Chapter Forty Five

The Chancellor's Game

ELSA

"Okay, let's go over what we know so far." Melody began when everyone had settled down in one of the meeting rooms of the hotel usually reserved for politicians or businessmen. "We now know for certain that this Crimson Order does exist, and has been orchestrating the war from the start. This High Priest character has been playing both sides."

Elsa nodded. "Manipulating the Confederation to get rid of the sorcerers by establishing the CAST, and having Eleanor wage war on the continent to get as many sorcerers killed in the crossfire as possible."

"Whoever this guy is, he's smart." Janus said.

Tracy snorted. "A bit of an understatement."

"So he's been manipulating the continent's affairs for quite a while now, without anyone even knowing that him or the Crimson Order exists." Elsa went on. "And we still don't know his name, or where to find him."

"I don't get it." Maui's eyebrow was cocked in signature fashion. "In all my thousand years, I thought I'd learnt about every religion, mystical cult, and legend. But I've never even heard of the Crimson Order before, and somehow this Hans already knows so much about it."

"Something's definitely fishy about all this." Anna said.

She was right. Elsa could feel it too. A strange feeling lingered about in her head, as if she were missing something, but couldn't exactly place what. Elsa tapped her nose. "How did Hans even find these people?"

"It's more likely they found him." Tracy said. "And old Eleanor too."

Melody furrowed her brows. "He said he wanted us to know. But why? What good does knowing all this do him?"

"He's sick." Deirdre spat. "He wants to see us clash with the Crimson Order, knowing we're outmatched. He's seen the powers at their disposal; The Eternal King and whatever else he's seen in their lair."

"The Eternal King." Anna echoed, leaning her forearms against the table. "A name that's cropped up again after this long. It can't be a coincidence."

"Ingrid made it her life's mission to find him." Elsa recounted. Bad memories that seemed to shrink in light of the recent threat that had come to the forefront. The Crimson Order is far more dangerous than anything we've faced before. "She was dying and she needed the secret of the demon's powers to prolong her life."

"But you said the Eternal King was already gone from his prison by the time you got there." Tracy said.

"Yes." Elsa nodded, frowning. "Ingrid was devastated and went hysterical, almost killing me. Someone got to that cave before we could. Someone who knew of his existence too. We never did figure out who took him."

"Until now. It was the Crimson Order." Melody said, sparking a chill down Elsa's spine. "We've finally solved the mystery. They're the ones who took the Eternal King, and they've been using his powers ever since for their own ends."

"It certainly explains how Eleanor raised Kane back to life." Elsa looked pensive. "And how she managed to raise the field army of the Imperial Horde from out of nowhere. A seemingly never ending supply of soldiers to serve her ambitions of dominion. It must have been the Eternal King's powers at work."

Anna tapped her nose. "It's all beginning to make sense now. The Crimson Order's been behind things since years ago, and we've never even realised it till now."

"And Hans just told us casually with no strings attached." Elsa said tightly. "When I was his prisoner, I tried to pry the information out of him, but he was adamant on evading my questions."

"But he just told us." Melody added. "It's too convenient. I don't like it."

"Yeah? Get in line." Tracy snorted, and received a glare from Melody.

"No, seriously." Anna said. "Melody, you and Elsa have a point. I don't understand. Whenever Hans does things, he always has a reason. A mind as cunning as Hans' won't just tell us for no reason. He wanted us to hear it. Why?"

"He had a chance to escape, but he chose to hold me prisoner." Elsa pursed her lips, skin crawling at the thought of what Hans had put her through the previous day. "At the time, I thought it was just his personal vendetta, a reluctance to let me go. But now I'm beginning to wonder if it was something else too."

"Hans wanted to be caught." Janus finally spoke up, the first time since they had emerged from the basement. "I've been thinking a lot about the encounter. When I was still a mercenary and I was hunting targets down to bring them in alive, most of them would choose to abandon their personal tasks or flee, while only a rare few would stay and fight. It's a fight or flight mentality."

"But he didn't want to fight." Maui pointed out. "He could have, using Elsa as a hostage to get out of Korynes unharmed."

"But he didn't." Elsa grimaced. Stranger and stranger.

"That's right." Janus went on. "He knew that if he stayed, there would be no way out, not with the odds stacked against him. He didn't choose to fight, and he certainly didn't choose to flee. Hans wanted us to capture him."

"Why?" Anna sounded bewildered, and Elsa couldn't blame her. It didn't make any sense at all.

"That's the million dollar question." Melody squared her jaw. "Looks like we might need to talk to go Hans again."

"Wait." Janus said sharply. "Where's Jade?"

"Isn't she-" Elsa glanced round, and so did the rest. The girl was nowhere to be found at the table.

Anna was the first to spring to her feet, the chair screeching backward against the polished floor of the ballroom and began counting. Elsa too began to do a mental head count. There were just seven of them in the room. Anna, Janus, Tracy, Maui, Melody, Deirdre and herself. But where the hell was Jade?

"I knew it." Melody leapt and began taking off towards the door. "Damn it, I should've seen this coming."

Cursing silently, Elsa was the next to follow, with Anna close behind her. She heard the scratching of chairs against the ground, and surmised that the rest were doing the same.

Idiot! Elsa thought as she sprinted and caught up with Melody. Should've realised Jade slipped away to talk to Hans. There was only one reason for that, which was becoming increasingly clear to Elsa as they began to descend the steps into the basement as fast as they could with Anna just a pace behind.

Hans had been counting on the fact that Jade would be tempted into reaching out for his connection with the Crimson Order and the Eternal King. Anything to restore her brother back to life. And she'd played right into his hand.

"Hurry!" Elsa shouted, her legs carrying her past Melody as adrenaline filled her up to overflowing. Getting to the locked door, she rammed her shoulder against it with every ounce of energy she had, and received a brief but painful jolt of electricity surging through her body.

Gasping in alarm, she tripped and fell backwards, clutching her shocked arm. From out of nowhere, Janus swooped in and caught her before she could hit the ground.

"Don't touch the door!" Elsa shouted hastily as Melody was the next to reach the door. "It's electrified!"

"What the hell is happening?" Anna came to an abrupt halt behind them.

"Seems clear enough to me." Janus said through gritted teeth as he helped Elsa steady herself. "He's trying to tempt Jade."

"To do what?" Tracy asked, arriving with Maui and Deirdre.

Anna pressed herself as close to the door as she could without touching it and Elsa did the same, cautious not to repeat her mistake for fear of getting a nasty shock again.

Peering through the bars of the steel door, Elsa saw that sure enough, Jade was in the room with Hans, inching closer to him as though she had entered the room just before the others had shown up. However, when Jade heard the commotion outside the door, she spun like a child who had just been caught in the act of doing something wrong.

"Don't." Jade hissed. "Don't touch the door and don't try to get in here. Stay out of my way."

"Let me." Maui stepped up to the door. Backing up two steps, he then took in a deep breath and threw his entire bodyweight against the door. Before he could touch the steel, an electric field surrounding the door intensified and sent magenta-blue tendrils of lightning passing through the demigod, who grunted in distress and dropped to his knees.

"I told you!" Jade hissed desperately. "Stay out of this! For your own sakes!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Elsa shouted, helping Maui to his feet with Janus' aid. "Jade, please! Don't trust him! He'll kill you without thinking twice!"

"On the contrary." Hans said smoothly to Jade. "I don't want to kill you. I want to help you."

"Jade, you fool! Don't trust him!" Tracy screeched. She followed up with a chant, a glowing orb of purple mist growing in her hands. When it grew large enough to engulf both hands, she tossed it against the door, but the electricity countered it, sparking brightly and illuminating the entire basement in a shade of purple. The door remained untouched.

"Stop! Please!" Anna yelled.

"I'm so glad you decided to come." Hans smiled at Jade as she approached him cautiously. "I see that at least one member of your little cabal has some sense after all."

"My brother," Jade said slowly. "He was killed not long ago by the Blue Wolves."

"I know. And I'm very sorry to hear that. You have my condolences."

"Jade! Get away from him!" Melody shouted.

"I don't need your condolences." Jade said acidly. "I know that it's been you and the Crimson Order behind the CAST the whole time. I should kill you, here and now."

Hans raised an eyebrow in amusement. "If you were going to, you already would have. But you believe I can be of service to you."

"Don't think for one moment that I don't want to see you in a grave, rotting for your war crimes. You and your friends are responsible for Jordan's death." Jade hissed. "But, like you said, I need you."

"For?"

She took a deep breath. "I want my brother brought back to life. The Crimson Order has access to the Eternal King who can restore life. He resurrected Kane, and built the Empress' armies. I need him to bring Jordan back."

Hans cocked his head. "I assume you're proposing a fair bargain. What would I get in return?"

"I'd do anything." Jade's tone went to one of pleading. "Anything to bring Jordan back to life. Please. He's all I've had since we were children. Anything you want."

Hans gave a pleasant chuckle. "Anything?"

"Jade!" Anna hollered.

"Don't!" Elsa shouted.

Jade ignored the voices outside the door and drew in another sharp breath. "Anything."

"I'd put in a good word with the High Priest and his acolytes." Hans leaned forward, arms still restrained behind his back. "But first, of course, I'd need to be able to get out of this damned chair, please."

Grudgingly, Jade went to the back of his chair and began undoing the knots that bound the continent's most wretched enemy. She intentionally avoided the gaze of the Warriors outside the door.

"Stop!" Maui threw his weight against the door, this time with more force but with the same result. He was thrown backwards by the massive electric jolt, and collided with Janus and Deirdre who were behind him.

"Jade, don't do this. Please! I know how much you want Jordan back, but you can't! Not like this!" Elsa pleaded.

"You don't know what it's like to lose the only person you've ever loved!" Jade snarled desperately. "You have Anna. She has her husband. All of you have people you care about. But me? Without Jordan I'm alone, and I'll be damned if I'm going to remain that way. I'm going to get my brother back, to hell with the consequences!"

Hans stood up and stretched elegantly. "That's better." He smiled, rubbing his wrists. "Now, there is something else you can do for me before I take my leave."

"I'm already giving you freedom." Jade spat. "What else do you want?"

Putting on his suit jacket and overcoat slowly, Hans regarded her with calm eyes. "Nothing too complex. Just an answer to a question that has been nagging me at the back of my mind. You see, the High Priest sent me to find an answer, but our dear friend Elsa has been rather uncooperative." Hans threw a mocking glance over his shoulder at Elsa. "I can't exactly return empty handed. It wouldn't really help my chances if I were to put in a good word for you."

"What do you want to know?"

A ghoulish smile played at the corner of Hans' lips. "Where is the League of Sorcerers hiding?"

"JADE!" Elsa screamed, her heart plummeting. "DON'T!"

Pausing, Jade's face twitched very slightly, and she appeared to consider her options. Then shaking her head and dropping her voice, she replied. "Swynvort Tower."

"NO!"

"Excellent." Hans smirked, and directed his gaze at Elsa. "See, was that really so hard?" He chuckled when he saw her furious indignation, and turned back to Jade. "I'll be in touch."

Dark clouds began to swirl, materialising out of absolutely nowhere and plunging the already dim room into further darkness. Leaning close to the door, she could make out the flapping fabrics of a couple of brown cloaks. Then gradually, the clouds cleared up like smoke dissipating into the air, leaving only Jade behind in the room, coughing and rubbing her eyes.

The electricity from the door faded, and for the third time, Maui threw his body against the steel door. This time, the door swung clean off its hinges and fell to the ground with an ear-piercing crash.

Elsa was the first one into the room, with Anna hot on her heels. They looked around as the last of the dark clouds cleared, and Elsa could feel herself growing slightly dizzy at the prospect of what her eyes had seen. Jade was alone, looking ashamed of herself and yet hopeful. The brown cloaks were nowhere to be seen. The second most powerful man in the Empire, the Chancellor of Exon, had escaped. They'd all played into his hand again.

Her world swirled a little as she stood in the room where Hans had been held prisoner. This cannot be happening.

Blinking, she turned her gaze to the chair again, as if that would magically make Hans appear bound to it. It didn't. She glared at it, gears whirring at the back of her mind to figure out what to do next.

"Jade, you idiot! Do you know what you've done?" Tracy grabbed Jade by the shoulders and shook her. She paused and turned to the rest of the Warriors. "What exactly did she do?"

"Of course I know what I did." Jade snapped, jerking away from Tracy's grasp. "How do you think I feel about this?"

"Damned if I know." Deirdre hissed. "You sold us out. The League of Sorcerers. Your own friends."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Jade scowled. "I didn't know what else to do. I have to get Jordan back, no matter the cost!"

"Jordan's gone. There's no bringing him back!" Maui protested. "We have no idea what will happen if the Eternal King even manages to resurrect him."

"I don't care." Jade snarled fiercely. "This is my only chance to get my brother back. I thought all of you would've understood." Her tone softened and she dipped her head as she slumped into the chair that Hans had vacated. She choked up. "I'm sorry, I had to do it. I can't…I can't live without Jordan."

"Jade," Anna bent and cautiously put a hand on Jade's shoulder. "What's done is done. What matters now is that we figure out what to do next."

"I'm sorry." Jade's voice quavered and she broke down. "I'm so sorry. I-I didn't see another way out."

"Are you alright?" Janus' voice broke Elsa from her trance as she watched it all unfold before her eyes.

"Yes. No." Elsa stuttered, still in a slight daze. "I don't know. Hans, he escaped. Again."

Janus nodded grimly. "I should've seen this coming."

"We should've seen this coming." Melody said, coming up to them. "But either we were too blind to see it, or Hans really is that smart."

"More likely the latter." Elsa gritted her teeth. "Subtle. With the Confederation's affairs under the Crimson Order's gaze, Hans would've known about Jordan's death."

"And so he placed himself in a trap and then banked on the hope that Jade would overhear his remark about the Eternal King and the unlimited powers at the Crimson Order's disposal." Janus said.

"You were right. He wanted us to hear everything." Melody agreed. "But Anna's right too. What's done is done. We need to act fast now, before anything else happens."

Janus nodded. "I agree. Now that Hans knows where the League is based, it won't be long before the Crimson Order sends a death squad to destroy Swynvort."

"Then we need to go." Elsa snapped herself out of her self-imposed stupor, a sudden rush of adrenaline filling her and supplanting the shock and daze that had been present a moment before. "The League and the refugees are in danger. We need to evacuate Swynvort."

The rest's ears perked up at Elsa's words. They turned from whatever they were talking about, and stared at Elsa.

"You've gotta be messing with us, right?" Maui was the first to speak. "Evacuate Swynvort?"

Elsa squared her jaw. "Yes."

"You're mad." Deirdre hissed.

"For once I agree with her." Tracy said.

"That's impossible, Elsa." Anna stood up and walked over to her. "You're talking about what, three hundred, four?"

"Eight hundred or more now." Elsa glanced over at the others. They had been the ones to fill her in after the great Stormtide escape and migration to Swynvort.

"Exactly!" Anna exclaimed. "How-"

"We'll figure something out along the way." Elsa said firmly. "We're desperately running out of time. Who knows how fast the Crimson Order will react to the news? Hans must be back with his report by now."

"She's right." Janus said. "We need to move, before the Crimson Order can consolidate enough forces to launch an attack."

"Alright, alright." Tracy made an unhappy noise, and then threw her hands out to the wall. Purple mist sparkled for a few moments, and then a Crossing Point was pulled open before them.

"Hang on." Deirdre said sharply, and glared at Jade. "She's staying here. We can't afford for her to be a liability in the field. Not after the stunt she just pulled here."

Elsa opened her mouth to say something, but closed it almost immediately. It was harsh, but Deirdre was right. Deep down, she didn't feel like she could trust Jade to do the right thing. Not in her unstable condition.

Jade narrowed her eyes but didn't argue.

Finally, Elsa felt like she needed to say something as the rest of the Warriors began to file through the Crossing Point after dipping their heads at Jade and going on.

"I'm sorry, Jade. But Deirdre's right." She said sympathetically. "You're not thinking clearly yet. And you deserve to have more rest. We shouldn't have pulled you back into the fold so soon. That's on me. I-"

"Just go." Jade shook her head. "Just go and save the League."

"Stay here. You'll be alright." Elsa then glanced at Anna, who gave her a small nod. She could depend on Anna to look after Jade for the time being.

Somewhat satisfied, Elsa turned to the Crossing Point and walked towards it. Then she stopped and turned again. Melody was standing with Anna, unbudging.

"Melody. You're not coming with us?"

She shook her head. "Not unless you really need me there. I've a feeling it's going to get overcrowded in Swynvort and you've no lack for allies over there."

"Alright." Elsa felt a little guilty. Had she unwittingly replaced Melody with Janus? She hoped that Melody didn't see it that way, but if it did, she didn't show it. Does Melody feel left out?

"I'll stay here with Anna in case anything else crops up." Melody reassured her, as if reading Elsa's mind.

"Right. We still got a lot of mopping up to do. Not to mention Confederation meetings to decide on our next course of action for the campaign." Anna added and a hint of anxiety creased her forehead. "Be careful out there, Elsa. It's going to be a madhouse."

"I will." Elsa said. "We'll be back when we're done. I promise." With that, she stepped through the portal of purple mist.