Chapter Three

Higher Stakes

ELSA

Her memory was still hazy, but she vaguely remembered a flurry of action and intense altercations somewhere in the forest. So when she woke up with a splitting headache to find herself staring up at the roof of a fairly wide tent, Elsa was rather confused and disoriented. The last thing she remembered was sitting somewhere in a forest with her back against a rather rough tree trunk.

Trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind, she decided to move around a little, and let out an involuntary whimper when the sudden movement of standing up from the bed made manifest the throbbing pain in her sides. Her hand immediately flew to her left side, which hurt more than the right for some reason. Both her ribs felt sore, and her body ached all over. Her head pounded as well.

Nursing her sides with a pained expression on her face, Elsa surveyed the tent, hoping to find some answers to her questions. By the looks of the tent and some of the medical equipment, this was probably a tent for casualties, and whoever had brought them to this tent must have found her and the others in quite a bad state. But right now, there weren't any of the medics or surgeons around. To her disappointment, she found it empty apart from herself and a large figure still asleep in the corner.

Upon closer inspection, she realised that it was Maui, and things started to become a little clearer. There was the vague memory of mounting an intense chase through the forest and Maui clearing the way for both of them. But what were we chasing? Rubbing her temples, Elsa found herself frustrated that things were still so foggy and unclear to her. What'd happened in that forest, and what happened to Maui? And where the hell are the rest who were with us? Janus, Melody, Tracy and Deirdre?

Elsa decided that the best thing to do would be to venture out of the tent in hopes that she would be able to paint a better picture of what was going on. There didn't seem to be any other change of clothes lying around for her and she wasn't exactly indecently dressed, so she slowly staggered out of the tent in her nightgown. The sight that met her only added more confusion to her muddled state.

It was night and soldiers were all around, tents everywhere. She was in the middle of a camp, but where? Hadn't she been in the forest? Eyebrows knitted, Elsa ran a hand through her unkempt hair, trying to make sense of it all. It seemed like she was back in a Coalition camp, probably after being found injured in the forest with the others. That would explain things, but there were still quite a lot of gaps to fill in her memory, which was slowly coming back to her now in bits and pieces.

"Elsa!"

She turned to see Anna hurriedly dismounting from her horse a short distance from her, nearly spraining her ankle. Where'd her sister come from? Elsa found herself speechless and too slow to react as Anna hurtled forward through the thick snow and hugged her cautiously and gently. Thankfully too, for her body still felt like it'd been hit by a horse.

Anna then led her back into the medical tent, where Elsa sat at the side of her bed, feeling exhausted already after the short exploration. Her sister hurriedly poured her a glass of water, and she took it gratefully, gulping it down in two long pulls. The water felt like a godsend to her dry throat, and she instantly felt a lot better.

"Where are we?" Elsa asked, her own voice sounding strange in her ears after the damage wrought by the Mage Slayer with that awful sonic scream. Holli must have used her sorcery to heal her and the others after they'd been brought back.

"Orlegdom." Anna answered, and Elsa gave her a confused look. "A small village where we were supposed to buy supplies and food. But it's gone now."

"What?" Elsa asked, her mind still fuzzy.

"Long story." Anna shook her head. "Suffice to say, we're in deeper shit than we thought. We're going to have a serious food shortage. Anyway, what do you remember from the forest?"

"Everything's still a blur." Elsa admitted. More pieces were coming back to her now. She remembered facing off against several assassins in brown cloaks…the Crimson Order and Lord Magnus. And she also remembered being defeated and the soldiers pouring into the woods to the rescue. Anna had been the last person she'd seen before she blacked out.

"You've been out for three days." Anna said worriedly. "Holli told me you just needed time to recover from whatever…" she gestured at Elsa. "…happened to you. I took a battalion of Arendellians and came after you and the rest. Imagine my shock when I found the brown cloaks standing over you guys. And when we chased them further into the woods, we found you and Maui." Anna sat beside her on the bed, which creaked loudly under their combined weight. "So what did happen?"

"Melody and the others didn't tell you?" Elsa said in an attempt to stall, for she herself couldn't really say for certain what had happened, though more pieces of the puzzle had started to fit. She more or less remembered what had happened that night in the forest, and it certainly wasn't pleasant.

"They told me what they knew." Anna's voice went tight. "Jade agreed to join the Order."

And there was that too. Elsa clenched her jaw. Magnus had manipulated and strong-armed her into agreeing to becoming a Mage Slayer, all for the half-baked promise of having Jordan resurrected from the dead. He'd turned one of their own against them.

"She was in a very bad place and I was too busy to address it and help her." Elsa admitted morosely. "This is on me."

"It's on all of us." Anna corrected her. "We all should've paid more attention."

Elsa nodded regretfully. "And now she's in Magnus' employ. We failed to save her from the Order."

"There were assassins, the brown cloaks." Anna said.

"Yes." Elsa said, a string of memories suddenly hitting her like a flood tide. The way she'd fended off the Mage Slayer with the sonic scream with Maui's help, and how they'd bashed through the forest only to be overwhelmed by the other assassins protecting Magnus and Jade. She rubbed her temples and groaned.

"More water?" Anna reached for the cup.

"No, no." Elsa waved away her offer. "I remember now. We were chasing after Magnus. He took off with Jade and a few of the other Mage Slayers, leaving the rest behind to kill us. We caught up with them but we underestimated their powers. The demons they carried were…" she remembered the inky substance coiling around her body and squeezing the air out of her and the pain wrecking her body, and shuddered. "…positively deadly."

"Do I want to know?"

"No, probably not." Elsa's hand went to her ribs again, as if the thought of her struggle against the cursed Mage Slayers was so vividly real. "But suffice to say, we took quite a beating."

Anna's expression became pained. "Hell. And what about Maui?"

This bit was coming back to Elsa too. It was horrific. The gloved Mage Slayer removing his glove and making physical contact with Maui to absorb his supernatural abilities from him. The way Maui had roared in pain and collapsed shortly afterwards…

Elsa cast an anxious glance over at Maui, and immediately got to her feet, ignoring the screams and protests of her body. She waved away Anna's help and went over to Maui's side. He was still breathing heavily, his massive frame heaving with every breath he took. There weren't any visible signs of injuries, but she knew that the damage done to him was far worse.

She put a gentle hand on his arm but he didn't stir. Hot tears pressed against her eyes furiously, and she blinked them away. "I'm sorry," She whispered, half to herself and half to the unconscious demigod. "I'm sorry."

"What-" Anna looked bewildered. "What's going on? What happened to Maui?"

"They took his powers." Elsa said, her throat going very tight and the words came out as a choke. "I saw it with my own eyes. His…demigod abilities…gone."

Anna swore. "Is this…this can't be happening."

"I wish it wasn't real," Elsa wiped her eyes. "But I remember now. As clear as day. The Mage Slayer with gloves. He…absorbed Maui's powers somehow." Her eyes hadn't left his heaving frame, and she wondered if he could hear them speaking.

"Maybe it's just temporary." Anna sounded like she too was grasping at straws. "Maybe the Mage Slayer just drained him and he'll recharge. Maybe his powers will come back."

"I don't know." Elsa whispered, and ever so gently touched the demigod's arm. He'd gone through so much together with them that she couldn't imagine him being out of the fight like this. Never before had she ever seen him so banged up. "We've already lost so many of our friends. First Will. Then Jordan. And now Jade. We can't afford to lose Maui too."

"We won't." Anna insisted. "He's stronger than anyone we know. He's a demigod, for crying out loud. He hasn't survived for more than a thousand years in this business for nothing, you know."

"I know, but-" Elsa swallowed and glanced down at Maui again. "-he's probably never had his powers taken from him like this before."

Anna looked pensive, and her eyes dropped to the ground. "I guess not."

Exhaling a shuddery sigh, Elsa closed her eyes and uttered up a few words that she supposed was a prayer or plea. "Please. Please come back to us."

Subconsciously, she'd been expecting a response of some sort, and she found herself feeling distraught when there was no reply. More tears escaped and rolled down her cheek, falling on the demigod's large arm.

"Come on." Her sister said, putting her hand on Elsa's arm and pulling her gently to her feet. "We should find you a tent and get you settled down to rest."

Elsa took a moment to steady her breathing. "I've rested enough." With a sigh of resolve, she looked at Anna. "I should stay here and keep watch on Maui."

"There's no telling when he'll wake," Anna protested. "Besides, it's not like he's going to get up and just walk out of the camp. I'll have some of the Queen's Guard keep watch."

"How's a demigod supposed to get any sleep around here?"

Her heart leaping in her chest, Elsa whirled round, and so did Anna. Maui was still lying on the bed, but his eyes were now fluttering slightly.

"Maui!" Elsa and Anna both said at the same time, rushing back to his side.

Elsa studied him. The demigod's bruises and cuts hadn't healed, which was a bad sign. With his powers, his wounds would have disappeared already by now, and in spite of his huge, muscle bound frame, he looked frail and weak, which was a very unwelcome change.

"How do you feel?" Anna was the first to speak again.

Maui closed his eyes and groaned softly. "Terrible. Feels like a building collapsed on me."

"Hold on," Anna shot to her feet, and gripped Elsa's arm tightly. "I'll go find the others and tell them to come over."

Still slightly dazed and overwhelmed, Elsa nodded dumbly as Anna bolted out of the medical tent and into the night. Another long draught of cold air blew into the tent, and she watched Maui shiver. That's not good.

Casting about frantically, Elsa found a thin blanket and hurriedly pulled it over his trembling figure and tucked the corners of the blanket below the mattress.

"You're cold." She said, not knowing whether she'd meant it as a question or a statement.

"Yeah." Maui groaned. "I've…never felt that way before. Guess that's a first."

"When did you wake?" Elsa asked, suddenly horrified at the prospect that he'd heard everything the two of them had been discussing over his sleeping body.

"When you two came back into the tent and started talking."

So he'd heard everything. She averted her eyes, a little embarrassed.

"Where are we?" Maui asked.

"We're back in the Coalition camp. Anna said we're near a village called Orlegdom, I think. The column marched today and the medics must have transported us with the supply wagons and carts." Elsa paused. "What do you remember?" She didn't know if he was suffering the same side effects she had when she'd just woken up. Even now, not everything was fully clear to her, but she had more than enough pieces of the puzzle to piece together whatever had taken place in the forest.

"I remember everything." Maui said grimly, pushing himself up into a seated position and a couple of his joints gave cracking noises as one would expect from a regular human. "Us getting attacked and overwhelmed by those demons. That Mage Slayer's hand against my chest, sucking the sorcery and the powers that keep me immortal. His touch burnt like hell."

Elsa winced. No doubt he'd gone through pain, but she didn't want to imagine how bad it was. "It's true then?"

"Yeah," Maui nodded forlornly. "I…I feel different now that my powers are…gone."

"I can't believe this is happening." Elsa muttered, running a hand through her unkempt hair.

Just then, the tent flap rustled and the Warriors began to pour into the room. Melody was the first, followed by Tracy, Deirdre, Anna and finally Janus. Vonco, Holli, Cornelius, Cova and a few other of the more senior League members joined them, standing apart at a respectable distance as the Warriors crowded around Maui and Elsa.

Elsa braced herself as Janus came towards her and winced when he embraced her in a tight hug.

"Ow." She let out a tiny whimper as her side lit up with pain.

He let go of her instantly and stepped back in alarm. "Sorry." Guiltily, he reached out and touched her arm gently. "You're hurt. I shouldn't have-"

"It's okay." Elsa gave him a small smile, though her body still ached. "I'm just still feeling a little sore, but I'm alright."

Deflating considerably, Janus caressed her cheek with the back of his gloved hand. He was in his mercenary blacks, but without the mask and hood. The bow was slung across his back together with his quiver, and his sword by his side, as though he was prepared for a battle that could erupt at any moment.

"And you?" Elsa asked, holding his hand.

"Same." He rubbed the back of his head with his off hand. "The assassins did a real number on all of us. We might have bitten off more than we could chew this time."

"Well damn, you're alright!" Tracy said a little too loudly, interrupting the couple's reunion. She lowered her volume when she got a few stares from the others. "Wait." She turned to Maui. "You're both alright, aren't you?"

Elsa glanced at Maui.

"Getting there." Maui grinned ruefully at her.

"Are you sure?" Melody said quietly. "You don't look too good."

Elsa glanced over at Melody and the others, and finally her eyes met Anna's. Apparently her sister hadn't spread the word yet. Next, she caught Maui's eye, and he gave her a small nod of acknowledgement. It was time they broke the news. Elsa took a deep breath.

"When Maui and I broke off to chase Magnus and Jade," Elsa began slowly. "We were overwhelmed by the Mage Slayers accompanying them. There was one of the assassins. He-" she glanced over at Maui again, feeling helpless, not knowing how to phrase things.

"He did something to me." Maui picked up where she left off. "He made contact," he placed a hand on his own chest. "And took my powers from me. I'm…no longer a demigod."

There was a horrified silence. Everyone glanced at one another, not knowing how to respond or react, and Elsa didn't blame them. She was just as dumbfounded and at a loss for what to do. What could they do now?

"Could it just be temporary?" Deirdre suggested, echoing what Anna had said earlier.

"Yeah," Tracy chimed in. "You know, like, you'll regenerate your strength over time? Get back into the fight and kill the assassin who did this to you?"

"I don't think my powers are coming back." Maui sounded confident as though he'd accepted his fate. "I can feel the difference. Somehow, I know it. I'm no longer a demigod. I'm…human. A man."

Another long silence.

"So what are we going to do?" Anna asked in a small voice.

"I don't know." Melody said quietly as well.

Elsa glanced round. She knew that they were all thinking it, even though no one said it audibly. Maui was the strongest among them, and with his demigod abilities and immortality gone, he was effectively out of the fight. And that meant they stood even less of a chance in taking down the Crimson Order when the time came. What now?

"We carry on." Maui stood up, his massive frame still towering over them in spite of the absence of his powers. "Nothing's changed."

"Everything's changed." Janus corrected him.

Tracy nodded. "What he said. If what you say is true and you're just a man, you're gonna end up as a liability if we face the Order."

"Tracy!" Elsa exclaimed, glaring at the girl.

"Okay, maybe I could've phrased that better." Tracy said sheepishly.

"I hate to admit it, but Tracy's got the right idea." Melody looked at Maui. "You're no longer a demigod. If you go out there and fight the Mage Slayer again, you won't stand a chance."

"Woman, with or without my powers, I'm still a fighter." Maui puffed out his muscle-laden chest. "Nothing's changed. So what if I don't have my powers? I'm still stronger and faster than the average soldier. Besides," he glanced round at the rest. "You're going to need all the help you can get in the coming fight."

"You're serious." Elsa said in a questioning way.

Maui nodded. "I am. This changes nothing. We'll find Jade and save her before Lord Magnus turns her into one of his personal assassins. We're not losing anyone else."

"A hell of a statement." Deirdre said hesitantly. "You sure we can do it?"

"We have to." Melody squared her shoulders. "We don't exactly have any other choice. Now that we know they exist, they're going to come for us with everything they got, and they won't stop until they kill us, the League and wipe out the entire Coalition." She paused. "We have to take the fight to them."

"You're nuts." Tracy snorted, and shrugged nonchalantly. "But what the hell. Count me in."

Elsa saw that the rest were slowly showing signs of agreement, though still hesitant. She herself felt apprehensive about this entire thing. Letting Maui into the field without his powers? It felt so reckless, yet they were all so desperate that they didn't really have any other choice.

"It's settled then." Anna said. "But we can discuss our next steps tomorrow. We should all get some rest before our next move. It's late, and the Coalition is leaving at dawn."

Everyone began to murmur, and they shuffled out of the tent to return to the side of the camp where the League of Sorcerers had pitched their tents. Maui himself went to join them, but Elsa hung back with Anna as well as Janus.

"Come." Anna gestured to Elsa and Janus to follow her. "On the way to find the League, I left a message with Hayley to get the royal staff to set up another tent for both of you."

"Thanks." Elsa said absentmindedly as she followed Janus and Anna through the camp towards where the royal tent stood in the middle of the Arendellians' side of the camp. Her mind was still swimming with thoughts, namely Maui's decision to get back in the fight. She had a unsettled feeling deep in the pit of her stomach.

Nonetheless, it was too late. She'd been around Maui long enough to know that once he'd had set his mind on something, there was nothing she could do to stop him. Besides, it was what he wanted, in spite of the others' apprehension.

Anna led both Elsa and Janus to a tent that had been made ready for the couple. She told them that she would be in the tent beside them if they needed anything. Again, Elsa and Janus thanked Anna before slipping into their tents. Their tent was rather spartan, but Elsa really didn't mind. It lacked furniture or anything fancy, but the essentials such as the bedrolls, thick fur blankets, an oil lamp and a pitcher of water were all there, which was all they needed to get through the cold night before heading out at dawn.

"Finally." Janus sank to the floor and began to unlace his boots. "I thought we'd never get any privacy."

Elsa let out a weak chuckle, and pushed their bedrolls together so that both were joined. Then, she sat down on one of the bedrolls. She couldn't remember the last time that the two of them had had any time to settle down alone and enjoy each others' company, regardless of the dire circumstances around them. For once, they could enjoy a night alone before facing their looming problems again in the morning.

Janus tugged off his boots and set them beside his bedroll. He stripped to his shorts and cast his uncomfortably armoured mercenary blacks aside. Elsa couldn't help but let her eyes linger on his perfect figure. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at Elsa, who was just dressed in a simple nightgown.

"Don't you ever get cold?"

"Rarely." She blushed and giggled, ready to forget all of her problems just for tonight. His charm never failed to lift her spirits. Motioning for him to join her, she lifted the blanket to let him into the bedroll beside her.

He gladly accepted the invitation and shifted to get under the warm sheets. Snuggling close, Elsa rested her head on his chest and exhaled softly in contentment. Being with him just seemed to make everything else melt away, till all that was left in the world was just the two of them.

"I have to admit, I never thought our relationship would be normal." Janus' smooth baritone voice was music to her ears, and her body quivered a little as she pressed her body close to his under the sheets. "But this, this is insane. We're deep in enemy territory and we could be attacked by supernatural assassins at any time. Not to mention it's freezing cold."

"The cold part never did bother me." Elsa teased him. "But well, this is probably as normal as it's ever going to get for us."

"I hope not." Janus said quickly. "When this is over and if we're still left standing, we should get away from it all. Up into the mountains somewhere, far away from the rest of the world. Far away from-" he tried to gesture in the direction of the tent entrance, where tens of thousands of tents lay beyond, but failed to do so because the blanket restricted his movements. "-all of this."

"Sounds good to me." Elsa smiled. "You know, before the war, I was happy with my life in the Enchanted Forest with the Northuldra. Maybe we could go back after we're finished here."

"Maybe. Here's hoping we make it through. But I must admit," he paused. "I've never been so…uncertain. So…"

"Afraid?"

"Yes." He said in a low voice. "And I hate to admit it."

"Well, you're not alone." Elsa smiled, putting an arm around his waist. "I'm scared and unsure too. All of us are. We've fought witches, rogue sorcerers, the CAST and the Imperial Horde. But the Crimson Order…"

"Is different." Janus finished.

"And that's what makes them so frightening. But we have to keep moving forward one step at a time. As my sister would say: just do the next right thing."

"Wise words." Janus closed his eyes.

Elsa wanted to say something else, but then she heard the quiet breathing beside her, and decided that it was time for them to settle down. Snuggling up closer beside Janus, she closed her eyes. For one night, she was going to enjoy his company, for she didn't know when she would get the chance next, given the uncertain lives they led. Just for tonight.