Chapter Twenty Two
The Fight to the Finish
Melody was hurled to the ground, and she quickly turned to see Moana diving to the opposite side just as a large icicle came crashing down from the ceiling, smashing into a million pieces on the stony ground. "Moana!" she shielded her face as shards of broken ice flew towards her direction. Some fragments of sharp ice skimmed across her arm, but fortunately the down jacket that Elsa had created for her held up, protecting her from getting cut. Picking up her bow that she had dropped when she fell to the ground, she got up and raced to where Moana was, a sinking feeling gripping her entire being.
"Ugh." Moana stirred and rubbed her head.
Melody heaved a sigh of relief, gratefully extending her free hand to Moana. "Thanks. I owe you one."
"Yeah no kidding," Moana winced as she massaged her ribs gently, feeling a dull pain spreading across her left side. "Let's just find the Major and finish this." She picked up the spear that she had dropped, careful not to stretch the side that she had injured. "I want to get out of here as soon as we can."
Melody nodded and the two girls continued to walk the path that they were on before the icicle had dropped from the ceiling. As they ventured further into the cave, they could start to see a faint golden glow on the icy walls of the cave. The girls walked closer to where the light was coming from, and they gradually began to hear a distinct and constant shimmering noise echoing throughout the cave. Melody stopped in her tracks, and held out her arm silently as a signal to Moana to stop moving. She inched towards the cave wall quietly like a cat, and Moana followed suit. Crouching, Melody peered out from behind the wall to see where the light and sound was coming from.
The cave's passage opened up into a huge space, filled with uneven ground covered in ice and a high ceiling that had numerous huge icicles hanging precariously from it. Near the centre of the huge room, there was a huge hole in the ceiling that allowed the sunlight to burst into the cave like a spotlight, and in the centre of that spotlight was the trident, vertically jammed into the ground with the fork facing upwards. The trident was beaming golden rays of magic into the sky, no doubt doing Kane's work: melting the ice caps at an accelerated rate.
The Lamp of Jafar had been discarded on the ground, now that it had outlived its usefulness and the Major had used up all three wishes. Melody made a mental note to swing back and pick it up after she had finished with Kane, as she and the others needed to deliver it back to King Aladdin in Agrabah.
Standing slightly out of the spotlight was Major Kane with his back to the two girls. He had just begun another spell, and was closing his eyes in concentration. As he muttered a foreign language under his breath, dark red energy started to appear around him like faint, flickering flashes of lightning. Then all of a sudden, he stopped, and the dark red energy disappeared. "I know you're there." He spoke out of the blue, sending chills down the girls' spines. "You might as well come out of hiding."
Melody stepped out from behind the wall. "Who said anything about hiding?"
"You can't stop what's happening. It has already begun."
"Yeah, we can see that. What about your own little spell with the dark magic we just saw you performing? You haven't told us about that part of your plan."
"That's none of your business."
"We're making it ours."
"Heh. You girls really believe you can stop me. That's cute."
"You've told us every part of your plan before," Moana gripped her spear tighter. "So why are you so tight lipped about what you're doing now?"
"That's personal, Moana. You of all people should understand."
"You're trying to bring your family back, aren't you?" Melody cut right to the chase.
Major Kane narrowed his eyes, impressed by Melody's perceptiveness. "Yes."
"You can't do that! You don't know what kinds of forces you're dealing with!" Moana exclaimed in horror.
"Maybe bringing the spirits of the dead into the mortal realm is a little out of my wheelhouse, but I've come too far to stop at half measures now. My family needs to see the saviour I have become before I finally join them at long last."
"You mean you want them to see you murdering millions."
"Saving humanity."
"You're delusional, Kane."
"Maybe so, but neither of you are going to stand between me and my family. This is personal. Get out. Now."
"Not a chance. Not like this."
"Fine," Kane clenched his left fist in resolve, and the snake totem on his ring finger glowed bright red. "So be it." He lifted his hand, and the red aura continued to grow, the field of energy increasing by the second. With a loud grunt, he hurled the huge ball of black magic towards the direction of the two girls.
Melody and Moana dove out of the way as the blast of black magic erupted on the ground, sending snow and ice everywhere. The impact of the blast shook the cave, and an avalanche of snow that covered the ceiling of the cave descended, burying the two girls.
Major Kane turned his attention back to his spell, repeating the chant from the very beginning. Again, dark red energy began to flicker, slowly appearing in front of him as he got past the first part of his chant.
Emerging head first from the avalanche, Moana used her white magic to pull herself out of the snow. "I've still got a score to settle with you." Moana picked up the spear that she had released when she had avoided the Major's attack. "I haven't forgotten!"
Melody stuck her head out of the snow, gasping for air as she saw Moana running towards Kane. "Moana wait! Stick to the plan!"
It was too late. Moana aimed her free palm at the Major and streaks of white magic struck his back, disrupting him from his spell.
Kane staggered, his concentration broken. The spell ended abruptly, and the black magic faded into the air once more. Annoyed, the Major spun round to see Moana rushing headlong towards him. She aimed her palm at him again, but this time, Kane used his snake totem to deflect and brush away the white magic as if it was a mere insect trying to land on him.
"Haven't we already been through this?" Kane impatiently blocked another blast of white magic from Moana. "Your magic isn't strong enough." As Moana made a wild jab using her spear, Kane sidestepped the attack and caught the spear by the shaft. Her momentum was abruptly cut off, and she was jerked back towards the Major. "Or rather, you aren't strong enough." Kane dangled her in the air by the spear, and hurled her away from him, and she flew towards a wall. The Major fired another tirade of dark red energy towards Moana, and she was sent crashing through the wall of the mountain and out of sight.
The Major narrowed his eyes and turned his focus back to restarting the spell again. "No one will stop me from bringing back my wife and children." For the third time, Kane closed his eyes and began to chant the spell a little more loudly this time.
###
"How many of these guys does Kane have?!" Tracy screeched as she fended off yet another mercenary, slapping him away with a tentacle. She had transformed back into her natural state of an octopid, giving her a slight advantage since she could protect herself with more limbs. "It'll be so much easier if we could just kill them all!"
"No!" Elsa aimed her palms at the ground and swiftly brought them up, creating a thick wall of ice to block a wild swing from an ice monster. The wall of ice shattered into smithereens, and so did the ice monster's hand. "We're not killing any of Kane's men!" She created a slide of ice, elevating herself up to the height of the ice monster's chest. Her slide of ice extended out as she stood on it, and it crashed through the ice monster. The ice monster broke into two, crumbling into unmoving fragments of ice on the ground. "Only the lifeless ice monsters that Kane created!"
"Sure, take all the fun out of it!" Tracy hollered back, using black magic to levitate a couple of surrounding mercenaries off the ground, slamming them hard against the base of the mountain.
Out of the blue, the large brown hawk landed in front of Elsa. She froze, startled by its sudden appearance, and its wings smacked her to the ground. In a flash of light, the brown hawk shape-shifted back into the form of a man. Maui, who had the heart of Te Fiti still strung around his neck, held his fish hook in his hand, towering over Elsa who had been caught completely off guard.
"Maui!" Elsa scrambled to get up from the ground. In all the chaos, she had forgotten that he was still brainwashed and following the Major's commands! "Maui, you have to fight this. Don't let that madman control you!"
Not responding to anything she had said, Maui lifted both his huge arms, and they came crashing down onto the icy ground like boulders just as Elsa narrowly moved out of the way. The ice cracked, making the ground they were standing on unstable.
Stepping away from the cracked ice, Elsa briskly moved away from the mountain walls where she had been boxed in by Maui. The demigod, under Kane's control, was slow to respond, and mindlessly swung at Elsa, who avoided his attack easily.
"Listen to me!"
Another careless swing.
"You showed me the truth. Told me to embrace who I was. And now, I'm telling you to do the same."
Maui roared, lashing out clumsily at Elsa, who moved out of the way again, and promptly aimed at Maui's muscular legs. Ice rose from the ground, surrounding the demigod's legs, and running up to his waist. Elsa focused her powers, and the ice grew thicker, trapping Maui securely in the ice, leaving his upper body free.
"Be true to who you really are. Break free of Kane's control." Elsa stepped closer to Maui, who was unable to move towards her. "Please," She stopped in front of Maui, who had stopped struggling and was staring straight at her with glassy eyes and a blank look on his face. The brainwashed demigod stared straight into Elsa's deep blue eyes, and blinked. Then he blinked again.
"That's it, Maui, come on. You're stronger than him. You're stronger than anyone I know. Remember who you are."
Maui moved his head slightly from side to side, trying to shake himself from his conditioning. He shut his eyes tightly, and gritted his teeth.
"You're not a monster to me."
The words that Maui had once uttered to her triggered an emotional response from the demigod, and with a loud roar, he broke free from the ice that held him in place.
Fragments of ice flew everywhere, and Elsa shielded herself from the shards that flew in her direction. She opened her eyes to see Maui towering before her, the sun shining on his back, creating a silhouette of the bulked up demigod. "Maui?"
"Hey Elsa." Maui grinned, his eyes once again their usual colour.
Elsa was overcome with relief and lunged forward, embracing Maui tightly as she felt the adrenaline drain away. "You had me scared back there."
"Woah woah, what did I miss?" he patted her back, surprised that she was so comfortable with him all of a sudden. Not that he was complaining. He looked around, noticing the white landscape that surrounded them. "And…where are we?"
"We've got a lot to catch you up on," Elsa released Maui from her embrace. "First of all, we're in the North Pole. And second," she pointed to the green emerald around Maui's neck. "You've got to get that back to where it came from. The world is crumbling."
"The heart of Te Fiti!" Maui looked down to see the heart dangling from his neck.
"He made you retrieve it for him as part of his plan."
"I gotta get this back to the goddess before it's too late!"
"Go." Elsa placed her hand on Maui's. "Stop all this and make the earth right again."
Maui reciprocated by gently placing his own hand on hers and he turned away. He held the heart of Te Fiti in his hand, and looked out into the horizon with determination and purpose written on his face. It was on him to restore the heart. In a flash of light, he shape-shifted back into a brown hawk. His body primed and ready for flight, he let out a war cry and launched himself into the air, leaving a huge dent in the cracked ice. Maui soared through the cold thin air, rapidly growing smaller until he vanished completely out of sight.
Elsa turned her attention to the landscape in front of her. The sun was starting to dart behind the clouds and the sky was turning dark and stormy. Lightning flashed across the sky and struck the mountains in the distance. The ominous rumbling of thunder was coupled with the sound of the mountain summits disintegrating into rocky debris. The ice caps were melting quickly, courtesy of Kane, and she had to do something fast.
"Tracy, cover me. I have to focus!" Elsa called out to Tracy, who was still busy fending off enemies.
"Why?"
"Weren't you listening to Melody's plan? The Major is melting the ice caps!"
"Oh right. Yeah, I got you covered."
Elsa stood facing the ice caps that were melting in the distance, and exhaled. She so wasn't ready for this. She just hoped that her powers were enough to reverse the damage that Kane had done to the ice. Planting her feet firmly on the ground, she calmed her breathing and aimed her hands at the ice caps. She allowed her powers to flow out of her naturally, which streamed out of her palms to meet the melting ice caps. Slowly but surely, the melting slowed down and the effects on the ice caps began to be reversed. Yes, it was working! Somehow. She didn't know how she was doing it, but it was working!
###
With the bottom half of her body still trapped in the snow, Melody struggled to reach for her quiver. She took out a grappling arrow and nocked it securely. Aiming at the ceiling of the cave, she released the arrow. It flew upwards and the arrow's grapple hooked securely onto the ceiling. She tugged on the arrow to make sure that it was safely anchored into the ceiling. It certainly wouldn't do if the ceiling broke apart and collapsed on top of her while she was pulling herself out of the snow. The cable attached to the arrow went taut and held securely, and Melody used the bow as a pulley to free herself from the snow that had buried her. Moana had been thrown out of the cave, so that just left her to confront the Major. She was annoyed that Moana had strayed from their plan, and she wasn't sure that she could take him down by herself. She had already tried twice and failed.
However, she had no choice as everyone else was unavailable. Elsa was reversing the damage Kane was doing. Moana had been thrown out of the cave and had not returned since. Tracy was fighting off the mercenaries and ice monsters. She wasn't sure what had happened to Maui. Was he still brainwashed or had Tracy and Elsa helped him break free of the mind control? Melody didn't know. It seemed like she was the only one who was left to stop the Major. She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.
Major Kane was standing with his back to her, still focused on the spell that would bring the spirits of his family members back to the mortal realm. He had gotten way further with his spell this time. The words he spoke seemed to emit a strange reverberation a nanosecond after he had uttered them, which sounded blood curdling to her ears. Sparks of dark red energy flew around him, and strange symbols appeared out of thin air in front of him in languages that didn't seem human. The Major really was dabbling in things that were way beyond him, and could possibly unleash greater forces of evil by accident if he wasn't careful.
Melody looked at the trident that was still etched in the ground. Stopping the ice from melting was still a priority. She took another arrow from her quiver and checked to make sure it was the right one. A small explosive was tied to the arrow, and she hoped that it would be enough to dislodge the trident and interrupt the procedure, stopping the ice from being melted any further. Placing the arrow in the nocking point, she drew back her bow, aiming at the base of the trident. She looked at Kane. His back was still turned, oblivious to what she was doing.
Suddenly the ground beneath her feet began to shake. Another earthquake was breaking out again! Above Melody, another large icicle attached to the ceiling began to crumble, and dislodged itself. The pointed edge of the block fell towards her, and she dove out of the way just in the nick of time. However, as she was focused on not getting herself killed, she accidentally released the arrow, and it flew past the trident and the Major. She silently cursed as it found its mark on one of the pillars of the cave and exploded, sending ice and debris everywhere.
The explosion shocked Kane enough to break his concentration, and his spell was disrupted for the third time. Incensed, he spun around. "Enough!" the enraged Major unsheathed his Falchion, and stormed towards Melody. "All I want is to see my family again, is that asking too much?"
"Not like this, Kane!" Melody stood up, bow in hand and ready for a fight. "Bringing them back from the dead is just wrong!"
"I don't care!" Kane growled, swinging his sword at Melody, who ducked gingerly. "I don't have anything left to lose!" Clutching the sword till the whites of his knuckles showed, he made a wild stab at her, completely unhinged and out of control.
Melody found herself with her back against the wall, and swiftly rolled out of the way before the Major could box her in. At this point, it was evident to her that the Major had given in to his bloodlust, allowing it to consume him completely.He had been wearing the snake totem for too long, and it had influenced his mind, causing him to forsake his morals in favour of doing whatever it took to achieve his goal. He was no longer the same man she had faced in the marketplace in Agrabah. This Major Kane had no restraint, no compunctions about killing anyone who stood in his way, and that made him all the more dangerous.
She looked at her unhinged opponent. She had to be smart. Kane was skilled and extremely strong, owing to his huge frame. There was no way she was going to take him down by matching his strength. Or skill. The only thing that would give her an edge was her speed. She had to rely on her agile frame to be faster than him. Every blow had to be strategically placed. Every strike had to count. Crouching down speedily, she felt the wind of the Falchion blade as it sliced off the ends of a few strands of her hair. Inching backwards, she used her recurve bow to block off a few more of the Major's blows. As his sword and her bow clashed again, she was too focused on fending off his attack and thinking about how to floor him to notice Kane's snake totem glowing red.
A blast of black magic caught her off guard, sending her reeling and off balance. Major Kane launched another tirade of dark red energy at Melody, and it circled around her. The black magic trapped her and tightened its grip, squeezing the breath out of her. Melody tumbled to the ground, still trapped in a bubble of Kane's black magic. She struggled, trying to break free, but to no avail.
Major Kane narrowed his eyes. "I will enjoy killing you slowly for all the trouble you've caused me." Sheathing his sword, he walked back to his spot near the trident, and began the spell again. Chanting loudly in the foreign tongue, sparks of dark red energy began to appear around him again. The strange symbols from before returned, and this time, more joined them. Dark red energy began to form and swirl in front of the Major, and strong gusts of wind from the unearthly realm blew him slightly off balance.
"Yes, it's working!" Regaining his balance with newfound motivation, Kane continued to focus on completing the spell. He was almost done. The dark red energy grew black and took on the form of a whirlwind. Gradually, in the midst of the whirlwind, Kane could vaguely make out the forms of a woman and two children. "Yes!" he tensed his muscles in concentration, perspiration dripping down his face despite the cold climate. "Finally!"
A streak of yellow energy suddenly rocketed through the middle of the whirlwind of black magic, disrupting the entire procedure and ending the spell again. The vague forms of Kane's wife and children disappeared, and so did the whirlwind of black magic, much to the horror of Kane. "NO!" Kane let out an agonizing bellow. He clutched his head with both of his hands, sinking to the ground in despair. "I was so close! I almost saw them again!" Another blast of white magic hit the vulnerable Major squarely in the back, sending him flying into one of the pillars of the cave. As he crashed into the pillar, it crumbled and disintegrated into ice and rock, burying Kane beneath the rubble.
The black magic that had bound Melody dissipated into thin air, and she looked back to see where the blast of white magic had come from. Moana was standing at the hole in the cave's wall where the Major had thrown her through, clutching her right arm. She had a couple of cuts on her arms and face.
"Moana!" Melody got up from the ground and ran to her friend. "Are you alright?"
"I thought I was dead for sure, but then I managed to grab onto a boulder as I was tumbling down the mountain," Moana looked at her right arm. "The sudden stop almost ripped my arm out."
"Good to have you back. But look, we got to stick to the plan." Melody told her firmly. "Remember our training on the beach. Don't let your anger and vengeance control you."
"I'm sorry. It was the first thing that came to mind when I saw my chance."
"Now we've got a second chance. Dig down deep and focus on the light inside of you, because that's the only way you can match the Major's power. That's the only way that we stop Kane and save everyone."
The rubble where Kane had been buried under began to move and rumble. Dark red energy shot out of the crevices and gaps, causing a large amount of rubble to be tossed in all directions. The Major rose from the remaining rubble, his skin and clothes covered in debris. He looked around for his enemies, and spotted the two girls at the opposite end of the cave.
"He's unhinged." Moana noted uneasily.
"He's got a right to be. We stopped him from bringing his family back from the dead."
"How do we stop someone who keeps getting back up?"
In desperation, Melody removed an arrow from her quiver, quickly nocked it and drew it back. Nothing seemed to be able to stop Kane. She was pretty sure even the arrow wouldn't kill him. Aiming at the furious Major, she released the arrow and it flew towards him.
Before the arrow could reach him, Major Kane held out his hand, and the arrow stopped in mid air, before dropping to the ground.
"There's only one way we can stop him." Melody lowered her bow.
Moana looked at her, uncertainty on her face.
The Major began walking towards the two girls, a dangerous look in his eyes. "Enough!" Kane snarled, aiming his snake totem at the two girls. "If I can't bring my family back, you two are never making it out of this cave alive!" The snake totem began to glow and dark red energy materialised from it and made a beeline for Melody and Moana.
"Get behind me!" Moana instinctively put her arm out in front of Melody, who instantaneously moved to take cover behind her back. The necklace that Moana's father had given her began to glow brightly, and a protective aura surrounded her entire body. The dark red energy made contact with Moana, and it resulted in a blinding flash of light and a thick cloud of smoke.
Writer's Commentary:
You remember when I said a few chapters ago that I had written my toughest piece? I take it back. This is my toughest chapter. First off, it's the longest chapter I've written so far, and it's jam packed with action. At first, it was slightly more than 7000 words, which obviously I had to trim. There was just so much content to write, it was a challenge to convert the visuals in my mind into words that would aptly describe the action that was going on in the scenes. Planning and choreographing the action sequences was a pain, but definitely fun. I just hope that the experience was immersive enough for you guys.
In this chapter, we see Kane trying to bring his family back to witness his final act of "heroism", and the warriors keep trying to stop him. Here, we see Kane's character evolution just about complete. He's gone from a man of restraint and focus to a lunatic who has been consumed by black magic, stopping at nothing to achieve his goals. This, as Melody also notes, makes Kane all the more dangerous and raises the stakes so much higher.
And of course, at the end of this chapter, there's a cliffhanger which sort of teases that something dire is going to happen next. After all, it certainly wouldn't do to water down Kane's actions by allowing everyone to walk away unscathed now would it? Let's see what goes down next.