Page 52 of Return of the Nutcracker Prince

Focusing with all of her might, Clara watched as the mouse on one of the yeti’s shoulders whipped him when the mages’ missiles hit the beast.The collar buzzed with energy.An eerie glow radiated from the collars on the yeti, and matching rings adorned the mammoths’ tusks...

“Aim for the collars!”she called out.At the very least, shooting the mice off the yeti would render it directionless.

The yeti all roared, trying to block the shots with the siege towers in their hands.The wooden ladders split in two and fell to the ground, crushing the unfortunate mice who could not dodge.As more came forward, the mages’ shots hit their targets.

All three collars shattered, and the dull eyes of the yeti regained their pupils.Shaking their heads as if waking up from a nap, the three creatures looked around in bewilderment.Then the mice on their shoulders did something idiotic.

Their whips cracked frantically, as if that was what had held the monsters under their control.All three yeti swiped the pests off like dust from a jacket and unleashed their anger on the mice below!Clara could hardly believe she’d done that.

Now the mice had a second target, much more mobile than the palace.Another roar to her right made her look over just in time to see the mammoths break free from their captors and a cheer go up from Klaus and the soldiers.Their trunks, outfitted with painful spikes, slammed through the mice at their feet even as the ones on their backs tried to regain control.Those siege towers had to be abandoned too far away to do the mouse army any good.

“Great thinking, Princess!”Mother Gingerbread gave her a look of approval.“Fire on the mice!”

As Clara and the rest of the mages focused all their spells on the soldiers, moans of pain broke her concentration.

The yeti and mammoths were on the ground.Dead by their captor’s orders.

More soldiers swarmed forward, and then she realized they had gathered the broken siege towers together to take the place of the bridge.

“No!”

Her missiles came faster from this endless energy well that Klaus had opened in her, trying her damnedest to break the bridge before they could cross it.But a shield of dark magic formed over the mice on their makeshift bridge, protecting it from her assault.Where were their mages?She saw no one that could cast this.

Cannons blasted across the ramparts, but the dark shield held.A cluster of mice at the back of it hurried through the lines toward the path they’d formed across the moat, and then she saw what they carried.

A battering ram, in the shape of one of the Mouse King’s terrifying heads.

Klaus grabbed onto the wall as the palace shook.What in the Goddess’s name wasthat?

“They have a ram!”cried someone closer to the front.

Well, that answered that question.He peeked over the ramparts to see the mice had fashioned a bridge out of their destroyed siege towers and were now banging on the door.

“Keep firing!Reduce their numbers!”

Bent over to keep his balance, Klaus made his way to the soldiers who were on standby atop the entrance to the courtyard.“Get that syrup ready!”They saluted him with their thick heatproof gloves as they stirred the cauldron of hot, sticky syrup over the fire.

The peppermint canes of the portcullis were thick, but they soon gave way to the iron in the battering ram.So did the beautiful cinnamon wood door that lay behind it.His heart lurched as the enemy breached his home.

The cannons roared their discontent behind him into the mouse army.Squeaks erupted from the mice below, the ram pulled back, and then they descended.

He held his arm aloft as they moved the cauldron into position.When the mice crossed the doorway, he lowered it and the soldiers dumped hot, sticky, boiling syrup all over the first wave of mice.Their screams drowned out the noise of battle until they went silent.

But Klaus knew that would only buy him a few precious moments.He drew his sword and raised it high.“For Süssland!”

The mages and the soldiers split their attentions, but the second wave of mice was undeterred by the syrup that had boiled their countrymen alive.

Clara.He had to get to Clara before the mice overran them.

Soldiers affixed bayonets for close combat and led the way down the stairs to meet the enemy.Crimson missiles of magic whizzed past his head, and the thick scent of gunpowder filled his nostrils.Where was his wife?

Dozens of missiles flew from one corner of the courtyard, and when the smoke cleared, there stood his Clara.Zelda Gingerbread was holding a shield around them while Clara focused on offense.In the center of the courtyard, he glimpsed his parents fighting back to back.

Attackers came from all sides, the grotesque mouse teeth much too close for Klaus’s comfort.His saber clashed against their bayonets, beating them back amidst the uncomfortable squeaking language of the mice.Chest heaving, Klaus stabbed one after another, trying to make their deaths quick so he could move onto the next.Sweat poured into his eyes.

The mice backed away from him, surrounding him with their bayonets.He slashed away.He was a prince of the realm and he would not back down!

Then pain erupted across the back of his head, and stars flashed across his vision before it went black.

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