Chapter Fourteen

Blizzards & Beasts

JANUS

Unfortunately, the day was more of the same as yesterday. Like clockwork, snow began to fall again around midday and the skies grew gradually darker. Things only got worse when they lost another two of their horses. One had collapsed from exhaustion, and the reins of another broke, and the free horse had galloped away into the blinding white. It would've been impossible to retrieve it even if they tried, and they didn't have the time. All they could do was move forward.

With only four horses left, the Warriors had to pray that they would be strong enough to last them all the way to the capital. But Janus doubted it. They only had enough rations for one last meal, and they'd already cut their portions in half to make them last longer. At most, they would last till after breakfast, but beyond that…

Janus sighed and shook his head. They wouldn't be able to reach their destination before the day was over. Another day and a half, at least. They would have to resort to eating horse meat, and something told Janus the others weren't going to like the prospect one bit. He didn't either, but he was prepared to do what was necessary. Anything, if it would reunite him and Elsa.

He still felt a stab of anger at her for slipping off into the night, but the anger was quickly replaced by hurt. Why couldn't she trust him enough to let him in on the secret at least? Hadn't he gained her trust after all this time? After everything they'd been through and what he'd sacrificed to be with her, wasn't it enough to warrant himself a little trust? Was it just him? No, Janus reminded himself firmly. Elsa did have a tendency to take matters into her own hands, throwing herself into danger as she saw fit. Even her own sister said so.

And then when he imagined Elsa before him: her beautiful blue eyes, that voluminous blonde hair, slender frame and voice like honey, all his anger and hurt melted away, instead replaced by fear and worry. He'd never really feared for anyone's safety, apart from perhaps Winter's, the young girl he'd tried his best to protect back in Yotehamn and failed. That felt like an eternity ago. He'd failed to save her then, and he was absolutely terrified at the prospect of not being able to save Elsa, Tracy and Jade.

What if they were too slow? What if the cursed Chancellor had already slit their throats by the time Janus and the others got to the capital? He wouldn't put it past the unpredictable smiling fiend to do so. No, he reasoned with himself. Elsa's not dead yet. She can't be.

His mind wandered further, going back to the day before. He felt a pang of sympathy for Anna. Her sister was in danger, and yet she couldn't come with them to save her. She had her own responsibilities that kept her terribly busy and left her no time to breathe, and Janus vividly remembered the look of dismay on her face when she realised that she couldn't join them on their rescue mission.

He'd gone to the Witch Hunters who were still camping with the Coalition, and told them to keep an eye out for the Queen of Arendelle. He didn't know whether it was out of the goodness of their hearts or if they assumed that it was a new contract, but they had agreed to help. With Hansel and Gretel watching over Anna, Janus felt a little better about it all, though it didn't help very much. At the very least, she wasn't alone.

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Their night routine was more or less the same when they'd finally called it a day and stumbled for cover in another crevice. This one was even tighter than the previous day's. The horses were again tied up outside, but Janus had a premonition that not all of them were going to make it through the night.

And he was right. Around a few hours into his sleep, he was rudely awoken by the almost human-like screams of the horses outside. Grabbing his flintlock pistol and scabbard, Janus scrabbled on his hands and knees, bent over double as he raced to the entrance of the crevice.

Debouching from the cave, Janus was furious and indignant to see wolves. It wasn't even fear that gripped him. It was raw, primal anger. Anger that after all they'd endured, now there were wolves threatening them and their horses. A couple of wolves were already circling the horses which were tied to the trees, and it looked like they were about to pounce at any moment.

"Get away from there!" Janus roared, jerking his pistol free and thumbing back the hammer. Pulling the trigger, there was a pink-white flash and a deafening crack which echoed throughout night as the winds continued to howl.

One of the wolves whimpered and keeled over, blood sputtering from its head. The other wolves spun, their beady, cunning eyes locking on him. For a moment there, they forgot about the horses and regarded their new prey. Janus tossed his smoking pistol aside and tore the falchion sword from his scabbard. The wolves whined and growled as they began to stalk towards him. He counted quickly. There'd been ten wolves before he killed one. Now there were nine, which were still too many to handle all at once. He would go down fighting if he had to. It wasn't the way he wanted to go out, but he would damn well make sure he took them with him.

He fingered his sword carefully, hand tight around the hilt of his sword. Eyes darting about, he waited for the first unlucky animal to lunge straight at him so he could slice it cleanly open.

Something orange glowed behind him, and the wolves immediately back-pedalled, whimpering and yelping. He cast a quick glance over his shoulder. Coming up behind him, Deirdre held a ball of fire in the palm of her hand. With her were Melody and Maui, the former clutching her bow and quiver and the latter brandishing his fish hook.

Four against ten wolves were much better odds, especially since the four of them were Warriors. Janus turned back to the wolves, a little more confidence entering his stance. He sheathed his sword and drew two small daggers and wielded them in icepick grips.

One of them, presumably the alpha, snarled and bared its teeth, then let out a howl. It hurled itself straight at Janus, and he danced out of the way, hurling one of his daggers end upon end at the animal. It whipped through the air and sunk itself to the hilt in the back of the wolf's head. The animal flopped lifelessly into the snow, all momentum of its charge lost.

All hell broke loose. The eight other wolves sprang into action, and the Warriors went to work fending them off. Janus didn't have time to think about the others - they fought soldiers and assassins on a daily basis. They were more than capable of handling themselves against a few wolves.

Another wolf lunged, and Janus narrowly side stepped it. It whipped round with ferocious speed, faster than Janus had given it credit for, and attacked again. Janus pegged himself as a man with fast reflexes, but apparently this wolf was faster. Before Janus could bring his dagger up to slice across the wolf's throat, the wolf was already on top of him, causing them both to fall to the snow.

Hitting the ground back first, the impact felt like nothing more than sinking into a soft pillow. But the threat still remained, the wolf was ready to take a bite out of his throat. Given no time to mount a better defence, Janus brought his forearm up, barring the wolf from snapping at him. It snarled and bared its teeth, and those split seconds were all the time Janus needed. He allowed the second blade to drop into his free hand. Then, he promptly sunk the dagger into the side of the wolf's head. It went limp instantly, and he yanked the dagger out of its head in one swift motion.

Pushing the animal off of him, he was just in time to see yet another one charging at him. This one was a big one, and didn't look like one that Janus could wrestle with. Swiftly, he rolled out of the way and came up to his feet. Holding his dagger which was slicked with the blood of the wolf's brethren, he narrowed his eyes. He realised his mistake immediately. He was facing the winds which blew into his face, forcing him to squint. It would obscure his vision, and a single blink could cause him his life. But it was too late to rectify his mistake now.

The wolf circled him again, baring its teeth and panting, its tongue startling red and eyes gleaming. It stopped, gave a loud snarl and charged again. Janus swerved right, but the wolf's claw caught him on the ribs, tearing his shirt. A stab of pain made itself known, and Janus grunted, clutching his side. His hand came up bloodied, and he gritted his teeth. Focus!

He couldn't let this one get close. Tossing his dagger aside, he drew his falchion sword, whipping figure eights through the air in feints to startle the beast. But it did nothing except agitate it. Howling, the wolf lowered itself to the ground and pounced. Dancing aside, Janus slashed in a textbook counter. His sword drew blood from the furry grey wolf, but that didn't stop it. The wolf whirled round, blood trailing from its side. Growling, it leapt again.

This time, Janus was prepared. As he dove free, his free hand ignored the lance of pain shooting through his side and reached into his pocket. His fingers grasped one of the familiar tiny pellets and pulled it out. As his feet landed in the snow safely out of reach of the snapping beast, he hurled the pellet at it. Now all he had to do was pray a sudden gust of wind wouldn't ruin his efforts.

The pellet landed an inch away from the wolf and exploded, engulfing the immediate vicinity in thick black smoke. It was enough to disorient the wolf. He sprinted towards the wolf, estimating where it last stood, and thrust. His sword met something and went through it, and he heard a yelp which told him he'd estimated rightly.

But even that wasn't enough. The sword was torn from his unsuspecting grip as the wolf jerked its body round, turning to face Janus. Now the smoke played to his disadvantage. Before he knew it, the wolf had lunged and barrelled him to the ground, and through the smoke he could make out those dreadful yellow eyes and sharp teeth. The sword stuck out of the wolf's side, but it didn't seem to faze it.

The wolf bared its teeth at him and opened wide, leaning forward to take a huge bite out of Janus' face. This was the one thing he was trying to avoid, grappling with an animal this big and strong. But unfortunately, he'd been left with no other choice.

Before the wolf could chomp down on him, Janus caught the wolf's jaws in both hands, forcing its mouth open. Adrenaline coursed through his veins, and he was reminded of all the times he'd stared death in the face and walked away the victor.

Growling, Janus tensed his muscles and with all his might, fought back against the animal which seemed determined to have its dinner. Somehow, gradually, he outmuscled the big wolf, and with a bellow, jerked the wolf's jaws in opposite directions. He felt something snap, and saw the wolf's eyes loll in the back of its head. It crumpled on its side, all the fight having gone out of it. He'd broken its damned jaws with his bare hands.

Breathing hard, Janus levered himself to his feet, favouring his wounded ribs. The storm was still raging, and a bitter draught of wind blew against his side, sending a sharp pain shooting through his body. Gritting his teeth, he put a hand over his ribs and tore the sword out of the dead wolf with his free hand. Looking around, he saw that five of the wolves were scattering. Another two were dead.

His eyes fell on the horses. To his dismay, two of the horses had their necks bitten and were lying dead in the snow, and one more was thrashing weakly, its leg broken. Blood was everywhere, soaking in the snow. Apparently Melody had just realised this too, for she exclaimed in exasperation.

Her eyes met his, and she gave him a look of despair. He looked at Maui and Deirdre, who exchanged silent glances with him too.

With three horses out of action and only one horse left to share among the four of them, Janus knew as well as the rest of them what they had to do. Their rest was suspended as the knives were taken out and a fire was built in the tiny crevice. Clothes soaked in wolves' blood, they shared roasted horse meat, which tasted hard and very unpleasant.

Regardless, they tucked into the horse meat, knowing that this was the only proper food they were going to get after the last of their rations were consumed. They also stored away the excess meat which was in abundance. And now they only had one horse left, which meant their journey was going to take them decidedly longer than expected.

Janus wondered now whether they'd made a mistake. Coming out here, just the four of them. It seemed like a suicide mission now that he thought about it, though it hadn't exactly occurred to him that way a day ago. But it wasn't like they could turn back now even if they wanted to. And they didn't want to. We're so close. We have to save Elsa and the others.

Though Janus had honestly not anticipated that things could have gotten any worse, they did. The next two days were even harder, what with the four of them having to travel on foot, keeping the last remaining horse with them in case they needed food. The one thing they didn't have to really worry about was food and water, as they had an abundance of horse meat and snow was everywhere. The real problems were frostbite and hypothermia, and the prospect of either occurring loomed larger as the hours wore on.

The blizzard raged relentlessly, and if there had been any doubt that it was supernatural, it was dispelled by now. It was most definitely supernatural. The Warriors' winter jackets, scarfs and wolf furs that they had swathed themselves in seemed to be of little effect against the snow and fierce winds. At some point, it had even begun to rain hail.

Thankfully none of them had gotten sleepy, which was an indicator of someone succumbing to the cold. Thanks to Deirdre's strong fires, they mostly were able to keep the cold at bay during the nights, but he didn't know how much longer they could keep this up. By now, their last remaining horse was gone too, having wandered off in the blizzard and getting lost in the confusion. At some point, exhaustion or the blizzard would pick them off one by one too.

Deirdre had insisted that they could get to the old miners' cave by nightfall today, but frankly Janus had lost all sense of timing and direction. His focus had been worn out, as had his energy, and he was just trudging forward aimlessly, held up by sheer will and the indignation at the thought of Elsa being tortured by the Crimson Order. The others looked like they weren't going to last much longer either, and Janus sorely hoped that Deirdre was right.

"Here. Here." Deirdre rasped, waving them over tiredly. She looked worn out with the skin on her face dry and cracked, her entire body shivering in spite of the thick furs wrapped around her.

Through his narrowed eyes, Janus surveyed what Deirdre was gesturing at. A mountain loomed in front of them, with a gigantic hole carved out of it, the entrance a grand archway. His heart was reinvigorated, and he felt relief flow through him. Finally. We made it.

"We're here?" Melody said weakly, half mumbling to herself.

"Yes." Deirdre insisted, leading them towards an archway made out of a mountain. "I recognise this place."

"About time." Maui exhaled cold mist in relief as they gratefully stumbled towards the cave.

"We're just outside the capital, on the southwestern end of Luftzeit." Deirdre explained with what little energy she had left. "Took us this damn long to circle round the plains of Luftzeit to avoid the Imperial Horde. No one remembers this place, so we'll be safe."

"Good." Janus said, entering the large cave and heartily welcomed the warmth. It was damp smelling and dusty, but he didn't care. They had finally reached their destination, the pathway into the capital. One step closer to rescuing Elsa and his friends. "We're going to need a moment or two."

"An hour or two, more like it." Deirdre staggered into the cave and her legs gave way under her.

The four of them sat down in the spacious cave, their legs sore and bodies numb from the cold. Here in this cave, a tunnel stretched far beyond into darkness, lit by absolutely nothing. It felt like staring into the entrance of hell and whatever horrors that lay in wait, but it was a welcome change after the days of relentless blizzard and blinding white.

Flexing his stiff fingers, Janus fished out his canteen with his numb hand as Deirdre ignited a new fire to keep them warm. Guzzling ice-cold water, Janus let the soothing liquid replenish his energy.

Maui turned to Deirdre. "How long to get to the capital from here?"

The fiery sorceress looked pensive. "Should take an hour or so to cross under the walls and into the city."

"Then we take an hour to gather our strength first." Melody said. "And then we need to move. By the time we reach the capital it'll be dark, and we should have the cover we need if we have to skulk the streets."

"Agreed. One hour." One hour of rest sounded like bliss to Janus. Favouring his ribs which were now dried and crusted with blood from his wounds, he allowed himself to close his eyes and lean against the wall of the large cave as sweet oblivion washed over him. And in the depths of his subconscious, he saw the faraway, faint figure of Elsa.

Author's Commentary:

The inspiration for this chapter's setting was from a movie called "The Grey", starring Liam Neeson who fought and killed wolves while being stranded out in the snowy plains. It's rather bleak and harrowing, which is exactly the tone I was going for in this chapter. I always wanted to write around the theme of survival and I'm quite proud of how this turned out. And if you liked it, then rejoice. In the following chapters, the elements of 'survival at all cost' are very much present.