CHAPTER 123: VICTORY AND LOSS

The skirmish was going with full force, and after the man on the elephant left, battle momentum started shifting to the Valdris side. Now General Garop and his soldiers could attack without fear of having their minds captured. But Malachar's army commander went frantic, transforming into a giant lightning ball and flying around, sending electrical attacks everywhere. He was trying to turn the balance of the war back to their side.

Sister Korra watched the aerial display with professional concern. "They must be doing something special. No man can use that much magical energy without dying," she said, pointing at the giant lightning ball that was destroying sections of the Valdrian army.

Captain Harwick squinted at where Malachar had disappeared. "What was that portal? Was it Malachar?"

"I think so too. Why would he leave at the last second of his own attack?" Korra wondered aloud.

"Did he get afraid of our attack and preparation?" Harwick suggested.

Sara felt sick certainty settle in her stomach. "He went after Marcus, Aldric, and Tom."

Palwin suddenly screamed and ran to Sara. "I lost connection! I lost connection to Tom!" Her voice was filled with terror.

Sara tried to comfort her despite her own growing panic. "It could be the protection device. Don't be afraid."

Harwick looked confused. "What do you mean he went after the boys? Where are they?"

"They went to raid Malachar's facility in exchange for mind protection technology against his magic," Sara explained, her voice tight with worry.

A roar echoed across the entire warzone. "General Jaq! Where is your master?" They saw a well built old man with obvious enhancement magic enter the battlefield behind Malachar's army. Even from their position on the wall, they could see his incredible strength as he began tearing through enemy formations.

Palwin's face lit up with recognition despite her distress. "Han! Aluro!"

"Are they the ones Marcus sent? The Defenders?" Sara asked.

"Yes," Palwin confirmed, hope returning to her voice.

"They were supposed to stay at back distrupt reinforcemnts and raid supply lines." said Sister Korra.

Captain Harwick smiled grimly. "They're on our side. That's very good news."

"Palwin did you send them a message?" Sara asked again. And Palwin nodded.

After Han's dramatic entry, more and more magically powered individuals started attacking the back side of Malachar's army. The Defenders had arrived in force, and their unconventional tactics were devastating to an army designed to fight traditional warfare.

The giant lightning enhanced general turned his focus to Han, sending bolts of electrical energy that lit up the battlefield like artificial daylight. But Han dodged every attack with incredible agility and landed a roaring punch that sent shockwaves through the air.

"Among all his generals, I hate you the most!" Han shouted as he fought.

With each punch, he continued expressing his rage. "To suck up to that maniac!" Punch. "Drained yourself!" Punch. "Tortured us!" Punch. "Unimaginable things!"

Han was breathing hard but couldn't seem to make a dent in the general's lightning shield. The enhanced protection was too strong for even his incredible abilities.

Then something unimaginable happened. All the enslaved, mind controlled soldiers started attacking their own masters, circling their enhanced leaders and turning on them with sudden, coordinated violence.

Captain Harwick stared in amazement. "What the hell is going on?"

Palwin suddenly straightened, her eyes wide with renewed hope. "I can hear him now!" She concentrated intensely and opened a portal, but only two mind broken people stumbled through. As soon as they passed their demeoner changed from a mind controlled individuals to ordinary people.

One of them shouted "Dont kill us Malachar wounded we broke free."

"Marcus and Tom are gone. Only Aldric remained," Palwin said, falling to her knees and crying.

Soldiers immediately restrained the two mind controlled men who had appeared on top of the wall, handling them carefully since they were clearly victims rather than enemies.

Sara felt understanding wash over her despite her grief. "I think the boys did it. They weakened Malachar somehow, so soldiers bound to him by magic turned on their masters."

The sight of mind controlled soldiers attacking their own commanders was spreading across the battlefield like wildfire. Formations that had been perfectly coordinated moments before dissolved into chaos as enslaved warriors suddenly remembered their humanity and turned their weapons on their oppressors.

But General Jaq was still holding his position with all of his enhanced bodyguards surrounding and protecting him. He was getting away from Han while sending lightning attacks, clearly trying to create an opening for retreat. His enhanced warriors formed a protective circle, using their magical abilities to deflect Han's devastating attacks.

Han went after them and took down one enhancer with a blow that shattered the ground beneath his feet. Then he jumped toward General Jaq himself with fury written across his weathered face.

"You will pay for your betrayal! So many of my friends died because of you!" Han roared.

Jaq deflected Han's attack while shouting back defiantly. "This is the winning side! Maybe not now, but eventually my master will rule the world. All the worlds!"

The general's lightning cage flared brighter as he poured more energy into his defenses. His remaining enhancers coordinated their attacks, trying to overwhelm Han through sheer magical force.

Sara ducked down to Palwin, who was still crying from the loss of her connection to Tom and the sight of mind broken Aldric. "I know you're in pain. I am too. But can you open a portal behind that general?"

Palwin wiped her eyes and concentrated despite her emotional state. The effort was clearly draining her, but she managed to open a portal behind General Jaq that was visible to everyone on the battlefield.

Sara pulled out her last bomb, the one she'd been saving for the most crucial moment. This was it. She threw it through Palwin's portal with all her strength and desperate hope.

The bomb reappeared behind General Jaq before he and his enhancers could react. It exploded with devastating force, and his lightning protection cage flickered and blinked out of existence like a candle being snuffed.

Han immediately jumped on the stunned general while his Defender allies caught up and started capturing the downed enhancers who had been protecting their leader. The coordination was beautiful to watch. These weren't just individual fighters, but a trained unit that had been preparing for this moment for years.

Han grabbed the defeated general and began delivering justice with his fists. "I told you I'd get you! I promised Master Thymon!" he said while systematically beating Jaq into unconsciousness.

"Hurrah! Huzzah!" Victory voices began echoing across the battlefield as word spread that the enemy leadership had been defeated. The sight of General Jaq's capture sent waves of celebration through the Valdris forces and despair through what remained of Malachar's army.

They had won the battle, but in the process they had lost Marcus and Tom and Aldric. Sara could finally let herself cry properly. She hugged Palwin and both of them wept for their friends who had sacrificed themselves to save the city.

The victory felt hollow despite its historical significance. Yes, they had achieved something unprecedented. Yes, the city was safe. But the cost had been their closest friends, the people who had made all of this possible in the first place.

Captain Harwick approached them with obvious sympathy, his military bearing softened by genuine compassion. "Sorry for your loss. But the boys saved us. Not just the soldiers. The whole city."

Sister Korra nodded solemnly, her priestly training helping her find words for grief and hope. "Not just the city. Maybe the whole planet. We're the first ones in more than a hundred years to win against Malachar himself."

Sara looked out over the battlefield where Valdris soldiers were celebrating their impossible victory. Bodies littered the ground, smoke rose from burning equipment, and medics were already moving among the wounded. The cost had been terrible in many ways, but Marcus, Tom, and Aldric had given them something no one thought possible: hope for the future.

But even as she celebrated their success, Sara couldn't stop thinking about her friends who were somewhere else, facing dangers she couldn't even imagine. Were they alive? Were they trapped in some other world? Had they completed their mission before being lost?

The mind controlled soldiers throughout the battlefield were slowly regaining their awareness, looking around in confusion as Malachar's influence weakened. Some fell to their knees and wept as they remembered what they had been forced to do. Others simply stood in place, overwhelmed by the return of their own thoughts and feelings.

"We need to help them," Sara said, watching the newly freed slaves struggling to understand their situation.

"We will," Korra assured her. "But first we need to secure the battlefield and tend to our own wounded."

The Defenders were efficiently rounding up the remaining enhanced warriors who had served as Malachar's officers. Without their leader's direct control, most of them seemed confused and disoriented rather than actively hostile.

Han approached the wall where Sara and Palwin were positioned. Despite his age, he had barely broken a sweat during the intense combat.

"The young Marcus and his friends?" Han asked, his voice carrying the weight of someone who had lost too many comrades over the years.

"Missing," Sara replied simply. "They completed their mission, but we don't know what happened after that."

Han nodded gravely. "They did well. The mind control network is broken. Thousands of people are free because of their sacrifice."

Palwin looked up through her tears. "Can you help find them?"

"We'll try," Han promised. "But first we must secure this victory and care for those who can still be saved."

The battle was won, but the war was far from over. The breaking of his mind control network was a significant victory, but Sara knew it was only the beginning of a much larger conflict.

As the sun began to set over the battlefield, Sara held Palwin close and watched the celebration continue around them. They had achieved the impossible, but the cost would haunt them forever. Marcus, Tom, and Aldric were gone, lost somewhere in the cosmic struggle.

The only comfort was knowing that their sacrifice had meaning. The first victory against Malachar in over a century proved that the dark wizard could be defeated. It would take time, resources, and many more sacrifices, but hope was no longer just a distant dream.

Sara wiped her tears and stood up. There would be time to grieve later. Right now, there were wounded to tend and newly freed people who needed help adjusting to their returned freedom. The work of rebuilding would begin immediately, and Sara intended to be part of it.

The boys had given them a chance. Now it was up to the rest of them to make it count.