Chapter Thirty Four

Fighting the Blood Mage

TALYA

"Hands where we can see them!"

Bjorn's black clad commandos surrounded Talya as she approached the Audience Chambers, cocking their weapons and levelling their rifles at her. Prior to her training, she would have felt absolutely petrified at not knowing how to control her abilities to defend herself. But now, that fear was nowhere to be found. Instead, she just felt vexed. Vexed that these soldiers were standing in her way and delaying her from rescuing her own Arendellian soldiers who Bjorn was threatening to murder.

Remembering what Elsa had taught her about channeling her negative emotions into harnessing her sorcery, Talya didn't need to dig too deep to find the spark. She forcefully waved a hand from left to right and ice covered her immediate surroundings, frosting over the enemies' weapons and hurling them backwards and away from her.

Before they could get up, Talya reached for the door of the Audience Chambers and opened it before the commandos could stop her. Immediately, she sucked in a sharp breath. There were more soldiers in the white and gold uniforms of the Southern Isles, brandishing weapons as if awaiting her arrival. All eyes immediately fixated on Talya as she entered the huge room.

There were soldiers positioned at every pillar leading down the long carpet to the traditional throne where the monarch would sit. At the far end of the room and in front of the throne, Bjorn stood over two kneeling Arendellian soldiers - a man and a woman - who were just being used as bait for the royal siblings.

Bjorn stared at Talya. From the other side of the room, Talya couldn't make out the expression on his face and began to tread forward slowly. The soldiers immediately raised their weapons.

"Stop." Bjorn commanded, his tone cold as steel and hard as stone. "Let her pass."

The soldiers lowered their weapons, eyeing Talya ferociously as she strode past them haughtily.

She kept her head high, fixing her gaze on Bjorn as she drew closer to where he and the two hostages were. His face was clearer now, and she could see that he had an annoyed expression on his face, though she swore she saw a bit of uncertainty and fear in his eyes.

"I said to bring your brother." Bjorn said in mild exasperation. "Why is it that neither of you ever listens?"

"I don't take orders from you." She said defiantly.

"And yet, here you are." Bjorn locked gazes with her, both refusing to relent.

"You wanted me. Here I am." Talya drew herself up taller as she covered the remaining distance between herself and Bjorn.

"That's far enough." The words came out as a sharp warning and she heeded them - for the safety of her people.

"Let them go, Bjorn." Talya mustered up all the authority she could in her tone. "I'm here now."

"I wanted both you and your brother." Bjorn repeated. "I thought I made that very clear."

"Well, I'm all you're going to get. Trust me, you'll have more than enough to deal with."

Bjorn raised an eyebrow. "I presume that's a challenge, then?"

"Presume away." Talya planted her feet. "But let my soldiers go."

His lip quirked, and he lifted his voice. "Out." Bjorn barked at his soldiers. He then turned to the two hostages. "You've served your purpose here. Go."

Both Arendellian soldiers glared up at him.

"I said go." He growled dangerously. "Before I change my mind."

The two hostages upped and fled. Very soon, all the soldiers had similarly cleared out, leaving the spacious Audience Chambers empty except for Talya and Bjorn.

She was the first to break the silence. "You're letting them go just like that?"

"Just like that."

"I'd expected it to be a little tougher."

"I already told you that I would spare their lives if you surrendered yourself. Of course, your brother didn't show up, but I can always deal with him later when I'm done with you."

"Confident, aren't you? Facing me without the aid of your soldiers?"

"You know what I am. You know what I'm capable of. Do you really think I need my men to fight you?"

She narrowed her eyes. "I suppose not."

"But of course I wouldn't underestimate you either." Bjorn paced towards her slowly. "After all, you've been a sorceress this whole time. I never would have imagined. And you've been training with…the Snow Queen, was it?" He let out a sinister chuckle. "I didn't even know she was real."

"Looks like there's a lot about the world you don't know."

Bjorn smirked. "I know enough to know that training or not, you're not going to be able to kill a Blood Mage."

"I don't have to kill you. I just have to stall you."

"Stall me? What for?" Bjorn's head whipped towards the window and he tore apart the curtains. His face changed instantly when he saw that there was now a fierce battle in the streets, a good distance away from this side of the palace. "The prisoner army." One hand clutched his head in anger. "Why-why wasn't I informed about this?"

"Well for starters, the Audience Chambers was soundproofed to prevent any disturbances. And second, Val probably jammed all your communications." This time it was Talya's turn to smirk. Good old Val.

He tore his eyes away from the window, fixing her with a puzzled stare. "I don't understand. How-"

"I found some help. As we speak, the Arendellian Field Army has joined forces with the Northuldra to flush your precious Southern Isles militia out of my kingdom." Talya smiled coolly as Bjorn's glare intensified. "I guess you underestimated us again."

"How could I have been so damn blind?" Bjorn clenched a fist in anger and the nearest pillar cracked. "How could I not have foreseen this?"

"I wouldn't be too hard on myself if I were you." Talya said in a sweet, mocking tone. "You think of yourself as the legendary Field Marshal Kane reborn? Maybe you're overestimating your abilities." She clicked her tongue. "Besides we Arendellians are rather resourceful. More than you give us credit for, anyway."

"No," Bjorn growled deeply. "I haven't come this far to fail my brother now. We will rule Arendelle. This…this is our land!"

"It's not your land. It never was." Talya poised her body, noticing that Bjorn had allowed himself to be distracted by this newfound revelation.

"You will not win." Bjorn's eyes were fiery, and Talya was a little unnerved by the dangerous look on his face. Still, she kept her demeanour calm. "I won't let you." The general once again allowed himself to be distracted, turning back to the window in indignation.

It's now or never. Without warning, Talya launched the first attack, a tirade of ice that came so suddenly that Bjorn barely had time to bring an arm up to counter her sorcery. She side-stepped as he growled and lunged at her, backpedaling and awaiting his next attack.

She couldn't let him focus on the war that was going on right outside the window. No matter the cost, she was going to have to hold Bjorn off long enough to buy the citizens of Arendelle enough time to escape. And for the Arendellians and Northuldra to overwhelm the Southern Isles soldiers. If it meant costing Talya her own life, she found herself prepared to make that sacrifice.

Bjorn spun round like an angry predator with jaw clenched. "If I lose Arendelle, I'm taking you with me. I will pull your limbs from your body, grind your bones to dust and feast on your blood."

Talya didn't know if she was seeing things, but his eyes had begun to turn red. Then it hit her. His bloodlust had returned. Her heart skipped a beat. A bloodthirsty Bjorn was a lot more dangerous than the calm, level-headed general who at least wouldn't stoop to murdering civilians. This Bjorn would slaughter her happily.

As he stalked her, Talya back-pedalled, hurling a blast of ice at Bjorn to slow him down. The angry general swatted her sorcery away like it was a fly, and continued stalking towards her. His face had grown red now, and fury danced in his eyes.

Panic began to sweep across her mind and she felt her hands get cold. Elsa's voice played like a recording in her head. Do not let your fears dominate you in battle. Focus. Master your senses. Instead of suppressing her fears as she had always done, Talya faced her panic, turning it into focus and resolve. Sorcery flowed through her like a torrential river, and she unleashed a strong stream of ice at the Blood Mage.

The attack was enough to stop Bjorn in his tracks, and he had to bring up a meaty arm to deflect the ice from encasing him. Instead, his arm was now frozen over but it didn't stop him. Dark red energy flowed through the cracks of the ice, and he smashed his frozen arm against a pillar. The ice exploded, freeing his arm and leaving a huge dent in the pillar.

"Stupid little girl." Bjorn snarled. "You think you can beat a Blood Mage? No amount of training with the Snow Queen will save you."

In her heart, the fear was no longer there. Instead, there was only resolve. Talya hurled herself forward, rolling across the carpet as Bjorn tried to pummel her with a sorcerous energy field of his own. Placing both hands on the carpet, she willed her ice to do its work. The carpet froze over and Bjorn stumbled backwards slightly, quickly regaining his balance.

He moved faster than Talya had expected, roaring as he swung an ensorcelled fist at her. At the last moment, Talya was able to pull back, but not before his fist glanced off her shoulder.

Even that was enough to throw her back. Talya felt herself tossed across the room by the blood sorcery. Flying through the air, she crashed into one of the pillars, sending huge cracks through the reinforced stone. Falling to her knees, Talya bit back a cry of agony as she clutched her shoulder. It felt like she'd been hit by a bullet train and a fiery lance had been stabbed through her shoulder. Her back hurt. Her shoulder felt dislocated. The pain clouded her vision, turning everything spotty for a good few moments.

Shaking her head, Talya tried to clear the cobwebs as she saw the blurred figure of Bjorn storming towards her again relentlessly.

Suddenly, the angry general bellowed like a wounded animal, staggering but not falling. He whirled around, and Talya saw two knives sticking out of his back at an impressive grouping. It could've only been one person who'd thrown those knives.

"You." Bjorn snarled at the newcomer. "This was never your fight, outsider."

Talya's vision finally cleared and she saw Peggy standing at the opposite end of the Audience Chambers where the entrance was. The spy had dropped into a combat stance, hands wielding another two knives.

"Outsider? You're one to talk." Peggy said with no trace of fear. "And it's my fight now."

"Then you will suffer the same fate as your friends." Bjorn clenched his fist.

The ground began to rumble and converged, stone pushing against stone almost as though someone had forced them together and it had caved under pressure. Peggy rolled sideways, coming up to a knee and hurling both knives at Bjorn.

The knives were stopped halfway in mid air, and Bjorn used his blood sorcery to manipulate the knives. They turned round and zipped back towards Peggy. Again, she dove free, hands flying to two pistols at her side. Bringing them to bear, she fired them simultaneously at the Blood Mage in quick succession. Apparently she was quicker than he expected, and he only managed to block one bullet while the other struck his thigh.

Bjorn grunted in agony, stumbling for a moment and quickly putting his weight on his other leg. Orientating himself, he turned to face Peggy only to have her slam her full weight into his midsection. He exhaled sharply but quickly grabbed Peggy and tossed her away like a rag doll. But before he could follow up with a sorcery blast that would have sent her crashing through the window, Peggy landed gingerly on her feet, keeping her body low as she zigzagged towards Bjorn again.

Avoiding coruscations of energy explosions from the Blood Mage, she cut right and aimed straight for Bjorn's injured leg. Throwing her shoulder into his wounded thigh, she made him lose his balance. Pulling back before he could drag her down with her, Peggy back-pedalled a couple of steps and traded one of her pistols for a short dagger.

"Blood Mage or not, this will hurt." Peggy wound up and hurled the dagger at Bjorn's head.

An outstretched hand, and the knife's trajectory was altered in mid flight. The knife whipped round and flew straight at Peggy. Ducking expertly, she fired her one pistol at Bjorn as her other hand drew the second. As expected, Bjorn deflected them with an aura of his sorcery, getting to his feet.

As she continued firing, Peggy made an arc around Bjorn, navigating to Talya where she was still trying to get herself back in the fight.

"You alright?" Peggy asked as she reloaded her pistols at lightning speed.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Talya tried to hiss, but it came out more like a whimper. "You and Val were supposed to get out of here!"

"Couldn't let you get yourself killed." Peggy cocked her weapons and continued firing as Bjorn fended off her attacks, slowly staggering towards them. "You're welcome."

"Where's Val?"

"He's with Elsa."

"Good." At least under Elsa's protection, her brother would be safely out of the kingdom. Talya winced and levered herself to her feet, still clutching her wounded shoulder. There was no blood, but it still hurt like hell. "You prepared to fight to the death?"

Peggy didn't spare her a glance as she tried to slow the angry general. "Probably not."

"Then you shouldn't have come here." Talya mustered up her strength and dug down deep for her sorcery.

"I don't intend on losing." Peggy finished emptying her pistols' ammo and pushed Talya out of the way, diving to the opposite side as Bjorn lurched at the two girls.

Talya sprawled heavily and forced herself up just in time to block a sorcery-imbued fist from Bjorn clumsily with her forearm. His punch very nearly shattered her forearm, but she ignored the sharp pain that electrified her arm, and willed her sorcery to flow. Ice coated her entire arm, forming sharp spikes that drove the Blood Mage backwards.

Your focus determines your reality. Talya gritted her teeth, allowing two long, thin stalactites to form in her hands and swung them at Bjorn like melee weapons. Moving like an experienced fencer, Bjorn evaded her attacks, albeit with an obvious limp as blood trickled from his thigh.

"Get down!" Peggy yelled.

Talya threw herself to the ground as she saw something flying through the air. A grenade. Forming an improvised barrier of ice, she jammed her fingers in her ears and clenched her jaw so hard that it hurt. An explosion rocked the ground and she felt her teeth rattle in her mouth.

The ice barrier she'd hastily constructed was blown away and Talya felt the aftershock of the grenade push her a few feet backwards. But otherwise, she was unharmed.

"Come on," Peggy took her arm and pulled her to her feet. The spy didn't even seem slowed down by the fact that a grenade had just gone off.

"Where did you get a grenade?" Talya asked, her ears still ringing slightly.

"Don't ask." Peggy smashed her elbow against one of the windows and the glass shattered. She hooked a titanium cable to her belt and anchored the other end with a grappling hook to the window sill. "We need to move now before Bjorn recovers."

Talya cast a glance over her shoulder. The smoke from the grenade was clearing, and she could see the Blood Mage getting to his feet again.

"That bastard just won't stay down." Talya said in both amazement and disgust.

"That's why we're retreating." Peggy climbed out of the window and gestured for Talya to do the same. "Hang on to me and don't let go."

"I'm not running! Not when we've come this far!"

"Don't be an idiot. We can't kill him, he's way too powerful." Peggy snapped. "You saw what a grenade did to him, you think you can do better? It's a stalemate for now until we can come up with something better. Now come on!"

Reluctantly, Talya climbed out of the window and hooked her uninjured arm around Peggy's shoulders. Her shoulder still burning, she let her injured arm dangle as Peggy began to ease up on the titanium cable, letting them both abseil down the side of the castle's wall.

The moment their feet touched cobblestone, Peggy detached the titanium cable from her belt and tossed it aside. Talya stepped away as Peggy reached into her pocket and produced two small pellets.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Covering our tracks." Peggy hurled the pellets at their feet, covering the atmosphere in thick, black smoke. "Move, while we're still hidden." She took Talya's arm and hurried her away from the palace wall.

Escaping from Bjorn, Talya gritted her teeth in frustration. Not the way she'd wanted things to go. But at least everyone was safe for now. They crossed the bridge and came to the first street leading to the town. It was now swarming with Arendellian soldiers and Northuldra alike. It seemed that the plan had worked.

The Southern Isles soldiers were methodically forced to retreat, and soon the combined efforts of the Arendellians and the Northuldra would force the enemies from the city. A minute after Talya and Peggy had safely crossed over the bridge, someone let out a roar to advance, and a battalion of Arendellian soldiers began swarming the bridge to cross over into the palace grounds.

Talya watched as the thick column of soldiers marched on the palace, head spinning from pain and exhaustion, but one thing was clear to her. The soldiers were going to clean out the palace and free the rest of the hostages from the night of the formal dinner. Mustering up all her strength, Talya ran up to the nearest senior officer she could find and stopped him.

"Your-your Majesty?" The man stiffened. "What-"

"Give me an update. What's happening in the city?" Talya said hurriedly. She had no time for pleasantries or protocol. Not now.

"The tribal warriors freed our army, Ma'am. We're slowly surrounding and herding the enemy to a single district where we can force them through the gates and out of the kingdom."

"And the civilians?"

"His Royal Highness gave us orders to conduct an evacuation to the western border of Arendelle."

Talya allowed herself a tiny smile of relief. "Thank you." It seemed that Val had gotten out safely after all.

"Ma'am, with all due respect it's not safe here. Let me help you get to a secure location." The officer looked appalled that the queen was out in the war-torn streets where a missile or grenade could land at any moment.

"Don't worry about us." Talya cast a glance over her shoulder at Peggy who was busy surveying the situation. "Just keep fighting for Arendelle. That's an order."

The officer stiffened and ripped a textbook salute. "Yes, Your Majesty."

Talya nodded and began to walk down the street in the opposite direction of the marching columns and the flanking Northuldra who were in loose order. The soldiers - both Northuldra and Arendellians alike - began to let out a ragged cheer as their queen passed them by.

"I'm impressed." Peggy said as they continued down the street and passed by the rear of the column. "Turning the entire thing around in one night."

"The fight's not over yet." Talya glared at the palace. Bjorn was still up there, having forced them to retreat. And knowing Bjorn, he would escape capture to regroup with what was left of his Southern Isles militia. He can't be allowed to escape scot free without facing justice for his war crimes. Talya clenched her jaw. I'd make sure of it.