“My Princess! Welcome, we didn’t expect you,” the general said and bowed politely.
The general reported that the enemy had withdrawn most of their heavy forces from the capital to attack Noeria, a strategic town outside the borders with King Martin’s kingdom and there was just the robot-infantry to enforce order. The royal army hadn’t assembled completely yet as they were still expecting reinforcements from the rest of the kingdom. They were expected to arrive there in two days and then they would start the attack to take Ardonia back. Andria suggested attacking the capital immediately to catch the enemy by surprise and then hold it until the rest of the army arrived as reinforcement. She explained that she knew that Jake, the General of the Robots, would hunt them down immediately so they didn’t have much time and, as a hacker , he probably had already hacked their communications and knew their movements.
“He probably already knows that you are going to attack in two days, but if you attack tomorrow then you will use his knowledge against him and catch him out,” she said.
It was agreed that they would attack the next morning and they withdrew to their beds, but that night, despite their tiredness, they couldn’t sleep properly as they were nervous for the upcoming battle. Farnath stood outside of Andria’s tent and thought about going inside, but then he changed his mind and turned to walk away.
“I’m not sleeping,” she whispered to him from behind.
“I just thought to come and say goodnight,” Farnath said, a bit anxious, staring at her in her short pyjamas.
“Would you like to come inside a bit?” she said nervously.
He entered and they stood face to face. This was the first time they had been alone together without fighting or being in a difficult situation. She examined his red skin, finding it unique and sexy, while Farnath wasn’t sure of what to say so he just kissed her. The kiss was hot and burned her lips a bit, even though he tried to control his fire inside him to prevent from hurting her. They slept together that night, hugged, sweated from their own love, and just few pieces of ice remained on Farnath’s heart after that.
The next morning they led the army against the robot-soldiers that guarded Ardonia and, as Andria had predicted, took them by surprise. The disorganised robotic forces were destroyed and some simply ran away, following the code of survival that was programmed into them. After they retook the city, Andria first wanted to go to the palace and arrest Roy, the traitor and murderer. The palace was well guarded by robot-soldiers and Taurus, as well as human soldiers, but the Royal Army surrounded them and crushed them. Roy couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Andria leading a whole army of infantry, tanks and artillery against him. And there was Farnath, walking in front burning every robot he faced. Roy asked Erica to escape with him through a secret door, but she refused.
“You are supposed to stand by me. You are my wife! Didn’t we agree on that?” he asked.
“I understand why you did whatever you’ve done,” she said, on the brink of tears, “but I feel guilty about our actions and my heart cannot accept them. It went too far, Roy! Your ambition hurt people, hurt my friends and we end up powerful, but alone. I can’t live under the weight of your actions even if I loved you. I’m sorry!”
“You loved me? But not anymore?” Roy asked, pain throbbing in his chest. “It’s not true Erica, you still love me, don’t you?”
Erica just stared silently at him with tears in her eyes as she couldn’t find the words to fix their situation.
“You have always been a thief and you will never change. I never want to see you again!” he said furiously and escaped through the trap door to the underground tunnels.
Andria arrived a few minutes later and found Erica standing in the same place that Roy left her and hugged her immediately. Erica felt relief that Andria treated her with love and affection and cried on her shoulder, regretting all the things that she did or didn’t do.
“Are you ok, did he hurt you?” Andria asked her then and examined her and the room for evidence that he was there.
“Only with words. He escaped Andria, I’m sorry but I wasn’t able to stop him. I’m sorry for what he did to your—” She burst into tears again.
“It’s not your fault, Erica. Nobody knew what Roy was capable of, even me. I never trusted him, but I couldn’t imagine that he would do that. Let’s not speak of him now as we have more important issues to solve. Ivorin’s army will be here soon!” At that moment the General came in to report.
“Princess Andria, we set up defensive perimeter towards their tunnels and Noeria where a big part of their forces has been gathering. We need to be ready for a major battle from both sides as they have colossal robots, up to fifteen meters, and numerous infantry and other machines.”
“Erica, come with us, I’ll take care of you now,” Andria said. “General Tulious, thank you for the support. Go to your men, I need to think about our options now.” she realised she sounded like a mature queen. War was a game for men, she thought, but for women it was not a game at all.
“There is something else that I need to discuss with you too, my Princess,” the General said. “There is an unusual cold in our capital; the men have felt it. Do you know what is happening?”.
Farnath seemed troubled and Andria noticed that.
“I’ll investigate and inform you about it when I have something,” she answered and the General saluted and left. “Farnath if you know something about that cold, now is the time to speak, please.”
“Where is the coldest place in your capital?” he asked, after he thought about it.
“The Big Well of the Wishes. Why?”
“You should evacuate the capital and later the kingdom and go on the surface. It’s not safe for you down here.”
“Why, what’s going on? Please will you tell me, I need to know!”
“Just trust me. The sun is normal again and this place soon will be cold as death. Take your people up.” He left no space for disagreement.
“But how do we go up? There are no planes to fly from the Forest.”
“There is another way,” Erica intervened hopefully. “Roy told me that there are these huge metallic worms that Ivorin commands and they have already created tunnels up to the surface to take his entire army and built the first colony up there. He knows that the first to control the surface will be the ruler of the new world.”
“Where are the tunnels?” Andria asked, happy with the news.
“I can lead you there.” Erica seemed to be relieved that she had such important information, information that could save thousands of lives and therefore her existence had reacquired some value.
Andria and her army found the tunnels guarded by few robot guards and captured them. She then gave instructions to General Tulious about the evacuation of Ardonia and the protection of the escaping citizens against the upcoming counterattack.
The army, with the help of the police, organised buses at every central point. The media informed every citizen about the immediate evacuation to the surface and asked them to present themselves at any of the central points. The cold had forced thousands of people to go out covered with blankets, but the evacuation had begun. The buses transported people the whole day and night and, still, it seemed to be a never-ending mission as more and more citizens were coming from around the kingdom.
Arthas was flying circuits around the tunnels from which the enemy was expected, scouting for any movements. The next morning Ivorin’s army appeared from Noeria and Jake’s army came from a tunnel near Ivorin’s house, directly from the headquarters. Arthas also noticed some robot-scouts, small flying objects, similar to birds, equipped with cameras and radar. So Ivorin had found out about Andria’s plan and ordered his whole army to march towards the evacuation tunnels to interrupt the flow of the human population. His army included plenty of robotic infantry, Taurus, tanks, four colossal robot-soldiers and a couple of three meter tall cyber-soldiers which were piloted by humans. As he was returning, Arthas was cha
sed by enemy fighters. They started firing at him, making the situation dangerous as they were approaching the long motorcade of citizens abandoning the city. The robot-pilots primed their weapons to fire at them , but at that crucial moment a hot, red and black fire cloud covered the area from the ceiling to just ten meters from the ground, wide enough to cover the whole fighter swarm, destroying or damaging them badly. When the cloud had gone, a huge red bird appeared screeching, ridden by a furious, red skinned wizard with hair of flames. The bird chased the last damaged fighters and managed to destroy them all with its talons and beak.
Relieved, Arthas landed his fighter at Andria’s field headquarters and immediately ran to inform her of the enemy’s advance.
“They will be here in three hours, four at most. What is the situation here? Have we finished evacuating?” he asked.
“We need at least six hours! There are a lot of problems, broken buses, fights and marauding and more people are coming continuously,” she said, looking very concerned.
“Princess Andria,” General Tulious interrupted, “my soldiers and I will give you that time you need to complete the evacuation. We are going to march and block the enemy in the narrow streets of the suburbs before they reach our gathering points.”
“Are you sure, General Tulious? The area you want to cover is too large, the enemy is vast in number with higher technology, and you have so few soldiers.” Although worried, Andria was impressed by his heroism.
“I’m sure that each and every one of my men is willing to give their lives for humanity and our future and there is no greater honour for a soldier to die in battle protecting their people. I just want two favours from you, Princess. Make our deaths count, save these people and tell my wife and my daughter why I stayed back. Tell them that I never loved anyone more than them and I’ll always be there for them.”
“You are a great man, General Tulious. I hope you tell them yourself. Thank you for everything.”
“It was a pleasure to meet you. You are a real lady, Princess Andria, and you’ve given to humanity more than anyone ever has. You gave us hope, the hope to see the sun again, to walk under the sky and sail on the oceans. You should always be proud of yourself because your father surely was.”
The General ordered his captains to set up defences and blockades in every street in a big circle around the centre of the capital. The soldiers laid mines and explosives, they captured the roofs of the buildings and every window facing the enemy, and there they waited for the fearless army to come. They were freezing, but they knew that they were the only defence for thousands of women and children. Behind them, they could see the buses loading citizens, driving them away to freedom, leaving them in a frozen hell to die at the hands of a heartless enemy. The citizens looked at the soldiers that stayed behind, and waved their hands to thank them.
Back at the headquarters, Arthas, wearing a soldier’s uniform, stood in front of Andria. He seemed to have grown up suddenly, his face didn’t resemble the immature and childish face he had when they first met her six months ago. He had become a responsible man, ready to make difficult decisions for himself and for others. A true noble prince or, even better, a noble heart. He looked at her like it would be the last time.
“Not you, Arthas! You are not going with them?” she asked, trying to hold back her tears.
“I’m going, Andria. I will do my duty for humanity and for …” He stopped, unsure if he should say, “and for you.”
“No, I order you to stay!” she said.
“I’m the prince and heir of the sixth kingdom. You can’t order me,” he replied smiling and wiped her tears with a tissue. “I need to do this because my skills would be more useful there and…”
He wanted to say that he was in love with her and that he couldn’t live without her in his life, but he realised that this would only make things harder for her as her heart belonged to someone else. He couldn’t hate Farnath because Arthas had an innocent heart and there was no place for hate in it. Not for a tortured soul that made bad decisions. Not for the man that gained her love. He couldn’t hate this love. So he decided to give his life to save those who found each other and they would be happy. He just said “goodbye” and climbed into his fighter to face the enemy.
After he left, Farnath appeared from far, riding Felix and landed just next to Andria. He then ordered his bird to fly away back to the surface, but Felix didn’t want to leave his master. Farnath insisted and the red bird flew up away, over the heads of the surprised people that watched, totally sad that his master chose to be in danger alone. Andria hugged him and kissed him, as he stood, tired from his last fight. He looked at her with the same expression as Arthas and the General, the expression of a man who was going to risk his life in an unequal, suicidal battle.
“Not you too,” she screamed.
“It’s time,” he said. “There is a danger that only I can deal with. I have to give your men a chance to fight otherwise they are going to die from the cold before the enemy even arrives.”
“Stay alive! I don’t want to lose you, not now that we have almost broken the curse.”
“Don’t worry, my Princess. I didn’t wait two thousand years to break the curse only to die. We will meet soon,” He promised, but he didn’t believe it.
He left then, heading towards the Big Well of Wishes to reduce the cold with heat and give some time to the soldiers.
The soldiers were waiting anxiously, hearing machines approaching from distance and the General decided to give a speech from the radio to raise their morale.
“Soldiers! We have been tasked with a heavy, yet important duty to protect humanity, our people and their future with our lives. The enemy will be here soon. Soulless machines and people that want to enslave and exterminate us! Hold your weapons, clear your minds and take cover. Hold your positions, fight bravely and make everyone proud. Because this is what a real man does! He fights and dies for those he loves! Good luck, boys, and God bless you!”
The ground shook and four metallic giants appeared around the city and thousands of robots followed the tanks that crushed any obstacle on their way. Arthas engaged with the enemy fighters and destroyed two of them quickly. The two worm-robots approached the defensive line by diving and coming up and destroying any buildings on their way, they fell on the defensive line creating a ridge and then were lost under the ground again. The men were losing their courage, they couldn’t hit these robots, when Farnath appeared in the path of one of them and, after he calculated where it was expected to appear, he was prepared for it. The huge worm appeared just one meter away from him and rose upon the wizard making an awful metallic noise.
“You are an ugly big worm,” he said and closed his palms together, creating a long line of fire like a large, fiery claymore of lava-fire. Then he slashed the worm with it, cutting it in half easily, as if it was made of butter.
The artillery bombed the robotic army while the tanks engaged with each other. After a while the enemy infantry became visible to the machine gunners and the riflemen and the battle became nearer and deadlier! Even if the robot-soldiers had greater numbers and their systems were updated with better battle artificial intelligence, they couldn’t outmatch the more creative and flexible thinking human soldiers. The robots undervalued their own “life” and they couldn’t feel fear as they attacked, exposing themselves dangerously. They became easy targets for the heavy fire of the machine guns until the first colossal robot arrived. Piloted by a programmer, it fired with its 50mm double guns that were devastating to any human or light vehicle, and a big cannon that could destroy tanks easily. The humans concentrated their fire on the first colossal robot, but its armour was almost impenetrable. When the General was informed that a section was ready to collapse, the tanks had been destroyed and the soldiers couldn’t take down the colossal robot, he drove to the location to take things under his control. He arrived close enough to see the robot, but it spotted him too and fired its canon and the 50mm at him. Tu
lious abandoned his vehicle before it was destroyed and took cover inside a building. The robot started destroying that building forcing him to move from room to room until he arrived at a toilet window and saw the robot once more. He calculated the coordinates of it and then he ordered the artillery to fire. The robot was desperately firing against the General who was continuously moving in the building that was collapsing. After a few seconds the artillery shot from distance and several shells crossed the area screeching and hit the robot, destroying it. The colossal robot fell and exploded, raising the morale of the whole human army. They celebrated the small victory and praised the tired General who made it out alive. But their hopes disappeared suddenly when three more colossal-soldiers appeared one next to the other from a distance. One of them was piloted by Ivorin himself and it was twenty meters high with double canons, four 50mm and many machine guns. The second was been piloted by Jake and the third by the programmer with the heavy metal T-shirt. The three robots stopped and the soldiers stared at them, unsure of what they should do. There was an eerie moment of silence just before the storm and destruction. The General gave their coordinates to the artillery hoping that they would destroy all of them at once, but when the artillery fired, the three robots suddenly start running towards the human line at great speed firing at anything in their sight. The artillery missed totally and the robots began a killing spree, destroyed most of the vehicles, entrenches and artillery, creating a hell of bullets and shells. The battle was lost and the humans were running for their lives, while the three colossal robots stopped, facing different directions, and firing at everything. After some minutes the rest of the robotic army arrived and gathered to finish the humans. The General ordered his men to take positions on the second line of defence, closer to the Big Well of Wishes and to the tunnels that were leading to the surface.
Farnath was still standing at the Big Well of Wishes using his fire to block the even colder waves of frost that were coming from its depths, but despite his efforts the ice was still spreading . As he was struggling to keep the temperature of the area balanced, the second robot-worm was heading towards him, diving under the ground and coming up again. Farnath created a thick cloud of smoke around the Big Well covering it completely from worm’s sight. The worm’s pilot could see by thermal cameras that Farnath was behind the smoke, but he couldn’t see the well, so when it drove into the smoke, instead of the wizard, there was just a slowly burning fireball, as large as a human. The worm, deceived by the fake thermic figure of Farnath, plunged into the cold well. Farnath looked into the well from its edge and noticed that the ice had stopped rising. A horrible noise of metallic scarping was sounding from the depths and then the ice started to rise again, even faster than before. Farnath realised that it was time for him to abandon the place.
Farnath: The Frozen Heart Page 13
