Chapter Ten- Sacrifice
Greay flew over the invading ships, where the blast of hundreds of cannons from fifteen ships became a constant, deafening roar. His presence alarmed the soldiers onboard, who promptly began to fire muskets and crossbows at him. Flight, however, put him at a farther range than their weapons had. He managed to grab a few musket balls and arrows, and embedded them deeply into their respective ships with a hard toss. Greay shot downward toward a group of ships in line, accelerating quickly as he braced for impact. He slammed through the ships like a knife through butter, puncturing his way through all the ships, effectively crippling them. If they moved, or fired cannons, it would capsize. Other ships, seeing the distress of the other ships, began to focus cannons upon Greay, and he was flying all over the place trying to dodge.
Elsa rushed back into the city, urging citizens to retreat to the castle for their protection. Naval bombardment devastated the city, houses and building reduced to rubble in an instant, debris making being outdoors a hazardous act. The guardsman and soldiers rushed to their ships and to the outer wall of the city, where cannons were employed to return fire upon the ships. The invading force was identified to have originated in the Southern Isles, made clear when the ships dropped their smaller life rafts to move the invading soldiers, and Prince Hans was seen amongst their officers, at the head of the invading force. Elsa raised a hand, freezing out a massive wall of ice to stop the advance. The ships focused cannon fire into its center, and soon, the wall crumbled. Arendellian soldiers massed on the shore, and Elsa summoned up Marshmallow at the front of the line, waiting for the inevitable landing of the army of the Southern Isles. Elsa looked up to see a flaming streak over the ships, dodging cannon balls, and other smaller projectiles she couldn't see. She hoped Greay would be okay, but something in her told that he might not make it. A cannon rang out, and the flaming streak plummeted into the ocean.
Greay was trying to dodge too many things at once. He never noticed the shot coming until the cannonball slammed into his chest, and he could hear his ribs breaking. Winded and dazed, he lost focus and plummeted to the ocean floor. At his height, hitting the ocean felt like he had fell off a cliff into a pile of rocks. Wracked with pain, he sunk into the ocean. He noticed blood and crystal fragments floating over him. The ring was broken. Destroyed. This was it, he would die. He sank deeper, staring out at the light reflecting through the ocean. And he thought of how his whole life had been searching for purpose, for belonging. Like the light in the ocean, his life was scattered, pointless, serving no purpose. But the light didn't need destination, didn't need purpose. It was the fact that it was scattered that made it so beautiful. The light followed the water, seeking the darkness to fill it. Purpose. To find something empty and to fill it. That was it, the purpose to his life, to all life. To fill the emptiness within every soul. But how could he fill anything when he was so empty? This question filled his mind as the darkness began to envelop him. Cold surrounded him, and he began to rise to the surface, light spilling over him before his eyes closed for what he thought was the last time.