Chapter Thirty Four

Battle of The Crossing Zone

ELSA

"I think that's our cue." Maui shouted as a portal of purple mist opened abruptly.

"Unbelievable." Elsa marvelled at the successive progression of the plan. Who would have thought that her friends could come up with such an intricately planned assault? She was glad that she was on their side. They hadn't had to wait very long since the Elemental Sorcerers were dragged into the Crossing Zone by Tracy, and that too had been part of the plan. Apparently, Tracy's role was to divide the League and hold them off while the rest dealt with the Pilgrim, Janus and the Knights of Vengeance.

While the Pilgrim had already escaped, Melody and Kristoff had paired up in pursuit of Janus and his followers. It was still hard to believe that Janus had finally taken control of his own life and defied the Pilgrim's orders. Evidently he didn't want a hand in killing Elsa or her friends, and had abandoned Ingrid to her own devices. But Ingrid didn't know it yet though, as she had already vanished from Swynvort to search for the prison of the Eternal King.

In truth, this was all getting a bit too complicated for Elsa, and all she wanted was to end the threat of the Pilgrim and the League, and return home to Arendelle with her sister and friends.

"Come on!" Anna unsheathed a rapier from her side and dove into the Crossing Point conjured up by Tracy.

Yet another shocker. Since when did Anna carry a sword around? Elsa shook her head. Being on mission with the Warriors must have really changed her quite a fair bit. Just like being a prisoner of the League had helped her see the uglier side of life and empathise with other people with magical powers and fractured pasts.

"Let's go, Will." Elsa called out to the teenager. "It's time."

"I'm…not sure I'm up for this." Will said uncertainly. "I might end up doing more harm than good."

"Nonsense." Elsa took his arm firmly. "You'll do fine. Just follow my lead."

Dragging Will along, she followed Maui through the Crossing Point after Anna, and the four of them stood in the Crossing Zone, with the portal closing behind them. Jade, Jordan and Deirdre stood in a line in front of Tracy, with their backs to where the four had just entered.

"Right then, my time's up. See ya." The moment the Warriors entered, Tracy hurriedly opened a Crossing Point behind her and allowed herself to fall through it. The portal sealed the moment she exited the Crossing Zone.

"Wait, why-where's she going?" Elsa was confused.

"Tracy can't be in the same place as I am, remember?" Anna gripped her rapier a little tighter.

"The Qa'nneth cancels out Ha'naeth magic. Tracy would be powerless when Anna is around with the amulet." Maui explained. "She's going after the Pilgrim."

Elsa had to admit, the plan was indeed a remarkable one. Never would she have thought that the ragtag bunch of outsiders she had met months ago would have been able to pull off a plan as elaborate as this one.

By this time, the three Elemental Sorcerers had realized that Tracy had just been stalling for time, and had turned their attention to the four Warriors, closing the gap between the two opposing factions.

"Frost, you're turning on us now?" Jade said, sounding genuinely hurt.

"We don't have to do this." Elsa tried to reason with her. "We don't have to fight."

"I'm sorry, Elsa. We have no choice." Deirdre said. "We swore to protect the Pilgrim."

"And you bringing your Warriors here is a threat that must be stopped."

"Jade, think about this." Elsa raised both hands cautiously as a bid for peace. "The Pilgrim, she's been manipulating you. All of you. She's been using the Elemental Sorcerers all this time just so that she can become immortal. What happened to justice?"

"The Pilgrim's goals are the League's. She has the greater good in mind." Deirdre said.

"Man, talk about delusional." Anna muttered under her breath.

"I'm sorry, Frost." Jade said. "If you're going to stand in our way, we'll have to cut you and your friends down."

"We only just patched things up," Deirdre looked at Elsa. "Don't make me hurt you."

"It's pointless arguing with them." Maui whispered. "The Pilgrim's hold on them is too strong."

"Which is why we gotta keep them occupied till Tracy can fix this." Anna said.

"Fix this?" Elsa turned to Anna.

"Only a Ha'naeth can break another Ha'naeth's spell."

"Wow." The plan went much deeper than Elsa had thought. "Okay. Then we keep them occupied."

"This is not going to end well." Will murmured.

"Last chance, Frost." Jade said, glancing anxiously at Deirdre and Jordan who were by her side, ready for whatever happened next. "Don't turn on us now."

"You know my allegiance was never to the Pilgrim. It never was." Elsa stood her ground, hands at hip level. From the corner of her eye, she could see Will inching backwards, and she could sense his fear.

"Then you will die with your friends." Deirdre hurled a massive ball of fire at the Warriors, which Elsa met with her own stream of ice in mid air.

The impact between the heat and the cold produced a screen of steam which obscured both parties' vision. And then out from the steam leapt Jade, her hands sparkling with electricity.

"Get clear!" Anna shouted and leapt out of the way as Jade landed in their midst.

"Gahh!" Will took off running in the opposite direction.

"Will! Come back, you idiot!" Maui shouted after him. "Where does he think he's going? This is the Crossing Zone. The fool will probably get himself lost in here!"

"Maui, go after him. We'll hold down the fort here." Elsa evaded Jade's wild blasts and shot a glance at Anna. "You ready?"

"Born ready." Anna brought her guard up, hands tightly wound round the hilt.

Jordan and Deirdre emerged from the steam which had largely faded away, and attempted to circle Anna. She smartly backed away, not allowing them to surround her on both sides.

"Jordan!" Jade shouted frantically. "Get back and stay out of this!"

"Tell them both to stand down!" Elsa said. "And stop this, Jade. Please!"

"You asked for this when you betrayed the Pilgrim," Jade glared acidly at her. "There's only one way this can end."

"No!" Elsa dived low as Jade threw bolts of electricity at her. She quickly formed a large barrier of ice around Jade. Reinforcing the thickness of the walls of ice around her, Elsa trapped Jade in a tall block of ice.

"Found him!" Maui, who had shape-shifted into a large brown hawk, dropped Will off beside Elsa. "He didn't get too far."

"Thanks. Anna needs help. Go!" Elsa turned her attention to Will.

A brilliant blue light came from inside the barrier of ice, and it shattered, electrical tendrils shooting out of the gaps. As ice fell all around Elsa and Will, she looked at him.

"Will, it's now or never. I need your help."

"I don't know how!" His eyes were wide with despair.

"I can't keep her trapped in ice. She'll just break out again and again. It has to be you."

"How?"

"Just follow my lead!"

Jade emerged from the barrier of ice that had encased her, and walked towards the two. "That was cold." She stated dryly, raising her hands again.

"Focus, Will. Think about the wind." Elsa said, pulling him to the ground as a bolt of electricity rocketed past their heads. "Then think about your hands." She pulled him to his feet and fired a blast of ice at Jade, making her dive out of the way, buying them a few seconds.

"Are you thinking about the wind? Your hands?"

"Yeah." Will sounded uncertain.

"Good. Then imagine that wind as part of you. The magic within you, causing the wind to obey your every command. Got that?" Elsa fired another volley of ice pellets at Jade, who inched nearer to them, fingertips sparking dangerously.

"Yeah." Will closed his eyes. "I feel it."

"Good." Elsa formed a short barricade of ice in front of her and Will, crouching beneath it with Will as Jade launched another tendril of electricity at them. "Then tell it what to do. Remember, you're in control. Ready?"

"Uh huh."

Elsa pulled Will out from behind the barricade and pointed at Jade. "Now!"

The teenage boy narrowed his eyes. It began with a breeze around Jade. And then it grew into a gale. And then a storm. A controlled typhoon sucked Jade up and spun her round like she was a piece of paper. She flew round and round and Elsa could only catch a glimpse of her as she made the fifty first or fifty second rotation, a complete blur of colours. And then Will pulled his hands down forcefully, causing the typhoon to cease abruptly.

Jade collapsed to the ground in a heap, gasping for air. She tried to get up, and instead retched, spilling the contents from breakfast onto the ground of the Crossing Zone.

"Gross." Elsa winced. She turned to Will and smiled. "You did it."

"Thanks? I guess." Will glanced worriedly over at Jade. "Will she be okay?"

"Don't worry, she's tough." Elsa looked over at the groaning girl. "But she'll be out of action for now."

Author's Commentary:

Thus far I hope you're enjoying this. This was NOT easy to plan and write at all. Elsa and her friends engage the Elemental Sorcerers while Tracy goes after the Pilgrim, and Will learns how to use his powers on the job. It certainly makes for some interesting tension.

Meanwhile, Melody and Kristoff face off against Prometheus and the Knights. This might have been my favourite fight to write yet. I've already written two hand-to-hand fights between Melody and Major Kane, as well as one extremely intense battle with Prometheus. What's left to do?

I had to dig extremely deep into my arsenal of tricks to find some juicy stuff to choreograph for this fight. It helped to have some experience in Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), as it gave me ideas and helped me visualize what could play out. Don't worry, there's still a lot more fighting left to be done in the coming chapter. By my count we still have six more chapters of the climax to go.

Leave a review if you've enjoyed it! I'll really appreciate it