Chapter Forty Eight

The Battle of Fort Kroxendal

MELODY

We're too slow, Melody's mind raced as she whirled around, looking for a safe spot to hide. There wasn't anywhere good. Her eyes darted to Jade and Tracy, who had also heard the noises, and she found them looking to her for ideas.

"Get down!" she hissed, instinctively pulling them over to one of the walls farthest away from where the sounds were coming from. They crouched behind a tall pillar, knowing that it didn't exactly provide them much cover, but this was the best they could do under the circumstances.

"I want a third of these supplies stocked on the supply boats and meeting us out by the start of the Southern Coast." A familiar voice boomed, travelling across the grounds.

Kane. Melody bristled. What the hell was he doing here? He was supposed to be at the head of the campaign leading with the Imperial Horde! With him here, things were going to get a whole lot messier, and it was now highly likely that their plan was going to go off the rails.

Her eyes met Tracy's and she mouthed the name of their enemy. Tracy's face twitched and she in turn relayed the message to Jade in a whisper.

What were they going to do now?

"Yes, Sir." A nervous voice replied. "Sir, what-"

"What is this?" Kane's voice carried a tone of astonishment as it echoed through the air. "Colonel, what's the meaning of this?"

"I-I don't know Sir." The colonel stuttered. "This is the first time I'm seeing this."

No doubt they were referring to the Warriors' handiwork.

"I'll tell you what this is. We're being sabotaged." Kane said. "I want this entire fortress locked down. Sweep every inch of this place. I want the culprits found."

"Yes Sir, but what makes you think they're still here?"

"Oh, they're not done yet." Kane said darkly. "Gather your troops and find them."

"Yes Sir."

"There's nowhere to hide!" Kane called out in a deafening, parade ground bellow. "Whoever you are, you're only delaying the inevitable, so you best reveal yourselves now before my men flush you out!"

He's right, Melody thought grimly after her mind had raced through a few ways this could end. We're boxed in, and we can't teleport out now, not when we're not done here. It would've all been for nothing. Unless…

She darted out from behind the pillar and stood in full view of General Kane.

"You want me?" Melody shouted defiantly, her bow in one hand and the other clenched tightly. "I'm right here!"

"You." Kane fixed his eyes on her.

"Yeah, me."

"I'll admit, I expected to run into you sooner or later." Kane said, his voice mild and devoid of anger or stupefaction.

"And why's that?"

"Your friend, the Snow Queen. She was one of my prisoners." Kane smirked. "It was only a matter of time before the rest of you Warriors showed up. What, you didn't think I've heard about the exploits of the League of Sorcerers?"

Melody narrowed her eyes, knowing that she had to keep him talking to buy time. "And what's that to you?"

"Let's just say that since I've been given a second lease of life, I've started to pay attention to the ones who foiled my original quest." Kane placed a hand on his trademark falchion sword on his hip. "I know all about you lot. You, the Princess of Denmark, Elsa, the Pilgrim of the League of Sorcerers, your friends the demigod and the sea witch…Oh, and is Moana still running around with you lot? Or has she returned to her island?"

"Leave them all out of this. I'm the only one here standing between you and your goals." Melody said.

"Oh, nice try." Kane smirked. "But I know you can't possibly have done this all by yourself. Your friend Tracy, she's here too, isn't she? Come on out!"

Tracy made her appearance known, and stepped out to join Melody, but she circled round till Kane's back was facing the pillar. From the peripheral of her eye, Melody saw Jade creep out from behind the pillar and silently breathed out a subtle sigh of relief. Good, Kane didn't seem to know that there was a third intruder. That would buy Jade about a minute or so to do what she needed.

"Good seeing you again, Major." Tracy said nonchalantly. "Wait, it's General now, isn't it?"

"Yes it is."

"Man, you've been busy. And you don't look crazy anymore. Been getting some therapy sessions with a psychiatrist?"

"I'll admit, the snake totem clouded my judgement and ended up costing me my victory." Kane said. "But I don't need magic to accomplish what I need."

"Oh?" Melody chimed in. "And what is that?"

"I don't know who you're fooling." Kane laughed. "You're trying to buy time, but for what? You're only delaying the inevitable. My troops will be here soon. But I'll humour you. When I was given a new lease of life, the Empress made me an offer."

"An offer huh?" Tracy folded her arms.

"Let me guess. She promised to bring your family back for good this time." Melody said.

A faint light crackled in the sky, lighting up the clouds ever so subtly. Thunder rumbled softly in the distance, almost imperceptible to the ear.

Kane nodded. "You've seen first hand what kind of powers the Empress has. She has the ability to alter reality. It seemed to good a deal to pass up."

"And what? In exchange, you serve her like an obedient lapdog?" Tracy snorted. "The Kane we knew back then wouldn't take orders from a crazy chick."

"I'll do whatever it takes to see my family again," Kane said dangerously. "And this time, no one, especially not you lot, will stand in my way again."

Out of the sky, a tendril of lightning lashed out dangerously close and vanished without a trace, and it was followed by a ear splitting growl of thunder which reverberated throughout the entire fortress.

A small smile crept onto Melody's face. "We'll have to see about that."

A blue streak of lightning struck from the sky, crashing dead centre into one of the columns of supplies decorated with oil, barrels and black powder.

The whole thing lit up like christmas, blinding everyone for a split second. There was an ear splitting rumble and a low, bassy eruption, which caused Melody's ears to ring and pulsate painfully, her teeth clattering in her mouth from the sound wave.

The grounds which were once poorly lit by the pale, weak moonlight were now illuminated by angry orange flames which twisted and turned every which way, but only in the centre of the grounds. The fire didn't seem to be spreading though. It was a decent start, but they were still pressed for time.

"So that was your endgame." Kane glanced behind him at the pile of burning supplies which was very quickly being reduced to a pile of ash and saw Jade standing beside one of the piles, with hands raised in another attempt to incinerate another column.

"It's over, Kane. You're finished." Melody stood her ground even as he took a menacing step towards her. "Tell your troops to stand down and retreat if you don't want to go up in flames together with your precious goods."

An entire platoon of soldiers armed with muskets made its presence known as they marched into the storage area and deployed into line formation.

"You know I can't do that."

"Everything will burn."

"Then so will you." Kane said darkly, and raised his fist in the air without so much as a command but everyone, including the Warriors, knew what that meant. From behind him, the soldiers gave a deafening and intimidating roar which made Melody's eardrums rattle, and they surged towards the intruders in skirmish order, armed with muskets and bayonets attached.

Tracy darted past Kane to meet them, while Jade continued her attempts to rain down lightning on the storage space.

When Kane looked like he was about to draw his pistol to gun down Jade, Melody lunged, causing Kane to sidestep and turn his attention to her instead.

I've to keep him occupied, Melody brought her bow upwards in an uppercut, hoping to catch Kane on the chin, but he faded again. At least until Jade has damaged enough of the goods here for us to retreat.

That was easier said than done, though. Kane drew his falchion sword from the scabbard on his hip, and slashed at Melody with the grace and expertise of a seasoned combatant.

She realised first hand that he was moving faster than he had ever done when she had fought him two years ago, and this Kane was a lot more dangerous, now that he was in his right mind - well, sort of. Parrying a downward cut from Kane's sword, Melody chanced a look over at her companions to see how they were doing.

Not very well, apparently. Tracy was holding her own as best as she could as she fended off soldier after soldier with short, successive blasts of her magic. Energy waves laced with purple added to the red and orange glow coming from the burning wreckage across the grounds. But sooner or later, Tracy would get worn out and then it would all be over.

Jade was doing her best, but every now and then she would have to skittle out of the way of a charging Exonian, which would disrupt her concentration. At least more than half of the supplies were now ablaze, but nowhere near enough. The sabotage had to be complete, otherwise this would have all been for nothing.

A boot catapulted Melody backwards and she sprawled, but she got up as quickly as she could and sprung to disengage from Kane's ferocious swing of the sword. In the same action, she nocked an arrow and shot it straight at the General.

He veered it off course with a swipe of his falchion, and continued advancing towards her with vengeance gleaming in his eyes.

This was a lost cause. At the rate they were going, they would all fall sooner or later, and Jade had sensed that somehow.

"You guys have to go!" Jade screeched from the opposite end. "Now!"

"You mean we have to go!" Melody shouted back, rolling out of the way as Kane almost took her head off with a swing.

"No we ain't backing down now!" Tracy blasted another few soldiers off her. "Not when we've already made it this far!"

"No, Jade's right, we all have to get out of here now!"

"If you stay, we'll all be killed!" Jade screamed. "I'll finish the job!"

"What are you talking about? No!" Melody blocked another lunge by catching her bow's limb on the guard of his sword and both weapons got stuck. "We get out together!"

"If I do that, this would have all been for nothing!" Jade rained down yet another bolt of lightning from the sky, its tendrils moving like long bony fingers which struck the next pile of supplies and set it ablaze. "You two need to get out of here right now before its too late!"

"No! I'm not leaving anyone behind!" Melody tried to jerk her weapon back and send the falchion flying out of Kane's hand but to no avail. He had an iron grip on his sword, and used his other hand to deliver a lightning fast jab to her face, sending her reeling backwards.

The two weapons disentangled, and Melody, bow in hand, stumbled and back pedalled, avoiding another thrust from Kane. He was attempting to box her into a corner, and was doing very well, by the way things were going. There was nowhere she could make a desperate fade without getting sliced by Kane's long reach.

A purple explosion of energy blasted Kane off his feet and he slammed against the wall with a thud. That would buy her a few moments.

"I hate to say it, but she's right!" Tracy dashed up to Melody's side and attempted to pull her away. "If we stay, we're all going to die!"

"Jade, this is not up for debate!" Melody yelled. "Get over here now!"

"No! Get out of here now or we're all going to die!"

"I'm sorry." Tracy placed both hands on Melody's shoulders and dragged her backwards.

"No!"

Melody was unable to brace herself as the two of them fell through a Crossing Point behind them, and it closed up as soon as they had passed through.

Another portal opened up back where they had begun, hundreds of yards away from the forest. Melody and Tracy sprawled on the grass, and the former scrambled to her feet.

"No!" Melody watched in dismay with wide eyes as Fort Kroxendal burned bright in the middle of the night like a candle flame refusing to die.

"It was the only way." Tracy said quietly, hugging her knees as she sat on the grass. "With just the three of us, you of all people should have known that not all of us were going to walk away from that. I'm sorry."

"What have you done?" Melody whispered, her voice cracking as she watched the lightning finally cease and the orange flames continued to glow ominously bright. What have I done?

"Look," Tracy finally broke the silence after some time had elapsed. "I care for Jade too, and I'm dying to know if she's still alive, or what happened to her. But we can't go back. There's nothing we can do here anymore, so we should get back to Denmark and regroup with the Insurgency."

"Maybe later we'll have a chance to circle back and search for Jade, but not now."

Melody paused for a long while before letting out a long breath of regret and stood up. "You're right. The insurgents said they would be done with their mission by nightfall. We should go." And before the night is over, how many more friends do I have to lose?"