Chapter Nineteen
End of the Hunt
ELSA
At sunrise the next day, the Warriors set about executing their plan. While the rest got ready, Elsa and Tracy went out into the cold morning to find the owners of the estate in their own home, to inquire if they knew anyone who could help to smuggle them out of the city.
The estate owners were a cooperative elderly couple, who had no compunctions about helping the sorcerers. Perhaps they really did sense that they weren't evil and there was nothing to be afraid of. After all, these Turnsheim locals had already endured the Exonian occupation for who knew how long.
"Try the marketplace." The elderly man said with much difficulty in his limited command of the English language. "There is a man. A friend of mine. His name is Roshne. Rich potato farmer. He sells potatoes in marketplace. Talk to him, tell him George sent you."
"He'll be able to get us out of the city?" Elsa asked.
George nodded. "Ay. Roshne has big supply wagons to transport his potatoes from farm to market. He can arrange trip out of Turnsheim. His stall is in centre of marketplace down in town square."
"Thanks," Tracy said. "Appreciate the help."
"Be careful." George's wife warned, her English slightly more accented. "The Blue Wolves still looking for you and friends. You do not want be caught in crowded market and nowhere to run."
"We will." Elsa assured her. "Thank you for your help. If someone did spot us coming here, tell them you were scared that we would hurt you. Keep yourselves safe and out of danger."
With that, Elsa and Tracy went back to the rest and told them what they had learnt. Gathering up whatever little belongings they had, they left the bed and breakfast estate in search of the marketplace. As they left the estate, Elsa kept looking back in the direction of where they had buried Jordan. It didn't feel right, just leaving him without a proper funeral or burial. It wasn't decent, but under the circumstances there was nothing they could do but leave him behind and move on.
Jade was slightly less hysterical today, and far more subdued. It seemed that she had fallen into depression, displaying no signs of emotions, not even crying. She ate breakfast almost mechanically, and there was a distracted look in her eyes that worried Elsa considerably. She had tried talking to Jade in a bid to help her cope with her loss. Jade did answer, speaking only when spoken to, but sometimes not even at all. It was worrying, to say the least.
Obviously, no one could fault Jade for being in her current state. She had just lost her younger brother after all, the one person she had committed herself to protecting. Elsa knew her story, that she had failed once to protect Jordan, resulting in the permanent damage of his vocal chords. That had caused her to be guilty and overprotective since then, and now that Jordan had died, it had become very clear that Jade was feeling like she had failed once again, and this time the result had been her brother's death.
Elsa wondered how painful it must be for Jade. She couldn't bring herself to even imagine losing Anna. What would she do if she had watched Anna die? Shuddering at the thought, Elsa tried to banish it from her mind for good. As she watched Jade stare into the distance in a catatonic state, she could only feel the utmost sympathy for the girl who had lost the only blood family she ever had. As orphans, Jordan was her only family. And now, she was all alone in the world.
Elsa was determined to make sure that Jade could rely on her adopted family, the Warriors and the League. But even then, she knew that the days ahead would be hard, even as the Blue Wolves and the Witch Hunters continued to hunt them down. The problem was, they really didn't know how they were going to get to the marketplace stealthily while dragging Jade along with them. If they ran into trouble, things would get incredibly messy.
The Warriors' individual abilities had slowly begun to return, though nowhere near full strength. Deirdre and Elsa could use their powers to a certain extent, and no one wanted to ask Jade to use hers just yet. Tracy was not yet able to open Crossing Points, so that meant teleporting back to Swynvort was still out of the question. Janus and Maui were the only ones who had escaped unscathed yesterday, and the entire team would be leaning heavily on their abilities if they encountered any trouble in the marketplace.
Arriving in the Turnsheim town square, the Warriors found the place swarming with locals going about their daily business. Now that the occupation was over and the city was free of the merciless Exonian soldiers, the Turnsheim people were out and about again. However, there was an unspoken sentiment of hatred towards the Blue Wolves who were annoyingly intrusive, going about to root out sorcerers throughout the city. Still, no one could do anything about the Blue Wolves, since they were authorised by the Confederation who had been responsible for liberating their city.
The Warriors decided splitting up would be the best strategy for now. There would be no shadows to hide in, and they were out moving around in broad daylight, and hence they had to try to keep a low profile. Janus, Maui, and Deirdre, who were the least liable to have their powers fail during the mission, would navigate through the crowded marketplace to find Roshne, the potato farmer who could smuggle them out of the city.
Meanwhile, Elsa and Tracy would take care of Jade on top of the shophouses overlooking the marketplace, while also keeping a lookout for the Blue Wolves just in case. It had been a strategy they had utilised before when the Warriors had first banded together to stop Kane in the kingdom of Agrabah. Out of their current team, only Maui and Tracy had been there, and they were the ones who had suggested the old tactic.
This way, they could reduce the numbers they moved about in while also having Elsa and Tracy look out for them from above. Someone needed to look after Jade since she was in no shape to be heading into a mission like this one. Upon splitting up, Elsa and Tracy took Jade up to the rooftops of the shophouses overlooking the marketplace, and found a stretch of shophouse rooftops where she could easily follow the rest from above and keep a lookout for any Blue Wolves.
The plan of alerting her friends was simple this time. Fire a blast of ice - however weak it might be - to signal to the others to retreat. If that didn't work, then Tracy would have to activate Jade to use her powers, which was a last case resort. It wasn't the most ideal of methods, but they had to work with what they had.
"Stay close to me." Elsa told Jade in a firm but kind way, and the latter nodded absentmindedly. It was clear that her mind was elsewhere, as it had been for the better part of the morning.
With Tracy in the lead, the trio tracked the other three on the ground across the busy marketplace, careful to remain out of sight of any shophouse owners across the street looking out of their windows. From above, it was easy to spot the potato farmer's stall. A large supply wagon stood at the side of the stall, filled to the brim with fresh, round potatoes. The farmer was standing beside it, doing business with a couple of locals. Settling down, they waited for the rest who were pushing their way through the crowd to catch up.
"It's weird, ain't it?" Tracy suddenly said out of the blue.
Elsa looked over at Tracy. "What?"
"Fate. How it ends up leading you back to the one place you've been trying to run from. Being in a marketplace like this reminds me of Agrabah. Remember our first rodeo together? When Moana was still working with us?"
Elsa nodded. "Feels like a lifetime ago."
"It does, doesn't it?"
"So much has changed." Elsa lamented, suddenly feeling the need to share her grief and doubts with someone. "Honestly, I don't recognise this world we live in anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"A world where we're no longer the good guys. Where we're the ones being hunted down. It's strange, and just thinking about it…" Elsa shook her head. "Maybe they're right to call us witches. The past few months have really been making me wonder: Are we really the good guys here? Or do the common people have a right to fear us and brand us as criminals? Is the world better off without us running around playing saviours of the outcasts?"
Tracy rolled her eyes. "Now you're just being an idiot."
"Tell me I'm wrong."
"People who don't understand us will always fear. Especially those morons in the Confederation, your sister and Melody not included. You can't change that."
Elsa sighed. "I know."
"You of all people should know that being different was always going to attract attention and prejudice. I mean, look at me." Tracy gestured to herself in broad motions. "I'm a freaking sea witch."
Elsa allowed a small smile to play at the corners of her mouth.
"Remember that first time we met on the boat? When we were going to find Moana on her island?"
Nodding, Elsa thought back to those days. Dangerous nonetheless, but a whole lot less complicated than it was now. Back then there had only been Kane and his eco-terrorist plans to worry about.
"When Melody first brought me up to that boat, I was awkward, volatile and lonely. An outcast, a misfit." Tracy recounted. "Then you talked to me. Or I talked to you. I can't remember which. Anyway, I remembered being relieved that there was someone like me on the team. You were a misfit too, and unhappy about it."
"We were both unsure about our place in the world." Elsa agreed.
"Yeah." Tracy said. "Thinking about it now, we've come quite far haven't we? Going from believing we were monsters to saving the world, freeing the entire League of Sorcerers, liberating kingdoms, winning battles and rescuing hunted refugees."
"When you put it that way, it does feel like it."
"We've changed," Tracy went on. "We've discovered who we are and found our purpose. Helping other sorcerers like us who are being ostracised from the rest of the world and giving them a home. I never thought I'll be this confident of it. But we're the good guys. For sure. And what we're doing makes a difference."
Elsa chuckled. "You've certainly changed."
"And so have you. For the better." Tracy grinned. "Don't you forget it, or I'll have to slap some sense into you."
"I'll keep that in mind." Elsa said with a smile. Good old Tracy. Insensitive and rough, but a reliable confidant.
She turned back to the marketplace, to find Janus and the rest finally making their way through the thick crowd and approaching the potato farmer's stall. Then, her eyes flicked over to the other side of the marketplace, where she could see men in militia attire pushing through the crowd roughly. A man in dark grey was at their head leading them.
Hansel. One half of the Witch Hunters.
"The Blue Wolves." Tracy said, spotting them too. "They're here with the Witch Hunter guy."
Elsa pointed her hands towards the marketplace, aiming at a spot which the rest of the Warriors would be able to catch her signal. "Time to warn the others."
"I don't think so." A hunting knife whizzed in between Elsa and Tracy who were caught off guard, striking the edge of the rooftop with frightful accuracy.
The duo - with Jade still spaced out - whirled round to see the other half of the Witch Hunters, Gretel, standing a short distance behind them in her dark grey coat, which was flapping in the chilly morning breeze. The bounty hunter had approached in complete silence, one hand wielding a sword with a professionally comfortable stance and in the other, a small pellet which she hurled straight at the feet of the trio.
"Move!" Tracy screeched, yanking Jade to safety but not getting very far.
Elsa herself dove in the opposite direction, clearing the way just as the pellet crashed and split open. Some kind of gas floated out, engulfing the nearby vicinity but faded quickly. She had gotten out of the way of the gas, but when she looked over her shoulder, she found that Tracy and Jade hadn't been quite so fortunate.
The two of them hadn't managed to get out of harm's way quickly enough, and were now suffering the effects of the gas. They both collapsed on the rooftop, conscious but breathing hard.
"It won't kill them, but they won't be joining you in the fight," Gretel said coolly. "It's over."
"Please." Elsa turned slowly. "Don't do this."
"Then surrender without a struggle."
"You know I can't do that."
"And how are you all going to escape now that your friends are unconscious?" Gretel asked. "Unless of course, you leave your friends behind, but I doubt you would. You witch types, though vile, can be quite loyal to one another. Surrender now."
"I know who you are. I know about your past." Elsa stood her ground. "I know that you were wronged by witches. The witch in the forest. Your stepmother. Your father's death. What happened to you and your brother was wrong. I'm sorry, Gretel."
Gretel's expression remained unchanged. "What's that to you?"
"Not all of us sorcerers are evil." Elsa said. "The sorcerers you fought as bounty hunters may have been, but not everyone with magic is a threat. Some of us just want to be left alone. To survive. To help others like us."
"You're lying, witch."
"Listen to me." Elsa said. "We were wronged too, just like you and your brother were. We may not be the same, but we're not enemies. Please."
Gretel looked amused. "Huh." She remarked after a long pause. "You are different from the rest."
Elsa remained cautious, as Gretel still kept her sword up.
"I've never met a witch who didn't try to fight back or take my head off."
"That's because I'm not a witch. We aren't the criminals here." Elsa gestured at the marketplace below. "Those Blue Wolves down there? They are the real criminals. Discriminating against those who are different from them."
Gretel lowered her sword a little. "I'll admit, I was surprised last night. When you were fleeing, you had a chance to use what remained of your ice powers to attack me from afar. But you didn't."
"Like I said, we're not all witches."
Gretel looked thoughtful. "Count me naive, maybe, but I'm going to give you a chance."
"A chance to what?"
"There's no way out of this." Gretel said. "The Blue Wolves and my brother are here to neutralise your friends by any means necessary. Which includes lethal force. I heard that you've lost one of your team." She dipped her head a little. "And I offer my condolences. If he was anything like you, he probably didn't deserve to die. But no one else has to. So surrender now, and get your friends to do the same before things get out of hand. For your own sakes."
Elsa watched Gretel as she finished speaking. The Witch Hunter was right. No one else had to die. They'd already lost Jordan the previous night, and they couldn't afford to lose anyone else. The Blue Wolves below had no qualms about killing the Warriors if they couldn't take them into custody, and the marketplace was being surrounded by Blue Wolves in all directions. Innocent locals were bound to get caught in the crossfire. There would be casualties if she didn't act now.
She glanced over at Tracy and Jade who were stirring lethargically. They were in no condition to fight. In any case, there was no other choice.
Author's Commentary:
It's a nice callback to the very first novel :) For those who have been following me since Book 1, I'm sure you'll see the reference. Their very first adventure together in the Agrabah marketplace, and after years of working together, this would have been a nostalgic moment for them if the situation wasn't so dire.
For those who haven't checked out my earlier stories, I would encourage you to swing back and read them! My stories are all part of an ongoing series, and as of now I have no intention of slowing down. I have a couple more ideas in mind. We're five novels in but this one will surely not be the last :)
