Chapter Forty Five

Return to Denmark

MELODY

"Melody!"

She heard her name being called and turned to see where the voice had come from. Elsa and Tracy were inching their way into the centre of the circle where she and the rest of the Warriors were.

Tracy fell on Melody in front of everyone, forcing her into a hug and ignoring the eyes of everyone else around them.

"Welcome back." Tracy said as she finally let go of her.

"It's good to be back." Melody gave a slight grin and glanced at Elsa who similarly came forward to give her a relieved hug.

"I'm glad you're okay." Elsa said. "I was worried that you and the others-"

"No, no, I'm alright." Melody said hastily, awkward with all this fuss and attention. "And I'm glad you're alright. When I saw them take you away, I feared the worst."

"I survived." Elsa said vaguely.

"And I'm glad to see that. Really."

"My sister and Maui," Elsa asked anxiously. "Are they-"

"They're safe."

Elsa let out a long breath in satisfying catharsis. "Where are they? They didn't come back with you?"

"Anna and Maui went straight back to Arendelle to prepare for the coming war."

Elsa looked satisfied.

"How did you get back here?" Tracy asked in a low voice, thankfully aware that they were still being surrounded by Insurgents who weren't exactly privy to the knowledge of a greater evil magical force and other worlds that were in existence.

"Long story," Melody said. "But I don't think we have the time now." She dipped her head at Charlotte who had also similarly been alerted to her return.

"Melody, you're back." Charlotte said, her gruff voice betraying a hint of concern. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Melody brushed off the concern. "You're just the woman I was looking for. Listen, I have a plan that'll help us. Can we call a meeting with the senior Insurgents?"

###

Melody held her breath as she waited for Charlotte's agreement.

Charlotte hesitated for a moment of contemplation, and then glanced back and motioned at the crowd of Insurgents to disperse and to go about setting up a meeting. "We need to be quick. We have a mission at eleven o'clock."

"Of course." Melody said gratefully.

As the crowd thinned and people went on with their separate tasks, Melody turned to the Warriors who were still waiting for her.

"I'm sorry I don't have time to bring you all up to speed with what happened." Melody said. "But suffice to say, we were sent to another world, and we found an inventor who built us a way back. I'll explain more later, but for now we need to get to this meeting. I worked up a little plan on my way over."

"Alright." Tracy said. "But it better be good, after you being gone for so long."

Melody chuckled. Good old Tracy, she'd missed her.

Before long, all the senior insurgents and active agents had filed into the room where they held their discussions and briefings. This included Oliver, who she'd had a brief reunion with. He'd been glad to see her and they'd shared a short toast over a bottle of alcohol that he'd no doubt purchased from the Ten Drinks.

Ivon was in the room too, and he'd expressed his relief to see her back safely. All the pleasantries, though she could sense that they were being genuine. Hope was in short supply around here, and the fact that one of their members had returned from seeming death had helped to boost their morale by a bit, even though they hadn't known her for long. Every bit helped.

"Alright, we're all here." Charlotte waved a hand to signify that everyone required was in the room, which didn't seem to be as many as Melody had hoped it would be. "So what did you have in mind?"

"We know that Kane is leading the Imperial Horde towards Arendelle, and they're going to be…" she nodded as Ivon helped to unroll the map on the round table. "…passing through here." Melody traced her finger at an arc around a coastal region which was surrounded by nothing by thick forest.

Charlotte cocked her head. "What are you getting at?"

"I'm saying, if we really want to take down the Empire once and for all, we're not going to be able to do that by just taking down the Empress. Someone else, presumably Kane or the Consul will just carry on her mission. No, we have to hit them where it hurts." Melody explained. "If we're going to succeed, we need to cripple their army. And what better way to cripple them than to cut off their supplies?"

"I think I see what you're getting at…" Ivon folded his arms, looking thoughtful.

"Right, so we know they're going to have no choice but to stick to the coast road. It's the fastest and shortest route to Arendelle." Melody glanced at Elsa who nodded in confirmation. "There's no villages or towns between here and Arendelle, which means that Kane would have had no choice but to move their supply from Denmark to this little fort down here."

She tapped a spot on the map with her finger. Fort Kroxendal. It's the only logical place to establish the start point for a supply line. I'm betting we'll find their whole stash of goods in there. Ammunition, weapons, food, water, logistics. Everything."

"We cripple their supplies, they'll be stranded out there, and they won't be able to continue their campaign." Ivon sounded impressed.

"And we'll have defanged the beast. The Empire will have no choice but to withdraw." Melody finished, looking satisfied with her plan.

"I think that could work," Charlotte said after some contemplation. "But we'll still need our forces here to carry on with our localized mission. The First Imperials are still out in force, and we're so close to taking back our home."

"Of course." Melody said. "That's why I'll only need a few of our own covert operatives for this little side mission."

"Who?"

Melody glanced at the Warriors. "I'm going to need Tracy and Jade. It'll be a quick sabotage operation. We'll be in and out before the Imperial Horde knows we were in there."

"How are you planning on destroying their entire supply?" Elsa frowned.

Melody glanced at Tracy and Jade, and Elsa seemed to catch her drift.

"Elsa, you stay here with Will and Deirdre and help the Insurgents. The local team is going to be doing quite a bit of the heavy lifting and they're going to need the powerhouses."

Elsa, Deirdre and Will nodded in acknowledgement, though three of them seemed to be slightly apprehensive about this whole thing.

"It's settled then." Charlotte said. "Next order of business, since most of the sorcerers are out of the game, I'm going to need to reassign Oliver and one other member of the insurgents to follow Will, Deirdre and Elsa. They can't be going into the lion's den without backup."

"I'll go."

Melody whirled around at the sound of a low, mechanical voice coming from behind her. She narrowed her eyes as she saw the hooded mercenary standing at the door, which had apparently been opened silently. This time though, he wasn't wearing a mask, and was simply using the hood to cast a shadow on his face. And to good effect too.

"Prometheus." She grimaced, dropping slightly into a fighter's stance as the ring of insurgents cleared and he walked towards the table. "You have some nerve showing up here."

"I'm not here to fight." He said in a smooth, baritone voice, unlike the impassive mechanical one she was familiar with. "I apologize for any earlier confusion or panic, and thank you all for rescuing me. I am in your debt."

"Is this for real?" Melody stared round in disbelief. "Am I the only one who's not falling for his deception?"

"No deception." Prometheus said, raising both hands.

"He risked his life to save ours." Elsa said. "Please, Melody. I saw it with my own eyes. And so did you, in the Maine."

It was true. Melody had seen the mercenary stand up for Elsa and the rest of the captured Warriors in the Maine, and she'd seen him take a vicious beating from General Kane, and from the looks of it back then, his back had been shattered. The man who was standing before them now showed no sign of injury, and she guessed that Holli "the witch doctor" had something to do with that.

"You can't be serious." Melody frowned. "You're all believing that he's really on our side?"

"We don't have much of a choice." Charlotte said. "We need all the help we can get, former Imperial or not." She nodded at him warily. "You'll go with them?"

"I will."

"It's settled then. Ivon will brief you on the mission objective and details." She said, albeit cautious. "Welcome to the Insurgency…for now. If you try anything funny, we'll have you shot and toss your body in the river,"

"I understand."

"You've got to be joking." Melody really couldn't believe that this was happening. "You're letting your guard down!" She tried to appeal to Charlotte in front of the mercenary who was still listening. "He's going to end up stabbing us in the back!"

"I've made my decision." Charlotte said sharply. "I've authorised your mission and trust you to handle it. I'm asking you to trust me in handling mine."

And that was the end of it. Melody watched in disbelief as the Warriors and the Insurgents went about as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

"I don't believe this." Melody narrowed her eyes at the unmasked face of Prometheus. She strode up to the unmoving mercenary and they locked eyes, his features becoming slightly more prominent as she drew nearer. So that's what he really looks like up close.

"Melody!" Elsa hissed as she came between the two of them. "What were you trying to prove?"

"Elsa, he's a mercenary, for god's sake. He kidnapped you, or have you forgotten?" Melody stared at her. "I know you have feelings for him, but be smarter than this. Please."

"A lot has happened since you've been away," Elsa argued. "Janus is on our side for real. Please, I'm asking you to trust me."

"It's not that I don't trust you." She glared back at Prometheus. "I don't trust him."

"And what would you have me do to prove my allegiance?"

"Get out of here, for starters." Melody said coldly. "We can manage without you."

"Melody, we can't." Elsa pleaded. "Not if you're taking the team to intercept and sabotage Kane's supplies. We're shorthanded and we need a man with his skills. We need all the help we can get."

"Surely you can do without him! There's Oliver, and Ivon, and-"

"We need Janus."

"Elsa, your judgement's askew! Your feelings for him are clouding your judgement!"

"And your feelings against him are clouding yours." Elsa retorted, sounding cross and impatient as though she were tired of arguing the same point over and over again. "Melody, I like to think we've known each other long enough for us to be able to trust each other. I trust you to lead your own mission against Kane. Why can't you do the same for me? Look, it's either you trust me or you don't."

Melody stared at her. Elsa had laid down a pretty straightforward ultimatum and she couldn't blame her.

"Please make up your mind."

"Fine." Melody sighed in defeat and scowled at Prometheus with every fibre of hostility she could muster. "I don't know why you decided to betray the Empire, but if you betray us, I promise you, I'll-"

"If you'll excuse me," he said impassively. "I have a briefing to attend."

He slipped past her before she could get another word in, and she watched as Prometheus joined Ivon at another smaller table and began speaking with him. At least Ivon looked a little more apprehensive and untrusting than the rest of them did.

"Elsa," Melody turned to face her. "I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time believing that-"

Elsa shook her head. "It's okay, I know."

"I just don't want you getting hurt." Melody admitted. "I know you have feelings for him and all, but you need to be careful around him."

"Don't worry," Elsa said with a hint of dismissiveness.

"You've already been captured once, I can't bear to let that happen again. Not on my watch." Melody said protectively. "And that begs the question as to how you managed to escape."

"Well for starters, I almost died." Elsa said dryly. "Thanks to the Consul."

"You were tortured?" Melody's eyes grew wider.

"What do you think happens to prisoners of the Empire?"

"What happened?"

"I rather not get into details." Elsa rubbed her arms. She was getting tired of telling the same story over and over again, and doing so really wasn't going to help her to forget it any time soon. "It was a pretty traumatic experience I prefer not to dig up and recount. All you need to know is I'm alright now."

"Exactly what I'm trying to say. We need to be careful not to fall into another trap." Melody decided that it was a good opportunity to bring up her point again. "We played right into the Empress' hands the last time, we can't afford for that to happen again."

"And what if your plan to foil the supplies is part of hers? Or Kane's?"

Melody shook her head. "I don't think so."

"Look, this thing goes both ways." Elsa said. "You're asking me to be careful. You need to watch out too. You're not immortal."

"Don't I know it." Melody mumbled.

But what Elsa had said stayed in the back of her mind long after the conversation was over, pushing its way to the forefront every now and then. What if Elsa was right? That her whole plan was yet another part of the Empress' larger cunning schemes? She shook her head. No, it couldn't possibly be. It just couldn't.