FROZEN HEART ━━ 029

( KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOUR )

          WHEN EVERYONE GOT BACK TO AURADON, EVERYONE WAS ASLEEP JUST LIKE ELLIE SAID. Unfortunately, the signal was out so they couldn't call anyone. Ellie could only hope that Jane found Kaia and Marisa and that none of them had been hit by Audrey's spells. She caught Hayes looking at her as they walked and she only returned the same dirty look he was giving her. She never thought there would be a day where she would have to team up with Hayes Westergaard but it's been a weird day. Harry and Jay were about to have another one of their quarrels but Ellie stepped between them.

          "You think I'm scared of you?" Harry asked as he moved Ellie's hair out of her face with his hook.

          "Considering that I have the power to kill you and almost did just that less than an hour ago, you should be," she replied and she pushed his arm away. "The idiots are always the bold ones."

          "Ellie," Mal said and the blonde simply laughed.

          "You seem to forget that I don't take orders from you or any of you. I lead my own group. And right now, Jane is with them and they're looking for anyone who might be under Audrey's spell. We're all here for our own reasons. You guys wanna stop Audrey and these guys want the kids off the Isle," Ellie said with her arms crossed.

          "And what's your reason?" Uma asked.

          "I wanna stop Audrey too. But I also think there might be something way beneath the surface that we didn't even begin to scratch," Ellie said as she started walking towards the school. "Let's go."

          "Dude!" Carlos said when he saw his furry friend eating food from someone's hand.

          "What? It wasn't me, I swear! Okay, it was me," he said.

          "Did you see Audrey?" Ellie asked as she picked him up in her arms.

          "Yep. She put everyone to sleep and turned some of them to stone," the dog said and Evie noticed a statue that wasn't actually a statue.

          "He's right," Evie said.

          "Everybody, stay on your toes," Jay said and Ellie put Dude down.

          "Since we're here, we might as well check the school," Uma said but Mal shook her head.

          "Audrey went straight for the crown. I think it's safe to assume she went to the castle to find Ben so we should go there," she said.

         "Says who?" Uma asked.

         "Says me."

         "Says you and that's supposed to mean something to me?"

         "Guys," Evie said.

         "Actually, I wanna see where this goes," Ellie said with an amused grin on her face. The two rivals looked at each other before Mal decided that they would head to the castle and her word was final. Ellie needed to go there anyway and find a way to get to the place that was hidden underneath. "Carlos, I need to tell you something."

          "What's going on?" he asked as they trailed behind the others.

          "I'm hearing the voice again. I spoke to my mom and she told me about this place her mother used to tell her and my aunt about when they were kids. There is this place buried underneath the castle and it's supposed to hold all the answers," Ellie explained and Carlos sighed as he held her hand. "Something isn't right and I need to find out the truth or else this voice will never leave me alone."

          "So, how do we find this place?" Carlos asked and Ellie shook her head.

          "I'm not sure. We'll probably find it when we get there," Ellie said.

          When they did get to the castle, Mal called out for Ben but got no answer. He could either be asleep or turned to stone but she didn't wanna think about that. Dude caught his scent so everyone followed him but stopped when Uma noticed claw marks in the wall.

          "Any chance that was always there?" Carlos asked.

          "Doubtful," Ellie answered.

          "Follow me!" Dude said and everyone followed him into a room filled with knights, swords and shields.

          "Hayes, I can tell you're thinking about stabbing me with one of those swords," Ellie said as she looked at the ginger.

          "Maybe I am," he said as he stood right in front of her.

          There was a significant height difference but Ellie didn't let it deter her as she stood her ground. "If you wanna kill me, do it," she challenged, knowing that if he was anything like Hans, he would have the guts to take his chance. "At least your daddy was man enough to even try it with my family."

          Hayes didn't like the sound of that and grabbed Ellie but the collar of her jacket. Carlos was about to do something but Jay held him back. Ellie looked into his eyes, daring him to do something but all he did was let go of her collar and push her away.

          "I believe we're being challenged," Harry said and Ellie looked at him.

          She noticed one of the knights positioned differently and pink smoke surrounding it. However, Mal and Uma were too busy having an argument of their own to notice.

          "Guys!" Ellie said loudly and grabbed everyone's attention.

          "We have a little situation here," Harry said.

          "The pirate is onto something," Ellie said as the knight started moving.

          "You like a prince, Mal? How about a knight in shining armour?" the knight asked in Audrey's voice.

          "Okay, that is so creepy," Ellie said while pointing at the metal knight.

          "I will have to agree with you on that one," Hayes replied.

          All the knights started moving and all the kids were surrounded. They tried to run out of the room but the exit was blocked. Ellie was ready to use her magic but something told her it wouldn't be strong enough to counter Audrey's magic, especially if she was using the scepter of one of the most notorious and powerful villains in history.

          "Watch your back, watch your back, watch your back, watch your back. We can counter their attack. Hit 'em 'til the armour cracks."

          "This could get a little sticky. How to win this battle could be tricky. But I know the best way. Fall back let me lead, you hold the line and we'll bring them to their knees," Uma said as Gil handed her a sword.

          Carlos passed a sword to Ellie and she held it tightly as the knights got closer. Jay tossed a sword over to Mal and she raised it in the air as she stood on the platform.

          "Swords in the air if you're with me. They got us outnumbered one to fifty. But victory is ours 'cause I got a strategy, you take the left and the rest of you can follow me," Mal said but Uma grabbed her shoulder.

          "Uh-uh," she said.

          "This is my crew."

          "Well, this is my squad."

          "This is my turf."

          "Oh my gosh! Look guys, we've got bigger fish to fry. Put your differences aside 'cause right now we're on the same side," Evie said as she stood between Mal and Uma. "Until the night falls, everyone, we'll stay together 'til the battle is done."

          Ellie and Hayes looked at each other and used their swords to block the knights' attacks. "Watch your back, watch your back, watch your back, watch your back. We can counter their attack. Hit 'em 'til the armour cracks. Until the night falls, we're aligned. It doesn't mean that we're on the same side. Watch your back, watch your back, watch your back, watch your back. Hit 'em hard and hit 'em fast. They're too heavy to react."

          "This situation's getting kinda heavy. Hold your weapons tight, keep 'em steady. 'Cause if we stick together we can make it out alive. I'll cause a distraction, you attack them from the side," Mal said as she blocked the knights.

          "All my soldiers stand at the ready. We can cut 'em up like confetti. We'll hit 'em from the front, you counter from behind. Don't forget the fate of Auradon's on the line," Uma said, reminding everyone of how much was at stake.

          "This is all out war, they got us outnumbered. The way the swords clash is the sound of the thunder."

          "And we are not going under, we will never run for cover!" Mal said as she raised her sword.

          "We battle for the victory and ride for each other!"

          "Until the night falls, everyone, we'll stay together 'til the battle is done," Evie said as she jumped off the platform.

          "Back to back, back to back, back to back, back to back. We can counter their attack. Hit 'em 'til the armour cracks. Until the night falls, we're aligned. It doesn't mean that we're on the same side." One of the knights knocked Carlos' sword from his hand and Celia slid a shield over to him. Ellie made a path of ice for him to slide on while he grabbed his sword and she kicked a knight that got too close to her. "Back to back, back to back, back to back, back to back. Hit 'em hard and hit 'em fast. They're too heavy to react."

          All the knights stood in front of the kids with their swords raised but Uma and Mal both used theirs to counter all of them. The vibrations were enough to stun them as Mal stood on the platform and her eyes turned bright green.

          "Suit of armor strong and true, make this metal bust a move!" she said as she started to sway her hips and all the knights copied her.

          When Mal got off the platform, Uma tried it and the knights copied her as well. Carlos tried it and got the same results. Pretty soon, instead of fighting, everybody was dancing. One knight even spun another into its arms when Carlos did the same with Ellie. Even Celia and Dude were enjoying it and Elli could only imagine how angry Audrey was.

          "Until the night falls, you can trust I'm gonna help you win this battle because I got your back, got your back, got your back, got your back. All for one and that's a fact. Nights fall, pitch black."

          All the knights dropped and everyone cheered. Even Harry and Jay took a moment to celebrate with each other and so did Carlos and Gil. Ellie wrapped her arms around Carlos' waist from behind and then nudged Hayes in the arm. "Great job," she said and Hayes just looked at her with a faint smile but looked away quickly.

          For once, they were a team and maybe it wasn't such a horrible idea.