Chapter Thirteen

Braving the Snow Storm

MELODY

"Everything ready?" Melody asked. It hadn't taken her very long to get pack her belongings. She always had her essentials and weapons already stowed neatly in a backpack, ready for trouble whenever it showed up. And trouble had indeed come calling.

Her bag consisted of ration packets, reminding her of the very first adventure she had with the Warriors on board that old Arendellian ship. Besides that, she had her canteen of water with her. Water wasn't going to be an issue, as snow was around in abundance. It had begun to snow again, much to her chagrin.

What concerned her more was her weaponry and tools, which had all been packed neatly as well. A couple of knives, rope and two compasses were stowed in a compartment in her bag, along with a full quiver of arrows on her back. Her trusty compound bow had been collapsed into a portable contraption, fitted away nicely in her bag as well.

Her winter jacket held two small knives which she had a feeling she might need. Also with her were fuel and blackpowder for when they needed to start fires, though come to think of it, they were rather unnecessary seeing as Deirdre was with them.

The rest had packed relatively light as well, it seemed. Janus looked equipped, perhaps even more so than herself, and for a moment she envied the plethora of weapons he had attached to his outfit. Maui and Deirdre had bags and thick winter jackets too, and Melody still found that she hadn't gotten used to the idea that Maui was as human as the rest of them now. He'd never needed thick clothes or jackets before, but now he did, which was still a weird sight.

"Yeah." Deirdre said. "We should get a move out while the battle's still on."

Melody glanced out at the battlefield which lay quite a distance out from where they were. The Coalition was still fiercely engaged in battle with the Imperial Horde. By now, the sun was well overhead, though no warmth penetrated the atmosphere. They had agreed to leave as soon as possible to maximise the amount of time they had for their long journey. It would be better for them to leave during the chaos and confusion.

As for their numbers, Melody was feeling a distinct lack of confidence. There were only four of them heading into the lion's den. Deirdre, Janus, Maui and herself. Anna was staying behind to lead the Coalition, and they had decided to leave the League of Sorcerers behind to aid in the relentless battle. Melody figured that the Coalition needed the sorcerers more, seeing as how the Imperial Horde's numbers were rather overwhelming.

But that came as a disadvantage too. With just four of them, Melody didn't know if they really stood much of a chance. Out of their small band, only Deirdre had powers. Maui, Janus and herself were completely human, with no sorcery to defend themselves apart from their own natural skillsets. It was a reckless and dangerous gambit, but at this point, what choice did they have?

Melody's heart skipped a beat and her hand went to her neck. She deflated. Her gold necklace was there. She couldn't bear the thought of leaving it behind. It'd become somewhat of a tradition to take her necklace into battle with her. Who knew when she needed it to transform into a mermaid? These days, she really couldn't say.

Squaring her shoulders, Melody inhaled deeply, feeling the cold air enter her lungs. "Alright. Then let's go. Deirdre, lead the way."

###

By the time they made it far enough that the sounds of cannon fire were nothing more than distant rumbles, it was well past midday. They'd taken eight light cavalry horses which were well suited for speed and ease of manoeuvring, two per person for the arduous journey ahead. The road - if it could even be called a road - was hard, steep and generally unpleasant, and Melody was beginning to understand why Field Marshal Frederick and Kristoff hadn't charted a course through these roads to reach the capital. It was tough enough for just the four of them to traverse, let alone an entire column of close to a hundred thousand exhausted soldiers.

That wasn't the worst part. Somehow, the weather had found a way to grow even worse than it already was. If it had been mildly cold before, which was vastly understating things, it was now absolutely freezing. The winter jackets they had seemed useless now, but the four of them still kept them on, hugging themselves as they rode towards the capital.

"How many days, did you say?" Maui asked. He was shivering slightly, which was entirely uncharacteristic for the large man. It just reminded everyone how vulnerable he had become since he'd lost his powers.

Deirdre scowled up at the sky from which snow fell incessantly. "Two, if we're lucky. But if this keeps up…"

"We just have to keep moving." Janus said from the rear. "We don't know when Hans is going to kill Elsa and the others. We have to get to Exon as quickly as possible."

What I would give to have Tracy's Crossing Points right now. Melody wrapped herself a little tighter in her jacket and gripped the reins tighter. At some point in the past hour, her hands had gone numb from the cold in spite of the thick gloves she wore.

Somehow the storm grew worse over the hours, and by nightfall it was nearly impossible for them to go on. The horses were protesting and refusing to go further, and frankly Melody couldn't blame them. She wasn't sure that they could go on anyway, given the way the cold winds were beating against them all. Before, Melody had chalked it up to bad weather and horrible luck, but now she was quite convinced that this storm - or blizzard - was the work of sorcery.

"We can't go any further!" Janus shouted over the howling of the wind as snow pelted them in their faces. He shielded his masked face with the crook of his padded elbow. "We need to find refuge for the night!"

"Agreed!" Melody replied, though she wasn't sure if any of them could hear her. They had gathered close for fear of getting separated in the blizzard. "But where?"

"About fifty yards back!" Maui bellowed, pointing back at the direction in which they had come from. "We passed a cave!"

There was no time to argue or be choosy. And so, the four Warriors retraced their steps, or more accurately were propelled along by the howling winds. It was safe to say that their weary horses were relieved. Two of the horses had already gotten lost in the storm, having been separated due to the fierce winds and blinding snowstorm. Only six horses remained to be shared amongst the four of them, and Melody was glad they'd decided to bring two each. At the rate they were going, they'd be fortunate to arrive in the capital with any horses left at all.

They found the cave Maui was speaking of - only to discover that it wasn't exactly much of a cave. Melody stared at it in dismay. It was merely a crevice, more likely than not belonging to a small pack of wild animals. The "cave" wasn't deep at all, and the four of them barely managed to squeeze into it after tying their horses to the trees outside. She felt pangs of guilt for leaving the animals outside to brave the storm, but there was nothing she could do about it. The horses were more likely to be able to survive the night outside than they could.

"This…" Janus winced as Maui shifted his huge frame and squashed his arm against the rock wall. "…this isn't going to work out."

"Do you have a better idea?" Deirdre snapped.

Janus grunted.

"Just try to get comfortable. If that's even possible." Melody muttered as she squeezed into a gap between Deirdre and Maui. With great difficulty she pulled out her pocket watch. It was nearly eight now. They'd left in the late morning, which meant they'd been on the move for…about nine hours now. And how much progress had they made? Not much, Melody calculated grimly. At this rate, it was going to take them more than two days to reach the capital, and she estimated that they would run out of food.

"We're probably going to have to resort to the horses sooner or later." Janus said, as if having read her mind. He was jammed uncomfortably against the wall, and he'd removed his mask which had helped to shield his face from the storm for the most part, though by the looks of it it hadn't been really effective. The skin on his lips were cracked and his face was dry, his deep brown eyes now tiny slits.

"That's what I'm afraid of." Melody answered absentmindedly, glancing out at the storm that continued to rage not more than a couple of feet away from them. She could barely see the horses outside anymore, and shuddered at the thought.

"Deirdre." Janus said, turning to the only sorceress amongst them. "A little fire would be nice."

Deirdre nodded, her teeth chattering. Rubbing her shaking hands together, she aimed at an empty spot on the ground near the entrance of the crevice. At first, it was nothing more than a spark. Then a steady flame burst to life in the crevice, burning brightly and casting an orange glow in the darkened cave. The flames threatened to lick out at them, but Deirdre kept them in check with her sorcery. Controlling the fire, she made it die down to a small but strong flame.

Thank heavens we still have one remaining Elemental Sorceress with us. Melody hovered her hands over the fire, just like the rest were doing, and felt the warmth spread across her body. It was very welcome indeed, like taking a long hot soapy bath after a bitter day filled with troubles. She basked in the aura, closing her eyes for a few seconds.

And then the fire went out.

"Damn it." Deirdre muttered, wriggling her fingers again. "The blizzard. Something is interfering with my sorcery. Something strong."

"The blizzard." Melody repeated. "You think someone's out there causing it? Countering your magic?"

Deirdre nodded sourly, sparking the fire back to life. "Yeah."

"It makes sense." Maui said thoughtfully, shifting to inch closer to the fire. "Magnus would have his own assassins try to stop us." He shook his head and set his jaw. "Regardless, we'll make it." Maui went on confidently with a tired grin. "We have to."

"We still need a plan." Janus interjected. "We might be able to get into the capital. But what then?"

"The castle has to be connected to the Order's hideout somehow." Deirdre said. "My sister loves her secrets. As children we used to play in the basement tunnels. Our parents always told us not to wander off too far because there are catacombs that run beyond the foundations. The tunnels were used by our ancestors to travel to and from the battlefield during the Exonian civil war."

"So you're saying that we have a way to get to Elsa and the others?" Maui said hopefully.

Deirdre nodded uncertainly. "In theory, yes. I know of a way into the castle from the outskirts of Luftzeit. An old cave used by oil miners whose efforts laid the foundation for Exon's wealth. It winds underground and passes through the city and leads into the tunnels below the castle."

"Good, good." Melody said in relief. So they did have a way in.

"And what about when we find them?" Maui asked.

"We'll have to be fast and quiet. No one can know we're there." Janus warned. "If even one of those damned priests get wind of our presence, they could bring the whole Order down on top of us. And then we'll all be dead."

"Agreed. We should avoid direct contact with the Order as far as possible." Melody said. "Our mission is to get Elsa, Tracy and Jade, and retreat."

"Retreat?" Deirdre blanched.

"Yeah." Melody regarded her with a tired glance. "We don't have the strength or numbers to fight the Order. We tried once, and even then we were at our best. After what we've been through here, we don't stand a chance."

"Maybe we should've brought the rest of the League with us." Deirdre grunted regretfully. "Thought we were going to clean house once and for all."

"Sure, bring an entire battalion of sorcerers and hope no one notices." Janus said. "That would've worked."

Deirdre glowered at him but said nothing.

They warmed their ration packs over the fire and tucked into their dinner silently. No one felt like talking, having been deprived of energy the entire day. The rest of the night was spent in silence, the only sounds from the screaming winds outside.

Melody didn't know at what point she'd dozed off, but when she awoke, it was bright outside again, and the fire had long since died, leaving the cavern in a bitterly chilly state. An entire night had passed just like that, and she felt none the better. Groaning softly under her breath, she woke the others who stirred slowly.

Crawling out of the crevice, she shielded her eyes from the blinding white of the landscape and tried to stretch. Her body was numb and tensed all over, probably from the cold and the entire night spent in a cramped position. Her fingers and toes felt stiff and numb, and her head hurt. This was probably the worst night she'd had in a long time, and she'd been in some rather rough spots before.

Janus emerged from the crevice and stood beside her. His tousled hair was in a mess and looked greasy, and he looked worse than he did the day before. "At least we can see the sun today." He noted.

Nodding, Melody pulled her canteen from her pack and guzzled water. It was freezing cold, shocking her throat and instantly jolting her to full alertness. She relished the cold water running down her dry throat and offered it to Janus. He shook his head and fished out his own. Tilting the canteen to her mouth, she finished the rest of her water greedily and sighed in satisfaction, rattling her empty canteen. Never had water tasted so refreshing and good, though a part of her suspected that it was because of the poor state they were in.

Bending down, she shovelled snow into her canteen to replenish her water supply, and when she was done she went to check on the horses. Thankfully, they were still there, though they too looked the worse for wear. Snow clung to the stirrups and hung in bunches from their manes. They seemed to glare at Melody, though she knew she was probably imagining it in her guilt.

"Think Anna and the Coalition's still holding on?" Janus asked.

"Honestly, I don't know." Melody said truthfully. "But she'll come through for her men. I know her well enough."

"Here's hoping we have a Coalition to come back to when we're done." Janus snapped his mask into place and pulled his black hood over his head. His voice became deep and mechanical once more. "If we make it out of there alive."

"Think we can make the rest of the journey today?" Maui asked as Deirdre and himself debouched from the crevice. He squinted up at the sun. "It's a clear day today."

"Don't count on it." Deirdre muttered. "We've still got a long way to go."

Outwardly, Melody let out a long sigh, making no effort to conceal the heaviness inside her. She looked up at the sky. Like Janus and Maui said, it was clear, with no trace of the storm that had plagued their journey yesterday. She could only hope that it would stay that way.