Chapter Twenty Three

The Battle of Srevnjor

ELSA

Trudging across the rocky terrain, Elsa led the way up the hill, perspiring profusely. She rubbed her forearm against her sweaty forehead, and wiped away the perspiration in disgust. If there was one thing she absolutely hated, it was the heat. One would have thought that the climate would be a lot cooler since it was autumn, but no. Not in the region of Srevnjor. This wasn't exactly what she had expected when she woke up in the morning. Then again, she hadn't expected to do whatever she had already done in the past week. It was hard to believe that just a week ago, she was discontented with her mundane routine as the Queen of Arendelle. And now, she was the Pilgrim's Apprentice, the lead sorceress on the mission to Srevnjor.

"How far are we from the place?" Jade asked, extremely careful about where she placed her feet on the rocks.

"I don't think it's very far ahead," Elsa said, shielding her eyes from the glaring sun. "The Pilgrim wouldn't have teleported us into the middle of nowhere and expect us to retrieve the map for her quickly." She had explained the mission to the rest of the Elemental Sorcerers along the way, which left everyone with a whole lot of unanswered questions.

"I hope not." Jade gasped as she stepped on a rock that gave way beneath her weight. Fortunately, Jordan had grabbed her wrist with cat-like reflexes, steadying his older sister.

As usual, Deirdre remained sullen at the back of the mini entourage. Elsa was certain that the fiery sorceress wasn't pleased that she had been chosen to lead the mission as the Pilgrim's Apprentice. After all, that post had once been held by Deirdre, and it must have felt absolutely terrible to see someone else replace her. In a way, she could understand why Deirdre detested her so much, but now wasn't the right time to be thinking about that.

"I still don't get it." Jade said. "Why does the Pilgrim need the map?"

"She told me a story about a man who allowed himself to be possessed by a demon," Elsa explained. "The demon gave him supernatural longevity and invulnerability, and he became known as the Eternal King after conquering Ancient Hyutreno. Eventually, the combined armies of the surrounding kingdoms dethroned him and he was imprisoned in a secret dungeon. According to the Pilgrim, the story's real and happened four centuries ago. She says this map reveals where the Eternal King is being imprisoned." Elsa finished.

"Okay…" Jade raised an eyebrow. "I mean, I've seen strange things, but this is crazy."

"That's what I thought when I heard that the League of Sorcerers is real," Elsa muttered under her breath and she heard Jordan chortle.

"But where exactly is this map? Srevnjor's a big city."

"The Pilgrim told me that Jan-Prometheus sent the Knights to gather some intel for us." Elsa continued. "Apparently the map was acquired by a wealthy noble in Srevnjor. After the noble died, his priceless collection was donated to the museum of Srevnjor, where the map is now being kept, hidden in plain sight."

"Why would the Pilgrim tell you all this?" Deirdre asked suspiciously.

"Maybe it's because she asked me to lead this mission." Elsa answered without turning around, trying to hide her exasperation at Deirdre's hackling. She was getting tired of being antagonized by the sorceress.

"Huh." Deirdre scoffed. "That's cute."

"What do you want me to do?" Elsa stopped and turned to face Deirdre. "It's not like I asked to be the Pilgrim's Apprentice."

"And yet you are."

"That's not my fault. Look, I'm just doing what I have to. Why do you keep trying to start a fight?"

"Maybe it's because I think you don't belong with us." Deirdre hissed.

"You're right, I don't." Elsa set her jaw. "I was forced into all this without a choice. You think I want to be here in the middle of nowhere?"

"Woah woah, that's enough!" Jade inserted herself between the two sorceresses. "Let's not fight amongst ourselves. We're all on the same side, right?"

"Right." Deirdre smirked.

Elsa bit her lip, and continued up the steep hill without another word. Jade broke the silence yet again.

"Do you think the Pilgrim is gonna try to live forever?" Jade asked.

"I don't know," Elsa said truthfully. "But I think so. You said so yourself, she's dying. Why else would she want to get the map?"

"True." Jade said.

"While I was with the Pilgrim, I could tell that she wanted this pretty badly. Her magic potion's effects are growing weaker, and soon they won't be enough to save her from death anymore."

"I had hoped I was wrong. The thought of the whole Eternal King thing gives me the creeps. I mean, can you imagine demons being real?"

"Can't blame you for that." Elsa shrugged. She felt in her pants pocket for a piece of paper. It was still there. Good, Elsa thought to herself. The idea had come to her after the encounter with the Warriors in Quodrun. Upon seeing her old teammates, she had ached to rush to their aid and reassure them that she had not turned against them. It was not so much about her worry of their perception of her, but more of letting Anna and the rest know that she was still on their side. However, there was no feasible way of doing that with the League around.

Even though Ingrid might not be present with her, Elsa couldn't risk warning her sister or the Warriors. There was no telling if anyone was spying on her for Ingrid. For all she knew, the witch would know the second she dropped her facade, and that was not something she could risk. Therefore, she had quickly scribbled a note during her preparation for this mission. Elsa patted her pocket subtly. She just hoped that she would find an opportunity to slip her old friends the note while the rest of the League wasn't looking. She was counting on the fact that Anna and the rest would show up in Srevnjor at the right time and make a stand against the League. If the Warriors and the League missed each other, then that would mean her plan could not even be put into action.

As the League reached the top of the hill overlooking the city of Srevnjor, Elsa surveyed the land. Like Ingrid had told her, the place was unfortified and it would be easy to enter the city without being stopped by any of the authorities. The city of Srevnjor had not seen war or any form of conflict for decades, and so their guard was down, leaving themselves open to waiting enemies. This wasn't going to be hard. All they had to do was wait till it was dark. Ingrid had given specific instructions that no matter what they did, it had to be under the cover of night.

Elsa glanced up briefly at the sun, her eyes narrowed to tiny slits in the blinding light. "It should be nightfall in about an hour's time. We can make our move then."

Jordan nodded, and so did his sister. Deirdre grunted in response, which at this point didn't surprise Elsa. She rolled her eyes as she watched Deirdre walk a short distance away to sit on a big rock by herself. Dealing with the fiery sorceress was getting tiring. Elsa had long since given up trying to make friends with her, but what vexed her was that Deirdre was constantly attempting to make things difficult for her. Elsa shook her head. This wasn't important right now. Getting the note to the Warriors was.

###

Finally after what seemed like forever, darkness enveloped the city of Srevnjor like a plague, eliminating every little bit of daylight. From where they were, the Elemental Sorcerers could see the city lights begin to light up one by one as it grew too dark to see. That was their cue. They headed into the city and navigated their way in the shadows to avoid attracting any attention.

No wonder the League remains a myth, Elsa mused to herself as they headed towards the museum located in the heart of Srevnjor. Upon reaching the museum, the rest of the League kept a lookout as Elsa froze the lock and broke it with a firm tug. Prometheus had done his homework and confirmed that all the businesses and places in Srevnjor locked up after sunset, and so the League would be free to break in without much resistance.

Elsa opened the door and they all filed into the empty museum with relative ease. However, once inside, they were spotted by a single guard on night shift.

"What are you doing here?" The guard shouted, walking towards them briskly from across the spacious foyer with his pistol in hand.

"I suggest you leave. We don't want to hurt you." Elsa said calmly.

"You're all under arrest." The guard raised his pistol, his eyes sweeping nervously between the party of four.

Deirdre took a step toward him, and he squeezed the trigger. As the bullet flew out, Deirdre quickly raised her hand, and the bullet was melted in midair, dropping into a puddle of melted metal messily on the ground. Jade aimed her hand at the guard, and delivered a short electrical blast to his chest. The guard dropped to the ground unconscious in front of the Elemental Sorcerers.

"You didn't have to do that." Elsa shot an annoyed look at Jade.

Jade shrugged. "The Pilgrim told us to never allow our enemies to escape."

"No one should know of our existence. No one should live to speak about us." Deirdre spat. "Next time, you better remember that."

Elsa glowered at Deirdre but didn't say a word. Doing things the League's way was a necessary evil that she had to adapt to, and there was nothing she could do about it.

The Elemental Sorcerers walked deeper into the museum, tightly packed as a group in case of any further resistance they would meet, and entered the hall of Ancient Archives. This part of the museum held artefacts from the time of the First Republic of Bergxine, long before the War waged by the Eternal King of Ancient Hyutreno. Ironically, the museum had no evidence of the League's existence even though its prized members were now standing in it.

Jordan rapped on a glass cabinet to get the attention of the others, and they went over to him to discover that he had located the map.

"That's it." Elsa glanced at the rolled up map that was being protected by a glass cabinet, with a description written on a metal plate in front of the exhibit. "The map that details the location where the Eternal King is being imprisoned."

Jade aimed at the wiring running across the ground and followed it to an alarm on the wall. She fired an electrical wave that short-circuited the alarm system, and when she was sure that it was down, she gave a thumbs-up to the rest.

Jordan smashed the glass with his elbow, and removed the map from the exhibit. Elsa took it from him carefully, and looked at it. The map was made out of a very thin and brittle parchment scroll that looked like it had existed for centuries. It probably had. She didn't dare to unroll the ancient artefact for fear that it would crumble. "We have what we came for," Elsa said slowly, a part of her still banking on the fact that the Warriors had yet to show up. "Let's go."

"We can't let you do that."

Elsa turned, and to her relief which she took great pains to hide, Anna and Maui stood in the doorway, blocking their only way out. Finally.

"You," Elsa called out as she passed the map back to Jordan, keeping up her facade. "I'm impressed. I didn't think you would figure us out." Actually, she had been counting on it.

Anna folded her arms. "Don't underestimate the Warriors."

"Where's the rest of your gang?" Deirdre said in a mocking tone. "I count only two."

"So?"

"Last time, there were six of you, excluding Daltrey, and you couldn't beat us then." Jade replied. "How do you expect to stop us with just two of you?"

"You must be really confident to show up with half your team." Deirdre sniggered. "Not that it matters to us. Last time the Pilgrim let you all off. But this time, you're going to burn."

Elsa's heart lurched within her as she kept her demeanour calm and cold.

"Oh yeah?" Anna retorted. "Well, you're…you're…"

"Frost, she's stalling." Jade turned to Elsa. "Just give the word."

Elsa bit her lip. There was no way she was going to give the order for the League to attack her sister, but then if she didn't, then the game was over and the Pilgrim would have Anna killed anyway. Either way, it was a lose-lose situation, one that Elsa had found herself invariably trapped in.

And then just at the right moment, Elsa heard a thud and spun round to see Kristoff swinging across the room on a rope and Jordan knocked to the ground. Apparently Kristoff had been waiting silently on the second level, watching the exchange from the corridor above. He had then swooped down and hit an unsuspecting Jordan, grabbing the rolled up map out of his hands and he was now making his getaway.

Jade had realized it too, and angrily shot a network of electricity at the escaping Kristoff. He ducked gingerly beneath the parapet of the second storey corridor and the electricity dissipated on the wall of the museum. Anna and Maui also turned to run upon seeing that Kristoff had acquired the map.

"Stop them! Don't let them get away with the map!" Elsa shouted, knowing full well that the League would spring into action anyway. All she had to do was ensure everyone was too busy to notice her slip the Warriors the note in her pocket.

Deirdre raised both her hands and flames emerged from her hands with a whoosh, racing towards Anna and Maui. Instinctively, the demigod positioned himself in front of the incoming flames, stopping to block Anna, and the fire made contact with his body. It hit him, but did nothing to hurt him. Maui grinned at Deirdre, and then took off running after Anna.

"Go after the map but don't kill him. As long as we have the map, we can leave." Elsa said to Jordan, who nodded and the ground beneath his feet cracked and raised itself and him to the second storey, where he leapt over the parapet and took off running after Kristoff.

"Jade, Deirdre, you're with me." This time, Deirdre agreed without so much as a word of spite. "Let's go!" Elsa led the way after Maui, hoping that he would draw them away from Anna. And sure enough, the demigod did. He periodically stopped to challenge them, and when the three Elemental Sorcerers shot blasts of elemental magic at him, he danced away, buying Anna more time to escape.

"I'll go after her," Deirdre dashed off in pursuit of Anna. "She's not getting away."

"No, wait!" Elsa cried out but it was too late. Before she could stop Deirdre, she and Jade dove out of the way as Maui, who had transformed into a large brown ram, charged into their path, creating a huge dent in the wall.

Getting up quickly, Elsa spun round to face Maui, who had shape-shifted back into the form of a man.

"I believed in you, Elsa!" Maui shouted, his voice filled with hurt. "After all we've been through together, and you turn on us like this?"

"You're the one who abandoned us, remember?" Elsa said coldly, even though her heart was broken.

"At least I'm not a traitor. You give us no choice, Elsa."

"You know you can't win."

"I don't have to." Maui growled. With that, he bounded towards Elsa, and she tried to freeze him again, like she had done in Quodrun. He had learnt from that mistake. In a flash of light, he shape-shifted into a serpent and slid beneath her attack. She gasped and back-pedalled away from him as he slithered across the ground swiftly toward her, closing the gap between predator and prey. The demigod sprung up from the ground and coiled himself around her, swiftly squeezing the breath out of her.

Elsa could feel her vision blurring as she gasped for air, unable to counter Maui's offensive. Previously, she had been able to lower her own body temperature to the point where contact with her skin caused Maui's scales to freeze, but this time, he was too quick and she could feel herself slipping into unconsciousness before she could do anything. A ball of electricity hit the serpent squarely in the head, and he loosened his grip on Elsa.

Instantly, she took a big gulp of air and felt her senses return to her, watching as Jade advanced her attack against the stunned serpent. Maui slithered out of the way with lightning speed as Jade launched another blast of electricity toward him, and shape-shifted into a brown bull. He galloped towards Jade, and she was knocked into the air by the sheer force of impact. As she was in mid-air, two long tendrils of electricity emerged from her hands and she latched them onto Maui's bull horns. She pulled herself back towards him, and anchored herself to the ground, digging in her heels.

Elsa took the cue to join in the attack as Maui resisted the electricity, raising a mini snow storm that blinded the demigod. Then, she forcefully thrusted both hands at him, releasing a blinding coruscation of power, a tirade of ice that froze him solid as he let out one last bellow of defiance.

Jade released a breath of cold air. "That was…wow."

"That won't hold him for long." Elsa said, her eyes still on the frozen Maui. She could almost see a look that screamed traitor in his big black eyes. "Come on, we got to catch up with Deirdre." There was still a chance that she could pass Anna or Kristoff the note and hopefully, she wasn't too late.

ANNA

"Jump!" Anna hollered as she ran parallel to Kristoff's path. The hall that she was in was directly below the second storey where Kristoff was. The Elemental Sorcerer chasing him could somehow manipulate matter, and the ground had begun crumbling beneath Kristoff's feet as he ran for his life with the map in hand.

Anna followed from below, her eyes huge as saucers as she watched Kristoff leap away from the flooring beneath him that suddenly gave way. He landed on solid ground away from the huge chasm that now lay between him and his enemy. However, a gap in the ground did nothing to stop the Elemental Sorcerer. The wall beside Kristoff began to move, and the stone deformed, twisting itself around him.

"Catch!" He grunted and tossed the map out from the second storey down to her at the last second before he was completely incapacitated by the wall of stone.

Narrowly catching the map, Anna continued sprinting as she tore her eyes away from Kristoff. Right now, the priority was getting the map away from the League. But how was she going to make her escape? She couldn't get far without Maui to fly her out of Srevnjor. Rightttt. She hadn't thought that far ahead, but she would wing it as she went along.

"Ahh!" She yelped as she felt flames lick at the ends of her hair. The Elemental Sorceress capable of manipulating fire was hot- no pun intended- on her heels! Holding her strawberry blonde hair against the back of her head with her other hand to keep it from flying behind her as she ran, she turned a corner and slipped into another section of the empty museum. Before her pursuer could appear, Anna shut the door as quietly and quickly as she could, bolting them securely. With all her strength, she dragged a heavy table to bar the door. She turned around, and groaned.

Wax statues? This was possibly the worst room she could have chosen to hide in, but it was too late to rectify her mistake now. Anna's head spun on a swivel as she surveyed the large room for the best place to hide. The room was filled with equipment designed to create wax statues, with some of the statues only having a steel frame to begin with, and Anna gathered that it was a place meant only for authorized personnel. That didn't make things any easier, but it did mean that she had some tools at her disposal to aid her against the fiery sorceress. I'm wayyy out of my league here.

Grunting came from the opposite side of the door as it refused to budge, and Anna hurried over to a large table and hid beneath it, taking a couple of handheld tools with her. She tucked them inside her pockets and they bulged out awkwardly, not that she could care less given her current predicament. Still clutching the map in her hand, she glanced behind her and noticed a gap in the wall that had apparently been cut to allow a staircase that led to the second storey.

Choosing this spot was a horrible decision. The other Elemental Sorcerer who had been pursuing Kristoff could come down from the second level, and she would find herself trapped between her enemies. As she was about to get up and change spots, the door exploded and the heavy table blocking the entrance blew up into smithereens. The fiery sorceress who had been chasing her walked into the room haughtily, and Anna pressed her body against the inner of the table, trying her hardest to breathe as quietly as possible.

"You can't hide!" The girl's sneering voice echoed throughout the room.

Reaching into her pocket, she drew out a metal tool that she couldn't identify, and cautiously peered out over the top of the table. The sorceress was in the centre of the room. With all her might, Anna hurled the tool near the entrance of the room, which was all the way on the opposite end. As the metal clanged to the ground and the sorceress whirled around to see where the noise had come from, Anna got up from her hiding spot and grabbed a plaster mold that was filled with wax.

"Hey!" she hollered at her pursuer.

The sorceress turned around to see the plaster mold being tossed at her. Instinctively, she raised a hand and heat radiated out, melting the mold. The liquid wax splattered all over her, drenching her entire body and causing her to flinch.

"Ugh!" The sorceress cried out and rubbed her eyes, shocked and incapacitated by the wax that covered her from head to toe.

Anna turned on her heels and made a desperate dash for the staircase, clutching the map in her hand tightly. Running into the male sorcerer was a risk, but it was one she was going to have to take. Three steps at a time, she sprinted up to the second storey and looked left and right. To her left was where the other sorcerer could possibly come from after having pursued Kristoff. Her only option was to go right.

A ball of fire narrowly missed her and exploded on the wall beside her, cutting out a huge block of stone from the wall. Anna looked down over the parapet to see the sorceress, still caked generously in wax, attempting to aim at her with her vision hindered. Vexed at missing her target, the sorceress screeched and tried again. This time, the coruscation of flames landed nearer to Anna, and she picked up her pace, bending low to reduce the chances of being spotted. Now what?

Anna ran through the corridor and ran down the staircase leading to another exhibition. Weapons. Yes. Knights' armour were lined up against the walls, and there was a vast array of weapons on display, all at her disposal. The map in one hand, Anna wrenched a rapier free from a knight's grip, she wielded it at hip level. Glancing back, she could hear the distant shouts of the sorceress from the other room.

"Ahh!" She ducked just in time just as an energy wave of electricity lashed out towards her. Before her stood the Eastern-looking girl she had seen in Quodrun, the one with dark brown hair. Anna tossed the map aside for the time being, and placed both hands on the hilt of her rapier.

"Where's Elsa?" Anna asked, her eyes locked on the girl.

"Don't worry. She'll be here shortly." Her new opponent chose a sword of her own from the vast armoury, a longsword, and held it tightly in both hands. An electrical surge from her hands lit up the longsword with bright blue crackling from the guard to the point.

"Wow, that's pretty cool. Wasn't expecting that." Anna gripped her own rapier a little tighter, drawing it up closer to her upper body.

The Elemental Sorceress lunged at her, and Anna dove out of the way. The longsword came down quickly, and Anna barely managed to raise her rapier in a parry with poor form. In the first place, she had never had any proper combat experience, only limited to some basic fencing lessons she had taken back in Arendelle when she was younger to pass the time as she grew up alone without her sister's company. It had been years, and this was a poor time to pick up fencing again.

Anna kicked out her enemy's leg from underneath her, and rolled away from the blade surging with electricity. As her opponent regained her balance, Anna quickly jabbed the pommel of her weapon against her wrist, causing her to drop the longsword. The electrical charge dissipated, leaving the enemy's weapon as it once was, a mere blade. Anna watched her opponent nurse her wrist. She wasn't going to deliver a killing stroke, that was not the point. Again, no pun intended. While the Elemental Sorceress was disarmed and temporarily stunned, Anna attempted to use the guard of the sword to deliver a blunt blow to her enemy to knock her out.

However, as she brought the rapier up in mid-motion, she found the weapon lifted out of her hand, levitating above her head. Then, the metal folded in on itself till the weapon was nothing more than scrunched up metal, and was tossed towards the opposite end of the room. It clanged loudly against the marble floor. She turned to see the male Elemental Sorcerer at the entrance, accompanied by the fiery one who was still drenched in wax, and with them…Elsa.

"Stop!" Elsa walked into the room, flanked by the other two Elemental Sorcerers. "Anna, we just want the map. Give it to us and we'll leave you alone."

"Not a chance." Anna inched towards the spot where she had tossed the map. The room was dark and unlit, so no one knew where the map was except her. However, she didn't see a way out, and her only solution was talking her way out of it. And hopefully, talking Elsa into seeing the error of her ways.

"Don't make things difficult," Elsa eyed her sister. "You don't have to get hurt like the others. Hand me the map."

"I still owe her for what she did to me!" The fiery sorceress hissed, spitting wax out of her mouth. Her hands glowed red with heat and she quickly tossed a fiery ball at Anna, who scurried away at the last second.

"No!" Elsa pulled the girl back roughly. "Stand down! That's an order."

The fiery sorceress scowled and looked like she wanted to protest further, but she didn't. The male sorcerer had gone to the other girl's side, helping her back to the side of the Elemental Sorcerers. They all stood in a line facing Anna.

Anna stopped just in reach of the map that lay behind an exhibit. "You know I can't give it to you. I can't let you do this."

"You don't have a choice."

"Oh yeah?" Anna bent and scooped up the map, and fled to the opposite end of the room. She was winging it as she went, and had no idea if she was running into a dead end or if there was another staircase or door that led to another place. She hoped fervently that it was the latter. However, before she could make it very far, the ground turned to ice and she slipped on the frictionless surface, sprawling hard on the ground. Still clutching the map in hand, she groaned and attempted to get up, only to fall back down in a heap.

Elsa strode over and knelt down beside her. "It's over. Stop trying to delay the inevitable."

"Elsa, I know everything now." Anna sat up. "About the past, our father, everything. Whatever the Pilgrim has over you, I promise, we'll fight her together."

"I'm sorry, Anna. This changes nothing." Elsa's expression remained unchanging. Either that, or she was doing a very good job at concealing her reaction.

There went her trump card. Anna stared up at her sister pleadingly, the map still in hand. "Please, don't do this. Come home."

"My home is with the League. It always has been." Elsa reached for the map and held on to it with one hand. "Now let go of the map."

"No." Anna narrowed her tear-filled eyes.

"There's no version of this where you win. You're outnumbered. The Warriors have fallen again. Don't make this harder on yourself." Elsa hissed.

Anna sighed and relented. Her sister was right. There was no point in fighting or resisting. After all, the League was way more powerful and there was absolutely no way she could fight her way out of Srevnjor with the map. She had no choice. Her grip on the map loosened and Elsa tugged it away from her, tossing it to the male Elemental Sorcerer standing a distance behind.

"What happened to you, Elsa?" Anna's voice quavered.

"For your own sake, don't try to come after me." With her back to the League, Elsa gripped Anna's coat in one hand, holding her up. A solid bar of ice formed in her other hand. "Go home and forget that any of this ever happened. Goodbye, Anna."

"No!"

The bar smashed against her left cheek and broke into many fragments of ice. Anna lay on the ground, dazed by the blow her sister had dealt to her. Never in her life would she have expected that, but yet, it had happened. Elsa had hit her - not hard enough to knock her unconscious - but it still hurt all the same. Even more so since it had been her sister who had dealt the finishing blow.

"Come on," Anna heard Elsa say as she walked away. "We're done here." Closing her eyes, Anna waited for the footsteps to fade away, knowing there was nothing more she could do against the Elemental Sorcerers. Oh Elsa, when did we become enemies?