Chapter Seventy Five

Return of The Mage Slayers

ANNA

"It's working," Anna repeated for the fourth time as she watched the battle through Frederick's spyglass, unconsciously bouncing on the balls of her feet as adrenaline coursed through her veins. "Oh thank God, it's working."

When Hans' Eternal Horde had clashed with the skirmishers, Frederick's new orders had helped to counter their initial onslaught. With more skirmishers fortifying the centre of the battlefield, the defenders' lines held for a while longer even though the fight had dissolved into a melee. But in the chaos, Anna had witnessed the ground forces slowly being forced back towards the fortress. And right then and there, she'd made a risky call to commit half the sorcerers to the field.

They'd been defending Fort Steinfall against the artillery bombardment from the Imperial Horde that'd been absolutely relentless since first light, and so far they'd been turning back almost every single round shot that threatened to destroy a part of the wall or kill Coalition soldiers. But with the new threat down in the trenches below, Anna had weighed her options and decided she had no choice but to make the call to commit more than half of the League's sorcerers to turn the tide of battle while the remaining sorcerers were spread thinly along the walls of the star fort to continue checking the artillery strikes.

And it seemed it'd been the right call, even though it meant the rest of the League defending the walls were being pushed to their sorcerous limits. With the sorcerers lending an element of shock and awe, they were able to push back hard against the soulless. Even from up here, Anna could tell that the mindless beasts were beginning to slow and retreat, and those that were too slow were being whittled down by the combined forces of the Coalition's skirmishers and the sorcerers.

With a long exhale, she lowered the spyglass from her eye and handed it back to Frederick. "We did it."

"Quite right, Ma'am." As usual, the steadfast Field Marshal betrayed no hint of emotion as he took his turn to observe the battle from the relative safety of the wall. "Though I can't imagine that's their last card. The Imperial Horde has more divisions of infantry that haven't been deployed yet, not to mention whatever else the emperor has lurking in the shadows."

"Well hopefully we won't have to face them," Anna glanced over her shoulder towards the coast. Messengers from Kristoff had come rather frequently to give her updates on the evacuation in the past two hours. By now, the third wave were on board the ships and preparing to set sail, while a third of the fourth wave, comprising nearly half of the Einsfeltai and Danish artillery and the Northuldra skirmishers were in the process of boarding. The less frequent cannonade from the remainder of the artillery batteries was very noticeable. Regardless, salvos of eight and twelve pounder round shot still slammed out to cut down the Soulless in large swathes, but sooner or later the entire artillery would need to retreat from the walls to load up the ships before the skirmishers could retreat.

Slowly but surely, the remainder of the Coalition would be pulled back until the time came for them all to break for the ships while the League of Sorcerers screened their retreat. It was a damn risky gambit, but under the circumstances, they had no better option. The time was coming. Very soon.

But deep down in her gut, Anna knew Frederick was right. This can't be the Empire's last move. Knowing Hans, he was sure to have something else up his sleeve, something to throw a wrench into the Coalition's best laid plans. It was in his nature to anticipate her every move, as he'd done thus far. She hadn't been able to outmanoeuvre or outthink him in all the times they'd gone head to head, and it brought a chill down her spine to imagine him preventing their escape at the very last moment.

Amid the deafening fusillade of the artillery, Anna's ears pricked up at the sound of bloodcurdling screams coming from the towers at the ends of the wall she was on. Something was happening. She whirled to Frederick, who seemed to have noticed the disturbing cries as well.

"The Empire never disappoints," Frederick deadpanned as eight figures in brown cloaks emerged from the towers on both ends and stalked towards them.

"Shit," Anna's heart missed a beat. "The Mage Slayers."

The shock of seeing the Mage Slayers breaking onto the scene was palpable, but it was supplanted by the frustration that surged through her. As always, another part of Hans' devious schemes. First Kane's light infantry played their part in exhausting the Coalition in the trenches and draining their ammunition. Then Hans had unleashed his Eternal Horde upon the defenders to crush them, knowing that Anna would have no choice but to commit her powerhouses to even the odds.

And with the walls of Steinfall left vulnerable from the lack of sorcerers, Hans had dispatched the Mage Slayers who'd somehow infiltrated the fortress using their goddamn demon powers, and were now coming to purge the walls and perhaps even trap the Coalition in a pincer movement.

Hans calculated it all from the beginning and forced a mistake. I played right into his hand. Again. Anna gritted her teeth as she put up her fists, for all the good it would do her against the assassins.

The Mage Slayers were approaching from both sides, casually fending off the artillerists who'd turned to fight when they'd noticed the brown cloaks. Many of the soldiers were crushed where they stood or hurled from the walls, but either way, they were no match for the assassins of the Crimson Order. One of them was manipulating explosions, causing crates of blackpowder to combust with the flick of a hand and sending musket balls zipping towards the soldiers who'd fired them. Another had split into several duplicates of himself to fend off the artillerists who'd tried to stop the assassins.

The remaining sorcerers were also rallying to fight, being forced to split their focus between countering the Empire's cannonade and stopping the assassins. And that cost them. The Mage Slayers lived up to their name, tearing through sorcerer after sorcerer like a plague, cutting them down without too great a difficulty.

"Your Majesty, might I suggest you seek safety!" Frederick tore his sabre from his scabbard and placed himself in front of Anna as the eight Mage Slayers kept inching nearer, bogged down by the sorcerers and artillerists who tried futilely to stop them.

"No! You need to go!" Anna grabbed his sword arm. "You won't stand a chance against them!"

"All due respect Ma'am, neither would you!"

"The army needs you more than it needs me," Anna gripped him pleadingly. "Without you, the Coalition will fall. We all need you alive to counter whatever the Empire throws at us! So get out of here!"

Frederick stood unbudging, his sword raised with stubborn intent. "I can't leave you!"

The Mage Slayers were getting closer. Scores of artillerists and sorcerers lay at their feet, a trail of bodies left wherever they'd walked. Their brown cloaks flapped in the howling winds as they drew closer, snow peppering their dark, flowing robes.

"Oh, shit." Anna stood back to back with Frederick. She'd ordered the Queen's Guard to board the ships in the third wave. Maybe that'd been a mistake.

A coruscation of deep orange flames licked out from one of the adjacent walls, setting one of the brown cloaks on fire. The assassin screamed and dropped to the concrete, rolling in the snow to put out the flames.

Anna stared and instantly relaxed slightly as she saw Deirdre hurtling through the air towards the Mage Slayers, Eleanor levitating them both across the drop.

"Pick on someone of your own calibre, you bastards," Deirdre snarled as she threw another ball of fire with malice. Her magic hit the ground between two more brown cloaks, the explosion rocking the ground and throwing the six assassins off their feet.

"Get out of here! We can handle them!" Talya shouted, running in from the opposite direction.

Deflating, she turned to Frederick. "I think you're safe now."

Frederick still had his sword up. "And what about you, Ma'am?"

"My friends are here now, I'll be fine. You better go." She grabbed Frederick's sword arm and forced him to lower it. "Go!"

"What are you doing?" Talya rushed up to her. "You can't be here either!"

"I'm not going to turn and run while the rest of you fight," she unsheathed her own rapier from the leather scabbard on her hip. "I'm staying."

"Oh, for the love of-" Talya trailed off as she stepped in front of Anna and threw out a hand. Ice flew out and stopped the Mage Slayer in his tracks as he pushed back against the ice with his own demon powers.

From the side of her eye, Anna saw Deirdre and Eleanor tussling with the other five Mage Slayers, clearly outnumbered by the assassins. And she was well aware that these brown cloaks were a serious force to be reckoned with, if the Warriors' first clash with them was any indication.

Anna ducked out from behind Talya, who was still in a power struggle with the Mage Slayer she was attacking, and brought up her rapier. What could she do? Surveying the confrontation, she recognised the Mage Slayer who'd tried to assassinate Duke Helmsley and her in the tent, the one with poison tipped blades who called herself Venom. She had her flank exposed as she and another assassin Anna didn't know tried to force Deirdre to backpedal. Sucking in a deep breath, she charged Venom and swung her sword.

The assassin turned at the last second and brought up both her knives to parry. Metal ground against metal in a terrifying screech as the two women struggled to best each other.

"Anna! Get out of here now!" Deirdre shouted, diving out of the way just as the other assassin let out a shrill, bone-chilling scream.

"Nice to see you again, Your Majesty," Venom grinned nastily as she stepped back and riposted at Anna who swung herself clear. The assassin adjusted her grips on her blades. "The emperor sends his regards."

"Never pegged the Crimson Order as a tool for someone like Hans," Anna goaded her, eyes on a swivel as she circled round to more sure footing. "Lord Magnus I understand. But Hans? Really?"

Venom hurled a knife, and Anna dropped low, lashing out with her rapier. Having the advantage of a long blade, Venom was forced to dance back out of reach, giving Anna time to scramble back to her feet and keep the assassin at sword's length.

"The Last Emperor is our saviour," She said with a brandish of her other knife. "He will fulfil our Holy Crusade and purge the earth of sorcery once and for all, and the world will know peace at last."

"You've got to be joking," Anna scoffed as she parried a downward cut from Venom and feinted to force her back again. "Hans doesn't care about your Holy Crusade. He only cares about power and conquering the world."

Suddenly, her stomach lurched and her senses went wild. Damn it, not now! The rapier clattering to the concrete, she staggered to a knee before Venom, gagging as everything went blurry. Another of the cloaked assassins joined Venom's side, his hands aimed at Anna. As he drew closer, another wave of nausea hit her and she collapsed on her side. So maybe it wasn't my condition this time.

"The famous Queen of Arendelle at our feet," The new assassin gloated. "Your friends killed one of ours. Killing you evens the scales."

Anna writhed weakly as vertigo overwhelmed her senses, trying to spit a reply. None formed in her addled mind.

"Ignahon Malkovtoh." Venom said, hurling the poison tipped blade straight at her.

Unable to rise from the vertigo that kept her down, Anna could do nothing else but shut her eyes and hope the end would be swift. Instead, the sound of ice clashing with metal rung in her ears. She opened her eyes to see a stream of ice knocking the blade off course and turned as best as she could.

"You!" Venom snarled.

"No one touches my sister," Elsa was perched on the parapet, covered in blackpowder and what was probably the blood of the Soulless. "Back off."

"Hell, are you a sight for sore eyes," Anna mumbled as she watched Elsa throw out another volley which punched the other Mage Slayer off his feet and made Venom dance away from her sorcery. Deirdre's fire slammed into Venom and the assassin yelped, dropping and rolling across the snow-covered concrete to douse the flames.

The nausea faded and Anna's senses came back into focus. Her vision cleared and she slowly tried to lever herself back to her feet as Elsa rushed to her side.

"Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" Elsa helped her stand, anxiety clear on her face.

"I'm fine. I think," Anna said, happy to hear that the voices no longer echoed in her head like an annoying bell.

"Oh, thank God," Elsa hugged her. "I was so worried. Hans played us all for fools and tried to have you killed."

"Well obviously he failed," Anna tried to play it off. "Not that I'm not grateful but shouldn't you be down there fighting those damn creatures? What are you doing here?"

"Making sure you stay alive," Elsa grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the nearest tower. "You need to find cover and get on board a ship now."

Anna stopped, forcing Elsa to halt as well. "I'm not leaving while the rest of you are busting your asses out here."

"Anna, please. Don't be stupid," Elsa grabbed her firmly by the shoulders. "We're hopelessly outmatched, what with Hans' Eternal Horde, the Imperial Horde, and now the goddamn Crimson Order thrown into the mix. I…I can't lose you."

Anna's heart melted. "I…I can't lose you too."

"Then please. Do it for me," Elsa pleaded, squeezing Anna's shoulders. "Get to safety."

"Anna!" Talya ran up to them, evidently having dealt with the Mage Slayer she'd been tussling with. She paused to give Elsa a wide-eyed look of wonder, evidently having never met her in person before, then turned back to Anna. "Follow me, I'll get you out of here."

"Fine," Anna relented. She squeezed her sister's hand. "You damn well better stay alive, you hear me?"

"I'll see you on the ship. Promise."

"Wait for our signal and you all run like hell," Anna hissed, turning to leave with Talya.

ELSA

She spared a moment to watch her sister leave with the mystery girl Anna had told her about, then turned back to Vertigo who was rising from where she'd struck him down.

"Oh, you're going to pay for that, girlie." Vertigo growled as he aimed both hands at her.

Elsa dove out of range and countered with a swipe of her hand, sending out ice shards to incapacitate the ever-elusive assassin who sprung out of the way too. She backed away till she stood back to back with Deirdre, who was locked in a fierce battle of her own with Banshee.

"You smell horrible," Deirdre remarked.

"Thanks," Elsa deadpanned, acutely aware that she stunk of powder smoke, sweat and the blood of the Soulless. She surveyed the wall. Eleanor was fighting Inque and Mover all by herself about ten yards away. Venom was still recovering from Deirdre's fire, her cloak emitting wisps of smoke. Vertigo and Banshee were hemming her and Deirdre in. Meanwhile, Double, Ignition and Beast were preparing to mount the parapet to dive down into the trenches below in order to attack the Coalition's sparse soldiers from behind.

"No!" She threw out a potent volley of ice, hoping to freeze them all in place on the parapet.

Instead, Beast spun at the last moment with frightful speed, positioning himself in front of the other two assassins and taking the full brunt of her sorcery. As his arm was raised to deflect her attack, the ice encased his elbow up to his hand. Tensing his muscles, the ice cracked and he slammed his arm against the side of the parapet, shattering the ice that was supposed to hold him.

"Damn it," Elsa muttered in exasperation as Beast began to stalk towards her, a hungry look writ across the dull man's features.

"No! Stop, you big fool!" Double shouted at him. "The emperor wants us on the battlefield, remember?"

"Come back!" Ignition waved frantically to get his attention. "You don't want to make him angry! Beast!"

Beast ignored his fellow assassins, stretching his arms out towards her.

Heart beating sporadically in her chest, Elsa glanced round. Vertigo was approaching from her left, and Beast was storming straight for her. She'd seen Janus fight this monster of a man before and get manhandled like a child, and knew she stood no chance against brute strength. Then perhaps this calls for some tact.

"Deirdre, remember the shipyard rescue back in Einsfelt?" She hissed over her shoulder.

"You mean the time we fought the warlords?"

"Yeah."

"Got you."

Deirdre feigned distraction and dropped her guard, allowing Banshee to close in unhindered. The Mage Slayer wasted no time darting in, inhaling deeply for another ear-piercing scream that would make ears bleed. Meanwhile, Beast and Vertigo continued to stalk the two girls.

"Beast!" Ignition snapped in a panic. "Get over here now!"

"Hold," Elsa watched from the very corner of her eye as Banshee opened her mouth. "Now!"

Deirdre and Elsa spun, swapping positions so that Elsa faced Banshee and Deirdre faced the two other assassins. Moving quick as lightning, Elsa clamped onto Banshee's arm and swung her sideways with all of her might, twisting as she did so.

Banshee's scream erupted, sending sound waves of high frequencies hurtling and colliding straight with Vertigo, sending him doubling over and crying out in pain.

Deirdre emitted a torrential flood of hot magic, stopping the giant in his tracks with the extreme heat. Beast's cloak burst into flames and he roared, doing his damnedest to slap away the fire with his meaty hands but resulting in nothing more than mere cinders flying from his frame while the rest of him continued burning.

"Drop and roll, schinwitz!" Double shouted frantically. "Drop and roll!"

Beast bellowed, trying to tear his clothes in an attempt to escape the flames as Deirdre continued to douse him in her sorcery.

"You little bitch," Banshee snarled at Elsa, acidly twisting out of her grip. "You'll pay for that."

Elsa slammed a palmful of ice into the Mage Slayer, sorcery sending her skidding back. She froze the ground promptly, taking Banshee off balance as she lost her footing and fell. Another burst of ice froze the woman's limbs, pinning her to the concrete.

"What are you-" A solid slab of ice froze around Banshee's mouth, cutting her off before she could utter another word.

Vertigo was beginning to clamber to his feet again, his sights set on Deirdre who was nearest to him.

"Look out!"

Elsa whipped round as Inque was sent catapulting through the air and collided with Vertigo, both assassins going down in a tangled mess of inky substance. Looking up, she saw Eleanor running towards them, with Mover trapped twenty yards away in her black tendrils.

Deirdre stopped dousing Beast with her sorcery, the giant's clothes already long since incinerated from his back and leaving him stark naked, writhing on the ground in pain, his skin darkened and raw, charred and smoky. Elsa winced involuntarily at the gruesome sight. Apparently Deirdre hadn't lost her cruel edge.

"Eleanor!" Deirdre turned to her sister. "What-"

"I'm done on my end," Eleanor's skin and clothes was smeared with sticky ink and bits of smashed concrete was stuck in her frizzy red hair. "Looked like you could use a little help."

"We're just about done here too," Deirdre said, just as a haunting scream shattered ice.

"Apparently not," Elsa gritted her teeth as she aimed a hand at Banshee who was struggling to break free of the ice.

Thick arms that smelt of smoke wrapped around her body in a bear hug and slammed her into the side of the parapet. The stone cracked as her body and Beast's hit the ledge with frightful force. Pain lanced through Elsa's body as her cells lit on fire, forcing a reflexive gasp. Before she had time to react, he lifted her off the concrete with ease and she kicked frantically for her feet to find purchase on the ground.

"Elsa!" Deidre moved in to help with Eleanor close behind.

"No! Keep the assassins contained!" Elsa called out in spite of her agony, feeling like something was broken even as Beast refused to relinquish his iron grip around her. "I'll handle Beast!"

"You handle me?" Beast growled, his still smoky, raw skin pressing against her and making her squirm in discomfort as he squeezed her tighter. "I crush you!"

Gritting her teeth through her pain, she surveyed her surroundings for an environmental advantage, trying to momentarily ignore the fact that Beast was constricting his enormous arms around her body in an attempt to break her bones. She noticed Double and Ignition had already given up getting through to their blockheaded companion in favour of joining the battle in the trenches. Which means no one's going to stop me from doing this.

She slapped a hand onto Beast's charred forearm, willing the sorcery through her even as she felt herself slowly losing consciousness from the pain. Ice burnt the giant's already tender and red skin and he roared in agony, immediately releasing Elsa from his iron grip and nursing his further-wounded arm.

Gasping, air returned to her lungs and the blurriness faded from the edges of her vision. Though still wrecked with throbbing pain, Elsa raised a hand to deliver a potent rush of ice at point blank range to send him crashing down into the ranks below.

He whirled round with a terrifying snarl, snatching her wrist and hoisting her into the air as he tightened his grip.

She let out a shrill cry as she felt a something shift in her wrist and fire shot up her arm like electricity. Damn him, Beast definitely broke something.