Chapter Twenty
Across Arendelle's Rooftops
ANNA
Just as he had done once before, Maui burst through the steel bars of the interrogation room, snapping them like they were just strands of spaghetti. He ignored the motionless Tobias and headed straight towards the window where the blade had come from. Anna, Kristoff and Frederick followed after the demigod and hastily crossed over to the other side of the room. The Captain of the Queen's Guard and Anna knelt down beside the fallen ex-Chancellor, while Kristoff joined Maui by the window.
"He's getting away!" Kristoff shouted as he saw the mercenary ducking away from the opposite ledge and making his escape.
"Not for long." Maui growled, and sent a huge flying fist straight into the fortified stone wall of the interrogation room. It crumbled to the ground around the window, leaving an enormous gap in the wall, the warm rays of sunlight flooding into the poorly lit prison. With a giant leap, the demigod sprung into the air and out of the room, in the direction that Prometheus had fled.
"Anna, stay here with the captain." Kristoff stepped out onto the ledge directly outside the window which now no longer existed.
"Kristoff! What are you doing?" Anna shouted. "Get back in here!"
"I've got to stop him from escaping. Maui can't do it alone." Kristoff removed himself from Anna's sight and she groaned in frustration.
Frederick inspected the blade sticking out of the ex-Chancellor's neck. "He's gone. There's nothing we can do." He stood up. "I'll go call the Warden."
"Right, we'll meet you back here." Anna sprung to her feet and disappeared out the door.
"Your Highness!" Frederick shouted after her, but it was too late. She was already sprinting down the corridors, heading for the gate.
Anna burst out into the open, her head on a swivel. She couldn't possibly join Kristoff out on the precarious ledges of the prison, and neither could she leap across the rooftops in a single bound or fly like Maui, so she had to do what she could to help from the ground. There! She took off running as she spotted the black-clad mercenary sprinting across the rooftops expertly, ignoring the dangerous heights as if he was running on the ground. Prometheus was headed for the edge of the prison! She guessed that he was going to try to vault himself over the barbed fence from the rooftop to get back into the city. But how?
As she gave chase from the ground, she heard a loud war cry ring out from above her and she craned her head up to see where it came from. Maui had bounded off a rooftop, and while in midair had shape-shifted into a big brown falcon, his wings spread majestically and soaring through the sky. He let out a piercing screech as he closed the gap between himself and the mercenary.
From the ground below, Anna could make out the figure of Prometheus glancing over his shoulder while nearing the end of one of the prison's blocks. He saw the large bird swooping down towards him, and turned his attention back to the gap between the rooftops ahead of him. The next building was of a considerably shorter height, Anna noticed, so there was no doubt that he would make it. Without slowing his momentum, his left boot launched off the rooftop. He hurtled through the air towards the next building and at the same time removed a thick black fletching from his quiver. As the mercenary landed on the next rooftop and rolled across it to break his fall, he made a full rotation, and stopped with his back to the ground and bow pointed up in the sky.
The mercenary swiftly nocked his thick arrow, aiming at the fast descending demigod. Then, before Maui had the chance to change his course, Prometheus released the bowstring and the arrow zipped towards him. The unusually thick arrow split in half, opening up a thick rope netting in between the two halves. Maui found himself caught in the net, his wings snapped in tightly to his sides as the net wrapped itself around him tightly. Anna watched in dismay as the demigod fell away with an angry squawk, landing with a heavy thud. She had no doubt that he would be alright, but still, she hadn't expected that Prometheus was ready for that.
Continuing to give chase from the ground, Anna's heart pounded hard in her chest as she followed the movements of the mercenary across the buildings towards the edge of the prison. Anna looked up, and saw that Kristoff wasn't very far behind Prometheus, making his way gracefully across the rooftops as if he had done so before. She was astonished as to how efficiently Kristoff was navigating the heights. The mountain man leapt across a huge gap, and literally hit the ground running, not letting up in his momentum as he drew closer to the mercenary.
Anna burst out of the gates of Stillcreek, ignoring the protests of the guards as she kept her eyes on Prometheus, who was nearing the edge of the prison. There was no way he could get off that rooftop, she thought to herself as she eyeballed the distance between the prison rooftop and the city's nearest building. However, if her time with on this particular mission had taught her anything, it was to never underestimate Prometheus. The next building was at least forty metres away, and was at a height beneath that of the prison building rooftop. Even if he could make it over the barbed wire fencing of the prison, he still had forty metres of space between him and the next building, with nothing but a sheer drop onto a\the concrete pavement below.
Prometheus brought himself to a halt at the edge of the prison rooftop, and Anna could see that he was making the exact same calculations, judging by how he studied his surroundings. Kristoff was fast approaching him, closing the gap between them, and Prometheus was aware of that too. He removed another special arrow from his quiver and nocked it, aiming for the opposite building. It was then that Anna realized what he was doing, and once again she found herself stunned at his daring and resourcefulness.
The grapnel arrow flew across the forty metre gap with a sturdy cable following it, and found its mark in a large stone wall that was beside the rooftop stairwell, and anchored itself securely in the stone. Prometheus hooked the other end of the line to the rooftop he was on, and tugged on the line to ensure it was secure and could hold his weight. Then, using hooking his bow on the cable, Prometheus ran across the rooftop and let the momentum carry him off the edge.
Anna watched wide eyed as the resourceful mercenary zipped across the large drop using nothing but his bow hooked on the sturdy line. Her eyes darted back to the rooftop where she saw Kristoff standing at the edge, watching Prometheus go. Kristoff tore the scarf he was wearing into two long pieces, wrapping his hands in the thick fabric to prevent his hands from getting burns. No no no no. She instantly knew what he was trying to do, and she hoped with all her heart that he would reconsider his current course of action. To her horror, he didn't, and clung to the cable, taking a couple of steps back. Then, like Prometheus before him, he ran and his legs left the rooftop edge, zipping down rapidly after the mercenary.
Both hands clasped together over her mouth, Anna prayed with all her heart that Kristoff wouldn't let go. Her eyes darted back to the building where Prometheus was landing. The black clad man let go of the line the moment his feet almost hovered over solid ground, and rolled narrowly across the parapet of the rooftop, not waiting to reach the end of the line. Then, he quickly got to his feet and spun round to see Kristoff rapidly approaching him, and unsheathed a shiny katana from his scabbard.
"NO!" Anna's heart lurched within her and dropped to the soles of her feet as she watched Prometheus raise his sword above his head, but there was nothing she could do. Bringing his katana down in one vicious stroke, he sliced the taut cable, and Kristoff began to plummet as he almost reached the opposite roof. Fortunately, Kristoff saw the move coming and hurled himself off the rope and towards the nearing roof, arms outstretched in front of him. He almost didn't make it.
"Gah!" Kristoff shouted as his fingertips grasped the edge of the parapet, literally clinging on for dear life as Prometheus watched.
Anna's hopes were raised a little when Prometheus didn't deliver a killing stroke, but instead opted to continue his escape into the city, leaving Kristoff dangling precariously at the edge of the roof. Without a second thought, Anna dashed across the street and into the building, her legs pounding the stairs in rapid successive movements as she ignored the possibility of running straight into Prometheus. The priority now was getting Kristoff to safety, even if that meant letting the mercenary go free. She wasn't surprised when she somehow didn't run into Prometheus in the stairwell, and assumed that he had found another escape route.
Bursting out onto the rooftop, she ran over to Kristoff who already had one arm latched over the parapet, pulling himself over the edge to safety. She dashed over to help him over, and the two of them collapsed with grunts in a heap once he was safely out of harm's way.
"What were you thinking?!" Anna cried, punching him in the arm.
"Ow!" Kristoff grunted, rubbing his arm as he sat up. "What was that for?"
"You could have been killed!" Anna glared at him, then hugged him tightly. "Don't you dare do that again!"
"Prometheus had every opportunity to kill me, but he didn't." Kristoff mused as he returned the hug.
"And that's another thing!" Anna continued as she pulled away from him, both immensely relieved and furious at his recklessness at the same time. "Running across narrow ledges and jumping across rooftops?"
"I can handle it." Kristoff grumbled, getting to his feet, and removing the fabric that protected his hands from burns.
"Can you?" Anna glared at him.
"Anna, now's not the right time to be arguing. He's getting away!" He tried to divert her attention, but she instantly saw through his trick.
"He's already gone." Anna said firmly. "Kristoff, look at me."
"What?"
"I don't want you doing something stupid like that again, you hear me?" Anna said fiercely.
"Oh, come on!" Kristoff rolled his eyes. "I can handle it."
"Please," There were tears in Anna's eyes. "I can't lose you too."
Kristoff paused, then took her hand. "Anna, I've been doing dangerous things my entire life. I've ran with a tough crowd, gotten into fights and almost fallen off mountains. Even before you met me, and even before all this Warriors and League business. This is normal for me."
"It isn't for me."
"Anna-"
"I just don't want you dying out there." Anna's voice quavered. "I…I can't lose anyone else."
"Don't worry." Kristoff smiled at her. "You won't."
"Just promise me," she pleadingly looked at him through teary eyes. "Be careful."
"I promise, Anna." Kristoff squeezed her hand tightly in reassurance. "I promise."
"Good." Anna wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Then let's get back to Stillcreek and regroup with Fred and Maui."
###
"How did Prometheus even get into Stillcreek in the first place?" Anna watched as the prison guards covered the lifeless body of Tobias and carried him away on a stretcher. The whole thing had happened so quickly that the guards had only just arrived just as the Warriors got back from chasing the mercenary.
"You saw what he could do, and the tools he had at his disposal," Kristoff said. "It's not really shocking, honestly."
"Why did he kill Tobias though?"
"I'm guessing the Pilgrim found out that Tobias was leaking secrets and was pretty furious about him tipping us off about her mission in Quodrun." Kristoff said. "I mean, how else would we have known about her quest to find the Elemental Sorcerers?"
"What did he tell you before he died?" Maui asked. He had managed to free himself from the net Prometheus had launched at him and met up with the couple on their way back to Stillcreek. Unsurprisingly, he was utterly unharmed and uninjured, and Anna expected no less from the demigod.
"Well, he actually gave us the Pilgrim's entire plan, believe it or not," Anna said. "She's dying and is trying to find the long lost imprisoned Eternal King to learn his secret."
"Okay, explain it to me like I know nothing about history or magic or whatever this is." Just when Kristoff had decided that he had reached his limit of learning new magical mojo, there was always something new thrown at him which made him feel like a small fish in a very large ocean. A part of him felt normal when he was chasing down Prometheus, a regular human being, if the lethal mercenary could even be considered human.
"The Eternal King was a man who sold his soul to a demon in exchange for the gift of longevity. With his newfound demon residing inside him, he waged war and took over the throne of Ancient Hyutreno." Maui began.
"He ruled Ancient Hyutreno for centuries with an iron fist, and it was only when the allied powers of four kingdoms came against him that his reign was ended. By the time the war ended, the Eternal King had nothing left to his name except the skin and clothes on his back, and was imprisoned in a dungeon far beneath Ancient Hyutreno, somewhere in the catacombs. Till this day, some say that the Eternal King is still trapped deep beneath present day Hyutreno, which built a city on top of the ruins of Ancient Hyutreno. Today, he is reduced to nothing more than a myth."
"Well, I thought that the League of Sorcerers was a myth," Anna shrugged. "At this point, nothing is too far fetched."
"You know what? I give up." Kristoff threw up his hands in defeat. It was too hard trying to reason things out with his logical and pragmatic mindset. "So what happens now?"
"I know for a fact that over the centuries, many people sought to find the map leading to the dungeons below modern day Hyutreno." Maui continued. "However, the map is being kept in the museum of Srevnjor."
"Can you fly us there?" Anna asked.
"Wait a minute." Kristoff didn't like the feeling he was getting.
"Yeah."
"Then we better get going before the League gets that map." Anna walked out of the interrogation room, followed by Kristoff and Maui.
"Your Highness," Frederick walked from the opposite side of the hallway towards the Warriors. He had just finished explaining the entire situation to the Warden who now had a dead prisoner on his hands, which didn't bode well for his record. "What are your orders?"
"We're going to Srevnjor," Anna looked at Frederick. "Fred, I'm gonna need you to assemble a small circle of authorities that you know you can trust. Till I get back, you're in charge. Keep the kingdom safe."
The Captain hesitated for a moment and realized that it was better not to argue with the intrepid and determined Princess.
"Yes, Your Highness," he bowed. "But please, be safe."
"Anna, Srevnjor's literally in another country." Kristoff attempted to reason with her as they walked out of Stillcreek. "Without Tracy's teleportation magic, we won't get there in time before the League does."
Anna turned to Maui. "How fast can you fly?"
The demigod glanced back at her. "Time to find out."
ELSA
"Harness your emotions. Focus!" Ingrid hissed as she brought a knife materialized from her black magic down towards Elsa. The Snow Queen swiftly formed an ice dagger in her right palm and brought it up to parry, barely able to avoid the Pilgrim's vicious attack.
"Use your fear, your anger, your hate." the witch drew nearer to her, grating her knife made out of black magic against the ice dagger, causing a loud screeching sound. "The fear of dying. The indignation and wrath. Use it to make you stronger!"
Elsa leapt back and raised a wall of thick ice as a wave of black magic washed toward her, and the black magic hit the ice, causing it to splinter into a million pieces, but the ice had done its job, causing the attack to dissipate.
"Good." Ingrid's lips turned upward crookedly. "You learnt to focus on the positive emotions. But they make you weak. Tap into your darkness, for that's where your true strength and potential lies."
Elsa desperately wanted to roll her eyes, but decided against it. However, there was some truth to Ingrid's words. She had been fearful during training, as the witch had held nothing back, and she had spent the past hour or so defending herself from potent black magic. Ha'naeth, as Ingrid had called herself, harnessed unique black magic that was unlike any other form. Deadly, to put it bluntly. Elsa had truly been fearful as she fought for her life though it was only a training session, but she had tried to focus on her fear and survival instincts, and she had felt more power flowing out of her, more than she had ever known before.
In the past, when she couldn't control her powers, they had gotten out of hand because she couldn't control her fear, her anger or her grief. It was only when she focused on the good that she had a better grip on her powers. But now that she was adept and proficient in harnessing her magic, Ingrid had shown her that she had more power at her disposal, hidden beneath the surface of restraint. And though the Pilgrim's methods were questionably wrong, they were no doubt efficient, and Elsa was slightly taken aback by the power and strength that she possessed but never tapped into.
An inky dark red tendril of black magic shot out towards Elsa, and she snapped out of her thoughts, bringing her attention and focus back to the training session she was stuck in. Sidestepping the long tendril, she grabbed it with both her hands, and immediately her hands froze over, trapping the tendril in the ice together with her hands. Then, with a hard jerk, she yanked the weapon free of Ingrid's grip. As her new "mentor" stumbled forward by the sheer strength of her counterattack, Elsa formed ice on the ground which trapped Ingrid's legs, securing her to one spot.
"Very good." With a single thought, Ingrid's black magic broke the ice surrounding her legs, and it disintegrated. "I knew I chose well with you. You learn fast, but you're still holding back. You're not unleashing all your anger and your fear. You're limiting yourself, and that-"
Suddenly, Ingrid spluttered and dropped to a knee. Her skin grew pale and the colour drained from her already dull coloured face. In that split second, it looked like Ingrid had just aged another five decades as she struggled to regain her breath amid the relentless coughing. Elsa squirmed a little as she saw blood dripping from Ingrid's lips as the fallen Pilgrim reached desperately for a vial.
Instead of keeping it in a beaker, Ingrid now resorted to wearing a dose of the potion around her neck for emergencies as she was growing weaker. Elsa noted that every time Ingrid used her black magic, she would be weakened to a certain degree, and sometimes the disease raging in her blood would take over and overwhelm her, forcing her to consume yet another dose of the precious and limited Augbine Herbs laced with black magic.
"I think maybe that's enough training for one day." Elsa said, trying to keep her tone neutral as she watched Ingrid fumble with the lid of the vial.
Ingrid managed to pry the vial open and chug down the lime green potion quickly, breathing heavily and rapidly. Slowly, her condition stabilized and she got to her feet, staring at the empty vial in dismay.
"You're right. It's time. I have an assignment for you." Ingrid said weakly.
"Let me guess," Elsa narrowed her eyes. "You need more Augbine Herbs."
Ingrid shook her head. "No. It's time to move to the next stage of my plan. You will be leading them on this mission."
Elsa frowned. "Me? What about your head mercenary, Janus De Vesques?"
"I sent him to run a little errand for me in Arendelle." Ingrid noticed Elsa's panicked expression on her face. "Oh, no. Don't worry. It has nothing to do with your precious sister or the Warriors," she scoffed. "See what I mean? Sentimentalism makes you weak. No, I sent Janus to eliminate our mole."
"Tobias?"
"Correct. I figured he's been selling us out. No wonder the Warriors knew we were going to Quodrun," Ingrid spat, though in her weakened state. "That ungrateful rat. After everything I've done for him." She coughed, and turned to Elsa. "Prometheus won't return so soon, so as the Pilgrim's Apprentice, you will be making sure the mission is successful without any outside interference."
"I can't help it if my sister or the Warriors show up, you know."
"Frankly, I don't care." Ingrid replied coldly. "And remember our agreement."
"How could I forget?" Elsa said sarcastically.
"Whether your sister knows the truth or not, her life is still in my hands." Ingrid reminded her. "Tobias might be dead, but I still have agents in Arendelle willing to assassinate the Princess at my command."
Elsa clenched her fist, but knew that there was nothing that she could do. Ingrid held all the winning cards, and the witch knew it. "What do you want me to do?" She said through gritted teeth.
"Gather the Elemental Sorcerers. At nightfall, you'll be leading them to the city of Srevnjor to retrieve a map for me."
"Map?" Elsa asked.
Ingrid's lips curled upward slightly into a small sly smile.
