Chapter Thirty Three
Storming Stormtide Part I
MELODY
"How long more till we reach the coast?" Oliver asked as the small band rode through the forest.
"Give or take two more hours," Janus replied. "If we keep up this pace."
"Maybe we should take a short break. Catch our breath, take a drink." Melody suggested. "We're making good time, and we can't possibly begin our mission until after dark."
"Agreed." Janus said, and his horse that was in the lead began to slow to a canter, and then to a trot. "Let's take a break."
They'd been riding hard since last night, stopping only for food and momentary rest in between long hours of travelling. Melody had chosen Oliver and two other teenage boys from the Insurgency days, and of course Janus, who knew the way back to Stormtide as well as the prison's layout.
It hadn't rained, thank goodness. It was hard enough pushing through what remained of the forest underbrush and the thorny branches of the trees. No wild animals had presented any threat either, which was a relief too. The cold though, was another matter completely.
Everyone had swaddled themselves in thick winter clothes in anticipation of the cold days and nights, and it had paid off. Melody herself had long since abandoned her trademark quia green jacket for a thicker brown military jacket with fur lining, meant for the highest ranks within the army, for which she supposed she qualified. While the others wore standard army boots, she and Janus wore their own combat boots, which worked well in winter. To top it off, scarfs were wrapped around everyone's necks to keep the merciless cold from getting to their skin.
The horses they had taken were from the Danish cavalry, which provided all the speed and endurance they needed. Even Janus had swapped his exhausted horse for a sturdy stallion before they had set out from the Coalition. Food and water had been packed in abundance to last for two days worth of journey, and enough had been factored in for the Warriors who would escape together with the existing five.
Weapons had been packed too, of course. Bows, arrows, pistols, ropes, swords, hooks, and other miscellaneous items that could come in useful later. From there, they had set out at an unconventional time for a journey - long after dark. The only things they had to light their path during the night were lamps that they had taken from the Danish's divisional quartermaster.
Melody felt strange as they settled onto the ground in a loose circle to consume some food from their packs. It was a feeling that she hadn't had for a while. It was a feeling of…excitement? Adventure? Fulfilment? She couldn't put her finger on it, but yet it felt familiar.
Then it dawned on her. She had always sort of missed being back on these cloak and dagger missions with the Warriors; the thrill of danger alongside her friends. The past few months had been spent playing a whole different kind of game - navigating politics and leading soldiers into battle. It felt like she'd been a fish out of water this whole time, and now she was back into the metaphorical ocean where she belonged. Ironic, considering her unique abilities.
It's funny how I've ended up here, Melody mused to herself as she took a bite into a cracker. Her love for adventure had begun years before she had met the Warriors. Swimming down into the ocean to find seashells as a hobby. That had been the most exciting part of her day to day life back then, when she was barely twelve.
And then her life had changed when she had crossed paths with Morgana, the evil sea witch, and incidentally the mother of her future best friend Tracy. After the whole Morgana debacle had been settled, her thirst for adventure continued to grow over the next few years.
Then after turning eighteen, she met the Warriors for the first time when Maui had brought them all together for a singular purpose: to stop Kane from inciting natural disasters in the name of cleansing humanity.
The rest was history. The discovery of the mythical League of Sorcerers, the fight to rescue Elsa from the villainous Pilgrim, the League going public and on the straight and narrow, the infiltration and liberation of her own home kingdom Denmark, and the conclusive battle in Arendelle. And just recently, the joint campaign to rid the continent of the Empire's tyrannical occupation.
And then there's this. Diving back into the cloak and dagger adventure lifestyle, trying to free her friends from Stormtide Prison. But then even if they succeeded in liberating the Warriors from Stormtide, there would always remain the bigger issue at hand. Anyone with magic would still be considered outlaws and enemies of the Confederation. What then?
One problem at a time. Melody turned her attention to her canteen of water which she drank from conservatively. It needed to last her the rest of the journey back as well. She glanced across at her friend Oliver, who was seated opposite her. Amicably, he gave her the slight raise of the eyebrow as he bit into hardtack.
One of her other closest friends from the Insurgency. It was a relief to have him along for the journey. Not that she didn't appreciate the support of Janus or the others, but he had been a friend from her archery class back during her school days. Oliver has changed quite a bit too.
And then seated by her side was Janus. In truth, she and Janus didn't exactly start out on the right footing. Back then, they had been bitter rivals when he was still the mercenary known as Prometheus. He had left her sorely beaten in fair combat the first time they had met, and then broken her arm while trying to escape in desperation.
Melody winced as she remembered the sick feeling of her bone snapping as his forearm had slammed into her elbow viciously. To think that they were allies now.
He had redeemed himself of course, when he had chosen to abandon the Empire that hired him in order to save Elsa from certain death. And then again, when he had personally fought through a few dozen Exonian soldiers and freed Melody's parents from their prison at the top of Aleksander Tower.
As if that wasn't penance enough, he had also stuck close to the Warriors over the past few months, aiding them in rescuing outlaw sorcerers and keeping them safe from the Blue Wolves. And now, he was going to be instrumental in freeing the Warriors from Stormtide Prison. I think it's safe to say now that he's well and truly one of us.
Janus had been rather silent for most of the journey, which wasn't entirely uncharacteristic of the former mercenary. Though he was dressed in his usual tight fitting blacks and armed with his assortment of knives, sword and quiver, he wasn't wearing his mask or hood now. Melody could read the worried and thoughtful expression on his face like a book, and she mused to herself that it was no wonder that he preferred to wear a mask to conceal his emotions.
"Janus." She called to him in a quiet voice.
He looked up from his brooding. "Yes."
Melody stood to her feet. "Can I have a word? Alone?"
He consented, and followed her a short distance away into the deeper part of the woods. When they were both safely out of earshot of the other three, she stopped and turned around.
"I just wanted to say thank you," she started in a low voice. "For all that you've done for my friends these past months. It must have been hell running from the Blue Wolves all this time."
"You have no idea."
"And I just wanted to check in on you." Melody said. "To make sure you're alright. We all need our heads in the game when we get into Stormtide tonight."
"I'm fine. It's just…" He paused for a moment. "I'm just worried about Elsa. And the others, of course. But it's just that I keep thinking about Elsa. About leaving her in Stormtide while I escaped. It doesn't sit well with me, and I have this horrible feeling something's gone wrong after I left."
"We'll get them out tonight." Melody put a hand on his shoulder.
"We can't have a repeat of what happened to Jordan." Janus shook his head, face ridden with guilt and regret. "First Will, and then Jordan…We can't lose anyone else." His voice grew very small. "And I can't lose Elsa again. I lost her once, and I don't know what I'll do if…"
"We won't. She'll be fine." Melody said firmly. "Come on, we're still on schedule, but we should start moving to the coast again before sundown."
The rest of the journey wasn't too much of a problem. It was just more trees - or branches to be precise. Here and there, the horses had to take a slightly longer route when they encountered blockages from fallen trees, but otherwise, travelling to the coast wasn't really an issue.
Food was still plentiful, and so was water. Melody just quietly hoped that there would be people to share it with. From what Janus had told her and Anna last night, It sounded like her friends were in great danger of being whisked away by these men in cloaks too. She knew that without their powers, they would fight hard, but in the end…
Shaking her head, Melody tried to put the idea out of her mind. We'll get there in time and save them. Tracy, Elsa, Maui, Jade and Deirdre. They would all be free by the end of tonight, and then Melody would try to figure out the next step from there.
Reaching the coast, the sun was just setting, making for an incredibly picturesque location to have a picnic under different circumstances. However, Melody found herself just wanting the sun to dip below the horizon completely and for the skyline to be plunged into darkness. Then, and only then could the mission begin.
A light dinner of hardtack, dried meat and ice-cold water was consumed, followed by more waiting. By the time it was fully dark, Melody had gotten impatient herself, and she was sure that the others - Janus especially - had too.
"Alright, everyone." Melody finally beckoned for them all to gather in a rough circle. "Let's go over the plan one more time for good measure." She fished out a much folded piece of paper and pressed it against the sand on the coast. Flattening out the creased paper, she pointed out a singular diagram.
"Now, thanks to Janus, we know what we'll be walking into." Melody said. "The fortress layout, the rough schedules of the patrolling guards and the works. So as discussed, here's what we're going to do…"
###
Melody watched as Oliver and the two others began to shrink into the distance as their boat bobbed on the calm surface of the water, heading in the direction of Stormtide. There had been a small fishing village ten minutes away from where they had eaten dinner, and there were plenty of boats available. All it took was some money pressed into some fisherman's hand, and that was all it took to acquire them a boat.
Oliver and his two men travelled first, since it would take them approximately fifteen minutes to row to Stormtide. That would hopefully give Melody and Janus the time they needed to make it to the island, neutralise the patrols and snipers, and then the three would arrive by boat on schedule without having to deal with being shot out of the water.
Now, to the common man, her plan would have seemed impossible, and quite possibly insane. But everyone on the team knew her secret. That she harboured the ability to transform into a mermaid and back, courtesy of a necklace given to her by her grandfather King Triton, who ruled the seven seas. It'd been a while since she'd used her powers and she hoped she wasn't rusty.
The idea was that she would transform into her mermaid form, and travel towards Stormtide underwater. She would be a lot faster than the boat that way, giving her more than enough time to deal with the guards patrolling the island before Oliver and the others showed up.
As for Janus, he would tag along with Melody. She would more or less tow him along above water, until they were within range of the island. Then, they would make the rest of the distance underwater and he would have to hold his breath till she could bring him safely ashore. He must have at least felt humiliated at his role in the plan, but if he did he didn't mention it.
"We should get going." Janus said, watching the horizon and seeing the team of three shrink into the horizon.
"Right. Let's get this over with." Melody checked her weapons. After ensuring that everything was secure, she then folded her scarf and stuffed it into her jacket.
Placing a hand on the necklace around her neck, a golden light began to glow. Within seconds, the aura spread across her body, engulfing her as she began to wade into the freezing cold water. Her skin gave the familiar tingle as a warm sensation began to spread downwards to her legs, and she took a deep breath, submerging herself underwater.
The glow faded quickly, and when she came up to the surface, the transformation was complete. Her legs had been replaced by her familiar salmon pink tail. She moved it from left to right for good measure, just to be sure it was working for her. It was.
"Come on." Melody beckoned to Janus. "Into the water."
Janus hadn't seen her mermaid abilities first hand, so he could be forgiven for seeming skeptical and cautious. The former mercenary slung his bow across his back and stepped into the water apprehensively after her.
"So how exactly does this work?" He asked.
"Just keep your head above water till we're within range, then hold your breath. I'll tow you along from underwater." She beckoned him closer, so that she could get a firm grip on his arm. Latching onto his arm, she didn't spare him any more time for apprehension. They had a schedule to keep before Oliver's boat arrived, otherwise the game would be up.
Plunging into the water, she dragged Janus with her. She didn't look back, but she could only imagine the surprised look on his face when he saw her tail. The thought of it brought a slight grin to her face. Obviously, he had only ever dealt with her on land. This was new territory for him, but then again he wouldn't have been that surprised since he'd been working with the League of Sorcerers for the longest time.
Things seemed to be going according to plan thus far. Melody and Janus zipped by Oliver's boat quickly enough, and they were making good time. If we keep going at this rate, we should be there in a couple of minutes, she calculated in her head as she towed Janus across the river. At least ten minutes ahead of the boat.
Janus tapped her twice on the arm, signalling that the lights from the snipers' post were now visible. He was keeping watch above water on their progress, and they were fast approaching the island. Melody returned the gesture, which they had worked out in advance prior to the swim. Two taps from her meant that they would be diving deeper underwater.
She waited for Janus to remove something from his jacket and bring it above water. An makeshift oxygen tank made out of scarfs tied together, that would supply him with just enough air while he was underwater. Resourceful. When he was ready, he took a deep breath and went under with his scarfs that seemed to be bursting full of compressed air.
They dove deeper, heading towards the island. Melody picked up speed, knowing that air was likely to run out for Janus sooner or later. Janus pointed ahead, confirming that she was moving in the right direction. He had briefed her about the sewer pipe that connected to the prison morgue. A tunnel which washed out into the river to dispose of the corpses. The idea of it was horrible, but in this case, they would use it to their advantage.
They soon found the sewer pipe which Janus had spoken of. In reality, it was just a wide, big hole that was dark and foreboding in nature like the entrance of a villain's lair. As Janus had said, bodies had sunk to the bottom of the river near the opening of the pipe, and the faint shapes of bones could be seen.
Once inside the sewer pipe, the water was considerably more navigable. Janus stood up on his own feet and took a great breath of air - Melody dared not call it fresh. The air stunk of decomposing bodies, along with all the other smells one would have expected of a sewer tunnel. She desperately wanted to gag.
"Which way?" She asked as she touched the necklace again and promptly transformed back into her human form. Legs returning, she got to her feet.
"Follow me." Janus said in a low voice. "I'll ascend the morgue and take out the snipers up high. You deal with the patrols on the ground, and I'll come join you when I'm done."
"Alright." Melody tried to conserve her air. She didn't really feel keen on breathing in more foul air than she already was, and fervently hoped this tunnel Janus was taking her through wasn't a long one.
Thankfully, it wasn't. There was a fork leading right, and Janus indicated to her that it was her path to take to get up to the prison grounds. She parted ways with Janus, and did a rough mental calculation in her mind. Probably have six minutes. Seven at most.
The new tunnel she had taken sloped upwards gradually till she came to the end of it, where a metal grate stood. The opening was barely large enough to admit an average-sized man. Her lithe frame wouldn't have much trouble. Once she was sure there were no guards in the immediate vicinity, Melody shifted the grate aside quietly and climbed out of the sewer tunnel.
It was dry above, and immediately a cold wind blew against Melody and she shivered a little. Her clothes were dripping wet and stinking, but she had more pressing concerns. It's time to clear the grounds.
