Shoutouts to kasasemwila, OGGuy21, darkpegasuzz, HawaiianReader808, potter261740 for favorite/follows
In response to reviewer FrontierBrony: Idk if by hotter you mean good or just quick update, I hope its good so I can feel better about myself :p. Anyway I dont mind in the slightest if you ramble or not as I do ALL THE TIME. Also you have a multitude of good guesses that I'm afraid I can't confirm nor deny and just ask that you continue to read on.
In response to reviewer pup: I'm glad you enjoy the lore, there's a lot more to it as you have to consider where Edward got the book from. I look forward to all of your reactions in later chapters when you all get the full story that was cut off as it was in the book. Also in regards to Anna, she isn't Stonewell's BEST student, just likely his favorite one as it is his way of flipping off the council for arguing that she shouldn't learn to fight.
Landing in a crouch on the rooftop of the warehouse, he was greeted by three repeating crossbows already reloaded and about to be aimed at his position. He assumed the other soldiers were already reloaded as well and they would likely be taking aim at their next targets. As he focused on them trying to pick out the tiniest twinge or anger from any of them, he couldn't get a sense at all so their motives and strategies were a mystery to him. He wished he could know who was targeting who but forced his mind to not care. Regardless if they were aiming at him or at Elsa and her guards, he needed to hurry. The three men ahead of him had their weapons trained on him and fired in rapid succession.
While he may not be able to know what they were thinking, he was much faster than they were. Before the bolts could fire from their trigger squeeze, he already moved out of the way of their aim and quickly closed the distance between them.
He was a step away from the one on the left with his fist cocked back when he felt a surge of anger above him. Abandoning his intentions on attacking, he pushed off with his right leg to dodge the gunshots that sounded off above him. This moved him on his original target's right where he briefly glanced up to see Greed in the air aimed at the spot he just was.
Son of a bitch is covering them!
The relationship must've been neutral as the sound of something snapping reached his ears followed by a whizzing sound. Before he could ascertain what it was, a bolt pierced his right shoulder causing him to hiss in pain. He didn't have time to turn as the three soldiers in front of him were now aimed at him again and the same sound of the snapping alerted him to them firing their crossbows.
Not having much choice, Edward lunged out of the way toward the end of the rooftop and swung over the edge to get some cover. As he swung over, both his claws gripped the edge of the roof so he was hanging off the side of the building. When the full weight fell on his arms, his right shoulder protested more than his left. Glancing over at his right shoulder, he noticed that the bolt was entirely metallic versus the wooden ones that were widely circulated.
He had a second to wonder why they would use metallic bolts as they were heavier and slower than wooden ones when another surge right next to him alerted him of an incoming attack. Greed appeared in the air next to him with the two barrels aimed at his hanging position and fired both of them. Edward pushed off the building with his legs while letting go with his claws to eject himself backwards off the building, dodging the shots.
As he did this, he heard footsteps on the roof and looked up to see those three soldiers from earlier aiming at his midair position. They all fired which forced him to make himself as small a target as possible by curling into the fetal position that protected his head and his heart while tucking in his arms and legs. Multiple bolts whizzed by and scratched his sides while two pierced his left arm while one got his left calf.
When his back hit the ground, he clenched his jaw to keep his breath from being knocked out of his stomach as he rolled to his feet and pushed off with his right leg trying to find more cover. It wasn't until he caught himself with his left leg did he now realize why they were using metal bolts. The larger and more solid bolt compared to a wooden one impacted movement more, he felt his muscles strain against them as he forced them to work. He would've been able to snap a wooden bolt if he tensed a muscle but a metal one wasn't so fragile.
He rolled behind a building and pulled out the bolt in his leg when that surge of anger once again appeared in front of him. Greed appeared out of thin air and fired point blank likely hoping to kill the young man to shut him down for a moment. Edward barely dropped to the ground to avoid the shots and pushed forward with his claws at the ready. Right before he made contact, the Sin once again exploded in a cloud of black dust and flowed off above the warehouses.
The young man watched the mass go and focused on it trying to get read on the Avaricious's thoughts.
Keep your distance and encircle him, the Queen is wounded and temporarily out of the way so the invasion forces can land. Focus all efforts into immobilizing Wrath.
Despite confirming that he seemed to be Greed's primary target, he was relieved that Elsa wasn't dead and that these guys weren't after her. However when he could hear them surrounding his position he grumbled. He pulled out the bolts out of his body and was thankful that they didn't hit anything vital or were very large so he wasn't losing a lot of blood. His body was functional and didn't require healing as his muscles mostly still worked, there was just an annoying spike of pain every time he moved.
That telltale surge from Greed once again revealed his enemy's position as he appeared above on the rooftop across from him with his pistols drawn. By the time he fired, his prey had already moved from his position and was ducking into side alleyways in between warehouses. Edward turned a corner and was met with two soldiers at the end of it who both opened fire as soon as they took aim. Diving forward to get low to avoid the bolts as well as advance on their position, he closed the distance between them and slashed both of their legs as he zoomed by.
As angry as he was at them for shooting Elsa, he still wanted to refrain from killing people as he said he would when he had a firmer grasp on Wrath's abilities. That being said; when he slashed them, he made sure that he wouldn't be seeing them again, he completely tore both the soldiers' calves making them incapable of walking on their own. He rolled to his feet as another shower of bolts from soldiers above him rained down on him forcing him to keep moving.
More and more bolts kept raining down on him from all sides as he continued to weave in and out of alleyways, all the while moving further and further away from Elsa's position. As he continued to move, he noticed that Greed was still following him but not firing as he had been doing previously. He was about to try and probe the Sin's thoughts again to see what he had planned when he turned into an alley and was cut off again but this time there were soldiers above him. Knowing he couldn't just sprint past them, Edward did the first thought that came to mind.
He faced the wooden building next to him and jumped at with a significant amount of force while using his arms as a ram. He succeeded in making a hole in the wall and watched his previous position be turned into a pin cushion. Knowing he didn't have much time, he looked around the building he was in and noted that it was another warehouse with stacked crates inside. Plenty of places to hide he supposed, but time wasn't on his side, he needed to move and regroup with the guard.
As he heard footsteps coming toward the hole he made, Edward grabbed a nearby crate and hefted it with one arm before bodily tossing it at the hole. One of the soldiers that were about to enter through the hole was knocked back outside as a flying crate broke on impact and sent back outside. The young man figured that would buy him a few more seconds as he pulled a larger crate that was roughly the size of the hole he just made. When he got it into position in front of the hole, he pushed against it until it sealed the hole up temporarily.
While it took some muscle to move the crate, he knew that Greed's men would be able to push it out the way if they got more manpower. To combat this, he pushed another crate against it to brace it for now while he thought of a way out of here. His first idea was the high window in the main office as it was too high for anyone to climb. Getting up the stairs and walking into the office, he leaned against the wall next to the window. Grabbing a nearby logbook, he slowly inched it in the window and wasn't surprised when a slew of metal bolts pierced the book and knocked it out of his hand.
He guessed they already surrounded the building as Greed planned them to. It wasn't ideal, but he had some time to figure out a strategy of some sort while they found a way into the warehouse. The front door was locked by a heavy enough lock that it would require some significant amount of force. He had no doubt they could break the door down sooner or later but in the brief time he had to rest he could come up with a plan, plus Elsa could get to the castle without any interference.
Hector said that he would organize the guards to establish checkpoints and evacuate the village. After he finished here, he was supposed to make his way over to the castle to come up with a plan for the invasion. The shoreline defenses were sure to collapse after that ambush from the cannons along the mountain ridge surrounding the capitol. How the enemy managed to set them up without alerting any scouts bothered him but he pushed that thought away.
When he and Hector saw the incoming ships he counted roughly three dozen ships coming their way. As he didn't know much about ships, he couldn't tell if they were all the same size as an Arendellian frigate but he did know the history of Blackdust's use of ships. They used smaller ships without cannons to increase their speed and the men aboard the ships would turn it into a fireship to cause chaos and steal more ships. Their ships only needed fifty men and those fifty soldiers were expected to kill three each, which meant that there were at least one hundred fifty soldiers on bigger ships.
So if he saw three dozen ships that housed at least one hundred fifty men each then there were at least five thousand four hundred enemy soldiers coming to Arendelle. Among the castle Royal guard protecting Elsa, there were roughly two hundred of them and in the capitol there were another eight hundred soldiers who mostly patrolled or scouted the mountains. When it came to guards, they were heavily outnumbered. Edward remembered that Stonewell once mentioned that they had a formal military under the command of a General Victor Simon. They were usually posted around the entire kingdom with bases that were in key positions to deploy troops to whatever corner of the kingdom they were needed.
Edward couldn't imagine that the Arendelle military was very large but it was what they had to work with. He guessed that messengers would probably be sent to gather reinforcements while the capitol went on lockdown and waited for help. The question was; could they hold out before Arendelle fell? Against five thousand soldiers who will have no trouble coming ashore, it would take an extraordinary strategy for Arendelle guards to hold off being outnumbered five to one. The young man didn't count himself as an advantage as Greed was on the enemy's side and with his current predicament, he could assume that he wouldn't be able to help much if the Avaricious kept him playing cat and mouse.
Speaking of Greed, where is he?
Edward probed for the vengeful thoughts of his opponent to get an idea what he planned next there was nothing. As far as he knew, there was no one who knew about his ability to perceive wrathful thoughts so Greed shouldn't think of clearing his mind of such vengeful intentions. The young man supposed he could've just left to carry out some other task that would help the invasion while the soldiers he brought with him kept Wrath contained. That possibility was a scary one yet made a lot of sense, which only hastened the need for Edward to move out. Sitting down against the wall, he placed his clawed fingers together and tapped them one against another as he pondered his next action.
Going out the window was a no go, neither was the hole he came in and the front door. He could make another hole and escape from that one but odds were that he would still be surrounded. He needed to be creative and come up with something that would give him an advantage. As he thought of strategy, he remembered that he was still in the warehouse district and there were plenty of warehouses still around him. He could move faster than they could on the ground yet thanks to their numbers, they were able to head him off multiple times. It would've been better if he could get a bird eye's view. Yet the only way to do that was fly and he couldn't do that.
Edward stopped moving his claws and stared at them for a moment.
Or maybe I can…
Greed frowned as he watched one of his men get knocked out of the warehouse that his prey had jumped in to hide. Wrath had been a slippery target as he gave them quite a chase. The Avaricious expected the Furious to stand his ground and fight until the bitter end, running didn't suit him. While Greed could guess that Wrath wanted to give that Elemental time to get away, it was a futile effort on their part.
The invasion fleet had just started docking into the harbor and their troops would begin to flood Arendelle. While this was part of the plan, the Avaricious grumbled as he knew that he had to return to lead the invasion. If he continued trying to hunt Wrath and Weselton soldiers saw him use his abilities then there would go their support. While he would've preferred to have Wrath's head on a spike right now, it was beneficial to keep him out of the way during the invasion. Appearing next to one of his soldiers, he told them to keep watch over the warehouse and not to let their target get away. They were to immobilize him and if he managed to escape, they would go back to their original orders for the invasion.
With that done, Greed turned into black dust and slipped into the Captain quarters of the Southern Isle flagship then walked out as if he'd been there the entire time. On the deck was Hans as well as the Duke of Weselton and General Julius; all of whom turned to greet him.
"So this is the infamous 'Greed' I've been told of, quite an odd name if you don't mind me saying so." The Sin fixed the smaller bespectacled man of Weselton with a look of minor annoyance before nodding to him.
"It is a title of far deeper importance than what you are expected to know. Now enough of that, the shoreline defenses have crumbled and we should have boots on the ground soon. I expect that the enemy will have pockets of resistance in the capitol to force us to fight for every inch to the castle. As we outnumber them, we will likely be able to overrun their positions if we throw enough bodies at it; however to preserve our battle strength, we need to have a better strategy."
The General of the Southern Isles spoke up next. "Why not use the cannons along the ridgeline to pepper these pockets of resistance, they are in perfect position to do so?"
They actually were and such an idea would incur fewer losses on their side, honestly if the goal was to only destroy Arendelle then it would be a great idea, yet there were other objectives that Greed and the other Sins had to accomplish.
"A good plan that will be used later as these pockets of resistance have likely not been established yet. To maximize the benefit of the cannons, it would be better to have clear targets than picking off one or two squads. We know that the Queen values her people's safety more than anything else so we will use that against her while creating some chaos among her troops."
The Duke once again piped up at the mention of the Queen. "Speaking of that monster, where is she? We need to hurry this along before she can target us and curse us with her sinful devilish magic."
Greed walked to the front of the ship while placing his hands behind his back and stared at Arendelle. Most would think he would be deep in thought or looking for something but Greed was actually trying not to laugh at that little man's words. He thinks an Elemental's magic was sinful and devilish? The Sin's mouth morphed into a wide fanged smile as he imagined what the Duke would do if he learned that not ten feet from him was the total embodiment of one of humanity's greatest Sins. He had to fight to keep the amusement out of his voice as he answered.
"We need not worry about Queen Elsa. While her abilities are great, she is still just a human. Part of the reason I am against using the cannons to pepper the village with artillery is because it would be to our advantage if we detained her people as it would more likely force her surrender. While our troops land on the shore and make their way inland, we will fire incendiaries from our ridgeline position to force citizens out their homes and into the line of fire. The guard will be hesitant to fire at civilians and it will give our forces enough cover to overrun their positions."
The Duke looked pleased with such a plan that sounded like it would succeed while General Julius looked disturbed by such a plan that used innocent people. Hans just had a neutral expression on his face as he continued to look ahead at the shore. He knew that Greed had his own agendas besides the complete subjucation of Arendelle and the King was smart enough to know that if the Duke or his own General knew about them then they'd probably be killed.
The plan was effective yet heartless to set ablaze people's homes to force them into the line of fire for cover for their troops. Only a demon would consider such a plan and it didn't surprise the man that Greed thought it up. Julius though couldn't keep his mouth shut and expressed his opinion.
"We're using the people as shields? This invasion is to take over Arendelle and if we kill them then they'll be no one left to rule over. In fact, they are more likely to rise up against us if we endanger them."
The Sin turned around with a controlled aloof expression and eyed the General for a moment before speaking. "We are only using them to cover more ground and overrun the pockets of resistance. If it's possible, I would prefer to capture the soldiers alive as well, there's no need to kill a great many people. The plan is to capture the people, force her surrender, sign over the kingdom, and that's it."
"What of the alliance? If Arendelle is able to send messengers to other kingdoms then we'll be overrun and brought into a war of untold proportions."
"The alliance will have bigger things to worry about soon. By the time they figure out what happened, Arendelle will be under the control of the Southern Isles."
General Juilius didn't look convinced at the vague answer. "And if Arendelle hunkers down or the Queen forces us to wage a prolonged battle giving them time for reinforcements?"
"Then we'll go with the last resort where Arendelle will be turned into a graveyard."
The simple way Greed said that had the General stare at him hard in the eyes to look for any indication of what was going on in his mind. All he saw was a soulless void that didn't care in the slightest what he was doing, the General could tell, all of his men were simply numbers to this monster. Julius disagreed with the leadership of the Southern Isles but followed orders as a loyal subject should, however even he could see that the King had made a deal with the devil.
Elsa gritted her teeth as she could feel herself being carried somewhere, her sight was still shaky from the hit on the head she received from falling off her horse. The wound on her side still stung but it was manageable as she forced her eyes to focus. She could tell that she was back in the castle, being carried up a flight of stairs. The voices around her were distant but she could recognize the sound of a door being opened then her body landed on something soft.
"...ove….ay….ee….he…"
Someone was speaking above her but their voice kept cutting in and out. As she laid there, her eyes scanned her surroundings and she could see that she was in the infirmary and Doctor Steward was over her with his hands at her side. She couldn't understand what he was saying or stop her head from spinning but she could see him go over to a table next to him and grab something.
She had a dizzy spell before hot pain exploded from her side that made her scream. The pain instantly cleared her mind as well as her sight as she tried to recoil away from the pain but felt two pairs of arms holding her down. Her magic responded to her distress immediately and a pulse of snow exploded outwards and pushed the arms off her as well as the Doctor's hands. She shot up once she was free from anyone's grip and her side erupted in pain once again. Her hands flew to her side and instinctively, she created a layer of frost over it to cover the wound.
With that done, she finally looked at her surroundings and could see the Doctor and two guards still flinched away from her. Usually she would've felt guilty for such an outburst but the current situation hadn't faded from her mind. She remembered where she was before she got hit in the side but now that she was in the castle, the blonde wondered how long it had been since they were ambushed.
"What….happened…"
Her voice was labored and she had some sweat going down her brow but she leveled a strong gaze at the three men. The men in question were too stunned to speak after their brief encounter with the Queen's magic. Their hands were a little cold but other than that they hadn't suffered any injuries. The door opened and footsteps resounded around the room as Elsa turned to the newcomer.
Hector had a grim expression on his face as he approached the blonde and bowed when he got close. "Your Majesty, enemy troops have begun to land in the village while their ships have arranged themselves in a blockade formation. Arendelle has been put on alert and our guards both in the castle and in the village are preparing for the incoming attack but the enemy has started to use incendiaries from their position on the ridge line. The evacuation you've ordered has been temporarily halted due to the chaos of the burning houses. The enemy seems to be waiting for the barrage to be over before moving in so we have some time before they advance."
Elsa absorbed the bad news while clutching her side and took a heavy breath before swinging her legs off the bed and getting to her feet. She wanted to scream and panic but her people needed her so she shut down any and all thoughts that didn't include the safety of Arendelle.
Right now, she recognized that she needed to be the Queen of Arendelle and not just Elsa.
"I want another emergency council meeting right now, call for Captain Stonewell as well, I would like his opinion on our current situation." Hector nodded and watched Her Majesty walk slowly around the bed and toward the door which made the Doctor protest.
"Your Majesty! You cannot strain yourself in your condition! The bolt may have only grazed you but it has torn tissue and has left you with a slow bleed, to ensure it doesn't get worse I insist you rest!" The blonde turned toward the older man with a stern expression as she spoke with much strength.
"My people are under attack, I will not be resting while they suffer." After such a simple answer, Elsa continued to cradle her side and make her way to the door, wincing with each step. The blonde made it to the door finally and with a grunt of effort pushed it open and began down the hall. Before she could continue on her own, a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled it over a shoulder before she felt herself get stretched up causing her to wince.
Hector waited for her to acclimate to the pain before he started to walk down the hall while supporting her. Judging from the expression on her face, the help was very much appreciated and seemed to ease the pain of her walking. As the two of them walked, Hector came across some guards then ordered them to fetch the council members as well as the Captain to call them for a meeting in the war room. He was saluted and watched the guards move out to carry out his orders as he helped Her Majesty to the throne room.
When the two made it, they were happy to see the Captain was already waiting for them in his wheelchair. Next to him was Kai and Gerda who instantly became worried and rushed over to check on her daughter. Kai and Stonewell looked at Hector who gave Elsa over to Gerda and walked over to the two men. The Captain spoke in a hushed voice as he gestured to the blonde who was being carried to the large table in the room.
"How is she?"
"Bad graze on her side, not life threatening from what I can tell but she won't be doing anything fast for some time."
The Captain nodded his head and felt some of the headache he had relieved itself as the council members started to file in. They all came in with a worried air around them befitting an attack as they looked at Elsa who was being supported by Gerda. Duke Eren was the last to arrive with Grace right behind him, the man coming up and standing next to the Captain with his assistant on his other side.
With all of them here, Elsa removed herself from Gerda and leaned on the table where a map of Arendelle was visible. "I've called you all here to discuss the situation at hand. The shoreline defenses have collapsed and we have enemy troops landing here as well as incendiaries being dropped on the village. This will undoubtedly cause chaos as the people will try to escape the fires, our number one priority is to ensure their safety. I want messengers to relay my orders that protecting the citizens is top priority. They are to be evacuated to the forests north of here with armed protection."
The council all looked at one another with varying degrees of scepticism and concern at the blonde's intentions. Earl Edward was the first to speak as he already found a problem with this plan. "Your Majesty, if we focus on evacuation then we will be giving the enemy a clear path to the castle! Despite the castle having only one way in and being a highly defensible position, we cannot hope to hold off so many enemy troops!"
Elsa already considered that but honestly didn't care, her people would always remain her top priority. In fact, she would rather the enemy focus entirely on the castle than go after the people. The blonde was about to express this when Stonewell coughed and got everyone's attention.
"While you are correct in that assessment, you do not see the strategic value of Her Majesty's plan. If we evacuate all the people while holding off the enemy at the bridge then we could turn our cannons on the enemy as they will be bottlenecked at the bridge. Doing so would guarantee no civilian casualties, in addition, after the people have been evacuated, we can launch a pincer maneuver with the guards who are outside of Arendelle, effectively trapping the enemy with cannon fire from all sides."
The council took on considering expressions as they thought about the Captain's suggestion while Elsa sent him a grateful look for supporting her. Duke Eren spoke next with a curious expression.
"It's a solid plan in theory however where do you plan on procuring the cannons that will surround the enemy. The only cannons we have at the battlements facing the bridge, the shoreline cannons have been destroyed so all we could do is fire in a one directional setting."
"You're right, all of our cannons are either destroyed or deployed at the castle. The cannons that we'll use to box in the enemy will be the ones they used to ambush our shoreline cannons and the ships that they have docking in the harbor. The full force of their ships will be too busy creating that blockade while the ships at the harbor will be unloading troops and using artillery. I say we take the cannons along the ridgeline first then give these assholes a taste of their own medicine, then while they're distracted, have our men sneak abroad and commandeer the ships and open fire on the troops on the ground. We might level a few buildings but those bastards won't see it coming."
A bold plan to be sure but one that was quite well thought out for a spur or the moment idea. The only crux of the plan was that while their soldiers were getting into position, those ships could still be unloading cannon fire against the capitol. Elsa didn't want any stray cannon balls to cause any civilian casualties which was why she secretly decided to add in a detail of her own.
"This is a good plan Captain, have our messengers relay your plan. Council members I ask that you retreat to the bunker to ensure your safety as well as the leadership of Arendelle." Most of the council didn't need to be asked twice as they all quickly filed out and presumably toward the bunker, leaving Duke Eren and Grace behind. The Captain also called for some men and gave them his orders and watched them leave the war room. Those who could remain calm and think during times of stress noted that the Queen said nothing about herself retreating to the bunker. Stonewell waited until the doors closed before he turned to Elsa and fixed her with a curious expression.
"I couldn't help but notice that you aren't going with the council to preserve the leadership of Arendelle Your Majesty, so I assume you have a different idea on where you should be." Elsa gestured toward the map where their harbor was then spoke.
"While I agree with your plan, the people will still be put in danger because of the cannon fire. While our guards work their way to the ridgeline cannons, I'll put up an ice wall at the harbor to block additional cannon fire and put a dent in their deployment options." Hector stepped forward and pointed at her side with a stern expression on his face.
"With all due respect Your Majesty, that isn't happening. You've already been injured and the harbor is lost for the time being, you going back out there in an injured state would only help the enemy."
"You're right, which is why I'm going to have to do it from here."
Everyone in the room's eyes shot to her and widened a considerable amount when they heard what she was implying. They knew that she had impressive power but their perception of the scope of her abilities was that she needed to be relatively close and have a clear line of sight. The harbor was definitely in line of sight but it was quite a distance away from the castle. Upon returning after her coronation, she had explained that her causing an eternal winter was her pent up power coming out all at once, same with her ice castle. Such feats required her to have a lot of pent up energy to perform and right now, she already looked exhausted.
Stonewell had a raised eyebrow and fixed her with a disbelieving expression. "And you're saying you can do that, in your current condition?" Elsa didn't miss the expression on his face and could see where he was coming from. Such an action would be difficult for her even if she was perfectly healthy but right now she wasn't using her powers for amusement.
Right now, she was using them to protect her home and she would use them to the best of her ability.
"Regardless of the condition I'm in, I will do whatever I can to protect Arendelle."
Such strong resolve behind her words was convincing enough for the old man who nodded and pointed to Hector. "Escort her to the top of the castle so she has the best vantage point. Also bring two squads with you, Greed already made an attempt on her once today, don't need to give him an easy target." The noble frowned and shook his head to himself before supporting Elsa out the room.
After they left, Stonewell turned to the Duke. "You heard her Majesty, she wants the council members in the bunker, we'll have squads guarding the entrance with some inside as well in case the enemy breaks into the castle. If it seems that the castle is lost, I want you to take any escape route and travel to Fort Joten that's roughly twenty miles away."
"And where will you be?" Duke Eren had a concerned expression on his face as he hoped the Captain wouldn't try to go to the front lines while in a wheelchair. No one could question the old man's loyalty and tremendous skill but the man was human, there was only so much he could take and losing such a wise and experienced mind would be a great blow against Arendelle.
"I will be in the courtyard coordinating our forces and making battle plans on the go. I'll be the first to know how we're fairing and will be able to decide if the castle is lost and we should pull out. As much as I'd rather be a soldier and be in the fight, we need a Commander for the meantime and it looks like that fits me perfectly."
The Duke seemed to find the answer acceptable as he turned and walked out the room heading toward the bunker. Grace was right behind him until she reached the door and stopped. Stonewell noticed her in the doorway with her back turned and waited to see if she would say something. A moment passed before she decided to leave without saying a word, earning a rueful smile from the old man.
The only people left in the room were Kai and Gerda who each had a loaded expression on their faces as they saw the smile on their friend's face. When he turned to them, the smile was still there and he sighed before interlacing his fingers. "Alright you two, the staff needs to be gathered up and kept out of the way of the fighting. I want you to take them and head over to the west wing of the castle, it's on the second floor and will be heavily defended as the enemy will need to get past several checkpoints to get there. If things become dire then I will likely send Her Majesty toward you and have her unfreeze the escape tunnel that she erected. Even if the enemy is aware of its existence, they won't be able to get through it and hopefully reinforcements will arrive, assuming we don't kick their asses of course."
The Captain ended that with a chuckle that sounded forced to the servants' mind. They could tell that something was eating at him right now, the plan he gave was excellent and carried its own set of risks but it was the best they could do. Walter always said to do the best with what you got and don't wallow in the past thinking what you could've done better when there were still things that needed to be done. Seeing the man in such a way had Kai step forward and take a knee while placing a hand on the old soldier's shoulder.
"Walter, what's wrong?"
The old man only sighed and started to wheel his chair away. "You two be sure to take care of each other." With that, he left the room leaving his two friends looking at him with worried expressions. He kept rolling down the halls until he got to the main hall where someone was waiting for him. Dressed in a greatcoat with a double cape and a top hat while having a cane in his hand made him look quite distinguished but Stonewell knew better. He would've kept rolling along but the man spoke causing him to halt.
"You could stop all of this if you really wanted to. Why send them to fight a battle that you know can't be won?"
"So you say Jorgen, so you say."
Mr. Jorgen was missing his usual jovial smile and in its place was a grim expression. It was currently empty save the two of them for the moment so the harbormaster could speak plainly.
"You know that this invasion is a farce, the true mastermind behind this attack is lying in wait. Regardless if Arendelle can fend off the Southern Isles and Weselton, you all won't be able to stop what's next especially with the little numbers you're bound to have left."
Stonewell burst out laughing in a way the man next to him could tell it was insulting and sarcastic. It made the harbormaster sneer as the Captain calmed down and fixed him with a darkly amused expression.
"Why Jorgen, if I didn't know any better, I would say you actually cared how this plays out but we both know you don't care if everyone dies. All you care about is getting what you came for."
The older man didn't look offended in the slightest but still maintained his angered look. "Doesn't change the fact that if you don't do something, many people will die. Your comrades, the people you've sworn to protect, the Queen, the Princess, the woman you longed for, your friend who did what you could not, your daughter...they'll all die."
The Captain looked at his hands and sighed heavily. Those thoughts had plagued his mind since this morning when he first learned of the situation. His younger self would've already been out there doing whatever means necessary to do his job, but the current him knew what it would cost. On one hand, he could end this conflict with the minimal amount of loss but even then there was no guarantee he could end all of this on his own.
On the other, he could have faith in the people he cared about to come together and deal with what was happening. Elsa had made him proud in the war room, despite being injured, she didn't lose focus on what needed to be done and she kept the people in the forefront of her mind. He knew his men would fight to the last, they were brave and strong and would not falter when it came to defending their home. Anna and Kristoff were still out there but he had faith in them both to take care of each other as they've been through a lot together. He trusted Kai to watch out for Gerda as well as the staff despite the butler not being a fighter.
He trusted his daughter to look after herself.
And finally, he trusted Edward to be better and to make things right.
His younger self always relied on just himself for everything and didn't need to rely on anyone. Now that he was running out of time, Stonewell knew that he couldn't do everything alone as he wouldn't be around forever. Even if he could live forever, he also knew he couldn't hold their hands their entire lives. It was a sobering fact about life that everyone died sometime, no one could escape that reality no matter how hard they tried. It may take others more time to finally die but it would come and it forced them to ask themselves, was their life worth it?
To be honest, the Captain didn't have an answer to that question, he always had something else to do. He always had something to hold his focus but lately, it really started to sink in that his life was coming to an end. Once again, he blamed Edward, never before have these thoughts plagued his mind as often as when the young man was around. Stonewell may not have been in a rush to die but he came to terms of his death a long time ago, as any soldier in war should.
But now, he started to wonder if he did everything he could for the people he cared about. He started to wonder if he would have enough time to do what he needed to do. Finally he wondered if it was truly worth trying to run from death.
He hid these thoughts away deep down as he didn't want anyone to see his emotional turmoil, he wanted to be as strong as what they saw him to be. Yet Mr. Jorgen knew. The harbormaster knew and stroking his fears about what he could do toward the end of his life left him indecisive.
What do I want most?
Peace or Time?
His mind asked him that so many times but he still didn't have an answer. He just kept putting it off and focusing on what was happening right now. Some deity above must've heard his silent plea as a guard rushed up to him and pointed toward the harbor.
"Sir! An ice wall has risen cutting off the enemy cannons from the ships but the cannons on the ridgeline have started to fire as well. Her Majesty seems to be trying to create another ice wall but the enemy forces are beginning to approach the bridge as the guards in the village are still evacuating people. What are your orders?"
Stonewell took a deep breath before facing the guard. "I want a vanguard on the other side of the bridge slowing down the enemy advance and covering the covert squads assault on the harbor ships. The guards who are evacuating the people should be able to take out those ridgeline cannons. When we have both cannons under our control I'll alert her Majesty and have her drop her walls so we can open fire on those bastards. As soon as the covert squads are safely away, I want the vanguard to fall back to the courtyard while the cannons bomb their previous position. Remember, don't destroy the bridge until we get the signal from our other squads, we need the enemy to commit to taking the castle and not spreading out their forces to take all of Arendelle."
The guard saluted and quickly ran off to relay the orders he was given while Stonewell started to roll out toward the courtyard. The sound of a cane hitting the ground and footsteps behind him alerted the Captain to Mr. Jorgen right behind him with an expectant look in his eyes.
"I'm coming with you, soon, you'll finally realize that you need to do what is needed of you."
Stonewell fought off the whispers of doubt that tried to penetrate his mind and focused it on the situation.
"Fine, come along. I don't want to miss the look on your face when we win."
The soldiers outside the warehouse continued to watch the building for any sign of their target. Greed had trusted them to capture the target so that he may return to finish him off when he returned. So far, they only had two wounded who couldn't move quickly anymore but no casualties. That left only eighteen of them who were coming up on the time limit set to them by Father who expected them to get in their positions for the contingency plan.
The only movement from the target was something in the upper window revealing itself. They opened fire and had yet to approach the warehouse as there was no guarantee that they actually hit the target. They couldn't set the warehouse on fire as it would give the target cover to escape so it forced them to go in through the main entrance and systematically search and contain him.
Four of them approached the locked door and was about to breach it when something flew out of the window. Instantly all of the soldiers opened fire on the object until they realized it was only a sheet with something inside. One of them approached it while aiming at it, cautious of what it could be and wrench the cloth away to reveal it being only the broken legs of a wooden table and a pair of boots.
Boots?
As soon as the thought crossed their mind, something else flew out the window. Upon seeing that it was the target, all the soldiers opened fire but their bolts were blocked by the broken table in the target's hands. The target had jumped toward the building next to the warehouse but with the table in his hands, there was no way he could grab the edge and pull himself up. As the target hit the building, the soldiers were surprised to see him begin to run along the wall while continually using the table as a shield. All they could do was continue to fire and watch as the target reached the end of the side of the building he was running on and toss the table away before using his hands to grab the railing of the roof and pull himself up.
Edward chuckled as he got to the roof, his spur the moment idea actually worked. He glanced down at his feet and wiggled the talons that easily dug into the wooden surface he was on. While he knew that he wouldn't be able to hold his entire body weight with just his talons he could his claws, he thought that maybe he could get enough grip on the buildings to push off and keep moving.
Now that he'd proven his theory, he had a definite advantage over the soldiers. He could see some of them on the rooftops finally noticing him. With a fanged smile, he quickly lunged for their position on the other rooftops. With all of the other soldiers on the ground and Greed nowhere to be found, the few soldiers on the roof had no chance.
He reached one who continued to fire his crossbow at him and zoomed past him while grabbing his arm. Edward pulled the man behind him before bodily tossing him into another soldier then dashing to another and swung at his knee, completely destroying it and crippling him. The young man then tucked his foot under the man and flung him toward the other two soldiers and watched them fall over the side of the building.
Edward was sure that the height of the building wouldn't be enough to kill them especially since on the side of this particular building there was a balcony on the east side. The young man looked over the edge and leaned out of the way of a shower of bolts coming from the soldiers on the ground. He counted out at least a dozen of them in the brief chance he got to look over and was about to use the buildings as cover to pick them off one by one when a shrill whistle pierced the air.
The sound was familiar in some way as the young man looked toward the town square where it came from. The sound was there for a second then ceased immediately leaving Edward to almost think he imagined it. Pushing that thought away, he looked back over the edge and was about to make his move when all the soldiers completely disappeared. He scanned the street and strained his ears to see if he could pick up any trace of them but they were all gone.
He narrowed his eyes and looked back toward the town square before taking off in that direction.
Talib was still sitting overlooking Arendelle and watched the two ice walls erect themselves blocking their cannons from firing on the village. He had accounted for this possibility and found himself shaking his head in disappointment. The ice Elemental had to have used a lot of strength to erect those walls and with the injury she sustained in the ambush, the alchemist wouldn't be surprised if she passed out.
Almost makes me feel that we won't need the contingency plan.
Sloth and Gluttony were still standing by behind him while Lust still hadn't reported back in with her task. Greed had left his soldiers to lead the invasion and Talib knew that Wrath would be more of a match for his opposition so the alchemist decided to call them back a little earlier to have them get in position.
From up here, he could see the war playing out from a bird's eye view. The Arendellian soldiers had made checkpoints throughout the village where people were most likely to pass through yet left the way to the castle unprotected. The invasionary forces were able to capture a good chunk of the village as well as some civilians who lived near the harbor. From what he could see, Talib guessed that the soldiers would likely ignore the checkpoints to preserve manpower and try to set up a position at the castle.
In most cases, that would've been the smart thing to do, however, Talib could see a few squads of Arendellian soldiers branching off and following along the outskirts toward both the harbor and the ridgeline cannons. The alchemist could guess that they plan on capturing the cannons and using them against the enemy. Only catch was that the whole plan hinged on them actually taking the cannons and the Elemental having the strength to drop the ice walls she created.
As he didn't know the individual soldiers and their skills compared to the ones manning the cannons, Talib couldn't accurately guess what was likely to happen, but he did know that even if they succeeded in taking the cannons, it was likely that the castle would be breached before they were able to use them. Greed was well aware of the castle's bridge being the only way inside the structure and already planned on the chance they destroyed it.
Given all of these factors, the alchemist felt that Arendelle would fall just to the Southern Isles and Weselton forces.
Assuming of course, there aren't any unknown variables...
Several squads of Southern Isle troops were searching each ship and seizing anyone that they could find. So far they hadn't found many people as most started running as soon as they arrived. They found some supplies that were beneficial to the war effort and marked them for later before continuing to the last ships in the harbor. Upon climbing on the deck of the ship, they noted that it was empty.
The squad leader ordered his men to search the ship from top to bottom in case anyone was here. His soldiers climbed to masts and went down below decks while he walked to the Captain's quarters and kicked the door down. Like the deck, it was completely empty and looked to be abandoned.
As he looked around the room in case someone could be hiding, he noticed a drawn sword on the desk. Seeing the well crafted weapon, the squad leader was about to grab it when two large hands grabbed his head and he heard someone whisper in his ear.
"It's rude to touch other people's stuff."
A quick jerk and the men fell to the ground with a snapped neck as Ahimoth looked dispassionately at the body. He stepped over it before grabbing Rahim's katana and sheathing it before walking out his quarters. As he stepped outside, his men were all waiting for him with the dead bodies of the enemy stack in front of him.
They all had seen the fleet as well as the mass of enemy soldiers approaching and thought it best to lay low for now. Ahimoth didn't bring that many men and compared to the vast amount of enemy soldiers, he held no illusion that they could win in a head to head battle. However, not all battles were conducted head to head. The Prince had seen the large ice wall cut off the harbor which had caused some panic from the invasionary forces. It made the perfect opportunity to sabotage their ships, plus with all the smoke and fire, they could ambush the enemy and disappear into the smoke.
Ahimoth adjusted the gauntlets in his hands as he clipped the katana on his waist. "Alright, time to show them how we wage war."
I know ya'll might've expected more action but DON'T WORRY, there will be a lot more. I find it kind of hard to describe full scale wars vs one on one fights. Besides there are a lot of elements at play here and I want to connect them all in a seamless way. Don't worry, I'm sure you'll LOVE the next few chapters. I said this will most likely end on chapter 70 but now that I REALLY think about it, it'll probably be like 72-73. There's just so much that needs to happen in this arc. And I will be leaving soon and probably put back in quarantine on the 21st so I'll have plenty of time to write the chapters.
ANYWAY, please stay tuned and review, also if you wish to contact me, remember the pm or review and they will be replied to as soon as possible.