The clock on the wall hit 7 o'clock, and the Yetis gave one last check to their weapons. Unnecessary, but it helped distract them from the impending combat. Besides the usual, all of them carried some number of flashbangs and smoke canisters, and certain Yetis were responsible for the Originium explosives they had been provided with. Frostnova had insisted on it, saying that she suspected something would go badly.
Correct or not, it was best to err on the side of caution; and when the Third Cell was providing them all this for free, why not?
With Petrova and Levina at the lead, their motley group left; leaving Ben and Anne to keep the rest of the camp secure. Petrova trusted them, and they wouldn't find anything worse than a pickpocket. They could handle it. Fredrich and Frostnova trailed behind, ensuring they weren't pursued.
Moving through the slums with ease, the group slowly moved through the city; careful to avoid any police or military that could take note of what they were doing. A cart of unmarked bundles surrounded by armed guards was suspicious as hell.
That still meant they got some stares from the slum-dwellers they passed along the way, however. Nobody was brave enough to challenge them, but many watched with curiosity or fear. Petrova picked out a few Infected among them but didn't bother helping them. This was more important.
They arrived on time; a quick check of the sun confirmed it. Walking through the tunnel that led to the center of the stadium, Petrova took a cautious look at the inside of the area. Nobody but Kalva and twenty well-armed men, as agreed.
Petrova walked out of the tunnel with a smile to Kalva. The man was like him, in many ways – if more bloodthirsty. Petrova liked him. The Yetis formed up into a loose group behind him and Levina, Frostnova walking forward and staying at their side.
Kalva wasn't smiling. Strange, coming from a man from him. He grimaced instead and spoke.
"I apologize, Petrova. You know, I think we could've been friends.
"Maybe even brothers.
"But this is my duty as a loyal soldier to Leithanien."
Petrova tilted his head.
What was Kalva getting at?
"Fire."
Kalva's opening words had brought them time. Raising walls of ice around them, Frostnova blocked the first volley of arrows, Arts and crossbow bolts that flew towards them. They shattered upon her barrier, but the exertion left her dizzy for a moment.
"Shit! Sorry, Frostnova, I didn't –" Andrey began.
"Not now!" She barked, regaining herself and firing a shot of Arts towards Kalva's troops. They dodged expertly, the shots going wide and hitting a stadium wall.
They were good. Special forces, probably. Ignoring them – the Yetis could handle themselves for now – she charged towards the stands, blasting the guards that tried to stop her with Arts. So only Kalva's retinue was elite. The rest were probably just your average soldier.
A blast of Arts froze three into icicles, the Caster team having clumped too close together. Another speared an archer through the heart.
"Tell Petrova to use the smoke canisters." Frostnova ordered, continuing to rush towards the mass of crossbowmen further up in the stands.
"He's done so already. Three Yetis down so far, nine left including Petrova. Only one of Kalva's is down." Frostnova grimaced at his report, freezing a flood of crossbow bolts as they flew towards her. She shot down another archer with an Arts blast, continuing her charge.
Just a few more steps…
And then Frostnova was on the crossbowmen. One paused mid-reload and made to run, but Frostnova made quick work of him with an ice spear to the throat. The rest scattered.
Closing her eyes, Frostnova summoned a cluster of ice crystals – ignoring the pain in her chest. She had to kill their ranged troops here, or more would die.
"Should I use my Arts?" Andrey asked.
Frostnova released her ice crystals, pummeling the soldiers around her. It cut through half of their number. Not enough.
She summoned another wave, falling to one knee. Nonetheless, she still replied to Andrey; gritting her teeth from the pain. "No."
"You're hurting yourself." He pointed out. Frostnova ignored him, firing the barrage and preparing another – letting out a cry of pain as she did so.
"You'll kill yourself. It's different." Frostnova replied. "Die!"
Another barrage of ice crystals flew out. Andrey obviously thought otherwise, but nonetheless folded. "I'll avoid them for now, then."
Good… though she wasn't sure she could do this for any longer. Forcing herself to stand, she took in the carnage she had caused. Most of the crossbowmen and casters were dead, if not dying.
She took a step, and almost fell again.
"Yelena!" Andrey cried out. Typical of him.
Frostnova grunted and stood up. "I'll be fine."
She still had the other end of the stadium to deal with. With that many Casters, the Yetis in the middle of the stadium were as good as dead once the smoke fell.
She had to be fine.
Fredrich glared at Kalva through the smoke, firing a wave of needles at him. They did nothing but break off his armor and draw the attention of one of his troops.
He grumbled. His Arts weren't exactly suited to sustained combat against armored opponents.
Well, no time now. The soldier slashed at him with his sword, and Fredrich returned fire with his needles. The soldier laughed, effortlessly blocking them with his shield.
Fredrich tried again. No success. The soldier slashed again, and this time left a shallow cut upon his chest. Stepping carefully back, Fredrich glared at his opponent.
"Out of ideas, traitor?" The soldier taunted.
"Not quite." Fredrich fired another wave, summoning them behind his enemy this time – pincushioning his left calf. Eyes wide with surprise, the man fell to the ground, and Fredrich stabbed his wand through the soldier's throat, killing him.
Served him right for his arrogance.
Another volley of Arts warned him of a far more pertinent threat – the Casters in the distance. Wearing nothing but leather armor and cloaks, they rained down Arts at his – comrades, he supposed – from the stands.
Fredrich grinned. This, he could deal with.
Firing off a wave of needles, he laughed as the first of the Casters began to fall.
Hidden behind the remnants of one of Frostnova's ice walls, Levina watched her dagger as it traced a path through the crossbowmen in the distance. It wasn't as fast as she would've liked it; another barrage of Arts came at her, and she was forced to jump out from behind her ice barrier. A few stray bolts flew at her as a result, and she winced when one grazed her shoulder.
A cry of pain behind her told of another dead Yeti. Things weren't going well on that front either, despite the smoke canisters they had brought.
She hid back into the thick gray smoke as the next volley of crossbow bolts came her way; recalling her dagger to her. It traced a blue line as it came back, before stopping before her and hovering it in midair.
One of Kalva's retinue saw her and ran forward, sword and shield at the ready.
Snatching her dagger out of the air, Levina jumped back, disappearing into the smoke again. No use trying to use a dagger against a shield. Another rushed her from behind, and she sidestepped his attack.
Not perfectly, however. His sword scored a shallow cut along her side, eliciting a wince out of her. Levina spared a glance at him. He, too, had a sword and shield… She ran off into the smoke again.
The air smelled of blood and ash, and her eyes stung. She couldn't aim in this smoke.
"Why did I follow Petrova to this anyway?" She thought, sprinting out of the smoke cloud again. A Yeti shouted for another round of smoke, and a few more canisters fell to the ground – cloaking the region in a fresh round of smoke.
The tunnel from the stadium tempted her. She could just run and get away from all of this; the snipers were held up, as were most of Kalva's retinue.
No, she wouldn't. Not after all of this. Gritting her teeth, she let her dagger fly again at the last clumps of crossbowmen still firing into the distance.
"Levina and Fredrich have cleared up the last of the Casters and crossbowmen." Andrey reported.
Frostnova nodded, sprinting back towards the rather one-sided melee in the center of the stadium. "She's very dangerous."
"Lethal against anything unarmored, worthless against everything else. Both of them, in fact." Andrey analyzed. "Marking enemies and allies… now. Seven Yetis left, seventeen of Kalva's."
Red dots gradually appeared in her vision, outnumbering what blue remained. Frostnova roared and charged into the smoke, blindly firing at the closest target. Her Arts struck true, ice piercing through steel with a screech. Frostnova ignored it, already firing at another target. She landed a hit on them too, the smoke preventing them from seeing the deadly projectiles firing at them.
Something that Kalva seemed to realize too. A roar sounded from further within the cloud, followed by a loud order. "Out of the smoke!"
"Petrova says he's out of more smoke canisters. Flashbangs haven't been expended yet. Explosives are still there." An orange dot appeared. "We could try detonating them."
That would kill everyone but her. Unacceptable. Frostnova fired another Arts blast at a retreating soldier, killing him. Her next shot was easily dodged, however, Kalva's troops beginning to adapt to her onslaught. A grenade flew towards her location, and she returned it to the sender – ending another.
"Six to twelve. You're evening the odds." Andrey reported.
"Good. We can –"
A war cry came from outside the stadium, and more troops streamed in.
Andrey sighed. "Fuck."
Sprinting out of the way of another blow from Kalva's hammer, Petrova struck out with his sword. Kalva batted it aside with a gauntleted hand and stepped back, facing Petrova warily.
And then Petrova heard the cry of what was undoubtedly even more reinforcements for Kalva. Fixing the man with a glare, Petrova grumbled. "More?"
"Yeah, more." Kalva chuckled. "I'm not that arrogant as to think I could handle this myself. Your people are good, the Caster and the one with the dagger especially."
Petrova raised his sword and smirked. His body was aching and bruised from the occasional blow that landed, but it was nothing he hadn't handled before. "I noticed you didn't include me among their number."
"You're decent. Not particularly dangerous." Kalva swung his hammer again, Petrova easily stepping back. "You've survived me so far, though, which is impressive."
"ANDREY!" Petrova tried to yell to the idiot. How he wished he had learned to communicate better with the man…
"Yeah?" Andrey responded. "Need me to tell Frostnova something?"
"Tell her I'll handle this. Get out of here with Levina; she's not supposed to be involved in this mess." Petrova urged, charging Kalva again. He was deterred again by yet another swing of Kalva's hammer, which forced him to slide back.
"She won't agree." Andrey said. "But I've told her."
"She has to." Petrova grimaced, watching as another of Kalva's retinue rushed him from behind.
"Not necessarily…" Andrey trailed off. "She's told me what to do. I'm sorry."
Arts invaded Petrova's mind, and he tried in vain to hold Andrey off as he delved further. It was pointless – his muscles seizing up as he fell to the ground.
And then they relaxed again – Andrey now in full control, and Petrova just a prisoner in his own body.
"ANDREY!" Petrova shouted out. "What are you doing?"
"Saving your life, because you won't do it yourself."
Up in the stands, Frostnova watched the last three Yetis as they were surrounded by Kalva's troops. Tearing her eyes away, she blasted a hole in the stadium's walls with her Arts and ran out, Petrova following her, eyes dull. She'd have liked to end everything here in one last battle, but it was pointless. She'd have to return Andrey's body to him first. Anything less was unacceptable.
"He's under control. If barely. I wish Petrova had a mute button…" Andrey said, currently in control of Petrova's body. Well, Petrova seemed healthy at least. Covered in bruises and cuts, but still in good enough shape to keep up with her.
"The Yetis are good as dead. Levina has went in some other direction; my Arts lost track of her." Andrey reported. A massive explosion rocked the stadium behind them, spewing a cloud of smoke into the air. "Huh. Looks like they went out with a bang."
They were gone. How had it come to this?
Frostnova's eyes felt wet.
She scrunched her eyes shut. No, not now. Later. "Later…"
"Did you say something?" Andrey asked, concerned.
"No. I'm fine." It probably sounded forced, but she couldn't bring herself to care right now.
"You're not, but we can deal with it later. They're chasing." Andrey marked a dot above her. "Drones too, likely with some form of tracking."
Her Arts. They could simply measure local temperature. Firing off a burst of Arts, Frostnova took down a drone – and was rewarded with an arcing volley of projectiles in her direction. She ducked into a building; Petrova soon doing the same.
"Good idea." Andrey commented, Frostnova emerged from the building just enough to fire off a shot, before ducking back in. The ice downed another drone. "Eight left. Good luck."
"I'll need it." Frostnova grimly said.
Levina ducked behind a wall as another crossbow bolt was fired at her. Her dagger flew back and killed the one responsible, before faithfully returning to her. Fredrich fired off a few deterrent bursts of Arts, his needles breaking on the side walls.
Her dagger flew off again, knocking over a crate in a different alley. A few shouts rang out, half of the pursuing party going to chase in that direction. Fredrich gave her a nod, gesturing towards a side path.
Lay a false path, distract the enemy… and now, run.
With Fredrich close behind, she tore off into the distance, sprinting into the opposite direction and disappearing into the slums.
AN: I hinted at this last chapter, but it might still feel sudden for some. Not sure.
The researchers effectively have zero anti-armor options; Fredrich's needles don't work against armor, nor does Levina's dagger. I felt it made sense, given their team is only supposed to deal with bandits at most.
Funnily enough, I forgot about Fredrich writing this the first time. Completely.