Chapter Seventy Six

Wrath of The Mage Slayers

ELSA

Beast let out a sickening, deep cackle as he dangled Elsa over the edge of the parapet, her feet kicking wildly, her heart racing. "Now you break."

With her uninjured hand, she let out a short but potent burst of ice at his burnt leg, eliciting the same response as before. He bellowed in agony and pitched forward, breaking the concrete of the parapet as he fell, releasing her wrist from his grip. With all her might, she reached up with her uninjured hand like lightning and grabbed the remains of the concrete where the parapet had been broken, never mind the pain that sent stars across her vision and painted the world in black and white.

Unable to muster the strength to pull herself up with one arm, she looked down, watching as Beast plummeted towards the trenches, his roar slowly drowned out by the musketry and cannonade that'd been going on for hours on end. Her grip on the cold concrete was slowly weakening, fingers growing numb as pain threatened to overwhelm her and send her falling to her death.

"Nasty drop," Eleanor peeked over the edge. "Would be a shame if you fell."

"Didn't think you cared," Elsa managed a snarky retort in spite of the lancing pain in her side and her broken wrist.

"I don't, really," Eleanor reached out a hand. "But a deal's a deal."

Elsa winced as Eleanor gripped her forearm and pulled her up to relative safety. "Thanks."

"If you two are done, I could use some help here, damn it!" Deirdre snapped as she hurled two balls of fire at Mover and Inque who were circling her.

Without another word, Eleanor darted off to aid her sister. Elsa looked down at her hand to assess the damage Beast had caused. Her wrist was broken all right, the bone jutting out of place awkwardly. She inhaled deeply, wishing Holli was here, but the witch doctor was already waiting in line to board the fourth wave's ships.

This is going to hurt. Elsa sucked in another deep breath, placing her hand gently on the broken bone. Easy does it, just the way Janus showed me. She set the bone and felt a crunch, letting out a short scream as sharp needles coursed through her hand and up her arm.

Ice flowed from her unhurt hand to coat the skin of her wrist tenderly, numbing the pain as best as she could. Blinking unbidden tears from her eyes, Elsa set her jaw and ran over to assist Deirdre and Eleanor against the remaining Mage Slayers.

ANNA

"Hurry, we need to get you to the ships," Talya urged Anna to move faster.

"Just…just give me a sec," Anna stretched out a hand to steady herself against the wall. Nausea threatened to make her empty the contents of her stomach onto the floor of the tower's compact corridor, this time without a Mage Slayer's influence to blame.

"Oh, God damn it," Talya helped to hold back Anna's hair as she doubled over and retched acidic contents which filled the air of the corridor. "You alright?"

Anna wiped her mouth with the back of her coat's sleeve. "Considering I didn't throw up while fighting the Mage Slayers? I suppose so."

"Silver lining huh? Now that's the ever optimistic Queen Anna I know," Talya said with a grin. The smile vanished abruptly as the remaining guns above them belched another deafening salvo of round shot into the enemy ranks. "Now come on!"

"Alright," Anna heaved, already feeling better. Sidestepping the puddle of puke on the ground, the two girls continued down the narrow corridor of the tower, moving quickly in the direction of the coast.

Jerkily, Talya came to a sudden halt. "Drop!" She screamed, pulling Anna down to the cobblestones a fraction of a second before two darts barely skimmed over the top of their heads, slicing strands of their hair.

Still on the ground, Anna looked over her shoulder to see Venom at the end of the corridor, the way they'd come. "Hell," she muttered. Her hand flew to the loaded pistol on her belt, knowing her rapier would do her no good at this distance.

Before she could level her pistol, Venom moved with demonic speed, whipping two poison tipped knives end on end at her.

"No!" Talya's hand flew out, a tide of ice overpowering the inertia of the assassin's blades.

"Another Elemental Sorceress?" Venom cocked her head at Anna. "Rather green with her powers."

"Who are you calling green?" Talya retorted, shooting another strong volley of ice at Venom, the attack missing the assassin by a fair margin as she faded and aimed another blade at Anna.

But this time Anna was ready. Her pistol went off with a resounding and echoing crack, the pink-yellow flare lighting up the sparsely lit corridor. Venom jerked backwards with a cry as lead took her in the right shoulder.

There was no time to celebrate. Adrenaline coursing through her veins, Anna worked to snap the frizzen open to prime the pan again as a shocked Talya covered her.

"Too slow," Venom snarled acidly as another blade slid into her left hand. She darted forward with horrifying speed, crossing the distance before Anna knew it.

Her hands still gripping the powder horn and the pistol, Anna knew she wouldn't have enough time to counter the stab Venom was directing at her gut.

But Talya did. The girl's magic slammed into Venom at top speed, knocking the knife out of her left hand and sending her colliding with the wall, her bad shoulder hitting first.

Venom screamed, followed by a string of curses in the rather distinctive Bastrusian tongue.

Talya crossed the distance in a flash, towering over the fallen assassin. "Sorry about that," she said as she shot another quick blast of ice that glanced off Venom's jaw and she fell slack.

Exhaling sharply, Anna stuffed the powder horn back into her coat pocket, having just finished loading her pistol for another shot. Not that she needed it anymore.

"That was amazing! Your shot at that distance," Talya took Anna's arm and they continued brisk walking down the corridor. "Were you aiming for her shoulder?"

Anna glanced at her mysterious ally and gave her a grim smile. "I'll leave that to your imagination."

MELODY

The uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach lingered. The same feeling she always had when she knew something was about to go down, and more often than not, that instinct was accurate. She wasn't going to ignore it this time, not when they were up against the brilliantly cunning mind of Hans. They'd already been baited twice on the battlefield and had barely managed to counter Kane and Hans' attacks. She was going to make sure she was ready this time.

Weaving in and out of the scores of skirmishers who were still engaging the emperor's undead army, Melody focused hard to listen for the familiar voices of her allies. Tracy's or Janus', for she wasn't familiar with Peggy's yet. Grunts, shouts or anything that would help her identify her friends. And then she caught a break. Tracy shrieked something at Janus, which was all she needed to pinpoint her location.

Mustering up her strength, she sprinted, using her supernatural speed and reflexes to dodge the mess of humanity and beasts entangled together in a deadly melee, constantly making a beeline towards Tracy's position. And then, almost as quickly as they had retreated, the Soulless began to press their attack again, chaotically and mindlessly charging forward at the Coalition.

"Fire! Fire!" Bellows rang out all across the field, and it sounded like a thousand muskets going off in a ragged volley, staggered but no less powerful against the creatures. Many of the Soulless pitched forward and fell where they'd stood, their companions trampling over them to get to the Coalition's skirmishers. The sorcerers on the field laid down covering fire, slamming out waves of varied magic into the ranks of the enemy as the Coalition was forced to retreat in the face of the sudden onslaught.

Damn it, it's too soon. Melody gritted her teeth and casually fired another arrow into the open mouth of a Soulless who was in the midst of rushing her, vaulting over the dead body of an Arendellian soldier and kicking another Soulless in the throat, stumbling it and a few of its companions like dominos. Leaping over the mess of bodies, she honed in on the source of Tracy's voice, getting closer till she could see the former sea witch employing her signature black magic in the furious fight against the undead. And not far from her was Janus and the new girl, Peggy, both fighting with their newfound speed and strength like they had nothing left to lose.

A snarl from her right flank stopped Melody dead in her tracks just as a Soulless lunged at her and missed. She caught it in midair and used her increased strength to swing it round and into another of its kind. A quick draw of her arrow and she released it like lightning, her speed and experience compensating for the howling blizzard winds and the heavy air. The arrow penetrated straight through the bodies of both creatures and they hit the ground in a heavy tumble.

"Melody!" Janus shouted as he brought down one dagger into the neck of a Soulless and slashed the other across another's face. "What are you doing here?"

"We know what they're up to!" Melody somersaulted over a Soulless, neatly pushing it into the bayonet point of a Danish skirmisher. She landed on her feet in front of Janus who'd finished dispatching of the enemies in his immediate vicinity, a literal trail of bodies left in his and Peggy's wake.

"What?"

"No time to explain, but the Crimson Order's striking next," Melody said quickly. "They're going to catch us all in a pincer movement if we don't counter them now."

"Who else knows about this?" Peggy called over her shoulder as she efficiently slashed a Soulless across the throat with her knife.

"Only us," Melody grimaced.

"Oh, hey!" Tracy back-pedalled, manoeuvring two sharp, purple tendrils that impaled several Soulless as she whipped them round. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Mage Slayers are coming," Janus repeated, turning back to Melody. "And Elsa?"

"She's gone up to the fort to save Anna. The assassins are attacking the walls."

Peggy sidestepped another Soulless with unearthly speed and stabbed the back of its neck. "How do you know all this?"

"Hans. He can speak through his vessels as though he's here on the field." Melody said. She'd more or less explained everything.

"Bloody hell. Never thought I'd be fighting demons on Christmas morning," Tracy remarked.

"Come on!" Melody turned and motioned for them to follow. "We need to intercept the assassins before they lay waste to the skirmishers!"

Sucking in a deep breath of frigid, dry air, she took off running, not sparing a moment's glance over her shoulder to make sure her allies were following. She knew they would. Navigating through the scores of soldiers and Soulless, Melody swerved and fought as she went, taking down as many of the creatures as she could on her way. Her sharp ears picked up the sounds of Tracy's heavy breathing as she and the others stayed close on her heels.

With her supernatural speed, getting to the base of the fortress' wall didn't take long. Only when she stopped did she look over her shoulder. Her allies weren't ten paces behind, arriving beside her within the blink of an eye with the exception of Tracy who was clearly winded.

"Just…give me a moment," Tracy wheezed. "Bloody hell. Probably should've cooked up one of those spells for myself too."

"I don't see them," Janus said, scanning the length of the wall.

"Me neither," Peggy squinted through the wisps of smoke and falling snow.

Eyes narrowed, Melody turned her attention to the rear ranks and focused her heightened senses. Screams filled her ears, ones closer to the rear than the rest that were being torn apart by the Soulless. And controlled explosions. Her heart skipped a beat. Many brown cloaks were already among the reserves, taking them completely by surprise. One of them was surrounded by exploding muskets and combusting blackpowder. Ignition.

"They're already on the field!" she yelled as she took off in their direction.

Ignition was easy to find. The scent of burning blackpowder was strong in the air, and she was causing muskets to burst into flames in the hands of the soldiers around her. Tightening her grip on her bow, Melody reached for an arrow and nocked it. But somehow, Ignition saw her coming. The assassin whirled round and hurled musket balls at her.

Melody dropped and rolled across the snow, coming up to her feet as the musket balls exploded above her, raining black powder and hot fragments onto her coat. She let fly, and the arrow zipped straight for Ignition's throwing arm. But the Mage Slayer manipulated an unfired musket of a helpless Danish soldier, and a pink-white flash stabbed out through the smoke. The musket ball met her arrow head on with frightful accuracy, splitting her arrow in two.

Grunting in exasperation, Melody dove clear of the musket ball and zigzagged towards the Mage Slayer as she continued manipulating musket shots and hurled exploding blackpowder at her. But Melody was just as quick, if not slightly quicker. Evading the last shot, Melody crossed the remaining distance and pounced like a tiger, barrelling the Mage Slayer to the snow.

Ignition landed heavily on her back with a sharp exhale of air, and Melody was upon her again in a flash, straddling the assassin to make sure she couldn't get up. With a snarl, the Mage Slayer reached up to strike at her but Melody blocked and returned with a textbook punch across the cheek. Ignition's head snapped back into the snow and lolled in a daze.

Satisfied, Melody levered herself to her feet and glanced around. Janus, Peggy and Tracy were already in the heat of the fight, engaging the multiple brown cloaks and trying to keep them from spreading across the field. How the hell could there be so many Mage Slayers? She had no idea the Crimson Order harboured that many.

Spotting a Mage Slayer trying to kill a Northuldra skirmisher with his own rifle, Melody sprinted across the distance between them and slammed the riser of her bow into the assassin's back. Before he could react, she hooked the crook of her elbow around the front of his neck and tipped them both backwards into the snow. She mounted him and pulled back the hood to get a better look at the assassin.

"Double," she hissed. The assassin who could duplicate himself at will stared up at her with an irksome smirk. No wonder there's so many of them!

"And you have no idea which of us is the host," The duplicate laughed. "Ignahon Malkovtoh."

Exasperatedly, Melody crunched her knee into his face and he crumpled into dust, disappearing before her very eyes.

JANUS

This is a nightmare. Usually I'm the one who gives them but this… Janus dropped and rolled to avoid the swing of a musket by yet another one of Double's duplicates, and swung himself to the side as a Soulless tried to take a bite out of his chest. Using his momentum, he brought his leg round into the side of the Soulless' skull, then unsheathed his falchion, using both his sword and the bow to parry the downward cut from the duplicate's musket.

His superior strength allowed him to overpower the duplicate and spring to his feet. Without a moment's hesitation, he lunged and thrust the falchion through the duplicate's body, watching him crumple. Acidly, he yanked his sword free and hooked his bow over his back.

Sparing a glance to assess his surroundings, he spotted Tracy a couple of feet away, similarly battling Double's numerous duplicates and the Soulless at the same time. Peggy on the other hand, was fully engaged with four duplicates, slashing and cutting her way through them with practiced ease as though she'd done it many times before. Perhaps she had.

Around him, the League's sorcerers were helping the skirmishers keep the Soulless at bay but even they weren't enough to stop the cursed creatures from pouring through gaps and getting amongst the regular soldiers. The Coalition skirmishers were still fighting for all they were worth, mostly tangled with the relentless creatures while the rear ranks dealt with both the Soulless and Double's duplicates. The real one was likely somewhere safe, gleefully watching the entire thing go down.

Janus clenched a glove dripping with blood. No more games. He'd hunt Double down and kill the bastard himself.

A Soulless' snarl snapped him back to reality and he instinctively dove for an Arendellian's fallen musket. Grabbing it, he shoved the thing into the open jaws of the creature and pulled the trigger, hoping the musket was still loaded. It was. The Soulless' head exploded in a fountain of brains and flesh, splattering the soldiers in the near vicinity.

"Sorry," he muttered as he let go of the musket, glancing round. He spotted an officer's sabre lying in the snow, buried by that same officer's corpse with a couple of dead Soulless piled on top of him. Peggy wasn't far from there, caving in the skull of a Soulless with her bare hands.

He smashed the side of his gauntlet into a duplicate's face, grabbing the back of his skull and driving him head first into a Soulless. The duplicate screamed as the Soulless devoured his flesh mindlessly, unable to make the distinction between ally or enemy. But Janus gave the creature no time to feast. He thrust his falchion straight into the duplicate's belly and the tip of the blade emerged on the other side of the Soulless' back. Feeling both go limp, he tore his dripping blade free. By now the sword was so caked in blood all the way to the leather-bound hilt that there was no point cleaning the damn thing till after the battle was over.

"Peggy!" He shouted.

"What?" She yelled back without glancing over her shoulder.

"Cover me!" Janus reached the pile of bodies where the sword was lying beneath them and saw Peggy's frame enter the peripheral of his vision. Satisfied, he put a boot against the bodies as he grabbed the hilt of the officer's sabre and tugged. The sabre came loose and he brandished it in his free hand alongside the bloodied falchion. It was clean and gleamed against the midmorning light, having not been drawn in battle yet.

"Two swords now?" Peggy swung a backhanded slash across the face of a duplicate and slammed her boot against a Soulless, forcing him to stagger backwards into the bayonet of a Northuldra skirmisher.

"I'm going to end this. Go right to the source and flush the bastard out."

"I'm coming with you."

"Like hell you are. You stay here and handle these guys."

"The others have things covered here. I'm not letting you face a Mage Slayer alone."

"Letting me?" He wanted to remind her she was the one under his charge but he knew what little good that'd do. Sighing, Janus turned. "Fine, but you better keep up."

"You see him?" Peggy caught up to him.

"Not yet," he squinted through the slits of his mask. The base of the fortress walls were unoccupied, with all the fighting taking place on the battlefield. But there, through his sharp vision dialled up to eleven, he spotted a brown cloak hanging back, hidden in one of the abandoned trenches and watching the entire battle intently.

"There," Janus picked up the pace, making a beeline straight for Double. The bastard had the nerve to hide out while his duplicates did the dirty work for him. Brandishing both swords in hand, he sliced through whatever duplicates stood in his way as Peggy brought up the rear.

Through the smoke, Double never saw him coming. One moment the Mage Slayer was watching the battle, the next moment he was yelling as Janus burst through the smoke and leapt off the earthworks. Janus pounced on him like a predator of the wild, both men tumbling into the deep trench, with Double managing to scramble away from the masked man.

"You!" Double glared at him. "How'd you find me?"

"You left a trail of your slime," Janus brought up the sabre.

Double's hand moved fast, batting away Janus' sabre with malice and it clattered out of his hand. Then without pause, the assassin moved in for a jab to the face. But Janus had his own powers now to match whatever demonic speed Double could muster. He slapped away Double's jab and slammed a forearm into the assassin's throat.

The Mage Slayer choked and growled, lashing out at Janus in the narrow space of the trench. Janus danced away, letting the man expend his energy before he went in for the kill. But the fiend had been stalling. A pair of fists clobbered his hooded head from behind and he fell forward, but he managed to break his fall and melt behind Double before the assassin could capitalise. Normally, a hit like that would've rendered any man unconscious but his heightened endurance kept him in the fight. Spinning round with both swords levelled, he stared down Double and one of his duplicates.

"Cheap tricks won't save you," Janus said, ignoring the pain at the back of his head. "You're still going to die today."

"Maybe you hit him a little too hard," Double laughed to his own duplicate, then spread his hands. "There's two of us and only one of you!"

"You're not the only one who brought backup." A smile broke out behind his mask.

"What?"

The duplicate shrieked as Peggy stabbed him in the spine and tore her knife free. Double spun round and cursed, retreating and bumping into Janus.

"Where were we?" Janus cracked the pommel of his sword across Double's nose and snapped his head back. The Mage Slayer fell and Janus put a knee on him, pinning the assassin on the narrow trench floor.

A thud shook the ground as though something heavy had fallen from above. Maybe one of the batteries' cannons?

"Finally," Double croaked with a pained smile. "The schinwitz decided to join the party."

Janus exchanged a look of confusion with Peggy, then both peered out of the trench. What he saw made his blood freeze in his veins. A giant of a man, stark nude with charred and raw flesh staggered slowly to his feet and let out an angry bellow.

"Beast," Janus blanched. "Oh, shit." He glanced back down but Double had already vanished, having slipped away in the distraction. "Son of a bitch."

"How did-" Peggy trailed off. "Never mind. We've got to stop that!"

"No! This one's off limits. He'll kill you, just like he nearly killed me. You find Melody and tell her to come, then you stay and help Tracy."

"No, I can help you take him!"

"Listen, girl," He growled, grabbing her arm. "I'm not going to lose you, not when we just found you. So you will do what I say and stay the hell away from that thing." Not giving her a chance to respond, he leapt out of the trench in a single bound and raced towards Beast.