Chapter Twenty
The Forest Battle
TALYA
Bjorn's assassins are back. Talya scrabbled to the top of the slope and took off running towards the trees. The Northuldra, skilled as they might be, had no chance against evil sorcerers. She had to do something to help, and quick. But in her mind, fear suddenly seized her.
Back in the San Fransokyo Central Hospital, she'd lost control of her powers mid-fight, which had nearly cost her her life. If it hadn't been for Peggy's help, that sorcerer with the blades would've gutted her. Could she afford that kind of risk? She still needed to find the Snow Queen, otherwise all of this was for nothing.
Steeling herself, Talya hurtled forward, bashing through the trees. There was no time for caution. She'd brought this danger with her, and now the Northuldra were paying the price for it. No matter the risk, she couldn't let that happen. She just had to hope that her powers wouldn't fail her again.
Arriving at the edge of the village, Talya found five sorcerers closing in around a band of helpless villagers who were mostly made up of the women and children, for many of them were still back at the site of the crash. Hopefully the rest were hot on her heels.
Talya took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs. "Hey! Leave them alone!"
The assassins whirled round at the sound of her voice, and Talya got a good look at them. They were clad in camouflaged uniforms that supposedly helped them sneak up to the settlement unspotted. In fact, they even looked like soldiers, spotting the gold and white colours of the Southern Isles on their shoulders.
"Bjorn sent you?" Talya called out, inching closer towards them even as she tried to steady her breathing.
"General Bjorn." One of the assassins corrected her with a light accent.
"You're soldiers?" She asked, noticing the bars on their rank which marked them as junior officers. "Bjorn's lieutenants?"
"Proud to serve in His Majesty's grand army. And to serve our master and commanding officer." Another replied.
"Look," Talya said, coming to a stop about fifty feet from them. "You were sent here for me. Leave these people alone. They have no part in this."
"You're a new queen, and there is something you should understand," The first officer clasped his hands behind his back in the military style. "There are always casualties in war."
"I'm warning you," Talya mustered up as much ferocity as she could. "Leave them alone, or things will end very badly for you."
"And you too, I'm sure. General Bjorn holds you in such high regard. Did you think he would really just send us alone after you dispatched two of his squads?"
Talya's eyes flicked round as she heard footfalls around her. Soldiers wearing the same camouflaged uniforms emerged from behind the trees and droped from the thick branches above, surrounding her and leaving the rest of the villagers alone. Inwardly, a small part of her heaved a small sigh of relief that the Northuldra weren't being targeted, but a larger part of her fretted for her own survival as her heart rate began to soar. With at least thirty soldiers targeting her, there were too many of them for her to handle alone.
The first lieutenant who'd spoken to her smirked. "Where is the Prince?"
Talya stared back at him defiantly, holding back her sorcery as long as she could, feeling it thrashing and clawing to be released like a wild beast. Let it build up momentum first.
"Where is Prince Valloken?"
"Safe." Truthfully, she didn't know. She hoped he had enough sense to stay near the plane along with Peggy.
A look of annoyance crossed the sorcerer's face before it was masked quickly by an air of nonchalance. "No matter. We will kill you first, and then we will comb this forest for the Prince and kill him too. And then perhaps, we will turn our attention to these villagers."
A loud gunshot rang throughout the air, echoing across the afternoon sky. One of the lieutenants in front of Talya fell, and the other four immediately assumed a defensive stance, raising their weapons. Talya chanced a quick glance over her shoulder and a smile broke across her face. Help had arrived.
Charging Northuldra poured from the trees, attacking the soldiers from behind. Others slammed into their flank, brandishing their own staves and pistols. Gunfire began to erupt from both the Southern Isles soldiers, and also from the Northuldra. Some of the Northuldra men and women who had been working on the plane broke past the enemies and swooped in to defend the rest of the villagers. The lieutenants themselves had begun to unleash their sorcerous abilities, trying to turn the tide of the battle in their favour.
The rat-tat-tat of gunfire was merged periodically with screams of combatants from both sides. The trespassers, however, seemed to be bearing the brunt of the punishment. It was as the history books said; the Northuldra were one of the best guerrilla fighters on the continent. Their tree-to-tree tactics and pairing system might have been from another century, but they were undisputedly effective. All around, Northuldra darted from cover to cover, all the while closing in and forcing the enemies further into the village where they were being sandwiched between the tribal warriors on the exterior, and the ones protecting their home in the centre of the village.
But the Southern Isles soldiers were no slobs either. They put up a fierce firefight, coupled together with the sorcery of their lieutenants, they were able to keep the Northuldra at bay, though surrounded.
Talya watched as a squad of soldiers, led by one of the sorcerous lieutenants near her seemed to be getting the upper hand, and she unleashed the sorcery she'd been holding back. The entire ground within a ten meter radius became a platform of solid ice, and many of the enemy soldiers slipped. Spikes of ice began to emerge from the ground, causing the remainder of the squad to break formation and allow the Northuldra to overwhelm them.
Someone clobbered her head from behind, and her vision went spotty. Dropping to a knee, she felt a pistol pressed to the back of her head.
"Finish her."
She recognised the voice of the first lieutenant, and scurried out of the way quicker than the man could react, ignoring the pain that clouded her thoughts. Spinning round, she attempted to summon her ice and in the same moment, she shot a hand out towards the soldier and his officer. Nothing happened.
"Damn it." She cursed as she scrambled for cover. But the nearest rock or tree was too far. She would never make it.
The shot went wide, and along with it came the grunts and shouts of the man and his officer. Talya turned round to see that Peggy had arrived, and were engaging both enemies at the same time in deadly efficient hand to hand combat. The common soldier went down first, but the lieutenant was still standing.
He threw a ball of energy at Peggy, who expertly dove out of the way, rolling to her feet. The sorcery that'd missed her vaporised two of the soldiers directly behind her, and their bones crumbled to dust. The light from the aura could still be seen fading away from where it'd impacted the unfortunate men.
"This was not your fight." The sorcerer growled, hurling another ball of deadly sorcerous energy at Peggy, who again swung herself to safety.
This time, the blast of sorcery took out an entire tree, and it vanished as if it'd been uprooted. Peggy darted towards him, and delivered a running knee that he could not block. In spite of his sorcery-enhanced speed, he seemed to be no match for Peggy's, who immediately struck his sternum, grabbed his arm as he doubled over and hoisted him over her shoulder riding on his own momentum. The man landed heavily on his back, but before he could get up, Peggy slammed her knee into his spine and held him in a choke hold.
"Tell your men to back off." Peggy hissed into his ear. "Now."
"Never. For the glory of the Southern Isles, we will never surrender." The lieutenant growled, unsheathing a knife from his belt and slicing Peggy's arm. Nursing her injured forearm, she grunted and back-pedalled, giving the lieutenant space to whirl round and advance towards her.
He didn't seem to notice Talya anymore, who was conveniently on his flank. It was just as well. With all her willpower, Talya forced her sorcery to flow through her, and hit the lieutenant with a barrage of ice so powerful that he struck a tree and fell to the ground in a heap, covered in ice and out cold.
Talya ran over to Peggy. "Are you alright?"
Peggy grimaced, tearing off a piece of fabric from a nearby fallen Northuldra, and wrapped it around her injured forearm. "I'll live. Sorry I'm late to the fight."
"No, no, you're just in time." Talya rubbed the back of her head where the pain was beginning to clear. But that would definitely leave a bump in the morning. Trying to push aside the pain, she glanced around at the battle to gauge their situation.
The fight was still going fierce, but it was evident that the home team advantage came into play here. The Northuldra were pushing hard against the Southern Isles soldiers, and the enemies were beginning to flag and show signs of fatigue. The winner was clear, but giving their unwillingness to surrender, the enemy would take a whole lot more Northuldra with them before they capitulated.
"We need to find the other officers." Talya said. "Make them see reason and order a retreat."
"I've tried this lieutenant, and another before this." Peggy grimaced, firing her pistol with relative ease at one of the soldiers about forty yards away. It hit him square in the chest and he toppled like a sack of potatoes. "They'd rather die before surrendering."
"Damn it." Talya stared at the battlefield. She couldn't spot any of the sorcery-enhanced officers. Maybe they'd already gone down and their men were just fighting for their honour. "Where's Val?"
"I left him with the plane and a couple of the mechanics." Peggy shot another soldier at point blank, and then reloaded her weapon.
"He's safe?"
"He's safe. I'm sure."
"You sure?" From the peripheral of her eye, Talya saw a familiar figure approaching the battle-laden village. Men from both sides of the conflict were sprawled across the soil and rocks leading up to the village, but Val was coming all right, but with something in his hand.
Peggy balked. "Shit."
"Val, you idiot." Talya gritted her teeth. From this far, she couldn't protect her brother who was all the way on the other side of the battlefield. And she certainly couldn't make it to him in time. With all the power she had within her, she now felt…powerless.
But Val seemed to be ignored for the most part, and he weaved in and out, somehow able to avoid getting caught up in the conflict. He manoeuvred closer to the centre, his lithe figure coming to a stop just behind a rock which gave him cover. From where Talya and Peggy were, they could see him more clearly from the side and as usual, as Val crouched behind the rock, he adjusted his spectacles nervously before looking down at whatever he had brought into the war zone.
"What's he planning to do? He has no gun!" Talya hissed, the two of them taking cover behind one of the trees as gunfire pelted and zipped all around them. She noticed Val meddling with the item in his hand. "What's that in his hand?"
Peggy produced a mini binoculars from her belt, and levelled it to her eye. Her mouth formed into a smirk. "EMP."
Talya blinked. "What?"
Val emerged from behind the rock and hurled it as high as he could towards the thick of where the fight was happening. A surge of energy pulsated from the device, and a sound wave reverberated through the forest, shaking up everything within range. It stunned everyone for a second, but then they went back to the fight. However, something was different now. There was confusion among the enemies.
Slowly but surely, they began to turn back one by one, retreating from the fight, slinking back into the forest from where they'd come from. Within minutes, the forest belonged to the Northuldra again.
"What? What happened?" Talya asked, perplexed.
"Val knew the EMP would disrupt the enemies' communications." Peggy explained, the smirk still on her face. "Take out an army's communications, you blind them. Without coordination, it's as good as every man for himself."
"But the Northuldra-"
"He must have known that the Northuldra were relying on their more traditional guerrilla tactics which would give them an upper hand over their uncoordinated enemies. It's really good strategy." Peggy nodded in approval as Val came over to them. "Now I'm really impressed."
"I had to come up with something." Val shrugged, dusting the dirt off his shirt. "Since obviously I don't have a weapon," He turned to Talya. "Or sorcery."
"Your little trick saved many lives." Talya said in awe. "You don't need powers. You're a damn genius."
He seemed awkward all of a sudden, avoiding eye contact with her. "We should find Aslak."
"Good idea." Talya said, spotting the elderly man on the other side of the battlefield where many bodies had been strewn everywhere.
Manoeuvring over to the chieftain, Talya was relieved to find him unharmed. Yet, he held a pistol in one hand, blood up, and looking ten years younger than he had just half an hour ago.
"Are you alright?" Peggy asked him, coming up together with Val.
"Yes, yes." Aslak glanced at them, gratitude clear on his features. He bowed. "Thanks to you three, our people were spared further bloodshed."
"No, I'm sorry." Talya apologised. "Bjorn's men were here for us. But the Northuldra got caught in the crossfire."
Val nodded. "I know you didn't want your people to engage in battle again. For that, I'm sorry. We are sorry."
"Nonsense." Aslak waved his hand. "Your intervention saved us. If it weren't for you lot, we would have been burnt to the ground." He glanced over at Val. "Still don't believe in destiny?"
It must have been something her brother and the chieftain had been discussing, for they seemed to both connect over that. Talya cleared her throat.
"How can we help?" She asked.
"No, you've done more than enough here." Aslak gave her a tight smile, then looked back at the scene of chaos before him. "I thank all of you. But it is time for you to continue on your journey. Find the Snow Queen. I hope she will agree to help you."
"I hope so too." Talya agreed, curtseying ever so slightly. "Thank you, Aslak. We will meet again, I hope." With that, she turned and led the way back to the plane which stood in the clearing.
Arriving there, they were greeted by a couple of the mechanics who'd been left behind to guard the plane. It was definitely not as good as new, but it was a hell of a lot better than the state it'd been in a few days ago.
"If you'd told me that we'll be flying again a couple of days after we crash landed, I'd have thought you were crazy." Peggy stated, examining the plane and running a hand over it.
"No kidding," Val said. "I could learn a thing or two from these people."
"You'll have plenty of time for that when we're rid of Bjorn and his invaders." Talya walked up to the door of the plane and opened it. "For now, we've got a Snow Queen to find."