Chapter Seventeen

Bar Fight

ELSA

Melody led them the quickest and most discreet way through New Town without being spotted, but they did have to duck behind a couple of walls to avoid running straight into the soldiers who were patrolling the streets. Skulking around was something she wasn't used to, and had certainly not been expecting something like this when she had rejoined the Warriors for one last mission.

Most of New Town was completely desolate, apart from a few brave citizens who had been audacious enough to leave the lights on in their homes. Many of the citizens had boarded themselves in and shut out any signs of life inside their houses for fear of their doors being kicked down by the soldiers.

Miraculously, the bridge leading across the Sulge River had been left intact, and the four girls made their way over to the territory of Old Town. Here, a shift in atmosphere was apparent. People had set up shop everywhere, refugees in their own kingdom. Even though it was barely noon, fires had been built in open spaces as it was still cold this time of year. Out in Old Town, the houses had no heaters which made them no different from being stuck outside in the cold.

Some Exonian entrepreneurs and businessmen who had travelled with the Imperial Horde were trying to sell essential items at vastly overpriced rates. Even though they were detested by the citizens, no one dared to touch the foreign businessmen for fear of bringing the fury of the Exonian army to their doorsteps.

The richer folk who had fled from New Town could afford the overpriced goods, and bought them in bulk at the expense of the poorer residents of Old Town. People lounged about on the street corners and it was evident that there was absolutely no law or order in this part of the kingdom. Anarchy reigned here.

"So, where do we find your friend?" Elsa asked. "And how sure are you that he's a part of this rebellion?"

"Positive. Oliver's the kind that would join up for fun, but now that there's a need for it, he'll be there." Melody said confidently. "Back when he was in school, he would always talk about this local bar in Old Town called Ten Drinks where he could get his alcohol fix for cheap."

"You mean that one?"

Elsa turned to see where Jade was pointing, and was dismayed by what she saw. The bar Melody was referring to looked rather run down, but still many people flocked to it like moths around a light. She couldn't understand for the life of her why anyone would want to frequent a seedy joint like that.

The exterior of the place looked dilapidated, and Elsa was guessing that the interior wasn't much better. The top of the entrance had a huge signboard with the words "Ten Drinks" plastered across it, as if the words had been scrawled on in haste and mounted on top of the entrance sloppily. Either that, or the sign had dropped from its intended position over time and no one bothered to straighten it. Elsa assumed it was both.

"That," Elsa wrinkled her nose in disgust and her glasses moved upwards with the motion. "Looks like a sleazy bar."

"It is." Melody remarked, walking towards it without hesitation.

"Look, are you sure going in there's the right approach?" Elsa said apprehensively, hanging back a little. "It looks like the kind of place where we might not walk out of alive."

"We aren't going to let that stop us, are we?" Deirdre glanced at Elsa. "It's just a sleazy bar."

"We can handle a few thieves and gangsters, right?" Jade added.

Elsa sighed and followed the rest. When she thought about coming to Denmark for the first time, this was totally not what she had imagined. What a way to get things started.

Entering the bar, Elsa's heart sank when she realised how wrong she was. It was far worse on the inside than it looked on the outside. It was dimly lit by a few candles and the place was packed with people. It was incredibly stuffy and warm too. Someone was playing the piano extremely poorly in one corner of the bar, and a couple of middle aged men were singing completely out of tune, oblivious to what nuisances they were making of themselves.

Others were engaged in discussions - or arguments - she really couldn't tell at the rate the numerous conversations were overlapping each other. The sound that was produced was a constant buzz of words that never seemed to cease, making her feel even more repulsed by the atmosphere.

Elsa could feel herself growing increasingly irritated as she pushed through the crowd of sweaty, gyrating, dirt-stained bodies that reeked of perspiration and alcohol, just to keep up with Melody and the others. One thing was for sure: this was not her kind of scene. She could appreciate a good alcoholic drink, but in the privacy and company of a few friends, not in a horrid place like this.

As she struggled to not lose sight of her companions, she was painfully aware that the eyes of several men were following her lewdly. Making sure her glasses wouldn't fall off in the jostling, she ignored the men around her and pushed on through. She had known that the day would be hard, but she hadn't expected…this.

Finally, Melody came to a halt and Elsa was able to catch up to her friends.

"Did you find your friend?" Elsa asked hopefully.

Melody nodded and motioned with her head over at the far corner of the bar. "Oliver's over there."

Elsa looked at where Melody was referring to. A dishevelled looking boy with freckles and long curly hair was seated by himself at the corner, with a pint in hand. Melody was right, he did look like the kind who would join up with a rebellion.

"You mean that one?" Jade pointed over at the boy.

Elsa slapped her hand down quickly. "Don't point! Someone might notice!" she hissed, but it was too late.

Someone had noticed them, and had rallied a bunch of friends to join him. They looked like the riff-raff of society that Melody had told them about, which only meant one thing. Trouble. Just what she was looking to avoid. Elsa groaned inwardly and gritted her teeth as the group of six men approached them and people cleared a path for them.

"You guys looking for us?" One of the men said in a coarse voice.

"No, sorry. We were looking for a friend." Melody said.

"We can be your friends." Another grinned.

"Look, we don't want any trouble. Please." Elsa stepped forward.

"Oh, but I think you do."

An oily hand grabbed Elsa' wrist and she jerked it away quickly, whirling around to face her attacker. The man standing behind her was an unwashed looking one, with cruel eyes and a twisted smile on his face. His eyes travelled up and down her frame, and she bristled, feeling the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

"We don't want to hurt anyone." Melody said. "Back off please."

"Is that a challenge?" the first man drew a knife, irritatingly eager to start a fight.

We can't blow our cover by using our magic. Elsa shot a look at Deirdre and Jade, willing them to notice her glance and get the message. Thankfully they did, and returned her a knowing look. Elsa's heart relaxed just a little when she saw Deirdre's fist stop glowing red.

Keeping her eyes on the man in front of her, Melody sighed in resignation, and Elsa supposed that she as well as the rest knew that a fight was now painfully unavoidable. Melody jammed her fist into the first man's jaw before he could react and tackled him to the ground.

Well, I guess it was going to happen sooner or later. Elsa faded sideways as one of the men made a grab at her, her glasses bobbing dangerously on the bridge of her nose. The second this undercover mission is over, I'm getting rid of the glasses.

She skittered to the side and grabbed an unfinished pint of beer off a table, whirling round and smashing it against the head of the man. The contents of the glass splattered everywhere, and the patrons of the bar cleared a wide space for those engaged in the brawl.

Elsa watched as Jade and Deirdre both engaged their own opponents with ease and worked in unison to take them down. She felt a part of herself swelling with pride. They were so well coordinated and efficient, and she was kind of relieved to have them on her team.

From behind, grimy fat arms locked around her waist and Elsa found herself being tackled to the ground. Her glasses fell away somewhere, and her face was pressed to the vomit, dirt stained floor. She let out a ragged breath as her assailant tightened his grip around her midriff, squeezing the air out of her.

She felt herself fading as she struggled to break the iron grip, and resisted every urge to use her ice to blast the man against the wall. It would be so much easier if she could use her abilities to get her out of this fight, but no. She and the others couldn't blow their cover and attract unnecessary attention, though they had already failed at the second bit.

With all her strength, Elsa drove her elbow into her assailant's ribs, and slid away from the man the moment he loosened his grip on her. She drew a breath of air - she couldn't call it fresh - and spun away just as the man made another grab at her. Elsa slammed the heel of her boot into the man's knee and as he went down, she kicked him across the cheek, knocking him unconscious.

Wiping the dirt and grime off the side off her cheek where she had fallen, Elsa picked up her glasses and put the wretched thing on again. She turned to see Melody disarming the last of the six men, twisting the knife out of his hand and landing a textbook right cross on his jaw, turning his lights off.

"So much for staying low key." Elsa said dryly.

"I'm sorry, I can't take you seriously with the glasses." Jade snickered.

Elsa scowled at her.

Jade shrugged. "It's not my fault they wanted to pick a fight."

"He's gone." Deirdre pointed.

Elsa looked at the corner where the boy used to sit, only to find it empty now, and the door swinging close. He must have decided to leave in the chaos.

"Come on." Melody hurried towards the door where her friend had most likely escaped from.

Elsa sighed and set off into the crowd after Melody, followed closely behind by Jade and Deirdre. What a way to make an entrance.

Author's Commentary:

Classic bar fight situation. I felt like this would have been the perfect way to launch this mission and really set the mood and tone and get the party started. Fighting in an enclosed space with a crowd of onlookers and nothing to use except for chairs, tables and glasses of unfinished beer. I had a lot of fun writing the atmosphere of the bar and the subsequent fight that followed. Let me know your thoughts and if you enjoyed this.

And I've got good news for those of you who love action scenes. This book is packed full of them, and at the very end, we will see a large scale battle unlike anything seen before in the past two books. I'm excited to share that with you when we get there :)