Chapter Thirty Six

Divide and Conquer Part I

TRACY

"Right then, my time's up. See ya." Anna and the rest were here. That meant she had to go. Right now, before her powers got cancelled out by the Qa'nneth that Anna was wielding. With the flick of a wrist, Tracy opened up a portal of purple mist right behind her, and she allowed herself to free fall through it. The moment her body departed the Crossing Zone, Tracy sealed up the Crossing Point quickly and conjured up a purple mist that slowed her descent, allowing her to regain balance and control as her feet touched the ground.

She looked round. If her magic had been accurate, then this was the place. She had only gotten a brief lock on the Pilgrim's whereabouts. The magic within her seemed to perk up whenever it sensed a similar energy signature. Maybe it was because it was easier for a Ha'naeth to sense one of its own kind, especially when she knew she was looking for one. Whatever the reason, she had sensed the Pilgrim's presence in this part of the world. Tracy glanced round. According to what she knew, the Eternal King was imprisoned far beneath the ruins of Ancient Hyutreno, and she guessed that that was where she was.

Catacombs with high ceilings surrounded her, with an endless drop away from the narrow stone path she was standing on. Tracy shuddered a little as she glanced away quickly from the ledge. That was a long way down. And a long way up too. When they said that the prison was far beneath the ruins of Ancient Hyutreno, they weren't kidding. There was practically no light at all in the tunnelled catacombs, and Tracy had to squint to see her surroundings.

She could roughly sense the presence of another Ha'naeth further down the path. The Pilgrim was near. Tracy quickly started down the path through the tunnels, cautiously inching closer to where the Pilgrim was. The tunnel walls began to grow narrower, leading down a singular path. No doubt they were nearing the prison of the Eternal King.

"You do know I can sense you too, right?" The Pilgrim's crackling drawl came from around the corner of the narrow tunnel.

Why didn't I think of that? Tracy could have hit herself. If she could sense the Pilgrim's presence, then the Pilgrim definitely would have been able to sense hers!

"No use hiding in the shadows." The Pilgrim warned. "I'll flush you out."

"And risk dying before you can get to the Eternal King?" Tracy emerged from behind the corner of the tunnel wall. "We know about the Augbine Herbs. It was the only thing keeping you alive."

The Pilgrim stared at her through her deep set eyes.

"And Maui destroyed your last supply," Tracy said. "Are you really going to risk using your magic and letting the disease overtake you before you get what you want?"

"I've come too far to be stopped now." The Pilgrim said dangerously. "I will get to the Eternal King, even if it means I have to scratch and crawl my way to him. And no one, especially not you, will get in my way."

"Time to see which Ha'naeth is stronger then." Tracy's hands began to glow, and rings of purple energy flowed around her wrists.

"I don't have time for this." The witch hissed.

"Make time." Tracy let a bolt of black magic rip straight for the Pilgrim. She promptly swiped it away with a hand, causing the energy to bounce off and create a dent in the stone walls of the tunnel. The Pilgrim let one of her own waves of black magic hit the ceiling above where Tracy stood, raining down fragments of rock. Back-pedalling, Tracy repelled yet another onslaught of rapidly fired blasts of dark red energy. Two dark purple lances formed in her hands, and Tracy whipped one at the Pilgrim's hand. It caught on her wrist, and Tracy tugged with all her might, pulling the witch toward her.

The Pilgrim coughed and struggled as Tracy bent the other lance around the Pilgrim's body, securing her arms at her side. Spluttering, the Pilgrim coughed blood onto the ground, and Tracy ripped the cloak covering the Pilgrim's head off.

"What are you doing?" The Pilgrim attempted to free herself from the purple energy that bound her. Tracy forced her to her knees and placed both hands at the back of her greying head of hair.

"Sha-jehail, Ha'naeth uhlanei, deshi, Genxath kohjirmalek," Tracy's eyes rolled in the back of her head as she firmly held the connection between her hands and the Pilgrim's head. The both of them began to glow, a strange mix of red and purple which seemed to fight each other to determine the victor.

"Stop!" The Pilgrim cried out desperately. "Stop it!"

"Pra'soken qrendahl, Barshen Mahztol Krudhyan Zeithetashon!" Tracy's purple aura grew brighter and overwhelmed the red, and an intense coruscation of light illuminated the dark catacombs. And then, the light disappeared in an instant, an invisible ripple of energy travelling out from the Pilgrim's body.

"No…no…" The Pilgrim broke free of Tracy's grip and backed away, confused and devastated. "What have you done?!" She screeched through her crackling voice.

"Heh…" Tracy herself dropped to the ground under the stress of the spell, eyes fluttering and breathing heavily. "You've…" Tracy croaked weakly, a triumphant grin on her face nonetheless. "You just…lost."

ELSA

"Hold the line!" Elsa cried, her elbows locked and feet dug into the ground. The onslaught of fire and electricity were beginning to push her back, and Will stood beside her, manipulating the wind that similarly attempted to slow down Jade and Deirdre.

On the other side, Jordan was brawling with Anna in hand to hand combat, both evenly matched. It was evident that fighting wasn't their strong suit, but all the same, they were both holding up well against each other.

"Maui, now!" Elsa shouted, and the demigod flew in from behind with wings outstretched in an attempt to knock Jade and Deirdre clear. However, Deirdre turned quickly and sent flames blowing toward the demigod. His wings caught fire and he spun out of control, crashing heavily to the ground with a deafening screech.

Jade turned her attention back to the two opposing Elemental Sorcerers, lashing out with tendrils laced with electricity. Elsa dove to one side and Will to another, both separated. And that was exactly what Elsa was afraid of.

"Will!" She attempted to get up, and instead found her body shocked by the impact of one of Jade's tendrils. Curling up, she felt electricity jolting through her veins.

"Don't worry about him, Frost. You've got your own problems." Jade stood over Elsa, lashing out with yet another tendril which doubled the voltage.

Through her pain, Elsa could see Deirdre slowly approaching Will with her hands glowing red. With every ounce of strength left, she grabbed onto one of the tendrils and froze it, stemming the flow of electricity. She tugged it out of Jade's hand, and delivered a blast of ice that threw Jade back.

Getting up quickly, Elsa could feel the corners of her vision going spotty from the pain, but she hung on, aiming at Deirdre who had by now noticed that Elsa was fighting back. Deirdre turned and flames emerged from her hands. Elsa blocked them with one hand, ice pushing back hard against the relentless fire. Then, from the corner of her eye, she noticed Jade approaching, with electricity jumping between both hands. She pivoted a little, with one hand still focused on holding off Deirdre's flames, and met Jade's full crank of electricity with her own continuous burst of ice. It'd all come down to this. A contest of strength. Pushing back against both sorceresses, Elsa grunted as she held off attacks coming from both sides. Slowly but surely, she could feel her enemies' attacks getting the better out of the exchange, the flames and the electricity inching their way closer toward her by the second. Maybe this was the end.

Then, as if by some miracle, Jade and Deirdre dropped to the ground like rag dolls, their attacks ceasing abruptly. Panting, Elsa's arms flopped to her side, and she herself sunk to a knee. She glanced over at Anna, who was appalled to see that Jordan had fallen too.

"What's going on?" Will rushed over to help Elsa up.

"I don't know." Elsa said truthfully. "Anna, are you alright?"

"Yeah." Anna grunted as she attempted to lift Maui to his feet. The demigod had already shape-shifted back into a man, but that didn't make him any less heavy.

Elsa glanced back at the three Elemental Sorcerers who were lying motionless in the Crossing Zone. They had all fallen at the same time, as if by some force of nature…or magic.

"I think it worked." Anna grinned, wiping perspiration from her forehead.

"Tracy." Maui said, his back still smoking a little from Deirdre's attack. "She did it."

"She broke the Pilgrim's psychic hold." Anna added. "We won."

Elsa looked at her friends with wide eyes, and turned back to the fallen Elemental Sorcerers, who had begun to stir. "Jade!" She rushed over to the nearest one, and knelt down beside her. "Jade, are you…"

"Something feels strange." Jade shook her head. "Like…a fog just lifted. Something's been clouding my mind but now it's gone."

"Urgh…" Deirdre sat up by herself, hands on her temples. Jordan did the same, and Will went over to attend to him.

"Are you alright?" Anna asked, extending a hand to Deirdre.

"Feels like I've been hit by a freight train," She then stared up at Anna incredulously. "I-I tried to kill you. Why would you-"

"So you do remember." Anna grinned, motioning for Deirdre to take her hand. She did, and Anna pulled her to her feet.

"I-" Deirdre wobbled a little and steadied herself. "I remember everything but," She looked at Anna. "I couldn't help myself. It was like-"

"Like someone was telling us what to do." Jade finished, and Deirdre nodded.

"The Pilgrim," Elsa helped Jade up to her feet. "She's been controlling you from the very start without you knowing it."

"No, that's not possible." Jade blinked. "We would have known it."

"But that's just the thing." Elsa explained. "Since the moment you came in, she's been slowing sinking her hooks into your minds, till you were utterly and unconsciously under her complete control. Every decision you made may have been your own, but it was all part of a grander scheme designed by the Pilgrim."

"That cunning witch." Deirdre growled. "She didn't care about us. She plucked us off from the streets and labs and lied that she saved us. All she wanted was a mindless bunch of magical cronies to do her dirty work for her."

"That about sums it up." Maui said.

"Thank you." Jade said gratefully and took Jordan's hand as Will helped him over to the rest. "You okay?"

Jordan nodded, and an indignant look crossed his face.

"I get it, you're angry too." Jade nodded her head.

"How did you break her psychic hold over us?" Deirdre asked.

"We didn't." Anna said. "Our friend Tracy did. Remember the other sorceress on our side?"

"Remind me to thank her." Jade said and Jordan nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of Tracy, how do we get to her?" Elsa asked. "We have to help her!"