shadows slowed, still creeping across the chained man's face. Kell watched, debating silently. He seemed to be telling the truth. But should he continue, just to be sure? He'd tried to kill Elsa, after all; he'd deserve it.

The shadows touched the edges of the prisoner's eyes.

Then pain exploded in the side of Kell's left hand.

The shadows froze. Kell's face contorted in pain and he whipped his head around to see… Fier, with his teeth sunk into the side of Kell's palm.

"Fier…? What…?"

-Clear your head! You are not yourself.-

Kell stared at the wolf for a moment before turning back to the prisoner, eyes wide. No. He wasn't acting like himself.

The shadows were banished and the room returned to normal. The prisoner sagged against the wall, a strangled gasp escaping from his throat.

-Thank you.-

-You are welcome.- The wolf released Kell's hand and stepped back. –You might want someone to look at that.-

Kell looked at the wound, blood dripping from the teeth marks. –No.- He breathed deeply for a moment and focused his mind.

A moment later, the wounds began to close up. In a moment, his skin was smooth and whole again. But rather than leaving no trace, Kell's hand now bore a black bite mark forever coloured into his skin.

Fier rumbled in discontent. –You should not be using that more than you must. Have you not learned from this day's experiences?-

Kell smiled wryly. –I expect I'll be using it fairly often for a while. Especially if tonight goes the way it's likely to. The mark will be a good reminder if I start to go too far and you're not there to stop me.-

Fier snorted. –Very well.-

Kell wiped the last of the blood off his hand onto his black pants and re-wrapped his hands. He glanced down at the chained man, who was now watching him with undisguised terror.

Quietly, voice steady and measured, he said, "Thank you for your information." Then he reached down towards the man's head. The prisoner tried to flinch away, but Kell's wrapped fingers landed on his temple.

Summoning any of his power was much more difficult with his bindings in place, but he managed to send a small pulse into the prisoner's head. The chained man's eyes fluttered shut and he slumped to the floor, breathing deeply.

He would have no nightmares tonight.

Kell turned and walked out of the cell. The guard jumped as he swept out, then recoiled in shock as Fier followed on his heels. "What in…!"

"Don't ask," Kell replied.

The guard turned to look into the cell and was surprised to see the prisoner asleep on the floor. Kells magic had ensured that no-one outside the cell had seen or heard what had gone on inside. "What did you…"

"Just let him sleep," Kell said. "He needs it." He paused, then added, "Inform the Princess that she should look into a man called Greger in Loresholm." Then he turned and headed back up towards the rest of the castle.

He went straight to his room, shutting the door behind him. Already he could feel the darkness returning, creeping on the edges of his mind and chilling him inside. He breathed deeply, keeping his anger and worry in check. Its return may have been inevitable, but as long as he remained in control of his emotions he could handle it. He hoped.

He glanced at himself in the mirror. His face was stony and blank, his monstrous eyes almost seeming to glow black in the dusty reflection.

-What will you do tonight?- Fier asked.

-Whatever I have to to get her back.-

-Be careful.-

-I will try. Stay with Anna and Kristoff. Just in case.-

-Very well.- The wolf moved into the shadows and disappeared.

Kell glanced down at himself. He'd left his cloak behind in his rush this morning. It was probably going to be a cold night tonight.

He reached out to his magic and let it suffuse him, its cool-warm touch both comforting and unsettling beneath his skin. Around him the shadows converged, stretching from their corners to coalesce around his feet. They rose, engulfing him in a dark shroud. A moment later, the shadows solidified, becoming a thick, hooded cloak that hung to his ankles.

He smiled. It was going to be a dark night tonight.

The moon was beginning its descent when Kell arrived at the warehouse.

He glanced around the moonlit dock. Empty. He glanced down at his gloved hands. This might get messy. Taking a deep breath, he entered the building. As soon as he stepped inside, his senses tingled. Someone was here. He removed his hood and waited.

"You came." From the darkness before him emerged a slight figure in a hooded cloak.

"Where is Elsa?" he asked coldly. Something nudged at the back of his mind. Had he heard that voice before?

"She's safe," the figure replied. "And she'll stay safe as long as you cooperate." It gestured at his attire. "Take off the cloak."

He complied, letting the dark fabric drop to the ground. "I want to see her."

"You're in no position to make demands."

"More of a position than you think," he purred, smiling grimly.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that," the figure countered.

There was silence for a tense minute as both figures assessed each other. At last, Kell spoke. "Are you going to let me see her or not?"

The figure regarded him for another moment before nodding. "Very well." It beckoned him forward and he approached warily.

It gestured him past it. He raised an eyebrow. "You underestimate me greatly if you think I'm foolish enough turn my back to you."

"As do you if you think the same of me," the figure said. Kell thought he could see a smirk in the shadows of that hood.

"Unlike me," the figure continued, "you don't have much choice." So saying, it gestured him forward again.

He stared the figure down for a single, long moment before moving past it into the darkness. A moment later he heard its footsteps behind him. Tamping down the urge to spin around, he continued into the depths of the warehouse.

"Stop here," the figure instructed. "There's a trapdoor in the floor just in front of you."

Kell yanked it open to reveal a stone staircase. The soft glow of lamplight emanated from the bottom.

Warily he descended, with the cloaked figure on his heels. He heard the thud of the trapdoor swinging shut and frowned. If they were trying to trap him, they were doing a good job. Or at least, he smirked to himself, they would be if he was a normal man.

The staircase opened out into a large, bare stone room. At the end, gagged and tied to a wooden chair, was Elsa, eyes wide with distress. Over her stood a second cloaked figure, holding a knife to her throat.

Kell's vision narrowed in on the knife and the figure holding it. He bared his teeth, letting his power build under his skin in preparation.

Out loud, he growled, "Let her go."

It was the figure behind him who answered. "Not until you do something for us."

"What?"

The first figure moved until it was standing in front of him. It reached into its cloak and held out a small vial of pale green liquid. "Drink this."

Kell eyed it suspiciously. "I'm not going to drink anything you give me."

"You will if you want the Queen to leave here alive."

He stared at the figure coldly. He wasn't stupid enough to drink a mysterious liquid given to him by a stranger. But he needed Elsa to be safe. That only left him one option. "So it must be, then."

The figure handed him the vial. He uncorked it and raised it in his hand as if in toast.

Then he threw it to the ground, where it shattered into a million fragments and the liquid bled out onto the stone.

His gloves were off before anyone else could react, revealing bare hands. At the same time, a dark shadow stretched out and hurled the second figure against the wall. It slumped to the floor, the knife falling from its grip.

In Kell's left hand shadows coalesced into a blade, a wicked longsword that gleamed black as night.

"No!" the first figure shrieked, whirling on Kell with fury etched into every line of its body.

Kell attacked. His blade whistled through the air towards the figure, who barely managed to dodge in time. Cursing, it drew its own sword from within its cloak. The blade was plain and shorter than Kell's but the figure wielded it with skill, parrying each of Kell's blows and slashing out at him with surprising speed.

But as good as the figure was, Kell was better. The figure couldn't so much as scratch him. Though Kell hadn't managed to land a critical strike yet, he had managed to open a long gash along the back of the figure's left arm and a smaller one across its sword arm.

Then, seeing an opening, Kell lunged, slipping past the figure's guard. The figure barely jerked back in time to avoid death, and Kell's sword caught on its hood. The fabric tore with a loud rip, falling open to reveal long red hair, freckles and ash-grey eyes wide with alarm.

It was the girl from the alley. The one whose brother had attacked Kell. Which meant that the second figure was probably…

The girl shouted defiantly and slashed towards his head. Stunned by the revelation of her identity, he barely dodged in time to avoid beheading. The tip of her blade whistled past his face,
opening a small cut along his cheek.

"You," he snarled, bringing his blade up to parry another strike. He slashed forward and she blocked, their blades locking together. "What do you want with her?"

"Nothing," she growled back, shoving against his blade with her own, trying to break the standstill. "It's you we want. If you stay, we'll let her go free."

"You're in no position to set conditions."

A beat passed. Then she smiled. "More of a position than you think."

For a moment, time seemed to slow. The girl thrust out her left hand and let loose a hoarse cry. Flames blossomed from her palm straight towards him.

He cried out in surprise, barely managing to throw up a shield of shadows in time to block the torrent of fire. When at last the flames abated, he dispersed the shield and stared at the girl, who had taken advantage of his preoccupation to move back several paces.

"You…" he gasped. "How…?"

"Cooperate, or she gets hurt," the girl snarled, lifting her palm in Elsa's direction.

Belatedly, Kell wondered why Elsa hadn't used her powers to free herself yet.

Seeing his look, the girl said, "She can't use her powers. We gave her a little something to keep them down for a while. She's helpless."

Helpless. Kell's teeth clenched, his face taut with anger.

So it was up to him then. He exhaled slowly. Okay.

Moving like lightning, he flung one hand up and a barrier of shadows exploded into being between Elsa and the red-headed girl. Simultaneously, a spear of shadows shot up from the floor behind Elsa, slicing through the rope binding her hands.

Before he could take care of the other bindings, a bolt of flame came flying at him and he ducked sharply. Before he could recover, a flurry of fireballs sped towards him. He dove aside, but one of them clipped him on the shoulder and sent him sprawling on the ground.

He pushed himself up with his arms and winced as his shoulder seared with pain.

Then an altogether more familiar kind of pain arced through his entire body and he cried out, collapsing back onto the stone floor.

It had never been this bad before. As Kell writhed on the ground, he dimly registered the voice of the boy from the alley.

"Please…"

'Please what?' Kell wanted to scream. 'What do you want?'

But the only thing to come out of his mouth were wordless cries of agony.

How long he lay there he didn't know. It could have been hours, days or seconds. It would have made little difference. There was only pain. All he wanted was for it to stop.

Then, suddenly, it did.

He lay on the floor gasping for breath. The pain had left him woozy and numb, but through the groggy haze Kell made out the sound of the redheaded girl's voice.

"No!"

With great effort he rolled himself onto his side and looked across the room to see the redhead crouched over her brother, who was slumped unconscious on the ground. His hood had fallen off and he looked as pale as Kell himself felt, his grey hair stuck to his forehead with sweat. And standing just behind them was… Elsa. Holding her chair.

Had she…brained the boy with a chair?

She tossed the chair aside and ran over, kneeling at Kell's side. "Are you okay?!"

"Ugh," He replied. "Wha' 'appen'?"

Elsa laughed quietly and laid a cool palm against the side of his face. "I'm not entirely sure. The boy over there… After he came to, he reached a hand out towards you and you collapsed into that seizure. You were like that for a few minutes. I managed to untie my legs and, since I assumed the boy was the one causing your seizure, I knocked him out. The girl was watching you and didn't notice until it was too late."

Kell tried to laugh, but it came out as more of a cough. "You hit 'im with a chair?"

Elsa chuckled. "My powers don't seem to have returned yet. So yes, I hit him with a chair."

Kell grinned and shook his head, though he immediately regretted it when his skull started throbbing. "You surprise me. In a good way."

Elsa smiled. "Well it wouldn't do to be boring, now would it?"

He laughed properly this time. "No, certainly not."

He pushed himself up into a sitting position and groaned. Every part of his body ached. Elsa watched him worriedly, ready to catch him if need be. "I'll be okay," he murmured and she relaxed, if only slightly.

There was a groan from across the room and Kell turned his head to see the grey-haired boy coming to again. He began to gather his power in anticipation.

"Apparently you're not very good at knocking people out with chairs," he murmured.

Elsa smiled slightly, keeping her eyes on the boy and his sister. "I haven't exactly had much practise."

They lapsed into silence, watching the redhead fuss over her brother. Eventually he was sitting up against the wall and the redhead turned to Kell and Elsa. Kell tensed in preparation, but the girl held up her hands.

She approached slowly, keeping her hands in the air, palms pointed up away from them. When she was close enough to talk, she stopped.

"There's been enough fighting tonight," she sighed. "We're all worn out. And…" she bit her lip. "And I don't want to put my brother through anything more for a while."

"So we're free to leave?" Kell asked, eyebrows raised.

"You are," the girl said, "but please, could you stay and listen to what we have to say?"

Kell narrowed his eyes. "Why should we?"

"Because," the girl answered, "It's about your powers. And my brother's."

Kell froze, uncertain. He glanced at Elsa. After a pause, the queen nodded back at him.

"Very well," he said, but he kept his power at the ready just in case.

The girl sighed. "Thank you." She glanced back over her shoulder and murmured, "One moment."

She turned and walked back to her brother, helping him to his feet. Then she returned, helping him limp along and dragging the chair that Elsa had discarded in one hand.

Settling the boy into the chair, she glanced around and sighed. "We should have brought more chairs down here. But we wanted to minimise the things that might accidentally get caught on fire."

Shrugging resignedly, she sat on the floor and faced Kell earnestly.

"My name is Morgan. This is my brother Urik. We have a story to tell you."

Thanks for reading :) Thoughts?