Chapter Nine
The Imperial Horde
MELODY
1 year and 2 months after the Confederation of the North Summit, 5 months after the events of Frozen 2
Gazing out over the railing, Melody watched as the freshest batch of recruits stood around Deirdre and Jade as they began their training programme. The new group of sorcerers were mostly made up of teenagers, some young adults, but mostly they were on the young side. The League of Sorcerers had become something of a refuge for the outcasts with supernatural abilities who had nowhere else to go, and also a training academy of sorts for sorcerers who wanted to learn how to control and master their abilities.
After Elsa, the Seventh Pilgrim, had left the League in the hands of the Warriors, Melody and the others had decided to establish a structure to the League. Previously, it had been a tyranny under the iron fist of the Sixth Pilgrim. Now, people with magical abilities felt comfortable being a part of the League. That was why the numbers had grown exponentially. There used to be about fifty at most. Now, there were close to two hundred sorcerers and League members in training in total.
The Warriors, which now comprised of Melody, Tracy, Maui, Jade, Deirdre and Jordan, had become a leading unit which helped to oversee and assign operations as well as mentor and train the newer sorcerers, and tightened the moral compass of the League as a whole.
Things had become incredibly stringent, especially since the League of Sorcerers had been placed under close scrutiny of the Confederation of the North, a joint authority that only wanted to catch the League in the act of committing a crime.
Not wanting to give the Confederation an opportunity to fault them, the Warriors had then established a training programme for the members of the League to ensure that when they were out on mission, they strictly adhered to protocol. Usually, a senior member of the League such as Jade or Deirdre would accompany a team of sorcerers on various missions to rescue people from harm, evacuate villagers from natural disaster sites, or apprehend criminals or international terrorists.
The Warriors had more or less abstained from going into the field themselves, instead opting to oversee and coordinate the various missions. There never seemed to be a shortage of work. Somewhere in the world, there was always someone who needed saving or criminals who needed to be stopped. It was a never ending battle, but on the bright side, the League seemed to be growing more cohesive and getting more efficient with time and experience. At least there was that.
"It's something, huh?"
Melody turned to see Tracy walking towards her with her breakfast in hand, and couldn't help but smile. The former sea witch had switched up her appearance a while ago, and Melody was still getting used to it. Tracy had ditched her curly hair for long dreadlocks. Melody assumed that Tracy thought she looked more intimidating and fearsome that way, though in reality she just looked funny. She now sported a black leather jacket with a black pullover, a black skirt and knee high boots, which was supposed to highlight and accentuate her edginess or something.
She nodded. "Yup."
"Never thought I'll see the day that I actually wake up in time to watch the training." Tracy leaned on the railing beside Melody.
"I think we were thinking of different things." Melody chuckled. Tracy might have changed her appearance, but she was still the same girl at heart. A joker.
"Huh?"
"I was thinking about all this." Melody gestured at the entire compound they were in. The League was still based in Swynvort, since it was a good spot hidden deep beyond a thick forest, away from the prying eyes of the Confederation.
"Oh." Tracy said. "That too."
"I like to think that we've come quite a long way." Melody said. "Remember a time when all this used to be just a myth?"
"Yeah." Tracy stuffed a cinnamon roll into her mouth. "Back when we were trying to find out why Elsa suddenly disappeared."
Melody nodded. "Who would have thought that we would be running the entire League of Sorcerers now?"
"Yeah it's pretty cool." Tracy took another bite of her roll and watched as Jade and Deirdre began training the fresh recruits. The training team were joined by Jordan and Maui, who regularly helped to act as opponents for the sorcerers to practice against safely. "I think Elsa would've been proud of what we've accomplished here."
Melody smiled. At first when Elsa had left, Melody and the rest had been at a loss of what to do with the League of Sorcerers. It had taken them time and a whole lot of blood, sweat and tears to build what they had today. The League of Sorcerers was no longer a mythical cult of evil wizards and witches hiding in the shadows, but a world class unit of sorcerers who fought for justice the right way. Indeed, Elsa would be proud.
"But you know this can't last forever right?" Tracy asked, crumbs falling from her mouth.
"What do you mean?" Melody responded, slightly confused.
"For you," Tracy gestured at her. "At some point, you're gonna have to go back to Denmark and take your rightful place as the future queen of your kingdom."
"Ah." Melody said. "I rather not think about it."
"Why?"
"I have more important things to worry about now." Melody herself knew that it was an excuse. "The League needs us, what with the threat of the growing Empire of Exon. We've been failing to stop them at every turn." That was true enough.
"You know you can't keep putting it off forever." Tracy said bluntly. It was the brutal truth, and Melody found that she didn't like it. "You have to go back sooner or later. Or else, who's going to be queen of Denmark after your parents?"
"Melody!" A voice called out from across the walkway.
She turned to see who it was. Florie, the girl with the ability to transmit thoughts and link minds together was walking towards her briskly, with an expression that denoted that she had urgent news. Saved by the telepath.
"Florie, what is it?" Melody asked.
"I had to bring you this message in person." Florie said, looking unsettled. "Someone called Will Daltrey contacted me, claiming he's one of the Elemental Sorcerers."
"Will?" Tracy asked. "What does he want?"
"He's urgently asking for help." Florie continued. "Somehow, he managed to spot the Imperial Horde approaching Quodrun."
Melody bristled. Quodrun was one of the counties of Denmark at the very edge of the kingdom, and if Quodrun fell to the Imperial Horde, there would be nothing standing between them and colonising Denmark under the Empire's banner.
"That's…that's new." Melody frowned. "Usually they strike out of the blue and conquer swiftly. No one ever sees the Imperial Horde coming."
Florie nodded in agreement. "He's asking for reinforcements."
"This is our chance." Tracy said. "So far, we've never been able to stop the Empire from consuming the villages or cities in their path. We've only ever managed to dispatch our teams only when the Imperial Horde has already begun their invasion."
"She's right." Melody agreed. "This time, we know that they're coming, which means that we have a real shot at stopping them." And we have to stop them this time, otherwise my home is going to fall. She turned back to the scene of the young sorcerers being trained by the Warriors.
"Maui! Guys!" Melody shouted and waved.
Maui, Jade, Jordan and Deirdre halted their training session with the new recruits, and turned their attention to Melody.
"We have a situation." Melody called out. "The meeting room. Now."
Within three minutes, the Warriors had filed into the meeting room. The room was originally the Throne Room that the Pilgrim had used for her nefarious purposes. However, the place had been repurposed and refurnished to become a conference room of sorts for the Warriors. It was a private room closed off to all other sorcerers, only for the Warriors to discuss serious issues and make decisions regarding the League of Sorcerers or important missions.
"What's going on?" Maui asked, sitting in his large chair. He too sported a fresh look, having shaved off his long locks of curly hair months ago. It had been a part of his bid to become more human-like, and it had helped him with creating a presentable appearance at the very least.
"The Empire is striking again." Melody said. "This time in Quodrun."
"Quodrun? Wait, how do you know?" Jade asked.
"I thought no one knows when the Empire will attack." Maui said. "Isn't that their signature tactic? Shock and awe?"
"I don't know how," Melody said. "But Will Daltrey saw them coming."
"Daltrey?" Maui leaned forward. "That skinny teenager?"
"Yeah, the one and only." Tracy put her feet up on the table.
"Look, what matters is that he reached out to us." Melody pushed Tracy's feet off the table. "He needs our help. The Empire is about to march on Quodrun."
"Hang on a minute." Jade held her hands up. "Quodrun is at the edge of Denmark, isn't it?"
"Yes." Melody had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach when she realised what Jade was getting at. Don't say it.
"They can't just be thinking of taking Quodrun." Jade continued. "Quodrun's just the gateway to Denmark. They're going to sweep past Quodrun and take Denmark too."
"That's what I'm afraid of." Melody muttered under her breath. Denmark wasn't ready for a full scale war against a force like the unbeatable Imperial Horde. If the Empire succeeded in conquering Denmark, then what would happen to her people? Her home? And more importantly, her parents? She shuddered when she thought about the depressing possibilities.
"I say we take the fight to them." Maui stood up confidently. "This is our best chance of taking them down once and for all."
"Be realistic." Deirdre said. "There's no way we can wipe out my-the Exonians. Their army is too big. At our best, we'll most likely only be able to repel them from Quodrun and Denmark."
"Are you okay?" Tracy asked, glancing at Deirdre.
"Honestly, no." Deirdre pursed her lips and looked away. "I don't understand why my sister would try to turn Exon into an empire. It just doesn't make sense. How can so much have changed in the years that I've been away?"
"I'm sorry, Deirdre." Melody said from across the table. "I know Exon is your home and your native people, but Exon has to be stopped. Here and now. This has gone too far."
Deirdre nodded. "I know."
"But what do you propose?" Jade asked. "We've already sent teams of sorcerers to combat the Imperial Horde before, and they've lost every single time, even with senior League members like Vonco or Cornelius with them."
"I don't think it's a matter of whether our sorcerers are strong enough." Maui said. "We've always only managed to send a team in after the Imperial Horde has already made inroads into whatever city or kingdom they're trying to conquer. That's gotta be a huge disadvantage."
"And now we stand a better chance?" Deirdre asked uncertainly.
"I think we do." Maui responded confidently.
Melody stood up. "Alright then, I think it's time to try something new. We'll send in a team. No, two. One to aid with the evacuation of Quodrun, and another stationed on the frontline to check the advance of the Imperial Horde. We can't let them get into Denmark…no matter what."
"Who are you planning to send?" Deirdre asked.
"I'll go." Melody said. "It's been a while, but I think it's time I got back in the field. I can better coordinate things from the ground, along with Florie's telepathic link."
"No," Tracy responded bluntly. "I'll go. Then at least if we get killed and Quodrun falls, the League still has their best tactician."
"No one is going to get killed." Melody stressed firmly. "And fine, I won't be on the frontline. I'll at least help out with the evacuation."
"Let us handle the Imperial Horde." Jade said, glancing at Melody and Tracy. "Tracy and I will take Cornelius, Vonco and Rikhard. It's gonna be different this time."
"How can you be so confident?" Deirdre asked skeptically.
"They won't stand a chance against us, now that we're taking up the battlefield. So far, we have never entered the field against the Imperial Horde." Tracy said with certainty. "We're gonna put an end to this, once and for all."
Jordan stood up, and gestured to himself. Even though he was mute, not a single person doubted that he had courage and the heart of a Warrior.
"No," Melody shook her head. "I can't risk so many of the Warriors going out into the field. We need our command team here."
"I'll be here with Deirdre." Maui said, and Deirdre nodded. "Take Jordan with you. He can help with the evacuation."
"Alright then." Melody sighed in consent and glanced round. "Maui, Deirdre, you stay here and help us to oversee things. We'll be in touch through Florie's mind link."
"I'll go round up Cornelius and the others." Tracy said, casually opening up a Crossing Point in the middle of the meeting room and disappeared through it together with Jade.
"Are you sure about this?" Deirdre asked.
Melody nodded but sighed inwardly. There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she couldn't get rid of. She didn't know exactly why, but she had a strange premonition about it all.
###
A Crossing Point opened up and they stepped out of it. Melody looked around. They were in the city square in the heart of Quodrun, and people were all over the place, jamming up the streets and roads in a bid to get out. Quodrun was in complete disarray. It seemed that news had spread about the Imperial Horde's arrival, and everyone was in a mad scramble to get out before the Empire could occupy the city.
"Okay, let's go over the plan again." Melody gathered the team of sorcerers, trying to be heard above the crowd thronging them in the city square.
"I'll take Jade, Cornelius, Vonco and Rikhard." Tracy shouted, leaning in. "We'll go to the frontline."
"Rendezvous with Will. He's there waiting for you." Melody reminded her. "Florie has all of us linked telepathically, including Will. He'll tell you where he is. I'll take Holli and Jordan to aid with the evacuation. Everyone clear?"
"Yup." Nods of confirmation from the sorcerers all around gave Melody a little bit of assurance that things might actually work out fine.
"Stay alert and update us on the situation."
"Got it."
The two teams of sorcerers split up, one being led by Melody, and the other by Tracy. Melody took her team which comprised of Holli and Jordan to the edge of the town square to aid the authorities in reducing panic and facilitating the evacuation.
"I don't know how we're going to get everyone out in time!" Holli shouted, helping up a woman who had fallen and gotten trampled on in the mayhem. She was a girl who had the ability to heal wounds and concoct medicinal potions, a skill that was rather useful in a crisis such as this one.
"We have to try." Melody responded as she glanced over at Jordan who was a distance away, helping to disintegrate rubble and heavy debris that a civilian got trapped under. The Elemental Sorcerer who could manipulate earth was really a good person to have around right now too.
"The Imperial Horde must be at the borders by now." Holli said anxiously. "How is Tracy's team going to hold them off?"
"I'll leave that to Tracy and her team." Melody said grimly as she directed a few civilians in the right direction away from the already jam packed city square. Truthfully, she didn't know how things were going to turn out. They didn't even have time to formulate a proper plan of defence against the Empire's forces.
Sure, the Warriors had butted heads with a mercenary force, the Knights of Vengeance and a couple of terrorist organizations, but they had never fought in a war before. This was a completely different ball game, and one that Melody wasn't sure she and her allies could win.
TRACY
"Go! Get out of here!" Tracy gestured wildly to a passing man as he scrambled to get clear of the edge of the city.
"Where's Will?" Jade asked, looking round. "He said he would meet us here right?"
"Over here." Will Daltrey motioned for them to join him by the gate, where he was crouched behind a low stone wall. He no longer sported the spectacles which made him look like a dork.
"Will!" Tracy hissed as they reunited with the Elemental Sorcerer who could harness the wind. "It's been a while, man. You look like you've come a long way from that useless wimp who needed protection from the Pilgrim!"
"Thanks." Will tried not to appear too offended.
"What do you have for us?" Jade asked.
"The Imperial Horde is coming." Will pointed over the stone wall and the rest looked to see where he was pointing at.
In the distance, an army formed up in thick columns was rapidly covering the large field in front of the gates of Quodrun, and they were accompanied by artillery guns at the back, with a thick line of skirmishers in front of the infantry battalions. Cavalry squadrons were accompanying the battalions from the back, ready to move out to inflict psychological and physical damage.
"They're…moving fast." Vonco observed.
"Yes, we don't have much time before they get here." Will said with an air of urgency. "I was hoping you had a plan to deter them. These Exonians are unpredictable."
"Don't worry," Tracy said. "I'm…working on a plan."
"What?"
"We have to get out there in front of the troops." Tracy said abruptly. "I'm going to pull an old trick and jam all their guns. It's gonna take a lot out of me, so the rest of you have to pick up the slack. Cornelius, you just go about smashing their formations. Vonco and Rikhard, work with each other to check their advance. Will and Jade, you two will be using your elemental powers to kinda even the playing field against the Exonians."
"You've got to be kidding me." Will stared at Tracy. "That's your plan?"
"You got a better one?" Tracy glanced at him. "You wanted our help, this is what we can offer you."
"What, you thought we had an army with us?" Jade joked.
"We're doomed." Will muttered under his breath.
"Let's be real, guys." Tracy said. "We don't have an army backing us up, and it's just the six of us. There's no way we can take out thousands of trained soldiers by ourselves. The best we can do is hold them back for as long as we can, and weaken them as much as possible. When we're getting overwhelmed, it'll be the signal for us to bail and hope that Melody and her team evacuated as many people as possible."
"Got it." Rikhard said, getting up.
Cornelius removed his outer jacket and stretched his muscle-laden arms while Vonco practiced travelling through the shadows on the ground, appearing and disappearing from different spots.
Tracy got out in front of the stone wall, and began walking towards the rapidly advancing Exonians, and was followed closely by the rest of the sorcerers. She stopped, planting her feet deep in the grass and inhaled a deep breath of cold spring air. Closing her eyes, she concentrated as she reached deep down and pulled out the black magic from the recesses of her inner most being.
She began to perspire and great drops of cold sweat fell from her face as she focused on disabling all the firearms on the battlefield with her magic. Then, she opened her eyes, her hands still tense in front of her.
"Go!" Tracy screeched. "Their guns are down!"
Jade drew the longsword at her side, and a surge of electricity flowed through it, lighting the longsword up with a strong electrical charge. She began running towards the Imperial Horde, the glowing weapon in hand. Vonco disappeared into the shadows of one of the sorcerers in front of him, while Rikhard vanished from sight, cloaking his entire being and veiling himself from the enemy forces. Cornelius waited at the side of the large field for the right moment to charge the flank of the soldiers.
From where Tracy stood her ground, she could see the skirmishers engaging the sorcerers who slowed them down, and the columns of infantry battalions were beginning to open up into line formation, four ranks deep.
Cornelius took the cue, and barrelled into the first rank of infantry soldiers, bringing on an effect similar to enfilade fire. They bowled over as the young man endued with supernatural strength charged through their flank.
"That's not going to hold for long." Will observed as he stood beside Tracy, tensing his hands and causing a ferocious wind to blow back the skirmishers. A wind with the strength of a mini typhoon catapulted a great handful of skirmishers backwards, pushing back the Imperial Horde. "They haven't even unleashed their cavalry on us yet."
"It's all we can do, man." Tracy said through gritted teeth as she continued holding her spell in place with great effort.
The forward-backward struggle went on for some time. The sorcerers were getting tired, and the advance of the Imperial Horde seemed to be relentless. Every minute they tried to hold the Exonian soldiers back, they were just delaying the inevitable.
"I can't keep holding on." Tracy gasped.
"You have to!" Will shouted as he swept his arm from left to right, and another row of soldiers were blown away by a ferocious gust of wind.
"No," Tracy dropped her hands and the magic holding back the guns faded away. "I have a better idea."
"What? Wait, come back!"
Tracy opened up a Crossing Point and disappeared through it, leaving Will to fend off the volley of musketry that crashed towards him with the aid of the wind.
From the Crossing Zone, she opened up another Crossing Point at the tail end of the infantry battalions. If there was anything she knew about armies, it was that the senior commEvans always stood behind to observe the action. If she could take out the commander there and then, then she could end the battle right there and then.
Before she could step out, she looked straight ahead and almost fell out of the Crossing Zone. She couldn't believe her eyes. Were they playing tricks on her? At the back of the artillery guns and cavalry squadrons stood a tall, burly man clad in murky red military decorum. He looked different from how she remembered him, but there was no mistaking it. Kane was alive, and he was commanding the Imperial Horde.
Author's Commentary:
Quite a nasty shock for our characters, isn't it? Their old enemy Kane from Book 1, their very first adventure together, is back in the fold to make their lives hell again. He'll be a force to reckon with, you'll see! If you're enjoying the story thus far, I would really appreciate it if you would leave me a review :)