The Queen's Admiral

Chapter 49: Prince Karl's Revenge

Have you ever experienced a moment in your life when you feel like things are all falling apart and then everything slows down? I had that moment on the deck of the Alexandra as I stood face-to-face with a series of burning flames that were threatening to ignite the ship. In my head, I could hear Aunt Elsa telling me like in so many lessons in the past:

"Breathe deeply, Fredrik. Calm your mind. Think of something warm and reassuring. Remember everything that's precious to you. Let that give you strength."

I thought of Mama and Papa, my two little sisters, my new-born baby brother, Olaf and Sven. I pictured Kai, Gerda, the people in Arendelle that I meet daily and those that took this journey with us: Lord Berg, Lord Hensen, Lady Anja, Lt. Andersen, Ensign Lorens, Albert and finally Admiral Westergard. They were all counting on me and they believe in me to protect them.

"Focus on that Fredrik. Feel the ice on your hands and then let it go."

And I did. I felt a strong surge of power in my hands that I never felt before and suddenly I knew what I need to do.

A wall of ice rose emerged from the sea and stopped the fire balls from reaching the ship. The faint shadow of the flames impacted my wall and it shook but held.

Admiral Westergard shouted orders to turn the ship around and my companions rushed to obey. But I had another task at hand. I focused on the water and concentrated my powers there. The patch of sea beyond my wall began to freeze and effectively entrapped the three Gormund ships, buying us time to make a run for it.

And run for it we did. As soon as the ship maneuvered into position, we hightailed back into the opposite direction.

We made quite a distance before I watched the magical flames ate through my wall and freed the enemy ships. I knew it was only a matter of time before they came after us again. And Prince Karl certainly didn't waste time. Three fire balls followed by a pair of traditional cannon balls flew in our direction but they didn't even come close to reaching us. We were still clearly out of range but that was not going to last for long.

"I've got an idea!" Admiral Westergard shouted. "Get me several small barrels. Fill them up with gunpowder. Keep it light but tightly packed."

The men scrambled below deck to obtain the items while he turned to me.

"Fredrik, can you do something for me? Can you cover a loaded barrel with snow, turn it into a huge snowball and launch it with your powers towards those ships?"

"I think I can," I replied as I wondered what exactly this plan was.

"Good," he said. "Then we'll set a trap. "I want you to launch a series of large ice balls as close as possible on those ships. Try to concentrate on Prince Karl and let him return fire as much as possible. Make the trajectories predictable. And when he's expecting another similar angle, we'll give him an unexpected gift."

The men brought forward the packed little barrels and I smiled at him as I guessed what we were about to do.

"Karl wants fire," Admiral Westergard said smugly. "We'll give him fire."

Another fire ball came up at us and completely missed the ship by a long shot though we were clearly already within range.

Admiral Westergard rolled his eyes. "He still has bad aim even after all these years. Fredrik, show him how it's done."

"With pleasure, Admiral," I replied gleefully.

I focused on my powers and began releasing a series of large snow balls. A few of my first ones impacted on the hulls of the ships but made no major damage. But it did give the effect of sending the men on the other ships to panic and some did slip on my ice as their decks got wet. Prince Karl finally caught on to my series of ice balls and began to retaliate, often blocking my snowballs with his fire ones.