44- All has been for Nothing
Hans and what remained of the Southern Isles Army had fought against snow, wind, wild animals and severe cold all the way from the Sammel Line, crossing the treacherous Snowhall, exploring the mysterious Raven Valley and braving dangerous ice fields as best as they could.
They had finally arrived at a different forest full of icicles and wolves, which according to their maps, was not too far from Arendelle Town… the men were weakened from a prolonged scarcity of food, they feared to encounter the Arendelle Guard again and the weather had become so cold that everyone had started to curse and shiver violently.
The frozen wood that they encountered was impossible to ignite in order to make campfires, every possible source of food was lost and things were not really looking good for the invaders…
"Your Majesty, we cannot fix them… there is just no way without the necessary equipment!" a soldier said, sitting on the snow and looking up at the King- "There is corrosion inside, we would need to change many parts..."
"Then, find a way! We need to use these Crackers against them!"
It so happened that Hans had ordered hundreds of his men to transport dozens of stolen Cracker guns all the way from the Line, and now he had dispatched special teams of gunners that were supposed to somehow fix the damaged weapons.
The experts had tried everything already, the Crackers would just not fire anymore and the King was not accepting a negative answer…
"We are sorry…"
Hans finally lost patience, he growled and then he kicked the nearby Cracker with great strength, causing it to lose balance and fall on the snow. Carrying the heavy guns together with loads of ammunition had taken a considerable effort, and now they were forced to accept that they could not use these Arendellian weapons after all.
"Damn it, we have carried this heavy trash for nothing!"
The forest all around them was all icy and white, the blueish light of daybreak was slowly turning white and it seemed to everyone that this day would be even colder than all the days before, with an even stronger wind coming from the North…
The red-cloaked soldiers were gathering in small groups here and there between the frosty trees, they were desperate to have at least some fire and by this point even the most blood-thirsty thugs among the invaders, shivering in cold, realized that the rest of the Army had done the right thing by forsaking the campaign.
They should have returned to the coast when they had the chance to do it, and everyone knew that by now their friends would have already arrived back home...
Hans was sure that Elsa was determined to freeze them all to death, but after five weeks of journey they were already so close to Arendelle Town and there was no turning back.
"Your Majesty!"
Hans turned around to discover three young soldiers dashing towards him, and for some reason all of them were smiling despite the terrible situation of the Army. They came to a halt just a few paces from the King, all of them gasping and coughing because of the terribly cold air.
"What is it?"
"We have managed to start a small campfire" one of the soldiers explained, trying to catch some breath- "It works, and we are unfreezing more wood! The others have been hunting foxes and birds, please come with us."
"Excellent! A decent breakfast finally…"
Hans followed the soldiers, soon smelling the smoke and discovering the comforting flames of a campfire in the distance… many soldiers were gathering around it seeking the safety of some heat, and the screams of delight soon began to spread from one side of the campsite to the other:
"We have a campfire! We have a campfire!"
It seemed that things were looking better for Hans and his men, but then, all of a sudden, everyone heard the distant growls of some huge creature and the snowy ground began to shake…
"What is that?" Hans asked, turning around with surprise.
The celebrations ended as swiftly as they had started, the joyful cheers everywhere replaced immediately by screams of terror and utter disbelief:
"There are monsters coming!"