10- The Rescue
Anna tried her best to regain control of her emotions as they crossed the devastated campsites of the enemy, crying as she witnessed the fires out of control, the awful craters caused by the shelling and the countless soldiers and horses killed by the explosions.
The fallen soldiers had been mutilated by shrapnel in the most disturbing ways, and their severed arms, legs and even heads littered the ruins between the few mauled horses that remained trying to escape…
Why did they have to do this? Did war really need to be so terrible?
Anna wondered for a moment whether she would have given the order to fire the guns anyway if she had known what they would do, but she pushed those thoughts out of her mind and concentrated on the most important mission of the battle.
"I have the keys" Anna said, gasping as they stopped at the entrance to the castle- "They must be locked in the underground dungeons, follow me!"
Anna and Kristoff dismounted together, the wooden gates had been blown apart by the explosions and they dashed into the castle at the precise moment when two more shells hit the walls outside and shook the entire structure…
The Southern Isles artillery was doing its best to demolish the White Castle and kill all of those inside of it, and Anna, now running through a hallway beside Kristoff, knew that they had a few minutes at best to find and rescue the captured troops.
It was a very dark and cold place.
The hallway led them to a dining hall, all the windows there were broken and fragments or rock began to fall from the ceiling with every hit that the castle took. Anna looked at a map by the weak light of a window, and then she discovered a wooden door concealed behind a tapestry on a wall.
"That's it!"
Kristoff pushed Anna aside and kicked the door open, there was a staircase at the other side and they finally descended to the dungeons…
"Take this key, I have another" Anna said- "Quick, Kristoff!"
The captive soldiers were locked in huge cells at both sides of a very long corridor, the place was barely illuminated by a few torches here and there and they all were trying to break their way out, agitated and excited because of the sounds of battle coming from outside.
"It's Princess Anna!" one of them screamed to the others with great pride, unable to believe it - "Princess Anna is here!"
The cries of Your Highness! and I cannot believe it! came from everywhere while Anna and Kristoff opened a cell after another, and very soon drove after drove of Arendellian soldiers emerged from captivity and dashed their way upstairs ready to fight.
Anna and Kristoff were the last to abandon the White Castle, the artillery hits above them were deafening and they climbed on their horses, riding the hell out of there as fast as they could…
Three powerful shells came and hit the castle seconds later, and the great and legendary structure finally collapsed in a great cloud of dust.
"We did it!" Anna screamed, shaking from head to feet- "Kristoff, we have to…"
A shell came all of a sudden from the sky, it exploded some distance to their left and Anna's white horse was hit squarely by the shrapnel… All that she could hear was a strong ringing in her ears, the horse collapsed and Anna, falling to the ground, hit her head against a rock.
Everything went dark and Anna knew no more…