Chapter Twenty Eight: A Wretched Hive Of Scum And Villainy
~BlackRoseRaven
The forest seemed to guide Cadence back to Freya, who stood on a ridge at the edge of the woodland, gazing moodily down at the port below. Cadence bit her lip as she approached, not sure of what to say, but Freya didn't even look up as she said calmly: “I know. You killed the mage and found the creature we were looking for. I may only have one eye in my head, but I have thousands throughout these woods.”
Cadence blinked in surprised, mouthing wordlessly before Freya said in a softer voice: “Aye, perhaps I used you... or the Swan, rather. But it had to be done, and it has brought us one step closer to our goal. The problem now is that we have to deal with this Salazar before he traps our quarry.”
“Are you alright, mi amore?” Sombra asked softly, and Cadence smiled briefly at her father, nodding hesitantly even as her eyes shifted uncomfortably towards Freya, not knowing how she felt about the Valkyrie anymore. There was still a massive amount of respect, and the Swan didn't seem to care: if anything, it seemed happy that it had been used like the tool it thought of itself as... but I'm not a tool. We're not tools.
“I...” Cadence halted, bit her lip, tried to think of what she could possibly say, and hated that what came out next was: “What do we do from here?”
Sombra gazed at her softly, and Freya smiled slightly before she turned her attention back ahead, and it was only then that Cadence realized that she, Sombra, and Freya were the only ponies present. And Horses of Heaven, did it ever hurt her inside to realize that she had just literally pushed everything but Freya aside the moment she'd seen her. She was supposed to be better than that.
“Simple. While the little boys scout ahead, I've been taking a look at the defenses we'll be dealing with, and learning what I can about the layout of the town.” Freya gestured at the port city, and Cadence hesitantly approached to look down over the sprawling settlement, the mare grimacing a bit as she noted the high walls and rickety guard towers... and those cloud formations aren't natural. “There are griffin mercenaries in those cloud posts, and a few Pegasi, so we can't sneak in from above. The water is better defended than the land, and they've dug themselves a nasty little trench around the walls and lined it with spikes and thorns. The only way we're getting in is through the front door.”
“Great.” Cadence muttered, grimacing a bit as she nodded to the Valkyrie. As her own eyes roved towards a front gate that was guarded by several mercenaries and a pair of enormous towers, she found herself wondering... “How do you know all this, Freya? I'm not questioning you, I'm just... well...”
“Questioning me.” Freya said mildly, but she sounded amused more than anything else as she nodded once before saying easily: “And like I said. I have plenty of other eyes. Perhaps your friends will find something I've missed, but otherwise...”
She clicked her tongue, and an enormous raven fluttered down from the skies, leaning its beak in as if it was whispering into the mare's ear as Cadence stared, before Freya grinned slightly. “It's helpful to have friends in high places.”
She paused, then nodded once, and the bird cawed before taking off and flying quickly away, Freya adding in a less-pleased mutter: “We have a new problem now, however. There are several ships coming into the harbor, and all of them are flying black flags. I may not know much about ships and flags, but I feel confident assuming that's a bad sign.”
Cadence nodded uneasily as Sombra strode up to the edge of the embankment, the stallion shaking his head briefly before he said softly: “We should consider our alternatives. Perhaps we could concentrate on finding the entity.”
“Atavus. He called himself Atavus.” Cadence hesitated, then added quickly: “And he had one of those... slave-chains wrapped around his arm. He also seemed... I don't know, trusting? Not just gullible, but... just... like he really believed whatever he was told.”
“Who knows what kind of mind we're dealing with? He certainly won't be normal.” muttered Freya, and then she shook her head before continuing: “And no. Even with this amulet I took, it would be a waste of time and resources. Especially since I have no doubt that Salazar will be reeling his quarry in sooner rather than later. From what I've heard about him so far, he doesn't seem like the type to miss much.”
Sombra shook his head, and then he looked over at Freya and said gently: “I know you want to fight these bandits for more reasons than you'll say, Signora Freya. But is it really worth the risk?”
“I don't see much risk in it, really. A group of well-equipped and well-trained warriors like ourselves against a town-full of scum and barbarians who won't be expecting us. With a little bit of magic added to the mayhem, we can easily demolish the lot of them and leave the dregs crying in the remains.” Freya replied mildly, looking over at Sombra before she feigned understanding. “Oh, but you're saying that killing them all is bad, aren't you?”
Sombra only looked at her calmly, and Freya scowled back at him before she said dryly: “Then just say it, and let's skip these silly charades.”
“I do not want to kill them all, no. But I also do fear for us. Overconfidence fells dragons.” Sombra said gently, and Freya huffed.
“No, pride and iron and arrogance fell dragons, and there's a difference.” Freya retorted, and then the Valkyrie shook her head before she moodily looked down, adding quietly: “Besides, this is the first test of your friends' mettle right now. Seeing if they're indeed smart enough to get in and out without raising the alarm.”
Cadence grimaced at his, shifting uncomfortably, and Freya smiled thinly as her eye flicked towards her. “You don't worry your pretty little head now, Cadence. We're on a different level than our enemies, after all, so we shouldn't be worrying about them being a threat.”
Cadence bit her lip, but Sombra only gave a small smile and said softly: “Do I need to point out that-”
“No, not really. You made your point and I've made mine, Sombra. Now, please, do us both a favor and start working with me instead of arguing against every point I make, for both our sakes.” Freya said irritably, and Sombra lowered his head to her politely.
“I simply am concerned for my friends. I welcome the faith you have in us. But avoiding conflict is often the better solution.” Sombra replied. “There's too much that is uncertain, especially when we know too little about the foe we are faced with.”
Freya only grunted, looking moodily at the stallion for a few moments before her eyes flicked to the side as she said calmly: “Well, let's ask the Loa, shall we?”
A moment later, La Croix appeared in a flicker, giving a weak grin as he said awkwardly: “Real uh... impressive how you do that, mademoiselle. But uh... well, Papa Sérénité might just be in the right on this one, you know...”
Freya frowned slightly, and the zebra cleared his throat as he shifted uncomfortably before he continued hesitantly: “It ain't just 'cause I ain't so much a fan of wadin' in and killin' all them folk. It's also because they got all kinds of weird wards and dark magic down there... I wasn't even able to get close to the docks. And that Salazar... whatever he is, he ain't no pony.”
“Demon?” asked Freya, and La Croix shifted hesitantly back and forth, making the mare scowl slightly. “Well, he isn't a Voidborn, is he?”
“No, he definitely ain't that.” La Croix confirmed, nodding. “He seems... like something from l'enfer, but not, you get it?”
To Cadence's surprise, Freya actually seemed to be encouraged by this response, the ivory mare nodding as she rose her head and said thoughtfully: “I do, actually. That might play to our advantage, La Croix... now we just have to wait for Moonflower to get back, and we'll be ready to move.”
“What about the brutes?” La Croix asked, frowning slightly. “You sure we can trust 'em? I mean, ain't like I'd be surprised if-”
“Don't worry, La Croix. We'll see how they behave, but so far they're doing what they were told to do.” Freya replied calmly, although this earned her a frown from La Croix and a curious look from Sombra, both of which she replied to by simply smiling slightly and shrugging. “Like I was just telling Cadence. I have a lot of eyes in the forest... and a few ears outside it, too.”
La Croix shifted uneasily, but he didn't say anything, and there was silence for a few moments before Cadence finally looked up in relief when Moonflower approached, stumbling his way hurriedly up the ridge before he wheezed: “Absolutely ridiculous. Mongrels, the lot of them!”
“So what did you find out, Moonflower?” Freya asked, although there was a hint of teasing to her voice as she smiled slightly at the stallion, who grumbled a little under his breath and shook himself quickly out as he rejoined the group. “I take it they weren't as pleasant as you'd like?”
“Not nearly, no. And they apparently have no need for a 'fop' such as myself!” Moonflower complained, looking outraged as he huffed loudly. “Can you believe that? They wouldn't even let me show off a single bit of magic! And they said something ridiculous, something about how if I wasn't a Blood Seer I should just make myself scarce. Although they used far-less-nice words than that.”
Sombra frowned at this, looking up at Freya, but the mare only nodded moodily, tapping a hoof slowly as she said meditatively: “Aye, that makes it more difficult. Tell me, Moonflower, did they take any of your blood? Did any of them touch you?”
“I... excuse me?” Moonflower blinked, straightening immediately before he huffed loudly and complained: “Touch me! None of them would even set hoof near me! It was as if I was a leper or diseased or... it was ridiculous! Atrocious! I am the most handsome of all lords of evil, just look at me, and they wouldn't so much as give me the time of day!”
Freya rolled her eye, but she seemed relieved by this response as she said calmly: “If we see the mages, kill them without hesitation. If we are indeed dealing with Blood Seers, then they need only a drop of your blood to kill you... or make you do far worse things. We do not have the option to make friends here.”
Sombra shifted a little, but even he nodded after a moment: the Swan, of course, was only too eager to go killing in the name of one of the Mothers, which admittedly made Cadence feel a little ill. Still, since Freya seemed to be more receptive now to their ideas, now that she was apparently concerned the enemy might be a threat after all... “What if we use the time we have now to try and track down the entity? He seemed to be receptive to some kind of summoning magic. It must be possible to find him somehow-”
“No. If I cannot sense him in the forest, then none of us will be able to find him by any means. And the amulet is just a trinket without the magic to harness it.” Freya replied, shaking her head briefly. “More importantly, this Salazar worries me. My instincts tell me it is very important that we deal with him and his mages while we have the chance.”
Cadence shifted a bit, but she didn't have any argument, and not even her father seemed willing to try and change Freya's mind, with how it was clearly made up. So instead, Cadence simply dropped her head, mumbling: “Alright. What do you suggest?”
“That you cheer up a little for one thing. I am not going to put any of you in more danger than need be.” Freya chastised, reaching up and gently pushing Cadence's head up so she could smile down into her eyes. “I take care of my troops. Even if I push them hard, too. But if Brynhild can survive me, I'm sure you can too.”
Cadence nodded almost violently before she could stop herself, and then she blushed and cleared her throat awkwardly, smiling lamely up at the Valkyrie. But Freya only grinned, shaking her head and remarking wryly: “There's few things better than a friendly rivalry. Even if 'friendly' only means you'll cooperate long enough to kill the enemy before you go back to trying to kill each other.”
“I don't see why mares are always at each other's throats. They call stallions barbarians, but they're always being so... conniving and evil.” Moonflower complained, brushing at himself and earning a dry look from Cadence and an amused grin from Freya. “Terrible creatures. Whoever said they are the deadlier of the species was right.”
“Well, it's not my fault stallions are so fragile.” Freya replied easily, tossing him a wink, and Moonflower grimaced and leaned backwards, looking at her almost warily. “But alright. A direct, fast attack, and as soon as possible. They won't know what to do until too late.”
Cadence had her misgivings about Freya's simple plan, but she knew there wasn't anything she could say to change her mind. La Croix and Moonflower both looked just as uncomfortable as she felt, while her father was frowning, but after a few minutes of no one saying anything, the Valkyrie nodded and said in a more serious voice: “Trust in me, and I won't lead you wrong. You have my word that I'll protect you, so long as you do what I tell you to.”
The ponies looked at her uncomfortably for a few moments, but then Cadence finally nodded, saying in spite of her misgivings: “I... we'll do our best to, Freya. Just as we promised.”
Freya nodded calmly back at this, and then she straightened and said briskly: “Then let's get ourselves ready. We have to make this fast and professional.”
The others nodded as Freya turned to look towards the base, her eye glinting as she continued: “Moonflower will cloak us. Cadence, you and I will be the vanguard and strike first. When we reach those towers, La Croix and Moonflower will disable them and Sombra will breach the gates. We push immediately into the town and we make for the port. The enemy will be drawn to us. We have at least three mages to kill and this Salazar, whatever he is.”
The others nodded, and Freya grinned, her teeth gleaming in her predator's smile as she said calmly: “Then let's not waste any time and move in while we can.”
There was no time to argue, and no argument that could be made, anyway: all they could do was follow Freya's orders, Moonflower cloaking them before the Valkyrie led them quickly down the escarpment towards the front gates of the port town.
There were three mercenaries on duty: as they approached under the cover of Moonflower's magic, Cadence heard Freya's order, and felt the Swan immediately respond to it: “Eliminate the left side quickly. I'll deal with the right.”
The Swan took over, Cadence hating that coldness that swept over her, that feeling of losing control, as not she, but Danzsöngr leapt forward, spreading her wings to shoot out from beneath the cloak of magic. A knife leapt into her hoof and she flung it hard, sinking it through the throat of the furthest mercenary and sending him toppling as the others looked up too late in shock-
The Swan plowed into the first in line, driving him down and simply crushing his head under her hooves, while Freya appeared almost like a ghost beside the other, seizing him around the neck with a grin before she roared as she half-spun and flung him with such force into the tower above that he crashed through the mounted crossbow like a cannonball, yells and howls of shock rising up from inside.
La Croix vanished from the spot, and Moonflower targeted the unharmed tower, snapping his horn forward and blasting most of the top of the guard post away with a single powerful spell as he dropped the stealth cloak. In the same moment, Sombra targeted the portcullis, slamming his hooves into the ground to create pillars of crystal beneath the barrier, which steadily rose and forced the gates to slowly rise up as well.
“Push forward!” roared Freya, the mare swiftly following her own advice and grinning widely as she ran towards the gates before dropping down on her side and skidding beneath them in a screech of sparks as her metal armor ground against the stone. She leapt up to her hooves as stunned mercenaries staggered to a halt, before one was knocked flat as she slammed her head into him before spinning and lashing another with telekinesis, sending him crashing with a howl through the window of a nearby house.
Ponies yelled and panicked, fleeing from the gates as merchants ducked behind their carts and stalls. Griffins were descending from the clouds now with bolas and crossbows and axes, but several of them were blasted out of the air by Moonflower's magic, only two managing to get past the barrage and dive at Freya-
Freya caught both aggressors by the face, slamming their heads together and knocking all the fight out of them before she flung them both backwards, knocking over two armored ponies. A third kept coming, however, the earth pony roaring as he charged forwards, his eyes blazing with crimson fury and tattoos around his forelegs flexing as the huge, muscular stallion barreled straight for Freya.
Freya whistled, and the Swan stiffened before she shot forward, shooting under the gates and then leaping over Freya as her hooves flung knife after knife from her bandoleer into the face and back of the giant earth pony.
He howled in surprise, zigzagging wildly as he shook his head back and forth, and then Freya leapt forward and seized the earth pony by the face, slamming her skull into his with a sickening crack. His legs went out from under him as he gurgled, and as he fell, Freya slammed his head down, burying his broken skull into the dirt road before she looked up with a wide grin and challenged: “Who's next?”
The soldiers that had stumbled to a stop after seeing their gigantic comrade fall stared for a moment, then spun and bolted. The Swan instantly drew her knives and flung two, one knocking a soldier down and the other slamming into the back of an armored mare's neck, sending her sprawling in a dead heap, before Freya whistled again and said calmly: “That's enough. Let them get a little ahead of us so they can draw out the mages. We have less of a quarrel with the town's troops, anyway.”
The Swan Maiden nodded, dropping down as Moonflower, La Croix, and Sombra joined them, and Freya looked back and forth before she strode over to a merchant's stall and picked up an apple. The pony cowering behind the stall whimpered a bit as the mare took a bite out of the apple, but then she smiled slightly as she chewed slowly. “Good.”
She flicked her horn, drawing a small sack out of her saddlebag, and she dropped this on the counter of the stall, a few coins spilling out before the mare picked up another apple with telekinesis as she turned to tuck away in her saddlebag, beginning to stride down the street as she said calmly: “Watch for ambush from above in case more of the griffins decide to drop in on us. Moonflower, keep your magic primed, but there's no need to hide now. Walk proud, stallions. Don't make us mares do all the work.”
Moonflower huffed loudly at this, and La Croix grimaced a bit but nodded awkwardly as he followed along, Sombra bringing up the rear with serious eyes as his horn glowed faintly, scanning the area around them for any sources of magic.
They didn't face much challenge in the town itself, which surprised Cadence, although Freya only seemed to be getting more eager as they moved, as if this was all going according to plan and she was happily anticipating whatever was waiting for them ahead. Which was a fight, of course: as Cadence was quickly learning, Freya certainly seemed to love nothing better than a good fight.
“Well, this is interesting.” Freya remarked as they approached what looked like some kind of checkpoint: it was a massive, gated outpost, and to either side of it, Cadence noted immense, spiked walls that made it impossible to sneak around: it looked as if this barbaric border cut cleanly through the entire city, separating the district they had just passed through from the harbor beyond. And waiting for them ahead were at least a dozen armored ponies and a mage in crimson robes, chained monsters on either side of him snarling and hissing as their bonds glowed with evil magic.
Manticores: Cadence's eyes narrowed at the beasts. They had the heads of lions, tails of scorpions, draconic wings and huge, burly beast bodies. Huge claws pawed at the ground as they bared fangs, tossing their manes and snarled, but they were unable to resist the compulsion of the chains wrapped around their bodies, completely under the control of the mage in the red robes, whose horn was glowing faintly with the energy needed to keep them in check and from either charging forward or turning on their masters.
Freya clicked her tongue, and the Swan readied herself as Cadence felt it wrestle for control of her body again. She half-resisted, but then relaxed slightly: there wasn't really much of a point in trying to fight the Swan's control at this point.
The mage narrowed his eyes at them, and then he rose his head and said clearly: “By the order of Archmage Salazar, you are all to surrender and submit to us!”
Freya chuckled at this, and then she replied easily: “Men always want their women to bow their heads and submit. Well, I'm not the kind of woman to be cowed by words alone. Let's see if you're half as strong as you are loud, petty magician, or if you're hiding behind all those bandits and beasts for a reason.”
The mage snarled, then he leaned forward and barked: “Kill them all, or it'll be your heads on the chopping block!”
The soldiers flinched, the several of the mercenaries yelped and staggered out of the way as the two manticores leapt forwards with furious, primal roars, knocking soldiers aside like toys as they charged straight for the Valkyrie and the Swan Maiden.
“Boys, play with the nice ponies.” Freya said calmly, and then she leapt backwards and kicked up a spray of dirt into the face of the manticore that leapt at her, making it snarl and shake its head wildly as it lost focus on Freya for a moment, allowing her to immediately leap forwards and seize it around the neck before she twisted to the side and flung the beast down, then she leapt on top of it with a grin.
The Swan, meanwhile, had flung several knives into the face of the other manticore, but it only had the effect of enraging it further, the beast biting and clawing at the mare as its tail shivered above its body, waiting for the chance to strike. The Swan dodged back and forth with a grimace before she swiftly drew another knife and drove it into the leonine palm of the beast when it attempted to claw at her, and the lion roared as it staggered backwards before its tail finally lashed viciously down, as if with an angry will of its own.
The Swan shifted slightly, twisting her head to the side before she lashed her horn forwards as it glowed ivory, slicing through the end of its stinger and sending up a spray of poison and blood. The manticore howled as it staggered backward, and the Swan immediately followed up by lunging forward and driving her horn into its neck, before she twisted savagely to the side, ripping out its throat and sending the beast gurgling and whimpering to the ground.
The mercenaries, meanwhile, were not fighting with either strength or will, the ones who had bows firing wildly as the others hid behind shields or tried to form haphazard phalanx, shouting at each other and their enemies. But Moonflower only deflected the arrows with a simple shield of magic, and La Croix flung explosive bottles in long, overhoof throws into the ranks of the enemy, scaring and scattering their forces.
Sombra stomped down, a wave of black crystal exploding from the ground beneath another set of mercenaries, and they immediately broke their line and fled in terror. The troops were terrified and demoralized, and the mage snarled as the soldiers left before he looked up with a curse as Freya flung the manticore off to one side as she ripped the chains loose from it, the mage snarling as his horn began to glow-
Freya flung the chain hard, and the magic bonds struck the unicorn squarely before wrapping themselves tightly around his throat, the magic around the unicorn's horn whiffing out as he was driven to the ground with a gasp. He clutched uselessly at the chains as Freya's horn glowed, before the unicorn howled in misery, spasming violently as he fell forwards, writhing in agony on the ground as the mare asked coldly: “Where is Salazar?”
“Y-You'll never... catch him...” The unicorn gargled, his eyes rolling in his head before he grinned bitterly up at Freya as the chains burned with unnatural golden energy, and inside the Swan, Cadence shivered: Freya was ruthless. “He will... kill you all...”
“You should worry about yourself, friend.” Freya said calmly, and then she stepped forwards and stomped viciously down on the mage's skull, snuffing the life out of him: the few defenders who remained immediately broke rank and fled at this, screaming in terror as the mare looked up and smiled wryly: “See? What did I say? Brutes and criminals are no match for true warriors and Valkyrie might.”
She disdainfully booted the body of the mage aside, making Moonflower and La Croix wince as Sombra shook his head slowly, while the Swan Maiden only nodded to Freya, proud and excited, Cadence thought with a sick sort of interest. Well, why wouldn't the Swan be? This was exactly what it had always wanted: to serve its purpose, to fight in the name of and alongside the remaining 'Mothers' and 'Fathers...'
“We don't have time for correctness or compassion. We move forward.” Freya said shortly, looking over her shoulder and nodding to herself. “The enemies ahead will not break so easily as these ones did, you can be sure of that. The mages know what to expect from us now, and I'm sure they have worse beasts than manticores waiting for us ahead.”
“Everyone seems to be afraid of us.” Moonflower said, although he didn't sound precisely happy about that fact. Freya, however, only gave a wry smile, shrugging a bit as she led the group onward through the open gate.
“I can't think of any reason why they shouldn't be.” Freya remarked, and then she floated the other apple she'd taken free from her saddlebag, biting into it and seeming to relish the taste of the fruit as she made her way through the gates, the Swan staying close to the Valkyrie's side and the stallions following behind them.
They passed into the harbor, or at least, the path that hopefully led to the harbor. There were more high walls and guard towers waiting for them, although these latter looked as if they had been recently abandoned. They could hear yells in the distance, but the twisting and turning of the roofless tunnel of walls made it nearly impossible for them to know what was ahead, and Cadence could swear she could see dozens of shadows on the clouds above, as if the griffins were just waiting for an excuse to sweep down and kill them all...
Suddenly, there was a loud screeching and banging behind them that made La Croix and Moonflower spin around anxiously, but Freya only smiled and lowered her head slightly as Sombra frowned a little, the Valkyrie saying calmly: “It looks as if our enemies are trying to cage us in with them. A bit stupid of them, really.”
“We have yet to see whether it is arrogance or confidence. And you too were concerned about the foes we were faced with only a short time ago, Freya. We had best not underestimate them now.” Sombra said gently, and Freya groaned loudly, rolling her single eye.
“By the All Father, is this how Brynhild always felt with me? No wonder she was always so cranky and obnoxious.” Freya grumbled, shaking her head briefly before they stepped through a stone archway that led out onto into a large, cement-floored freight yard, and Freya straightened slightly as she asked moodily: “And I know myself it doesn't feel good to always be right, you know. Although I wouldn't mind you being wrong for other reasons.”
The Swan narrowed her eyes as Moonflower whimpered a little and La Croix swore and readied himself, while Freya and Sombra only calmly surveyed the twin red dragons in front of them, each saddled, chained, and bridled, and with a mage in red robes seated on its back. Both dragons snarled, breathing smoke as their eyes blazed with hellfire, one of the mages leaning forward to growl: “You have one chance to run.”
“We aren't stupid. You just want us back in those tunnels so you can rain fire on us from above.” Freya shook her head, and then she smiled calmly before her horn gleamed, and her three silver swords unsheathed themselves with a snarl of steel. The Swan gazed at her with something like awe for a moment, as the three very different blades rose to ready positions in front of her: one was falcate, hooked and deadly; one was straight and double-edged, but with a lower half ridged with saw-teeth; the last was huge and triangular and bludgeoning.
“I've never been very good at running away.” Freya remarked, and then she leapt forward before anyone could react, the ivory mare lashing out with the hooked blade to snag the closest dragon by one horn and yank its head down before the massive, club-like blade swung viciously down and smashed across its skull, the beast roaring in shock and rearing back as it staggered, wings flapping wildly.
The unicorn on its back tumbled off with a yelp before the dragon leapt to the air, flapping its wings wildly as its brother followed after a moment, the other mage swearing angrily. The unsaddled mage barely had a moment to look up before Freya's third sword sank into his chest, the stallion gargling before he screamed as he saw the massive club-sword swing down-
Freya yanked her weapons free from the corpse of the mage, looking up and studying the dragons: the riderless one zigzagged drunkenly through the air, roaring and spitting fire, driving the griffons out of ambush as the other beast circled smoothly with a snarl: the mage riding him clearly knew what he was doing. Freya's wings spread as her eyes locked on this opponent, the mare smiling slightly before she said calmly to the Swan: “Finish off the wounded beast.”
“Wait, what about-” Sombra started, and then he grimaced when Freya simply leapt to the air, the Swan barely glancing in the black unicorn's direction. Sombra shook his head quickly, then he quickly surveyed the area around the freight platform before he said quickly: “Moonflower, you and I will offer them support. La Croix, I sense these mages are only bait for the trap.”
“You don't got to say no more, I'm on it.” La Croix replied with a quick nod, the zebra vanishing from sight, before he swore when he reappeared a moment later, stumbling a bit as Sombra's eyes widened in surprise. “Oh no.”
Sombra immediately slammed his hooves into the ground, transforming the stone of the platform around them rapidly into crystal: a moment later, several runes that had been painted invisibly over the concrete flashed into existence before burning out as the lines and symbols were disrupted by the spreading gemstone, the unicorn grimacing before he looked up sharply as several freight containers nearby exploded open, and a horde of walking corpses stormed onto the platform from all directions, animated by malign magic.
“C'est des conneries!” La Croix shouted, wincing backwards before he hurriedly snatched a small cloth bag out of his cape, then he waved a hoof over it before snapping his hoof outwards as the bag exploded, a wave of black powder ripping through the air around them as if carried by a whirlwind.
The black dust stopped the first wave of zombies in their tracks, the corpses falling limp for a moment before they burst into unnatural black flames. Slowly, the dead bodies began to haul themselves back up to their hooves, and La Croix winced as he snapped: “I can't do nothin' 'bout these fantouche! They ain't real nzambi, they're just-”
La Croix yelped and ducked as the riderless dragon swooped down low with a roar, but Sombra barely flinched as he instead lowered his head and dug his hooves into the black crystal, the dark gemstone spreading further over the freight platform as he closed his eyes and concentrated. More of the runes and hidden traps were disrupted, sparking out of existence, but at the same time, Sombra could feel a growing magical presence, a psychic pressure that was steadily increasing around them and already eating away at his abilities and mind.
Moonflower, meanwhile, had barely noticed the dragon as he lashed out with powerful spells, blasting corpses into pieces, his expression hard, but his eyes wide and terrified as he shouted: “Hit them with everything you have! Dismember them, blow them into pieces, set them on fire, do whatever it takes to stop them! Remember, they're not ponies anymore!”
Moonflower slashed his horn out, and a blast of gravity made a group of walking corpses all but explode as Sombra flinched slightly at the surge of power he felt hammer through the air. He looked up at the one-winged unicorn, who looked almost panicked, while La Croix was flinging potions in every direction, some of them aimed at the zombies, others smashing between the walking corpses and the trio of stallions to erupt into walls of flame or toxic smog.
A zombie stumbled through one of the latter, then collapsed after only a few more steps, the corpse seeming almost to petrify as La Croix snapped: “I know more 'bout the dead than y'ever will, you damn connard! Calmez-vous!”
“I'll... I'll calm your views!” retorted Moonflower, before the stallion yelped when one of the walking corpses lunged at him, sharply lashing his horn out and blasting it backwards.
Above, the Swan Maiden wasn't having much more luck with her own quarry: every time she managed to get close to it, the wounded beast would either lunge off in some new direction or it would knock her away. Her weapons could find little purchase against its scales, and while it wasn't enormous, it was still several times her size and far stronger than her. If it did more than just crash into her or snap its tail across her, then she knew she was going to end up in a world of hurt.
Or at least Cadence knew that: the Swan was single-minded in trying to take down its prey. She didn't care about how large, how strong, how dangerous the enemy was: all she cared about was doing as she had been told, and killing her opponent.
The dragon suddenly turned towards her, roaring, its infernal breath blasting across the ivory mare and the heat warning her that more than just hot air was going to be rushing towards her in a moment: but the Swan didn't care. The Swan only saw an opportunity, which it immediately took as it flung two daggers sharply forward.
One missed its mark, but the other struck home into one of the creature's eyes, and the dragon howled in pain as it jerked its head to the side, vomiting flames towards the ground instead of towards the ivory mare as the Swan rushed forward before half-flipping and slamming a savage kick into the base of the knife lodged in its socket. The knife ripped through its skull, and the dragon immediately plummeted from the sky and crashed into one of the freight containers below, bouncing bonelessly off it to land in a heap amidst the walking dead below.
Cadence felt shock run through her as she realized what was going on under them: the Swan, however, only turned her eyes towards Freya before she calmly flapped her wings, shooting up to help the Valkyrie even as Cadence yelled furiously at the Swan to help her friends. It was obvious, after all, that Freya was only toying with her prey, using her swords to harry at the dragon and driving it more into a frenzy as its rider lobbed spells at her, but never came close to so much as searing the Valkyrie.
Below, Sombra flinched as the dragon's corpse crashed to the ground, the unicorn looking quickly up as Moonflower lashed his horn out to create a wall of flames, wheezing as he staggered backwards before he yelped when La Croix grabbed him, the zebra shaking him roughly once before he said in a low voice: “Arrête, mon ami. Arrête.”
Moonflower winced, but then he gave a brief nod, taking a breath and shaking himself out before he looked up with something like a whimper when the zombies began to lurch through his wall of flames. Sombra, however, concentrated his magic and energy over the sense of malignancy in the air, his purifier humming loudly before he grimaced as his horn pulsed, and thin, spiky fences of crystal ripped up out of the earth around them, forming several lines of barriers that the zombies haplessly walked into and uselessly attempted to crawl overtop of.
“They're only puppets, you're right. But we should pity them, not fear them, Moonflower. While the body is nothing but our cast-off shell, the remains still deserve a certain dignity. And it is sad to see this last honor stolen from these poor souls. We do not need to desecrate them further; we need only find the source of the black magic and stop it.” Sombra said softly, and La Croix grunted in agreement as Moonflower lowered his head with a faint smile.
“It simply... brings back bad memories. That's all. Of things I've seen, things I wish I'd never done...” Moonflower looked ahead, staring at the puppeted corpses as they mindlessly attempted to breach the outermostfence, uselessly attempting to haul themselves over it but few succeeding past breaking their own bones or lodging themselves on the spikes of crystal. “I... oh no.”
Moonflower's eyes widened, and Sombra looked up in disbelief as the corpse of the dragon twitched before rising up, breathing out a blast of blue flames as a rattling snarl emerged from its throat. Its wings spread and flapped once, and then the zombified dragon roared as it stomped towards them, its body lurching back and forth as it staggered through the ranks of corpse puppets
It tripped on the first line of crystal fencing, but its heavy body simply smashed through the black gemstone when it fell, the monster growling before it began to haul itself back up to its claws. La Croix swore, flinging his hat down as Sombra started: “Find whatever is-”
“No time. We do this the old fashioned way.” La Croix replied sharply, the zebra digging quickly through his hat as he snapped: “Moony, now might be the time to-”
“On it!” Moonflower gritted his teeth, snapping his horn forward and blasting the dragon with telekinesis, but the corpse-dragon was so heavy it barely flinched backwards, only gurgling before it started forward towards them again as other zombies crawled over it and stumbled eagerly forward around it.
Moonflower trembled, then snarled as he leaned forwards, his horn glowing before he unleashed a powerful, thunderous blast of gravitational energy: while it shattered much of the gemstone fencing in front of them, it also was strong enough to blast the dragon backwards and obliterate the zombies around the creature, one of the corpse-dragon's legs snapping loudly and twisting almost completely off its body.
Yet onlu a moment later, the dragon was picking itself up with a gurgle, head swaying drunkenly back and forth as light glowed out of its eye and maw, the monster beginning to drag itself back towards them as the rest of the corpses flooded towards the gap in the fences. Sombra stepped forwards this time, however, snapping his horn out and pelting the corpses with black flames as a dark essence began to leak out of his eyes, the unicorn gritting his teeth as he growled: “This won't end until we destroy the source.”
Above, Freya dodged another blast of flame from the dragon before she shot a look down at the stallions below. They were in quite a predicament, but so long as they held on for a few more minutes... “What's wrong, boy? Are you too weak? Are you getting tired? Do you need mommy to lay your pretty head down to sleep?”
The unicorn on the back of the dragon swore furiously, and then he snapped his horn out, sending a blast of lightning at the mare as his mount tried to sideswipe her with a wing, but Freya simply lunged backwards and blocked the lightning blast with her swords, grinning as electricity chained back and forth between the three blades.
She snapped the swords out as the mage began to wheel his dragon around, then she grimaced as she saw the Swan moving in for the kill against the mage. But with a click of her tongue and a sharp gesture of her head, Danzsöngr immediately turned the lethal harrow of her knife into a painful, humiliating sweep, slicing the unicorn's face open and making him howl in agony as he yanked on the reins by accident and made his dragon come to a confused stop in the air.
The unicorn looked around with a snarl, his horn pulsing as he rose a hoof above his head, and there was what Freya was looking for, as a chain of crimson formed in the air above the unicorn's hoof. He snapped it outwards, and it became steel as it whirled through the air towards the Swan's back, Danzsöngr looking over her shoulder in surprise-
Freya intercepted the chain with the bludgeoning blade of Dómr, smashing the magical metal into shards before she flicked her horn, sending the deadly, double-edged Drengr streaking through the air to slam through the mage's chest.
The unicorn gargled, falling limp in the saddle as the dragon whirled towards Freya, roaring loudly and charging straight at her as if it sensed the death of its hapless rider, and Freya smiled calmly, her eye glinting before she suddenly let herself simply fall backwards. At the same time, the hooked Gæfa struck upwards, making the dragon squeal as it tore through the underside of its jaw and yanked its head roughly downwards, forcing the dragon to dive after her.
They looked at each other, but only for a moment, before there was golden gleam as Tyrfing swung off her back, and into the dragon's skull.
The corpse of the red dragon crunched down into the ground near the trio of stallions, disrupting the horde of zombies for a moment before Freya smashed down a moment later, releasing a golden shockwave of holy fire from her body that ripped through the ranks of the undead, incinerating most of them almost instantaneously. Sombra flinched backwards at it, feeling it doing more than just tickling his own skin thanks to the dark energy coursing through his body, while Moonflower and La Croix both stumbled and stared in shock.
Freya, however, only looked up and shouted clearly, as Danzsöngr dropped to land loyally at her side: “Finish that exorcism, Loa! I've got what I needed!”
“Well, ain't that great for you, mademoiselle!” La Croix snapped as he plunged both his hooves back into a cauldron filled with strange, eerie emerald liquid, the zebra swearing under his breath as he stirred it back and forth while pumping it full of his energies as quickly as he could.
But with Freya's swords and holy fire lashing through the puppets as well as Moonflower and Sombra's magic, they were easily able to buy La Croix the time he needed to complete the complex spell, the Loa suddenly stepping backwards and yanking his forelegs free, sending up a geyser of green liquid that transformed into an almost-living black fog which swept through the air, covering everything in darkness as the Loa shouted: “Cover your eyes, mon amis!”
The Swan frowned, and Cadence felt it flinch as something terrible rushed through its vision, the shock of the sight letting Cadence force control back over her own body for long enough to clench her eyes shut. It was only a few moments before that rushing feeling vanished, along with the sense of malice that had been in the air, leaving them with only the sound of crackling flame and the faint rasp of waves in the distance.
Cadence blinked a few times as she looked up, then stared around in shock. There wasn't a single speck of blood left on the battlefield: not a corpse, not a sign that they had just survived an attack from a horde of undead puppets. She looked disbelievingly towards La Croix, but the Loa only waved a hoof, saying wryly: “Wasn't me, not really. Just a nasty bit of juju to fight back against that evil mojo in the air. Lots of real mean spirits in Darkwater... plenty of 'em eager to find that particular thing they hate most in the world and destroy it.”
“I've always found that spirits of balance are generally the most unbalanced of all.” Freya remarked mildly, and then she smiled slightly as she approached the trio of stallions, as Moonflower looked up at her uncertainly, La Croix frowned, and Sombra slowly rubbed at his head as his purifier finally began to gear down. “Not a terrible job, men.”
“We're stallions, not men.” Sombra said quietly, and then he shook himself out before he turned his attention towards Cadence, asking softly: “Are you alright?”
Cadence hesitantly nodded as Freya grinned wryly, the ivory mare remarking easily: “Well, you're a little bit of a touchy one after a fight, aren't you?”
“No. Daddy is always the best of us.” Cadence said quietly, turning towards the Valkyrie and walking up to her, and Freya looked down curiously at the ivory mare before Cadence took a breath, then reached up and punched Freya across the face as hard as she could.
Freya's eye widened in shock as Cadence felt the Swan immediately rebelling violently inside of her, but Cadence kept herself under control and kept her eyes up and as steady as she could. She hadn't been able to hit Freya very hard: she had pulled her punch, felt her resolve wobble, and now she was overcome with a mix of horror and fear as the Valkyrie slowly turned her eyes back towards her, but she had still done enough damage to split Freya's lip and leave a trickle of blood running down her chin, proving – to herself, at least – that Freya wasn't invulnerable, wasn't indomitable... just as she wasn't infallible.
“You put my team in danger. You used the Swan like a tool. And the Swan might not care, but I do.” Cadence said quietly but firmly, forcing herself to keep her gaze locked with Freya's, even as she felt those three deadly short swords floating slowly, ominously into position around her. “I am not your toy. And you will not use my friends, my family, as bait.”
Freya narrowed her eye dangerously... but then she gave a small, cold smile, snorting once before she said coolly: “Well, I will do my best to keep that in mind, Cadence. I must say, I'm a little disappointed, though. After all, I wouldn't say I've led any of your family wrong, now have I? I've kept every last outcast and misfit alive. Including you.”
The two looked at each other for a few moments, and then Freya reached up and slowly wiped the blood away from her chin, giving a slight smile. “At least the Swan doesn't have as much control over you as I thought. I just hope that doesn't mean you're going to end up being a thorn in my side, Cadence Danzsöngr.”
“We can work together. And we should be concentrating on working together. Not challenging each other, not infighting.” Sombra said quietly and firmly, and Freya sighed loudly, giving the stallion a disdainful look that made Cadence want to hit her again, even if part of her was still very much afraid of what Freya might do, and the Swan was trembling in a mix of disbelief and horror and absolute fury with what Cadence had dared to do. “My daughter is... she speaks a physical language, Freya. But while we are here to work as your soldiers... you are our client, not simply our commander. And you have said yourself you cannot do this mission alone.”
Freya clearly didn't like where Sombra was going with this, but she nodded grudgingly all the same, looking moodily away as she muttered: “I won't bother arguing with you, Sombra, or your semantics. But don't think you and your fellow outlaws are so important that I won't sacrifice what I have to in order to see this mission through.”
Sombra smiled briefly as Cadence scowled and Moonflower shifted on the spot, before the one-winged unicorn said in a faintly-trembling, very much afraid, and yet somehow resolute voice: “Well... I'm... I'm not here for you, I'm here for my friends. And I will stand by them if I have to. You... you wouldn't be the first Celestia I faced down!”
There was silence for a moment, and then La Croix sighed tiredly before he said finally: “I sure as hell ain't gonna do anything to piss you off, mademoiselle Freya. But... I ain't gonna stick around if you do anything to mon amis here, either. And that includes Moony, I guess.”
Moonflower smiled briefly as La Croix shrugged awkwardly, and Freya snorted before she shook her head and muttered: “We don't have time for this. By now, Salazar has likely fled, and he might have the creature we're after with him. The mage used Blood Seer magic, as I suspected... but I use that very loosely. He was taught it, and it had more in common with blood drawing than it did with actual blood magic. My guess is that Salazar has imbued his chosen mages with a little bit of his own blood and essence... that would be why they laughed you out, Moonflower. Mages do not choose to serve him. He chooses the mages.”
Cadence frowned at this, but Freya only rose a hoof as her swords sheathed themselves quickly, the Valkyrie gesturing at the other end of the freight yard. “We don't have time for this. We have to chase down this Salazar before he has a chance to get too far from us, and deal with whatever other wretched toys he's left waiting ahead.”
Cadence looked at her father, who nodded quickly in agreement. Freya scowled a little at this, but she didn't say anything as she turned to lead the group onward, and Cadence decided that following for now would probably be the best thing to do: she didn't want to test either Freya's patience or the Swan further than she had to, especially right now... and especially considering they both might find me 'more useful' to them if I end up dying again...
Cadence shivered a little, then shook this thought quickly off as she strode up beside the Valkyrie. Freya didn't welcome her company, but didn't turn her away, either, as they made their way between damaged and battered freight containers and wooden crates, to the edge of the cargo yard.
The moment they stepped out onto a walkway, Cadence heard a distinct clicking noise that she had learned to fear in Decretum, and the ivory mare immediately leapt forward, the Swan reacting with her as her wings glowed white before they wrapped around her body protectively. She was only a moment faster than the gunner in the mounted turret at the end of the path, bullets pounding into her crossed wings and sending up a spray of feathers and white motes as she gritted her teeth, swearing in pain before she slumped as a wall of crystal tore out of the ground in front of her and blocked the rest of the spray of bullets.
Cadence let her body relax, the energy around her now-tattered wings dying out as she wheezed a little, and then one of her eyes twitched as Freya remarked wryly: “I accept your apology, if that's what you're trying to do by jumping in front of me like that. But otherwise, I don't need a little girl's help to protect myself from toys.”
The Swan felt a little betrayed, Cadence thought, and she was starting to see the similarities between Freya and Brynhild, and why they called themselves 'sisters.' But instead of letting herself get frustrated or drawn into Freya's complaining, and knowing that the crystalline barrier in front of them would only hold for so long under the continuous hail of gunfire pouring down on them, Cadence nodded quickly to La Croix and ordered: “Check and remove.”
“Fancy.” Freya commented, and Cadence did her best to just ignore the mare, glowering moodily as she kept her eyes forward as La Croix vanished. The machine-gun died out suddenly after a few moments, and Cadence smiled briefly before she grimaced as Freya remarked: “Effective doesn't always mean good. And fancy is not always what's best.”
Cadence resisted from saying anything as Sombra allowed the barrier to collapse once La Croix waved to them from the turret.
They approached, and Freya looked thoughtfully at the slumped mercenary before she simply shoved the unconscious stallion out of the seat. Then she grasped the gatling gun and absently tilted it back and forth, saying thoughtfully: “This design looks a little bit different from the rest of your toys.”
“It's a much older model.” Cadence said after a moment of hesitation, nodding slowly. Freya frowned slightly after her, but the ivory mare only shook her head, saying finally: “I don't know. Unless... maybe there was an outpost on this world, or Thokk-”
“Don't invite trouble by saying its name.” Freya reprimanded, and Cadence glowered at the Valkyrie before Freya turned her moody eye back ahead, gesturing shortly with her horn.
Cadence frowned, then turned and followed her gaze before she cursed under her breath: the expansive docks were only a short distance away, but from here, Cadence could see the ships were already beginning to pull out of the harbor, and she could sense something vile leaving with them. She half-expected Freya to either sprint after them or call up some great, powerful burst of magic, but to her surprise, the Valkyrie instead calmly made her way down to the docks and out to the end of the pier, not seeming to care if the rest of Team 0-0 followed her or not.
They stopped at the end of the docks, gazing out after the ships, and Freya chewed on her lip before she shook her head slowly. Cadence looked uneasily back and forth at the cargo crates that were scattered over the docks, and the stains of blood... “Aye, this is all a mess. Corpses, black magic, and it looks as if Salazar simply killed the rest of his crew and rolled them into the sea... our poor friends likely included. But still, the coward is on the run...”
Freya closed her eye, and then she scowled and muttered: “But as I feared, the creature we need is likely on board that ship. It's as I figured. The mage was stupid enough to use the same dark magic he had been gifted with to trap the entity... and so when Salazar recalled them all, our quarry was pulled in, too. He may have even known about it since the beginning.”
Cadence looked uncomfortably at Freya, but Freya only shook her head before she gestured over her shoulder, saying moodily: “Come, back into town to clear out the rest of the rabble, and then we'll figure out how to follow after these fools. This complicates this, and it is my own damn fault for playing games and slowing myself down for you lot.”
The ivory mare shifted uneasily: that sounded a lot like Freya was actually blaming them, after all. But all the same, she only nodded once before she followed silently after the goddess as Freya strode quickly back down the docks, the Swan still servile and eager inside of her, but Cadence was beginning to understand that perhaps even the Queen of the Valkyries was not without flaw.