Chapter Thirty One
Unthinkable
ELSA
"Yes, my Mistress." Janus beckoned for the struggling Will Daltrey to be brought forward.
"Ingrid! What are you doing?" Elsa panicked. Even for Ingrid, this crossed the line of unthinkable!
"I've been looking for the Eternal King for years now, and I've learnt many things. The map's diagrams and instructions are invisible to the eye. The ones who hid the Eternal King in the prison beneath the tunnelled remains of Ancient Hyutreno designed the map to be so. Only those committed to finding the Eternal King would have to provide a worthy sacrifice in order to unlock the map's secrets. Not anyone who finds the map can gain access. A sacrifice of immense worth must be produced and sprinkled on the map. In this case, a holy offering of blood to show commitment. Worthiness." Ingrid explained. "And that is why I assembled the five of you."
"You didn't just need our strength or our powers." Elsa was stunned at the newfound revelation. Ingrid's plans ran much deeper than she had thought. "You needed our blood as a sacrifice."
"Don't worry, I just need a drop from each of you to make this work." Ingrid grinned darkly, and Elsa felt shivers run down her spine.
Janus finished drawing blood from Will, Jordan, Jade and Deirdre, and turned to Elsa, blade in hand. Two of the Knights held her steadily, and one rolled up her sleeve to expose her right forearm.
"Janus," she looked at him with pleading eyes. "Don't let her do this. Don't let her dictate your life. We can beat this."
"Do it." Ingrid said sharply.
The mercenary raised his blade haltingly. He looked at Elsa through his mask, and she was sure that he had a look of uncertainty on his face, though he said nothing.
"What are you waiting for?!" Ingrid snapped.
"My Mistress," Janus turned to the Pilgrim. "I-"
"Don't make me replace you now." Ingrid snarled dangerously, a wild look in her eyes. She pointed a hand at him, and dark red sparkles of energy jumped between her fingertips. "If you won't do it, I'll have one of the Knights take your place. Don't you dare fail me again, you insufferable rat, or I'll put you out of your misery right here and now."
Janus turned back to Elsa, and she imagined an apologetic look on his thin face and remorse in his narrow eyes as he said the words: "I'm sorry." He motioned for the Knight holding the beaker to position it beneath her arm, and pressed the blade as gently against her skin as he possibly could.
Elsa winced a little as a small incision was made on her skin, and blood seeped out, dropping into the beaker containing the mixed blood from all the Elemental Sorcerers.
"It is done." Janus reluctantly took the beaker and handed it to Ingrid.
"Finally." Cautiously, Ingrid set it down on a nearby table which had a couple more vials and beakers of liquid on it. She unrolled the thin parchment scroll and laid the map face up on the table, pinning it beneath two beakers. Then, she placed the beaker containing the blood of the Elemental Sorcerers in the middle. The large container filled with lime green liquid - Augbine Herbs - stood at the corner of the table. She sparingly poured a drop of the Augbine Herbs into the blood, watching the colour slowly turn brown.
"My last reserve of Augbine Herbs." Ingrid muttered. "Not that I will need it anymore after today."
"What are you doing?"
Ingrid ignored Elsa and set the container aside, raising both hands which trembled considerably. "Ha-sheth, min irenkov, zequev gavolth temenpaz." Ingrid chanted, and mist swept around her and the table, mixed with red dust particles of black magic. The mist gathered into a cloud above Ingrid's head as she continued the incantation. "Yekov quoten, yevnath dremonsul astempveth fulhan!" Then, the moment she finished the spell, she dragged the cloud of black magic down into the beaker of blood, and there was a loud poof. And then, silence.
"It is done." Ingrid clasped her hands together delightedly, with a wicked grin on her face. She held the beaker of blood up cautiously, and poured it sparingly over the parchment till it covered it entirely and the whole mixture of liquid had been drained from the beaker.
Elsa thought that the map would have disintegrated the moment the liquid touched the thin piece of ancient paper that looked like it could have crumbled the moment someone moved it, but instead, the parchment remained completely dry though it had absorbed every drop of the magical mixture. From behind Ingrid, she could see faint brown lines starting to form on the map, appearing gradually as if an invisible pencil was writing and drawing on the parchment at that very instant.
"Yes…" Ingrid whispered in ecstasy with fists clenched. "It's working!"
The diagrams and words finished revealing themselves, and Ingrid pored over the map, her green eyes darting back and forth, studying it with intensity.
"I found you." She wheezed and lifted up the map triumphantly. "And I'm coming to free you."
"Ingrid, don't do this!" Elsa said desperately.
"I've come too far to be stopped now," Ingrid glanced at Elsa disdainfully. "But I'll humour you. Why not?"
"Think about it. What happens if you do find the Eternal King, you free him, what then?"
"He grants me the secret to immortality. I return as a goddess."
"And what if you're wrong?"
Ingrid arched her eyebrows.
"What if it doesn't go your way? What if the Eternal King escapes and renews his ambition to rule? And this time, it won't be Ancient Hyutreno anymore. It'll be the entire world. If you release him, there's no telling what mayhem the Eternal King will unleash on this world!" Elsa protested.
"Like I said, I've come too far to turn back now." Ingrid said confidently, ignoring Elsa's warning. "It's a risk I will have to take." She rolled up the parchment and held it in her hand. "Nothing will stand in my way. You hear me? Nothing!"
Then without warning, a portal of purple mist opened up in the middle of the room where the Elemental Sorcerers and the Pilgrim stood, and four figures leapt out. Elsa's heart skipped a beat as she realized what was happening. The Crossing Point closed behind them, and there stood Anna, Kristoff, Maui and Melody.
"What-what is this?" Ingrid shot a stupefied glance at Elsa.
"I don't know." She answered truthfully. This was not supposed to happen! She had given the letter to Anna to tell her to keep away, but apparently her plan had backfired on her. Talk about unthinkable!
"You…betrayed us all." Ingrid hissed, and turned to the rest of the Elemental Sorcerers. "Attack them!"
Before Elsa could stop Jade, Jordan and Deirdre, another Crossing Point opened beneath the feet of the three sorcerers, swallowing them down into the portal of purple mist. It then closed abruptly, leaving behind only Ingrid, Elsa and Will in the centre of the room, surrounded by the Warriors. Will hurried to the side of the Warriors upon recognizing them. Lining the walls stood Janus and the Knights of Vengeance, and Elsa feared the worst.
Before Ingrid or the mercenaries could react, Maui shape-shifted into a dragon with a long spiky tail, and with his tail, swept the container off the table. It crashed onto the floor, glass splintering everywhere, and the lime green contents flowed out onto the cobbled stone ground.
"Whoops." Anna shrugged her shoulders almost comically. "Guess you're all out of tricks. No more secret youth potion."
"I see," Ingrid said darkly, observing the turn of events unfold before her very eyes. She whirled and grabbed Elsa by the collar, pulling her close. "You told them about this place and the Herbs. You gave them a way to even the playing field."
"I didn't-no, I swear!" Elsa was bewildered. In truth, she had not seen this coming either and she didn't know what to do.
"Liar!" Ingrid snarled. "I think you're forgetting our agreement. I've kept my promise, haven't I? But you failed to keep up your end of the bargain, and for that," She pushed Elsa away forcefully and turned to Anna. "Your baby sister is going to die."
"NO!" Elsa screamed as black magic suddenly exploded from Ingrid's hands, and dark red waves of energy flew straight for her sister. Her heart sank and she closed her eyes in despair as there was a deafening boom and a coruscation of blinding light from the impact which engulfed the entire room.