Chapter Two
Train Heist
ELSA
The cold winter breeze blew her platinum blonde hair in her face, and Elsa pushed it out of her face, squinting to see as clearly as she could with the sun in her eyes. The mountain she was standing on was rather tall, and quite far from the railway tracks which passed through the range. The entire landscape was thickly blanketed in pure white, as it had just snowed heavily the night before. Thankfully it wasn't snowing now, otherwise their mission would be a whole lot more difficult.
It was extremely cold, but not that it mattered to Elsa, who was dressed simply in a dark blue top, pants, boots and a lightweight jacket. It did however, matter to her friends.
"I-is-is it coming y-yet?" Tracy managed to say between the chattering of her teeth.
"Should be anytime now." Melody fished out a rugged but functional looking pocket watch from her winter jacket and checked it. "Ten o'clock, right?"
Elsa nodded. "Jade and Deirdre are already on the train blending in together with the rest of the civilians, just like we planned."
Three months had passed since the Sixth Pilgrim had been dethroned and Elsa had been involuntarily named the new leader of the League of Sorcerers. Things had been difficult, as training the League to work together with the Warriors had proven to be an immense challenge…and an absolute headache to coordinate. It's been like getting a lion to cooperate with a bull - or something like that. Elsa couldn't think of a better analogy with the anxiety nipping away at her. When did this become the new normal?
All she knew was that it had not been easy, but missions had become slightly less difficult to coordinate due to the help of one of the young teenage sorcerers, Florie, who could link their minds telepathically. It certainly made it easier to communicate at long distances, since they usually split themselves into teams to accomplish separate tasks, such as the mission they were undertaking now.
Elsa had told Jade and Deirdre to blend in with the civilians on the train, which was secretly carrying weapons and firepower for the Molcorran army. Word was that the terrorist organization known as the Warmongers was planning to hijack that very train which was headed for Molcorra, to gather supplies for their radical cause.
Jade and Deirdre would help to protect the civilians when the terrorists made their entrance as well as study their enemies, while Elsa and the rest would board the train from the mountain they were waiting on to catch the terrorists by surprise and stop them. Thwarting the Warmongers that way worked absolutely fine in theory, but if Elsa knew anything from her time with the Warriors, it was that the plan almost always went off the rails. Invariably.
"Relax." Maui said, as if having read her mind. "It's going to work out fine."
"I hope so." Elsa wiped her sweaty palms on her jacket. The anxiety was making her hands and feet clammy, though there was nothing she could do about it. It made her feel increasingly uncomfortable.
"We've been doing this for a while now," Melody said confidently. "I like to think we're more than experienced enough to handle a simple operation like this."
"Piece of c-cake." Tracy added. "C-come on, we've already s-s-stopped Kane, the Pilgrim, and a-a few other c-criminals, and it's been wwhat? Slightly less t-than a y-year? We're kinda on a r-r-roll."
"Okay, okay, you're right," Elsa held up her hands in defeat. "And having the League work together with us has helped a lot. But this isn't the only thing I'm worried about."
"What then?"
"Ten o'clock is cutting it a little close," Elsa said. "There's still the annual Confederation of the North Summit I need to attend. That's in fifteen minutes. Fifteen. I can't afford to miss my first appearance as Queen at that summit. It's not going to give the Confederate representatives a very good impression of Arendelle if I turn up late."
"Nah, t-this will be o-o-over pretty quick." Tracy waved away her concern with a shivering hand. "No s-sweat. I'll t-teleport you there t-t-the moment we're d-d-d-done here."
"Besides, Anna is already at the summit holding down the fort for you, right?" Melody reminded Elsa. "I think she's pretty decent with handling politics when she needs to be."
Elsa took a deep breath. "Right."
"Come on, Elsa, quit worrying. Are you the Snow Queen? Or the Anxiety Queen?" Maui asked obnoxiously.
Elsa gave him a vexed look. "Alright, fine. Let's just get ready."
"Eyes front." Melody said. "Train's coming."
Tracy pointed to the left. "And s-so are t-t-the Warmongers." Against the white landscape, it was rather easy to spot the group of men on horseback racing towards the side of the train, which had just emerged from a tunnel.
"Jade, Deirdre," Elsa said urgently, even though they weren't present. "They're incoming. Are you ready?"
"Don't sweat it, Frost." Jade replied through Florie's telepathic link that joined their minds.
"We're ready." Deirdre added.
"Good, good." Elsa heaved a sigh of relief. "Stick to the plan, and hopefully this will be over soon."
"Hey," Maui placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry. We've all already been through at least a dozen missions together."
"L-like the woman s-s-said," Tracy said through chattering teeth. "Don't s-ssweat it. We're all p-pros by n-now."
Melody gave Elsa a reassuring nod. "We got this."
"Okay." Elsa didn't know why she was still having the jitters. Like Maui had said, they'd all been on so many missions together. Why then was she still so worried? Maybe it was the stress from having responsibilities in both running a kingdom and being a senior member of the team. They'd pretty much combined the Warriors and the League together and she felt like it was her responsibility to look out for the fresher members.
"We gotta go now." Melody's voice pulled Elsa from her thoughts.
Maui grinned. "Got all your stuff?"
Melody gripped her recurve bow tightly and checked the quiver on her back. "Yup."
"Let's go." In a blinding flash of light, Maui shape-shifted into a giant brown hawk and flapped his wings, creating a gust of wind that blew everyone's hair in their own faces. He levitated off the ground, wings flapping steadily and talons extended.
Melody grabbed on to one of his legs with her free hand, and Elsa held on tightly to the other leg. Maui lifted off and away from the mountain, soaring towards the train which was moving through the mountain range.
"Look!" Elsa said and Melody looked down. "They're on the train."
The Warmongers had brought their horses parallel to the path of the train, and had managed to climb aboard the train, leaving their mounts behind. It was evident that they intended to commandeer the train which was packed full with civilians, just so that they could get their hands on the weapons and ammunition.
"Maui, get us closer!" Melody called out with a loud voice.
The hawk responded with a loud squawk and dove lower towards the train. Three Warmongers were now balanced carefully on the top of the last train carriage, with some already climbing down through the windows into the carriage, and had no clue that they were about to encounter some fierce opposition.
"You ready?" Elsa turned to Melody who was checking to make sure her quiver full of arrows were still intact. They were now hovering steadily, far above the second carriage of the train.
"Yeah," Melody turned to her. "Are you?"
"Nope."
"Great, let's go."
Melody let go of Maui, and Elsa followed suit, The former immediately reached out to Elsa, who took her hand, and put an arm firmly around Melody's shoulder as they both dive-bombed towards the train. Closer, Elsa gritted her teeth as her hair flew wildly and she gripped Melody's shoulder tighter. Closer still…
Then, Melody nocked an arrow in free fall, and shot it. A parachute deployed above their heads and they glided steadily towards the train which was now moving faster than they were. Slowly, the train crept past till they were directly above the last carriage where the Warmongers were. Melody released the parachute and they both dropped.
Estimating where she would land, Elsa froze the roofing. The roofing iced over and became brittle. The moment she landed on that spot, the frozen roof gave way beneath her feet and crumbled, leaving a hole large enough for Elsa to drop through without stopping. She landed in the last carriage of the train before the three Warmongers above her could react.
"Jade, Deirdre, what's going on?" She said through the mind link, moving away from the hole in the roof.
"Five men are holding the people hostage in our carriage. The goods they're after are in the first." Jade replied in a low voice.
"Okay, hold on," Elsa briskly walked through the carriage which was empty apart from the baggages. "I'm coming."
MELODY
Up on top of the train, Melody found her footing on top of the last carriage, steadying herself. The three Warmongers on the roof were startled to see two girls abruptly dropping out of the sky, and had been too slow to react. Elsa had already crashed through the roofing and into the carriage, leaving the three terrorists for Melody to handle. Piece of cake.
One of the men reached for his pistol. Gripping her bow, Melody quickly nocked an arrow and shot it, sending the pistol flying out of his hand and plummeting into a deep ravine below.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Melody said as the two other terrorists reached for their own weapons. "The train's a little shaky. You might end up with an arrow through your palm instead."
"Fine then," one of the terrorists growled. "We'll kill you with our bare hands." He walked cautiously across the top of the carriage, careful not to lose his footing on the fast moving train.
Melody studied him and the other two. The Warmongers were dressed in black with balaclavas to conceal their identities, and wore long sleeve shirts with bandoliers, cargo pants with belt holsters and combat boots. Some of these items looked like they were military issue, but somehow these terrorists had gotten their hands on them. And they were here on this train looking for more.
Melody slung the bow over her shoulder, leaving both hands free. She had already tied her hair into a bun before all the action started, anticipating that things would get wild on this mission. The first man came towards her, and she faded to the side as he threw a textbook punch. She stepped near the edge of the roofing, but moved inward quickly, regaining her balance. The width of the train was narrow, making it hard to manoeuvre in a fight.
The man lunged at her and she dropped low. She swept his legs out from underneath him with a sweep kick and he lost his balance. He quickly grabbed the side of the train as he went over the edge, struggling to maintain his hold on the edge which was the only thing keeping him from flying off the fast moving train.
The other two Warmongers advanced as quickly as they could manage safely, drawing their knives before Melody could reach for her bow and arrows. She dove low, digging her nails into the roof. Puzzled, the two men turned round to see a tunnel fast approaching. They too dropped low just in time as the train entered the tunnel. The terrorist who was still flailing at the edge of the train collided into the side of the tunnel and fell hard on the snow covered ground in a daze.
In the tunnel, Melody stuck close to the roof, and saw that they were in for a long stretch. One of the two remaining terrorists began crawling towards her, knife in one hand.
Melody groaned internally. As the man slashed at her, she tried her best to inch backwards to avoid the blade. She grabbed the man's outstretched hand and delivered a chop to the wrist, twisting the knife out of his hand. Tossing it away, she quickly shifted away as the man tried to make a grab at her.
To her vexation, the man attempted to get up to a hunched position. There was just about enough room for him to crouch without hitting the top of the tunnel roof. Hunched over, he began walking towards her while the other man had enough good sense to continue lying prone while in the cramp tunnel. Melody also got up to a crouched position, and anticipated the man's oncoming attack.
He tried to push her off the train, but she grabbed his arm and pulled herself backward. As the man was forced forward, she used her legs to kick him up towards the low ceiling of the tunnel. In pain, the man stood up and hit his head, and promptly fell off the side of the train. One more to go.
The train emerged from the tunnel and Melody was blinded by the sunlight and the surrounding landscape blanketed in white. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust again, and saw the third and only remaining terrorist standing up from where he had been lying prone. Then, without warning, he charged her like a mad bull. He was a big man, and there was no manoeuvring past him. Caught off guard, Melody was barrelled into, and she lost her footing. Before she could fall, the man caught her by the collar and slammed her down on the roof of the train. The breath knocked out of her, she was unable to stop him from climbing on top of her.
All she could do was block the knife that was being thrust straight at her neck. With both hands, she struggled hard to maintain the distance between the man's knife and her flesh.
"Not so tough now," the man said in a heavy accent that she could not place. "I'm going to slice you."
"That's an idea." Melody said. She let go of his hand and moved her head to the side just as the knife stabbed into the roofing of the train and got stuck there. Quickly removing an arrow from her quiver, she stabbed it through the man's calf and he staggered backwards. Getting up, Melody delivered a spinning kick to the big man with as much momentum as she could gather. Already off balance, the man fell off the side of the train and tumbled down into the snow covered terrain, screaming all the way down.
A portal of purple mist opened up below the screaming man, and he fell through it. From the peripheral of Melody's eye, she could see another portal opening up on top of a faraway mountain and the man dropped on top of it safely.
"You're late." Melody turned around.
Tracy shrugged with a shiver. "What c-can I say? It's warmer in the Crossing Z-Zone."
Melody chuckled and shook her head. Unhooking the bow from her back, she gripped it in her hand. Looking up, she could see Maui soaring above the train, tracking them all from the sky. He was taking a backseat role on this mission, choosing instead to be on reserve and only swooping in when absolutely necessary. After all, they had more than enough people on their side to handle the Warmongers.
ELSA
Elsa opened the door of the second last carriage to find two Warmongers standing over the unconscious bodies of two soldiers. They were most likely Molcorran military escorts who were assigned to ensure the smooth transfer of their weapons and ammunition, but had been ambushed by the Warmongers.
The two terrorists turned around when they heard the door open, and Elsa dove behind a big container just as a pistol sounded off. She could hear the shouts of the men and guessed that the shooter was reloading his cumbersome flintlock pistol. Emerging briefly from behind her cover, Elsa aimed and threw a shard of ice at the man's firearm. It was knocked out of his hand and he was too slow to react to a stream of ice which catapulted him off his feet. The first man crashed into the side of the carriage's wall and fell down in a heap. Elsa quickly returned to her hiding spot before the second Warmonger could fire on her position.
The second Warmonger advanced towards her position cautiously, taking up his own pistol. Hiding behind the large container, Elsa clenched her fist and formed a thick shield of ice on her forearm. The shield grew thicker and longer, extending till it was big enough to cover her from her head to her hip.
"Show yourself!" The man shouted in a rough Eastern accent, cocking his pistol.
As the man came into view and aimed his pistol at Elsa, she raised the shield in front of her, crouching low to protect her legs from harm as well. The man fired off a shot, which ricocheted off Elsa's ice shield and pinged against the side of the carriage wall with a loud, high pitched sound.
The Warmonger flinched, and Elsa took the opportunity to barrel shield first into him. She knocked into the man with all her might, and the man stumbled off balance. Elsa froze the ground beneath his feet, making it slippery and aiding his fall. The moment the man hit the ground back first, Elsa climbed on top of him and clenched her fist. Thick ice formed around her hand and she smashed it against the man's cheek, knocking him unconscious.
Standing up, Elsa loosened her hands. The shield and the ice around her fist crumbled into fragments of ice, and she shook her head. She still didn't enjoy getting into hand to hand combat which involved her using whatever basic fighting skills she had gleaned from Melody, but she had gotten used to it over time whenever it was necessary. She still remembered a time when she would injure her wrist from throwing a punch without proper form, and she was glad that she was long past that stage.
Walking to the front of the last carriage, Elsa forced opened the carriage door with all her might and the wind rushed in, blowing her hair into her eyes. Sweeping it over her shoulder, Elsa looked at the platform connecting both carriages which was supported by the coupling mechanism. It looked extremely fragile though it was made out of a solid plate of steel, and could possibly give way at any moment under the slightest amount of pressure applied.
She took a cautious step onto it, willing herself to become lighter, though it obviously wasn't working. Thankfully, the thin platform did not give way beneath her feet, and she gratefully clung to the door of the next carriage. She was careful not to make too much noise, for this was likely the carriage that Jade and Deirdre were in, which was being occupied by the Warmongers who were holding the civilians hostage. Now to break in.
Author's Commentary:
An action scene right off the bat. I wanted to start this book off with a bang, and what better way than to introduce a mission in the vein of Mission Impossible/James Bond in Skyfall? This was incredibly challenging to construct but immensely fun. The soundtrack of Mission Impossible: Fallout certainly helped quite a fair bit, and I dare say that this might be the finest way I've started any book yet.
Stay excited, because there's a lot more action packed and rammed up moments coming throughout the book, not to mention an epic large scale military sized battle at the end. Do review and let me know your thoughts!
