Chapter Thirty Five

Bjorn's Last Stand

TALYA

Morning came a little too slowly. By the time first light broke the darkness, Talya felt like she was ready to drop at any moment. Her eyelids felt unbearably heavy, her injured shoulder wasn't bleeding but it was numb, her legs were aching badly, and her entire body felt drained and devoid of energy. Hair clumped together messily, and her skin felt sticky with sweat and grime. If anyone were to notice her, they would admit that she looked nothing like the queen they'd seen on her Coronation Day. And that was a massive understatement.

Her side felt incredibly sore from where she'd continually lifted her arm to fend off sorcerous attacks from whichever enemy sorcerers were aiding the Southern Isles soldiers in the city. The fighting had been fierce, and Talya had barely survived it. She had no idea how many of Bjorn's lieutenants she had defeated with her sorcery, and how many more regular soldiers she had frozen. The thought made her shudder.

"Almost there," Peggy told her. Her distant cousin had been by her side the entire night, fighting alongside her with insurmountable courage and strength. She'd been an unwavering pillar to Talya the whole time, and showed no sign of fatigue, though Talya was quite sure she was feeling even more exhausted.

Talya nodded, looking up. The duo were sitting at the back of a jeep which was driving slowly along the flanks of the Arendellian column, taking a breather from the fierce fighting they'd just been embroiled in less than an hour earlier. Jeeps and mobile columns had joined the infantry at around three in the morning, providing extra firepower against the enemy who had visibly weakened. Arendellian soldiers and Northuldra alike had succeeded in pushing back the Southern Isles away from the western border where the civilians were being marshalled to, and the combined forces had coordinated their attacks to steer the enemies to a single location for a final stand.

According to messengers' constant reports provided to her by General Oddvar who was in charge of coordinating the entire operation, the palace was secure, the hostages were being marshalled to the hills with the rest of the civilians, and all the Southern Isles soldiers who'd once been spread out throughout the city were now being systematically forced to retreat to the harbour to take up defensive positions.

The overnight battle of attrition had taken a heavy toll on everyone, though it had become clear now that the Southern Isles could no longer hold the city. With their back to the sea, they would have no choice but to surrender. Blood Mage or not, Bjorn couldn't possibly be mad enough to take on an entire field army by himself.

As the jeep rolled to the edge of the sloping road connected to the main bridge joining the harbour with the mainland, Talya and Peggy alighted near the front of the column where the Northuldra were providing a skirmishing screen while the rest of the army advanced slowly towards the sloping road leading to the bridge. She found General Oddvar on foot, staring at the harbour with a pair of binoculars.

"General Oddvar." Talya called out to him, her voice ragged and hoarse.

Oddvar lowered the binoculars, turned and ripped off a parade ground salute. "Your Majesty." He said in a warm but tired tone. "With all due respect, you shouldn't be here. It isn't safe."

"I'll be where my people need me to be." Talya told him firmly but tiredly. "Do you have any news about my brother?"

He shook his head. "Unfortunately, we haven't heard from him. I received orders from him to storm the palace and devote manpower to an evacuation effort, and I suspect he's out of the city by now, at the western border and helping the civilians."

"One can only hope." Talya agreed. Throughout the night, she had her creeping doubts. He hadn't answered his phone - or tablet for that matter - and it was beginning to worry her. Last she heard, Val was with Elsa, who had also gone missing in action. Could anything have changed since they'd parted ways?

She turned back to Peggy. "I don't like this. No one knows where Val is. Do you think he could've been captured?"

Peggy looked pensive. "I don't know. Elsa promised to get him safely out of the city."

"I have a bad feeling about all this." Talya muttered, then rounded on Oddvar. "What's the situation with the Southern Isles invaders now?"

"We have the last of them surrounded and cornered, Ma'am." Oddvar reported. "Our various companies and battalions have formed a tight arc around the harbour, trapping the invaders with their backs to the water. Second battalion just pushed the final section of invaders out of Trunley Street and towards the harbour. The smaller bridges are blocked, and here we are at the main bridge. They have nowhere else to run. We estimate that they have slightly more than a company, about two hundred men left." He paused. "Will you be planning to offer them terms of surrender?"

"Yes." Talya forced herself to say. There was so much more at stake here than Oddvar and the rest knew. She couldn't just let Bjorn surrender and be remanded into custody. He was still a threat, and would definitely return again at some point with a larger force. That wasn't even taking into account the fact that he was a Blood Mage with a whole legion of rogue mages at his disposal. But what can I do without having to kill him?

A young scout came running up the column from the skirmishing screen ahead, stopping in front of Oddvar. He noticed Talya standing there and bowed hastily, then snapped a salute to Oddvar.

"Sir, we have confirmation. The tribal warriors spotted the enemy general with his troops at the harbour."

Oddvar nodded. "Thank you, corporal." He turned back to Talya. "Shall I dispatch an emissary with your terms to the enemy?"

"No," Talya said. "Tell our army to stand down and be on standby. If this thing goes south, we'll have no choice but to hit them with everything we've got."

"But Ma'am," Oddvar protested. "I can't allow you to meet with the enemy. It's not safe."

"With all due respect, I'm not looking for permission, General." Talya said steely. She glanced out at the harbour, where she could see the figures in white and gold uniforms cornered and pressed together, hemmed in by the surrounding army.

"Ma'am, at least let me provide you an escort to stand in for the Valquerson Rifles."

"No," Talya waved a hand in dismissal. She couldn't explain it to him, but she didn't want to endanger anyone else. If she was going to confront Bjorn, she wouldn't be able to protect the soldiers and herself from his blood sorcery. "This is something I have to do myself. And that's final."

"As you wish, Ma'am." Oddvar looked uneasy but he didn't say anything else.

Peggy put her hand on Talya's uninjured arm. "I'm coming with you,"

Talya knew better than to argue with the headstrong spy. She nodded, and began to walk towards the harbour. An order was relayed throughout the entire army, and they halted the advance. Even the skirmishers pulled back, both Arendellians and Northuldra alike.

Peggy and Talya soon passed them by as the skirmishers fell back to the head of the column, which was at the top of the sloped road. From there, everyone would be able to see her confrontation with Bjorn on the bridge. Am I ready to reveal my secret to the world?

She sucked in a deep breath and pushed on as a lone figure began to leave the rest of the men at the harbour to intercept her. As they drew closer, Talya saw that it was indeed Bjorn, who was walking with a slight limp and looked unkempt. His bloodlust had visibly gotten worse, as his eyes were red and bloodshot, and veins could be seen standing out against his neck and face, throbbing slightly. It was a daunting sight, but she pushed on.

From the peripheral of her eye, she checked to see if Peggy was still by her side. She was. Inhaling another long breath, Talya drew herself up and steeled her expression as they closed the distance over the main bridge which connected the harbour to the mainland. Beneath them, the water had grown choppy as if foreshadowing a turbulent turn of events.

Bjorn was the first to stop, about twenty yards away from the two girls. Similarly, Talya and Peggy stopped at the centre of the bridge. The Blood Mage spread his hands, his gesture slightly lethargic.

"Well, here we are." He called out in a loud voice full of hate and malice. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? A final showdown for the entire world to see?"

Talya could feel her heart pounding in her chest, but she kept her features neutral. "It's over, Bjorn."

"No. No it isn't." Bjorn stood with his weight on his uninjured leg, drawing the attention of Peggy.

"How's your leg?" Peggy asked, almost nonchalantly. "It doesn't look good."

Bjorn stared at her. "I've killed men for less."

"General Bjorn." Talya mustered up her most formal tone. "We're here to discuss terms, are we not?"

He cocked his head curiously at her.

"You're surrounded and your forces are outnumbered." Talya declared. "Surrender now, and tell your men to lay down all their weapons. We will abide by the rules of civilised war established by our ancestors, and you will all be treated fairly as prisoners of war until we establish and conclude peace negotiations with King Ulrich the Seventh."

Bjorn snorted. "You're delusional."

"Excuse me?" Talya answered coolly.

"You're delusional, if you think we'll surrender." He went on. "We would rather die than allow ourselves to be humiliated as prisoners of war."

"Don't be a fool." Talya said, trying not to let her irritation show. "I know you don't value human lives like the rest of us do, but don't get your men killed for nothing. They may be our enemy, but they're still human."

"Do you think my brother will let me return empty handed?" Bjorn asked, and Talya picked up a hint of desperation in his voice. "Ulrich the Seventh does not tolerate failure of any degree. I - we - would rather die for the glory of the Southern Isles than to return to suffer at my brother's hand."

For a moment, Talya felt a pang of sympathy for the Blood Mage. She took on a slightly less harsh tone. "Please don't force us to do this."

A series of emotions flashed across Bjorn's face before it became a hardened mask again.

"Extremists." Peggy muttered to Talya. "I say we just blow them all to hell and be done with it."

"Funny you should mention that." Bjorn smirked. "I believe I have a counter offer for you."

"What are you talking about?" Talya asked. "You're in no place to be offering us terms."

"Oh, you'll think otherwise once you hear what I have to say."

"Which is?"

"Operation Røyk." Bjorn's smirk widened.

"Røyk." She echoed. Why did that foreign word sound so familiar?

"Yes." He removed a trigger from the pocket of his white and gold uniform, which was no longer immaculate, stained with dirt and blood. "From the very start, I knew I needed a contingency plan. Of course, I never planned on losing the city. After all, the Arendellians would never expect an invasion and the royals would be powerless to stop me." He shook his head regretfully. "I never thought I would have to resort to this."

"Don't." Talya felt a chill run down her spine as she whispered the word.

"The day we captured the city, I had bombs planted around key points of the kingdom." Bjorn went on in a loud voice. "In case we failed to secure the kingdom for the Southern Isles, we would destroy it." He tapped his boot against the stony ground of the spacious bridge. "Why do you think I chose this spot?"

Talya stiffened even more. "You wouldn't."

"I have a bomb placed right below this bridge, and with my blood sorcery, I can amplify the explosion to consume a good number of your precious Arendellian soldiers." He shrugged. "Sure, that would mean destroying my own forces and killing myself too, but it's a price we're willing to pay. Are you?"

"You bastard." Peggy growled.

"You left me no choice. Normally, I would never take innocent lives, but you forced my hand. If we can't have Arendelle, then no one else can." He hissed.

"What do you want?" Glaring at the general, Talya could feel tears threatening to dampen her eyes.

"To finish what I started." Bjorn snarled, jabbing a finger in Talya's direction. "To kill you. Not for being a threat to the Southern Isles' reign, but for buggering all my plans. You have no idea what you've done. All this work," he jabbed at their surroundings with his free hand. "All for nothing. A failure. This was my last chance to prove myself worthy to be called a brother of the King, and you had to screw it all up."

A vein bulged in his forehead menacingly, and Talya saw his face get redder. The bloodlust was clouding his sanity.

"No interference. Just you and me." Bjorn continued, breathing heavily. "I will beat you in combat, then drain the blood from your corpse."

Talya knew that taking on the Blood Mage in his furious state was suicide. She couldn't beat him. She saw that now. Both Peggy and herself had tried, and failed. Bjorn was too powerful in the dark arts for them to handle.

"You will face me. Otherwise, all the bombs will be detonated simultaneously, and there will be nothing left of the Arendellian legacy." In his madness, Bjorn drew himself up tall and lifted his chin. "That is the will of the great Ulrich the Seventh."

"No." A loud, familiar male voice thundered from afar. Horse hooves began to hammer against stone, getting louder by the second.

Turning round, Talya saw the Nokk galloping down the bridge towards them, coming from where the Arendellians and Northuldra were standing by. On the horse's back was Val and Elsa.

Author's Commentary:

Just a few more chapters till the end! Sounding like a broken record here, but don't worry, there's always my main series to check out which is set in this same world but in Anna and Elsa's prime. Do check them out and stay excited for the climax!