Chapter Thirty Nine

The Siege of Korynes

ANNA

Hans is back, and he's kidnapped Elsa. The thought kept firing through Anna's mind long after Tracy had made her report, the words burnt and etched deep. Tracy had seen him with Elsa in her vision. There was no mistaking it, Tracy had insisted afterwards after attempting to locate Elsa again. Hans was in Korynes, and so was Elsa as his prisoner.

Anna's blood grew cold again at the thought of Elsa at his mercy. As far as she knew, Elsa still had her magic neutralised by the magic dampening collar that had been placed on her, which meant that she would not be able to fight her way out. And what is Hans doing in Korynes, miles away from the Empire's capital?

There were so many questions boiling at the forefront of Anna's mind. What did he want with Elsa? She knew he had a vendetta, a deep personal hatred for Elsa, so it wasn't a stretch to imagine that he wanted to torture her. But it didn't exactly add up.

According to the Warriors, sorcerers had been disappearing from Stormtide Prison, smuggled away by the brown cloaks. Just an hour ago, they had all pooled their findings together and deduced that the mysterious Crimson Order had been manipulating events this whole time, spearheaded by the authority figure only known as 'the High Priest'.

So what did Hans have to do with all of it? Elsa had been smuggled from the Warden's office by the brown cloaks, no doubt. Did that mean that Hans was working with the Crimson Order somehow? That didn't make any sense to Anna, whose forehead creased as she considered the possibility.

Hans had been loyal to Eleanor thus far. They were in love, last she remembered. That puzzled Anna. If Hans was still working for the Empire to drag out the war over the winter, then how could he also be working with the Crimson Order? Why was he working with them?

So many more questions. What was the Crimson Order? Why were they doing this? Where were they based out of? Who was 'the High Priest'?

Anna shook her head. All these questions would have to be answered much later. After we set the plan in motion.

The plan the Warriors had eventually settled on was simple enough. With tacticians like Melody and Janus back on the team, Anna felt a lot more confident and reassured that they would find Elsa and rescue her once the Coalition had successfully punched through the Imperial Horde's defences.

Right now, Tracy could not yet get a solid fix on Elsa's location, but had confirmed that she was definitely somewhere stuck in the city. Some kind of mystical interference had hampered her efforts, according to Tracy, but she would theoretically be able to get a definitive location once they were inside the city and had eliminated the proximity issue. But that could only happen once the Coalition had broken through the Exonians. And that part of the plan relied heavily on Frederick's siege tactics.

After they had gone over plans, the Warriors took the remaining time before breaking camp to rest. An hour or less, but it would go a long way. Anna could tell they were exhausted from orchestrating and organising the escape from Stormtide, as well as the herding of the refugees in the aftermath. Snores and heavy breathing filled the tent, which was thankfully large enough to hold all of them at once.

Kristoff also went back to sleep without much difficulty. Anna couldn't blame him. As Commander-in-Chief of the Coalition, her husband had been submerged in so many tasks as of late, all to do with organisation of the Coalition's forces. For someone who never wanted to have anything to do with a prince's responsibilities, he was certainly exceeding expectations.

The only ones who weren't asleep were Anna, as well as Jade, who sat quietly alone in the corner of the large tent. She had been quiet throughout the reunion, letting the others do all the talking.

That was utterly uncharacteristic of her, since she was usually one of the more bubbly and witty ones. However, the death of her brother was still weighing on her quite painfully, evidently. She looked nothing like the cheery, sardonic girl that Anna remembered from months ago, and Anna felt a pang of sympathy for her. I should talk to her.

Getting up from her bedroll, Anna quietly crossed the room, careful not to trod on Deirdre's sleeping figure. If Jade saw her coming, she didn't make much of a reaction.

"Are you alright?" Anna sat down beside Jade at the corner of her spacious tent. Dumb question.

"Yeah." Jade said unfeelingly.

The lanterns had been snuffed out, and it was still quite dark outside, so Anna couldn't really make out her features. "Are you really?" Anna asked. "I mean, I can't really say I know how you're feeling, but I imagine it must be hell for you."

"You're right." Jade admitted, a little more quietly. "I'm not alright. My brother's dead, damn it. How can I be alright?"

"I'm sorry about Jordan." Anna put a comforting hand on Jade's arm. "He was a brave Warrior. One of the best guys I know."

"The best." Jade said quietly, and Anna heard her voice waver slightly. "And the Blue Wolves shot him. The Confederation," she rotated her body to face Anna, and in the darkness, Anna could make out a fiery look in the girl's eyes. "They were responsible for his death. And now you're saying that all this time, they're being manipulated by this Crimson Order, whoever the hell they are."

"And 'the High Priest'."

"It's their fault Jordan died. Not mine." Jade hissed acidly. "Do you know how it feels to be helpless to protect the one person you loved all your life? Fighting off that guilt was a bloody war in and of itself. Took me long enough to realise that I wasn't the villain here. It's the Crimson Order." Her fist tightened and Anna felt her body stiffen. "They're going to pay for what they did."

"And they will. In time."

"Whatever's going to happen later, I want in." Jade growled. "I spent far too long moping around. Jordan would want me to keep fighting. I owe him that much."

Anna sighed. "I'm really sorry for everything you've gone through. You…you deserve better than this."

"There's nothing left for me but to fight." Jade said with a scarily quiet determination and anger. "To keep pushing until their pyramid topples. I'll be there when they fall. They will pay for Jordan's death."

Feeling a little taken aback by Jade's sudden resolve, Anna searched for something appropriate to say. "We'll stop them," she finally managed. "But first, we need to save my sister and capture Hans. If he's working with the Crimson Order, we'll make him tell us where they are and how to stop them."

I'll make him tell me, Anna said internally to herself, feeling her own jaw grow tight. If that's the last thing I ever do.

###

Dawn broke, and the entire Coalition stirred once more. There was no time to waste today, for a siege lay ahead of them. Five divisions were primed to strike, while five more were waiting on the other side of the territory, hidden behind a second hill and ready to charge at the city's flank.

The tents were torn down with surprising speed and efficiency, and soon the entire campsite at the base of the hill was bare. By the time the early morning sunlight was shining through the clouds, the five divisions commanded by Marshal Frederick were already ascending the hill to march onto the battleground on the other side of the hill.

Unfortunately, since the Warriors were still technically labelled as fugitives of the Confederation, Tracy had opened a Crossing Point in the tent and teleported them away somewhere safe. Somewhere they would not be seen with Anna, not yet at least. They would regroup with Anna later once she had settled onto a good vantage point with Kristoff and Marshal Frederick to see the battle unfold.

Melody had returned to the Danish division to her soldiers and former insurgents. According to her, the mission had been a success, and the small team Melody and Janus had taken with them to Stormtide were safely back in their units, ready for the battle ahead today.

Anna and Kristoff went off on their horses, and found Frederick straightening out a snarl in the marching column as it prepared to descend the hill. Most of the column had already passed the crest of the hill, and separated out into their various units to await deployment.

"Your Majesty. Your Royal Highness." Frederick saluted after he finished dealing with the delay and sent them on their way. "That's the last of them. We're ready to begin the siege."

"Good." Kristoff said. "Let's hope we get this over and done with quickly."

The command post was hastily established on the crest of this hill, overlooking the entire battlefield and safely out of range of the longest range artillery guns. From here, Anna could see everything unfolding before her eyes as though she were a deity looking down upon mere mortals as they waged war.

The Coalition had already split into their divisions, forming up on the downward slope. To the far left were the first and second Arendellian divisions formed up side by side, with cavalry detachments riding along their left flank. Frederick had instructed that it was of utmost importance that the cavalry protect their left flank which would be otherwise open to a sudden enemy cavalry charge or enfilading fire.

To the Arendellians' right was the single Danish division. Melody was once again amongst her people, waiting with the skirmishers. The skirmishing battalion had combined with the Northuldra from the First Danish Division to form the best skirmishers on the continent.

Anna was still surprised as to how effective the Northuldra were at loose order tactics, seeing as how they had always been a peaceful tribe living in the forest. Desperate times, desperate measures. Then again, Anna could not recognise the woman she had become either. If two years ago, you told me I'll be out on a battlefield like this, I would've laughed at you and went back to eating cheesecakes in bed.

On the right of the Danish came the two Molcorran brigades that would help keep up the facade of a smaller attack force. The rest of the three Molcorran divisions were waiting together with the Vjormans and Einsfeltai, primed to strike at the city's right flank.

Finally, on the far right side were the two Xerflorian divisions, commanded by the insufferable Norman Horatio. Perhaps it had been a wise idea on Frederick's part, placing the Marquess on the far end. Similarly, cavalry detachments from their divisions guarded the Xerflorians' right flank

The columns snaked down the hill and out onto the battlefield slowly. A cavalry squadron forged ahead of the rest to perform reconnaissance. So far, at least by looking through a spyglass, Anna could not see any signs of the Imperial Horde.

No doubt the soldiers were hunkered down quite securely in the city's multi-storied buildings, and artillery guns were waiting to be put into action from those vantage points. The sound of an enemy six pounder going off at close range gave away the artillery unit's first position, and Anna could imagine an impulsive Exonian lieutenant being berated for giving away the game so early. That had at least told the cavalry troopers where the guns were hiding, and they rode back hard and fast, swerving around the columns to make back for the command post.

"Sir," The first trooper to reach dismounted expertly and saluted crisply. "We've encountered the first signs of resistance. The guns are hidden on the third floor of a building, and no doubt there are more waiting to open fire when we close the range."

"Hmmn." Frederick said thoughtfully. "What about their fortifications? Any loopholes, blockhouses where they're working out of?"

"Yes Sir." The trooper pointed at a few spots on the map placed on a foldable table, and Frederick made a few annotations.

"Thank you." Frederick turned to a group of runners. "Make sure each division knows where the guns are. The Exonians will be ready for us."

The runners saluted and mounted their own horses, splitting up and making for the separated columns which were still marching out over the field towards the enemy hiding in the buildings.

There was still quite a great distance to cover, but now that the game was up, someone from the other side - most likely General Hydrech - had commanded the infantry to deploy. Men in red swarmed out of the city like angry ants, forming up in thick columns and marching forward to intercept the Coalition.

A faint purple glow alerted Anna to the fact that her friends had returned, and she turned around. A Crossing Point opened up a short distance behind where the command post had been constructed, and out emerged the Warriors. Deirdre was the first to appear, followed by Jade, Maui, Janus and finally Tracy.

"Safe to come out now?" Tracy asked a little too late as she stepped out of the Crossing Point and shut it behind her.

"By all means." Anna allowed a grin to cross her face. It was certainly a comfort to have her friends by her side again.

"You sure it's safe for us to be out in the open like this?" Deirdre looked uncertain. "We are still wanted criminals."

"It's safe." Anna glanced sidelong at Frederick who nodded. She knew for a fact that the reliable family friend and Coalition commander could be trusted with secrecy.

"Don't worry. My aide de corps are handpicked by me and can be trusted to remain silent." Frederick said, sparing them all a polite nod before turning back to the battlefield.

"Besides," Kristoff added. "I think everyone has bigger problems to worry about right now."

"Aww, don't you miss us?" Tracy teased him, drawing a scowl from the man.

"It's quite a sight, isn't it?" Maui said, coming over the crest to gaze upon the columns marching to engage the men in red.

"We can watch it all unfold from here, then we'll know when we can enter the city to find Elsa." Anna's eyes panned between her friends. "We have to save my sister today. No matter what. We're not letting Hans slip away with Elsa in the chaos."

"Let us worry about that." Janus said, his voice filtered through his mask. He was again wearing his full mercenary outfit, complete with mask and hood which complemented his tight blacks. Blades and other small weapons were sheathed securely in an endless number of compartments and holsters, and a quiver was strapped on his back. His trusty katana was sheathed at his side, and the familiar black bow nested in his hand like a permanent fixture.

"Remember," She asked Janus in a low voice. "When we find Hans, don't kill him. I know you're angry that he kidnapped Elsa. So am I, and I would like nothing more than to have him out of the way for good. But we need him alive. He's our only lead in finding the Crimson Order right now."

Janus nodded, his expression unreadable behind his black mask.

"Can I count on you to just restrain him?" Anna asked. In truth, she was still a little wary around him. She had no doubt that he genuinely cared for Elsa, but she was worried about his more violent tendencies, especially when it concerned the safety of the woman he loved. "No killing this time."

"I'll do my best." Janus' voice was deep and mechanical, bearing no trace of emotion.

"Good." Anna turned back to the battlefield. I have bigger things to worry about right now.

She kept her eyes on the Arendellian divisions, that were closest to the command post as compared to the rest of the divisions. The columns were still progressing quickly to the beat of the regimental drums. Skirmishing battalions made up of Northuldra and Danish soldiers fanned out in their standard loose order formation, sticking to pairs as they spread out in a thick screen.

Cavalry troops from the Arendellians' left flank joined them, providing support against the Exonians who had similarly sent out skirmishers to slow down the advancing Coalition which was rather determined to punch through whatever the defenders could muster. The two forces of skirmishers clashed, with Arendellian cavalry weaving in and out of obstacles and firing men, slashing away at the Exonian skirmishers and firing their carbines into the formed columns of infantry.

Far beyond, at the edge of the city, booms filled the air, announcing the presence of the enemy guns. From where Anna was all the way on the hill, she could hear the bass rumbles and the thumps as solid shot arced through the air. They roared overhead and reached their peak, hanging there for a brief instant that seemed to drag out into eternity, as if it had no energy to go on, yet not ready to fall.

And then the cloudy winter sky rained fire. Solid shot plunged downwards in threatening arcs like meteorites from the sky, smashing the ground and raising giant clouds of dirt, grass and cold mist. The steel balls of death landed at random, and in some rare instances, one would plough straight through a column of advancing soldiers, bouncing once and then dragging its victims away like broken toys.

Blood stained the ground where the men had been hit, leaving huge gaps in the column. Sergeants screamed in the distance, yelling for their men to close ranks. The rest of the soldiers quickly filled the gaps and marched onwards as though nothing had happened, leaving behind only memories of the men who had been decimated.

General Ivon of the Danish division had effectively taken charge of the entire artillery reserve and batteries of both the Arendellian and Danish divisions. Frederick had recognised superior expertise, and had seen it fit to have the man placed entirely in charge of gunnery.

It was good to see that Frederick's trust had not been misplaced. The nine pounders of the Coalition responded in turn with thunder, belching fire and raising white smoke. Round shot rocketed upwards in a curving arc above the heads of the advancing Coalition, but these guns hadn't aimed for the artillery batteries hunkered down in blockhouses.

The nine pounders wouldn't have made the effective distance, and even if Ivon had employed the bigger guns, the chances of hitting home at such long range was still not as good yet. Ivon obviously knew his business, and held off from attacking the city, instead putting the focus of his batteries on the Exonian infantry still formed in column.

With their closely packed formations, the Exonians made for excellent targets, and round shot hit the ground, bounced off columns and tore through well-formed men. Similarly, the Exonians closed up and kept on coming. But now, they were ready to fight, having come close enough. They deployed into line, stretching out as far as the eye could see.

"Holy…" Tracy trailed off. During the battle of Arendelle, she had mainly been engaged at the fjord, dealing with the battleships of the line. It was clear that this was her first time seeing an actual field battle on land, and Anna knew first hand that the first time could make for a very overwhelming experience. "That's a lot of carnage."

"Stick around." Kristoff said like a seasoned veteran. "We're just beginning."

Indeed, the battle was just beginning. The Arendellians deployed from column into line, companies folding out from within to form a long, horizontal snake with ranks three deep.

The battalions and brigades behind did the same, slowing down and leaving spaces between the lines to act as a second wave should the first line break, and then a third. Further to the right, Anna could just about make out the forms of the Danish doing the same, and her mind supplied the image of the Molcorran brigades and Xerflorian divisions fanning out into line formation.

"And what now?" Tracy asked. "They fight for real?"

Maui nodded. "This is where the bloodbath happens."

"And so it begins." Anna muttered under her breath as the cannons roared in the distance.