Chapter Fifteen

Assassins

VALLOKEN

More assassins. "Shit." Val muttered.

"How many?" Talya asked.

"Three sorcerers, based on the radar." Peggy studied her phone and then pocketed it. "They're already in the building."

"How the hell did they find us?" Val hissed. He'd already double checked and made sure that no one could track their whereabouts! Not digitally, at least. Where did I go wrong?

"Doesn't matter now." Peggy said authoritatively. "You two get out of here. I'm going to stop them and rendezvous with you when the threat is over."

"Good idea." Val said, looking out the window. They were on the fifth floor, and it was a very long way down.

"By yourself? That's suicide!" Talya exclaimed.

"Obviously you didn't see her taking on the assassins just now." Firmly, Val took his sister's arm. "Let's go."

"I'm staying to help." Talya tugged her arm away. "You can go if you want."

"Talya, this isn't a game." Peggy checked her weapons hiding inside her coat.

"She's right," Val hissed. "People might get killed. Including you."

"I can handle it." Talya insisted. "I've been given these powers for a reason, and I'll be damned if I don't try to stop these sorcerers."

Peggy unholstered a pistol and loaded it. "They're coming."

"Oh for-" Val stopped and grunted in exasperation. He couldn't abandon his sister or Peggy, no matter how much he felt that this was a suicide mission. "What can I do?"

"For starters, get these people out of here as quick as you can." Peggy cocked her weapon. "And the moment the assassins show themselves, kill the lights."

"We'll hold them off." Talya said confidently, holding up her hands.

"Wait," he hesitated. "Talya, are you sure you're ready to-"

"Go!" She snapped. "Don't worry about me. Just get everyone to safety and be ready to kill the lights!"

"This is insane." Val ran down the hallway, praying that the sorcerers wouldn't arrive yet. "Everyone, get out of here!" He shouted at the top of his lungs. Nurses, doctors and several patients that were being wheeled about inclined their heads towards him, stopping in their tracks.

"Did you hear me?" He bellowed. "Get out of here! There are terrorists headed up here right now! We're all in danger!"

The atmosphere changed instantly. People began shouting and scrambling for the exits, clambering for the staircases. The doctors and nurses helped as many of the patients to evacuate while Val supported and escorted two of the slower ones to the staircases, where some of the other patients helped each other.

"What-" Jakob had emerged with the help of a nurse, and he had a tired and bewildered look on his face as he caught sight of Val. "Young man, what's going on?"

"Jakob, get out of here. It's not safe!" Val motioned for the nurse to help the elderly man limp down the stairs. "And be careful!" He called after them.

With that, the hallway was empty except for Talya and Peggy who stood at the opposite end of it. He ran back to them.

"It's done," he said.

"Just in time." Peggy looked at her phone. "The signals' getting closer."

Val fished the tablet out of his bag and tapped into the hospital's motion sensors to paint him an accurate picture. "They're in the elevator."

"Get ready." Talya said under her breath, and Val could have sworn that his sister had said that to herself to calm her own nerves.

"Talya-" he began.

"Get behind us," his sister instructed firmly as she removed her face mask and stuffed it into her pocket.

"And get ready to kill the lights the second the doors open." Peggy added.

Sighing, Val crouched behind a large cabinet that probably held the records of the patients, and began hacking into the hospital's electrical grid, which was thankfully not very well secured. In a matter of seconds, he pulled up the system controls. "Ready."

"They're here." Talya said as the elevator doors dinged at the other end of the hallway.

Val watched the doors in nervous anticipation, feeling his heart hammering sporadically in his chest. And then, the doors began to open.

"Now!" Peggy shouted, surging forward.

Overriding the system, Val threw the entire hallway into darkness as the doors opened to reveal the three assassins. Squinting in the darkness, he watched as the figures of his sister and Peggy darted forward to meet the sorcerers.

TALYA

Mustering up all her courage and ignoring the fear in her mind, Talya surged forward after Peggy, who'd moved like lightning. As her feet carried her forward towards the stunned assassins who had stumbled out into the darkness, she willed her sorcery to flow forth. It was there, but as usual, reluctant to respond to her command.

We're getting closer, Talya panicked. What if my sorcery fails me now when I need it most? That fear seemed to somehow dislodge the sorcery from its stubborn position, and the ice flowed through her. To her relief, she felt her magic at her fingertips, and immediately threw her hands out towards one of the assassins in the dark. An erratic stream of ice shot out of her hands and knocked the woman clean off her feet.

The other two heard the commotion and whirled round, only to receive Peggy slamming into them head on, pistol in hand. A brief stab of light in the dark and a silenced gunshot told Talya that Peggy had engaged the enemy.

The sorcerer that Talya had knocked over with her ice got to her feet, glaring at her. A loud sound wave erupted from her hands, forcing Talya backwards and she felt her eardrums throbbing from the sonic scream. She could've sworn her ears were bleeding. Jamming her fingers over her ears, she sought for cover. There was none. The sound of the sonic scream was still explicitly audible in her ears, grinding against her skull. Talya gritted her teeth, trying to withstand it. Focus.

Peggy hurled a dagger into the witch's side, which stopped the scream instantly. Relieved, Talya recovered long enough to hurl her hands out at the assassin to catch her off guard. Nothing happened. Frustrated, Talya grappled about frantically for her sorcery, only to find it gone yet again.

Peggy hurtled over the hunched-over body of one of the other assassins she'd just hit, and landed both feet against the sound-manipulating sorceress. The woman stumbled off balance as Peggy landed on her feet, and immediately her gun was out again. A quick flash, and the assassin lay dead on the ground in a pool of blood.

From the corner of her eye which had adjusted to the darkness, Talya saw one of the other sorcerers lunging for Peggy.

"Look out!" Talya screamed, her own voice distant in her ears.

Gingerly, Peggy sidestepped the man, caught the excess of his shirt and used his own momentum to swing him into the wall. The sorcerer growled, placing both hands on Peggy's shoulder and his hands began to glow red hot.

"Ah!" Peggy grunted, letting go of her target and backpedaling.

The man sneered and stalked her, arms raised and hands glowing.

Fear for her kin seized Talya, and the fear sparked off her sorcery again like the waking of a sleeping dragon. Ice flowed through her as quickly as she'd summoned the thought, and she forced her sorcery out towards the man.

Ice hit his side and sent him flying down the hallway. The impact was so withering that he crashed into the elevator doors, causing a huge dent.

Talya gasped, withdrawing her hands. She hadn't expected to hit him that hard and was shocked at how out of control her powers were. Too busy being alarmed by her own raw power, she didn't see the third assassin barrel towards her. He slammed into her, dragging her to the ground. The sorcerer's hand morphed, fingers merging together to form an enormous blade which he attempted to drive down into Talya's chest.

"No!" Val shouted, emerging from his hiding spot behind the cabinet and running to her aid.

The assassin used his other arm to swat Val off like a fly, and a dagger materialised out of nowhere, zipping towards her brother and pinning the collar of his shirt to the wall with deadly accuracy. His spectacles had fallen off somewhere in the action.

"I'll deal with your pesky brother later." The assassin sneered. "But first I'll enjoy killing you and thinking of the sweet reward the general will give me."

Holding back his bladed arm with both of her hands, Talya grunted, struggling against his superior strength. In her mind, she reached out for her sorcery. To her frustration, it had retreated again back into its cave like an unpredictable beast. Her powers had failed her and she was going to die before she ever got the chance to save her kingdom.

"This is for the Southern Isles. For General Bjorn. For His Majesty, Ulrich the Seventh." The assassin declared, pushing the blade towards her chest.

"Shut your eyes!" Peggy yelled, hurtling towards them.

Talya didn't know why, but she heeded the warning. And just in time too, for she saw a blinding flash through her closed eyelids.

Immediately, she felt the assassin back off, shouting in indignation. Opening her eyes, Talya saw the remnant of a flash bang dissipating, and the stunned sorcerer rubbing his eyes and backpedaling. Peggy tackled him to the ground and promptly sliced his throat with her dagger with an elegance and grace that Talya could only hope to imitate.

"It's done." Peggy stood to her feet, holstering her weapons and clutching her shoulders that had been seared by the assassin with the glowing hot hands. "We're clear."

"You're hurt," Talya motioned at her shoulders, where the assassin's touch had burnt right through the fabric and scorched her skin.

"I'll live." Peggy waved off her concern.

"Right." Talya glanced at Val, who was still pinned to the wall by the third assassin's dagger. She hastened over to him and helped free him.

"Are you alright?" Val asked her anxiously as he fumbled around for his spectacles on the floor.

"Yeah, I think so." She'd almost died, but somehow she didn't feel the shock or anything. In fact, she had enjoyed the rush of adrenaline, though she wouldn't openly admit it. Not now anyway. "Are you okay?"

Val nodded. He found his spectacles and put it on again, looking at the carnage in the still dark hallway.

"We need to move," Peggy said, nursing her shoulder with one hand as she beckoned the others to follow. "Quickly, before the local police get up here."

"Alright." Talya put on her face mask again as she followed on Peggy's heels, making for the exit which led to the stairwell. "How do you suggest getting out of here?"

"Hiding in plain sight, blending in with a crowd." Peggy said as if it were an easy thing. "First rule of being a spy."

"Terrific." Val mumbled from behind Talya. "Let's just get away from this damn place."

Reaching the ground level of the hospital, the trio emerged from the stairwell to find the lobby swarming with confused, frightened people. More were milling about outside the compound, and it appeared that the local authorities had only just arrived, trying to restore some semblance of order and to get a good grip of the situation.

Following Peggy's lead and signals, Talya and Val kept their heads down and squeezed through the crowd slowly. Talya noticed that Peggy went out of her way to make sure Jakob was safely being attended to by a nurse, and then immediately cut right to avoid moving towards the spots where the local police were. Frankly, Talya admired her strategic mindset. She'd seen how Peggy had fought, and she really couldn't fathom how she had thought that her distant cousin was actually a librarian. Well, that's what good spies do I suppose, Talya mused as they pushed towards the doors of the hospital.

It took them a while, but they finally managed to debouch from the sea of humanity and slipped away in the chaos for the open air carpark where Peggy had parked her car. It was thankfully unharmed.

Val heaved a sigh of relief once he got into the passenger seat at the back and leaned his head against the cushioning. "I can't believe we made it out of there alive."

"This is one time I'm agreeing with you on that score." Talya said through gritted teeth. The adrenaline rush was beginning to wear off and she was seeing in retrospect how insane and ridiculous that had been. She'd literally fought against three sorcery enhanced assassins who had been intent on killing both her and Val, and somehow survived with no prior training. With Peggy's help of course.

Peggy got into the driver's seat. "In case you were wondering, that's a normal day's work for me. Not that we get calls to deal with sorcery this often." She glanced back at the two siblings. "Something tells me it has something to do with you guys."

"Yeah, no shit." Val laughed half-heartedly. "How the hell did they still manage to find us? I made doubly sure that our digital footprint couldn't be followed. I bounced our signal off various stations and pinged it to a different continent. And if that didn't work, the firewalls I put in place should have prevented and locked them out from detecting our location."

"Mmmn, yeah. I didn't get any of that." Talya rolled her eyes. "Look, I have a feeling this isn't anything to do with technology."

"Oh?" Peggy raised her eyebrow.

"It could be sorcery." Talya went on. "Who knows what Blood Mages like Bjorn are capable of?"

"I thought you would." Val said.

"Just because I am a sorceress doesn't mean I don't know everything about sorcery." Talya rolled her eyes for a second time. "Besides, no one knows exactly what the Blood Mages can do. That's what makes them the most dangerous sorcerers still in existence."

"So you're saying they can track us wherever we go regardless of what we do to prevent it from happening?" Peggy sounded unsettled.

"All the more reason to get out of here." Val fished out his tablet and flipped it round to show Talya and Peggy. "I made myself useful while you were both fighting the assassins and did some on the fly net trawling for information on this Ahtohallan place."

"And what did you find?" Talya asked.

"I pieced together the bits from ancient Northuldra folklore, maps of the area, base maps and extracted geo-database intelligence and ran it through a predictive algorithm I wrote a while back to find unknown places based on terrain, geology and-."

"Val." Talya said exasperatedly.

He looked up. "What?"

"English, please."

He looked offended for a moment before zooming into an image of a complicated looking map with various colours which indicated different convoluted pieces of information. "Here," Val pointed. "I think Ahtohallan is here."

Talya stared at the map. This Ahtohallan was in the middle of the sea. Practically in the middle of nowhere. "Are you sure about this?"

"Pretty damn sure."

"Fascinating." Peggy looked up at Val. "The ASRU could surely use a man of your skills and intellect."

Val looked mildly pleased, then went on. "If we're going to do this thing, we'll need to charter a plane to get us out into the middle of the ocean. There's no way we're going to make it on land. Besides, if we're in the air, we'll be safe from the assassins and their sorcery. Probably."

"Agreed." Talya nodded quickly. She felt thankful that Val was coming round, though slowly. Perhaps now he had enough evidence to believe in what she was fighting for. "We'll need to find a plane that'll be willing to take us there too."

"I can get us there." Peggy said.

Both Talya and Val turned to face Peggy.

"But," Talya started. "I thought-"

Peggy held up a hand and Talya stopped. "I've been thinking about it quite a fair bit since I agreed to our arrangement. I never cared about my ancestry, about where my roots were from. I never bothered if I was really the descendant of the Snow Queen or if it was all a myth." She hesitated. "But I would do it for my great grandfather."

"Why now?" Val asked. "You never believed in any of it before."

"Until she showed up wielding her ice sorcery, asking about our shared heritage and ancestry." Peggy glanced at Talya, and Talya thought she saw a tiny scowl there. "I knew there had to be more to it than some stupid coincidence. Besides," she paused again. "I believe I owe it to my great grandfather to find out. He hasn't got much longer, and he deserves to know the truth about what he really saw all those years ago. I can get him the closure he desires. It's the least I can do after ignoring his stories all these years."

Talya studied Peggy's face. The determination was there, all right. Maybe she really had changed her mind. "What happened to wanting nothing more to do with us?" She asked.

Peggy shrugged but neglected to answer.

"You said you could get us to Ahtohallan," Val said. "So you know someone who can fly a plane?"

"I do." Peggy nodded. "Me."