"Essentially, it's able to keep them preserved for quite a few weeks at least, more than enough time for army. Should help with supply and all, especially with the bad terrain coming up." Logan said.
"Scouts are already on their way to look ahead and keep us informed." Mickey explained. "They're fairly well sized so they can be able to quickly hold off whatever Frollo sends for a bit until they can escape back to us."
Emma nodded, "Good to know. Any trouble traveling upriver, King Triton?", and King Triton replied, "My soldiers took a bit of time getting acclimated to the freshwater as we came in from the east into the Pridelands to the valley here, but nothing major of trouble as of yet. I suspect there would be patrols of Frollo's goons and troops on both land and river paths up ahead in the mountains, which I agree with King Mickey of.".
"Still, if I was Frollo, I would think it's better to hunker down and keep the armies close to his fortress... he knows he doesn't have the advantage with his forces in a one-to-one fight with us.", Jason pointed out.
"Good point, we'll certainly know for sure in the next few days.", Mulan nodded. "Adam, I take it your mirror still won't be much help here?".
Adam sighed heavily, "I can't get close enough to the fortress with the triple layered dark magic shields, but there's still a viable place where it's not close yet not far from the fortress...Sarip.".
A breath of dismay escaped Mulan, as Captain Phoebus entered the tent, and a sigh of weary acceptance escaped him, closing his eyes in pain, "Sarip has been burned down to pieces, thanks to Frollo, but the buildings...It's a ghost town...".
"Not really surprising considering where it is...", Pippa sighed. "Edge of any sort of help and pretty much on the frontline of any dark forces from the start... Usually border towns are always the ones to suffer the most at times.".
Captain Phoebus opened his eyes and looked at her, "Frollo had burned Sarip almost five years ago, the first day when the war began...yet with dark magic, he kept it intact with the buildings still standing...I can still remember the screams and the smell of dying people...Only I, my friends, and scarcely 30 other people had escaped...", a half-choked sob building in his throat, remembering Quasi and Clopin's devastated faces when they realized that they lost Esmeralda.
A firm, soft hand and a gentle voice were instantly there at Phoebus's side, "Breathe, Phoebus, breathe. It's okay, darling, I'm here.", revealing the other co-captain, Helga Sinclair, the wife of Phoebus.
"We'll make him pay for that, Phoebus.", Logan told him. "Frollo won't escape justice, even after all this time.".
"I hope you're right...", Phoebus admitted. It wouldn't heal the pain of what was lost, but at least Frollo hopefully would finally be brought to his knees about his horrific crimes with his own demise.
Mickey sighed heavily, "Indeed. Hello, Captains Phoebus and Helga. Is the Narnian army settled for now?". Helga responded, "They're good, your majesty, just waiting for the moment they will set out to start the march.".
Mulan, being general of the Narnian army, nodded, "Great...The land path looks like it's wide enough to hold three rows of people and such. 15,000 people total of all the armies...That won't be easy...8 hours of walking per day with breaks of resting and eating. Good thing it's summertime, more hours of sunlight...".
"The downside to that is the heat though... it can be a killer of armies as history we know can show.", Emma pointed out.
"It should be at least cooler in the mountains and all where we're going. That'll help.", Phoebus explained. "And in terms of the paths, we thankfully can have griffins flying to make sure that we're not about to get hit by a rockslide or avalanche; Frollo, I'm sure, would try something like that.".
King Frederick then asked, "So, should we stay for the morning, to wait for the scouts to come back, and then start the march at noon?".
Emma shrugged, "Well, if we use the morning to cook up jerky and essentially trail food, we would be covered on that aspect, but we don't know how long the scouts would take...Heck, they would be for an hour, and then come back with the reports...".
"Or not come back at all.", Zuri muttered under her breath with the worst case there. "Well, it's up to you, King Mickey, you're in overall command of this vast army.", Fredrick turned to him.
Mickey looks thoughtful for a few moments before speaking, "We will rest, cook, and wait for an hour more before setting out. Is that acceptable, my comrades?".
King Daniel nodded, "That's fair to me.", with Queen Kida smiling, "Our Martags and Ketaks would come in that hour if I have Haku's assistance with his fire gift of sending a message to Milo.".
Haku nodded, "I can do that, your majesty.", and Lord Arthur replied, "A hour is excellent for me.", with the others nodding in agreement.
"Better enjoy the rest then, we're not going to get much from now on.", John chuckled in a lighthearted manner as everyone started to break off around the gathering point; making the most in terms of rest with the time they had, which was really good for Emma since she was still pretty drained from her actions.
John kissed her temple as he picked her up again, heading to the shade of a tree, resting against the trunk, holding her in his arms as she half laid across him, "Take a nap, luv. You'll be refreshed as new once the hour is over.".
Emma smiled softly, kissing him on the lips, "Thank you, John.", before resting her head on his shoulder, falling asleep almost immediately, and John smiled, adjusting his hat to cover his eyes as he laid back, and fell asleep to the sound of Emma's soft breathing, and the quiet buzz of camp in the distance.
Sure enough, when the hour was over, after waking up from their nap, Emma is refreshed as new, ready for the march, for the first day, anyway, knowing that they will camp for the night.
"Nervous?", Logan asked as he looked over to Emma. "A bit... worried that we might get jumped at any moment; especially since we're the ones on the offensive here.", she told him as they marched nearby with much of the troops.
Logan nodded, "Especially with the land path only wide by three rows...Not easily defended here with the mountains around us...Still, it's only the first day, I think Frollo wouldn't have patrols this far out from his fortress.".
Emma hummed, "True, but we have Griffins, Ketaks, Martags to cover us if needed.", seeing the flying Ketaks and Martags, with Griffins at front, glad that Haku's fire message caught Milo's attention and sent the Ketaks and Martags with more soldiers and archers on them, adding more to the total number of people now.
Logan grinned, "True, but they're keeping them on low and slow. They ain't looking to risk energy in high levels until something happens.", remembering what Queen Kida has told them.
"I'm just hoping that we'll have no activity until we're finally there...", Emma bit her lip as the columns kept up the march.
Logan shrugged, "Hard to say. But yeah, I hope so, too...", giving her a reassuring smile, and Emma nodded gratefully, hearing the support there.
Much to the United Talons' relief, the first day went well, with a couple of slips and falls due to some spots of mud, and camped out with dark tents-tipis, with a hole for smoke so nobody could see the fires for a long way on the path, with the Martags and Ketaks shut down for the night in a small clearing near the path, with the Griffins on night watch on the cliffs and trees.
The next two days went fairly well, with King Triton on the river path when the land path interconnected with it, reporting that there were sightings of strange bird-like creatures when they landed for water and fish, with King Triton and his army hiding deeply in the depths of the river and in beaver dams and such.
Then the fourth day changed for they were only a day from Sarip, and the path became narrower, and higher for it was now a pass path through two mountains.
"Anything?", Mickey asked as the scouts came. "Griffins see nothing out of the ordinary for now... the pass appears to be clear...", the lead scout reported. "But you can't be certain?", Mickey frowned with a raised eyebrow.
The lead scout sighed, "I can't promise that it will be easy in the open like that, with the two mountains clearly able to hide our enemies, my king, but cutting through the pass is faster than using one of the longer paths with the harder combination of a wild forest environment and less time of sunlight.".
Mickey nodded, "I can see your point there. What do you say, Lady Emma?", glancing at Emma.
"Either way is putting this army at risk... Frollo's best chance would be to pick off as many as possible before we reach him.", Emma shook her head. "I think... I think it would be better for us to take the quicker route. The forest would make a mess of this army...".
Mickey glanced back at the massive army behind them, resting and waiting for a few miles, and knew that not even the Griffins or the Ketaks and Martags would fit in a forest easily, and with the horses even underneath them, they can spook easier in case if there was a strong wind or something...
Mickey takes a deep breath, and glances at his other comrades, "Frederick, Daniel, Kida, Arthur, Timon and Pumbaa, what say you?".
"I say the army would rather take it... the sooner we end this, the better.", Frederick nodded. "I'm with Emma, right down the middle.", Daniel added as the other four nodded in agreement.
"Then through the pass it is.", Mickey said. The march restarted once again, through the pass, with horse riders and Centaurs here and there at either side, and the archers on the Ketaks and Martags on full alert, with Griffins high in the air.
For ten minutes, it was tense yet quiet, and then suddenly, just as the middle of the army was between the mountains, they attacked; Harpies, werewolves, and white tigers, and Minoboars. Swarming from both mountains in troves, perhaps 2-3,000.
"Incoming!", Mickey shouted as the army quickly tried to respond to the ambush. Immediately, the sounds of various battles were ensued between the army and the hordes, blood decorating the grass as swords, staves, knives, sharp-edged shields clashed in the dim sunlight as the sun was covered behind summery clouds.
Roars and bellows pierced the air as growls and screeches accompanied them alongside, mixing with shouts, screams, yells, and cries of several humans, Centaurs, shapeshifters, and such.
High on Khan, fighting with a sword, Mulan fought valiantly, landing hits and such on the enemies as Khan rushed through, neighing and rearing, kicking with his hooves here and there as Mulan held on.
All of a sudden, as Mulan was fighting with a Minoboar, she was taken straight off Khan in a tackle, and she saw the attacker, seeing a huge black werewolf with piercing gold eyes, snarling and growling at her. It was Shan-Yu, the leader of the werewolves, and he saw the insignia of General on her armor and decided to attack her.
Mulan fought back, but without Khan as extra height, the werewolf was too huge for her to take on, but she managed in scoring cuts and injuries while the werewolf fought back with its teeth and claws, piercing through the armor here and there.
Growing frustrated and angry, the werewolf became fiercer and more dangerous, slashing at her, and Mulan dodged, fighting back yet again, and just as Mulan was finding a weakness, the werewolf then jumped at her and slashed at her, piercing the armor on her chest and belly.
At the same time, Mulan impaled the werewolf through the heart with the sword, killing him on the spot, yet when she realized that it was over, she felt a pain, a pain she never felt before, tears falling, screaming as she collapsed, clutching the armor over her belly, realizing that the final slash was deep to cause a wound.
She experienced wounds before, thanks to being General and all, but this wound, it feels different, for something is wrong...
"General!", one of Mulan's troops ran to her. "We need a healer here!", the young man shouted as the battle continued to be a fever pitch. The allied forces were holding Frollo's forces back, but they couldn't press much of an advantage with their equipment and training. Logan himself finished off another creature before he caught Mulan in his eyesight.
"Mulan!", Logan shouted before decapitating another monster that got too close to him as he started to sprint towards her.
Mulan sobbed, seeing one of her troops, and Logan coming, and she thought of Jason, not knowing where he is, and Logan reached her, "Mulan!".
Mulan looked at Logan, "Something's wrong, Logan! I want Jason!", tears falling as she clenched in pain. Logan nodded in determination, "I'll find him, Mulan, but hold on. You, get Mulan on my back.", shifting into his dragon form.
The troop, horrified and scared to see his General in pain, gently picked Mulan up, and put her on Logan's back, and Mulan managed to hold on by the necklace of his amulet, and Logan flapped, flew up out of the battle, heading to the healer group which is easily spotted by their white and light blue robes.
He landed, with a healer already at his side, picking up Mulan, and shifted for a moment, "Take care of her!", before shifting back to dragon form, and flapped back, searching for Jason.
"What happened?", Jason asked her as Mulan clutched her belly. "I don't know... I took a slash, but I think...", she shook her head. "I've had wounds like this before, but this one feel really different for some reason..." She grimaced as she tightened the grip that she had on her wound to keep pressure on it.
Jason was so scared to see Mulan like this as he literally rode as fast as he could, on Buck when Logan told him that Mulan got injured, and now, in the healers' tent, holding Mulan's other hand, caressing her hair, "Breathe, Mulan.", as one of the magical healers came over.
The healers have taken off her armor in the process when she was being taken into the tent, and now the magical healer sat down, "Permission to check you, General?".
Mulan nodded in pain, "Yes!", and the magical healer's hands glowed as Mulan's hand moved back, and laid on the wound, healing it as his eyes glowed, and he paled bone white as he saw what's underneath the wound.
Jason looked at him, "What's wrong with Mulan?", and the man's eyes dimmed back to normal, looking at him and then Mulan, "I'm so sorry...You were carrying twins...One of them is dead, thanks to the cord being cut, thanks to the claw slash by that werewolf...You are going to have to...push it out...in order to let the other baby live and grow without infection...".
To Jason and Mulan... it felt like a weight had crushed them instantly upon hearing that news. Mulan started to tear up at the thought that she not only had been carrying but had lost one of them... and might lose the other one too if not taken care of.
"I'm so sorry...", Jason sobbed as he leaned against her; his guilt at an all-time high as he thought he could've saved her, saved their children.
Mulan sniffled, "It wasn't your fault...It was my fault for coming along...How was I supposed to know that I was pregnant?", with a sob, rubbing her belly before remembering what the healer said, with tears falling, looked at the healer, "I'm sorry, but I want Haku...".
The magical healer nodded somberly, understanding why she would trust Haku than a stranger healer in a situation like this, and left them to find Haku, and within a minute, Haku came from another section of the tent, looking horrified, "I am so damn sorry...Jason, remove her undergarments...", taking a blanket with weary hands.
Jason, with tears, nodded, kissing Mulan on the temple as Haku draped the blanket over Mulan's knees, and Jason removed her undergarments. Mulan, with sobs, pushed long and hard, and under a minute, Haku sat up with sad eyes, holding a three-week-old baby in his hand, small as a spoonful of poppy seeds.
Haku breathed shakily, "At least he knew love.", handing over the small baby to Mulan's hand as he checked the belly, and gave a shaky sigh of relief as he saw that the other baby is alive, attached to the uterine wall with its cord, unknowing the fate of its sibling, with the womb healed, no infection anywhere from the slash wound.
"Thank you... Haku...", Mulan sobbed as Jason looked to him. "I wish I could've done more...", Haku said as Jason nodded.
"I know you would've tried to move heaven and earth for us to try and give the other one a chance, Haku. Thank you.", Jason tried to stifle back his tears for the young life that was lost before it was barely starting to begin.
