two days, Elsa trudged through the snow to reach the base of the North Mountain. It was a feat she hadn’t been sure she could manage, but when she finally arrived, she had a bigger problem. She might not have been cold, but she definitely didn’t have the equipment to climb a rocky facade. Or did she?
No one could see her at that altitude. She didn’t have to conceal her powers in the middle of the wilderness. After having been locked away in her room, hiding her secret from the world, she was suddenly free to use her magic in a way she never had before. All her practice had led her to that moment: what could she create to help her move mountains?
Elsa looked down at her hands. She was wearing only one glove. Her gloves had served as “protection” from her powers for far too long. It was time to let go. She pulled the glove off and let it fly into the wind. She was finally free.
Lifting her hand to the sky, she concentrated on creating a giant snowflake that crystallized in midair and floated away. Then she lifted her other hand and made another snowflake, watching it fly away as well. Pulse racing, Elsa kept building, her face breaking into a smile as she realized the possibilities were endless. Here she could really use her gift and see what she was capable of.
A blue glow circled her swirling arms as she imagined crystals that immediately froze and shattered into snow. Think bigger, Elsa resolved as she shot a stream of ice up the mountainside. What else can I do? she wondered. Anything. Everything I can think of! She’d never felt so alive.
Elsa kept shooting snow into the air as she ran closer to the base of the North Mountain, stopping short when she stared into a gorge with a hundred-foot drop. Once more, her cape caught on the wind, hitting her in the face. The item served no purpose on a mountaintop. Elsa unclipped the brooch holding it closed and let the cape fly off the side of the mountain, disappearing into the darkness. The gorge was a different problem. It had to be almost thirty feet across. It was impossible to jump, but with powers like hers, why did she need to worry about jumping?
For so long she had feared anyone’s knowing she had powers, but in her recovered memories, her family looked at them as a gift. Now she could see why: look at what she could create with her two hands! If she used to make winter wonderlands in the castle for Anna, why couldn’t she create an ice palace on a mountaintop? Let your fears go, she reminded herself. She imagined a staircase of ice connecting both sides of the gorge. Was it possible? What about a staircase that carried her up the entire mountain?
Anything was possible if she believed in her powers like Anna once had.
Elsa took a deep breath and backed up a few paces before running across the snowy peak. Staircase, she thought as her hands shot out in front of her, forming several icy steps that climbed into the air. She paused for a split second before gingerly stepping onto the first one. The stairs were so sturdy she ran up them, throwing her hands out over and over, creating steps that led her all the way to the peak of the North Mountain. Her mind and her fingertips somehow worked in perfect harmony to create exactly what she needed at exactly the right moment.
When Elsa finally reached the top, she didn’t find any trolls, but the view was breathtaking. Few mountaineers had climbed to such heights, and there she was, high over the entire kingdom. Arendelle was far in the distance, as tiny as a speck. Even if she hadn’t found the trolls yet, the North Mountain felt like a good place for her to recharge and figure out how to find Anna. She’d build a palace as stunning as the landscape to shelter in. One that reflected the new her. Mama had called her powers a gift, hadn’t she? Well, they were. And there was no reason to conceal them from the world at the top of a mountain.
Elsa stomped her foot into the snow, creating a giant snowflake that unfurled under her. The snowflake multiplied again and again, forming the footprint for her new home. Next she imagined her fortress rising into the air, and