Chapter Eighteen

I am Eternal

MELODY

Her heart hammered in her chest as her eyes darted to her allies. Deirdre, Maui and Eleanor were as ready as can be, though the former two seemed unsure of what to expect while the latter seemed ready to have her revenge.

"It's been three minutes." Eleanor snapped impatiently. "I'm not waiting any longer." Before anyone could stop her, the ex-Empress threw open the doors like she still owned the place, and marched into the audience chambers. It was too late to stop her, of course, and so the Warriors followed closely behind. Melody tightened her hold on her compound bow, and readied herself for a fight if necessary.

Her eyes scanned their surroundings. The audience chambers was as grand as it could possibly get, with high ceilings, chandeliers, golden furniture, red carpets, and a second storey balcony. Perched behind the parapet of the balcony and keeping a low profile was Janus, but he wouldn't have been visible if not for the long rifle barrel that was poking out discreetly over the parapet. Well, that was the signal that he was ready all right.

Melody knew that he would pull the trigger if things were about to get out of hand. Normally, she would've vehemently disapproved of him assassinating a man, but this was no longer just a man. Hans was now the Eternal King, if Eleanor's words were to be believed. And so this one time, killing was on the table, but she wasn't sure that a bullet or even an explosion would take Hans out. Nonetheless, they would have to extract some information from him first. They needed to know where Elsa and the others were.

The ex-Chancellor sat on the throne, dressed in a black suit with long coat tails, a crimson shirt with a purple tie, and golden epaulettes on his shoulders. His hair was slicked back neatly with wax, and his face was cleanly shaven. But even from this distance, Melody could see that something was different. She hadn't met him that many times before, but even she knew that something had changed about him even though she was still a distance away.

Hans looked mildly amused as the Warriors barged into the audience chambers and marched across the long red carpet which seemed never-ending, but he remained seated in the spacious golden throne with no trace of fear or discomfort on his features.

"Welcome, all." His voice carried across the room, seeming to amplify and be chillingly quiet both at the same time. "I've been expecting you."

So it's true. Melody felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. We're only here because Hans wanted us to be.

"Hans," Eleanor snarled loudly as she and the rest advanced. "You bastard, you're going to pay."

"Pay?" Hans cocked his head curiously. "What for?" He frowned. "Oh."

"You will regret betraying me." Eleanor spat. "No one crosses me and goes to bed happy."

Hans chuckled calmly. "After all I've done, and you only cared that I betrayed you? Not even that I've taken your Empire from you?"

"That and so much more." Eleanor's pitch rose a little. "I can't believe I ever thought you loved me."

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Eleanor. It wasn't personal. Just ask Anna."

"Enough, Hans." Melody called out firmly as she motioned for the four of them to halt. They stopped about fifteen feet away from the throne, which sat above a tiny rise in the ground with shallow steps leading up to it.

From the peripheral of her eye, Melody checked to make sure they were all prepared should things go south. On her left was Deirdre, who had her hands hovering by her side, ready to rain hellfire down upon Hans. Maui stood on her right, fish hook resting against his great palm. And of course, the newest member of their little band - Eleanor - stood a few feet in front of Hans, fuming with rage and vengeance on her features.

Hans regarded Melody with curious eyes. "Princess Melody of Denmark, isn't it?"

"That's right."

"Pleasure to meet you." Still seated, Hans dipped his head. "We haven't officially been introduced till now."

"Don't worry, I know exactly who you are." Melody said, plain-faced.

"I'm honoured." Hans sat back in his throne comfortably, as though his guests posed no threat to him at all. "I suppose that has something to do with our dear friends Anna and Elsa?"

"Yes." Melody answered. "Speaking of Elsa, we're here for her and our other friends."

Hans' eyebrows furrowed slightly as he steepled his fingers. "You've come to rescue Elsa, the Elemental Sorceress and the Ha'naeth?"

"Yes."

"Hmmn." Hans frowned. "That could prove inconvenient."

He's toying with us. Maintaining control, Melody continued. "We're not here to fight. We just want our friends back."

"But you see, I don't think I can do that." Hans said apologetically, as though he really meant it.

"And why not?"

"Because they're a part of my plan."

"What plan?"

"Why, to draw you here of course." Hans spread his hands. "I did all of this to get you here, though I'm a little disappointed Anna and her lowborn husband didn't come. Well, I suppose they do have their hands full with Field Marshal Kane's attacks. I'm rambling again, aren't I?" He chuckled good-humouredly. "As I was saying, I'm glad you're here. I was half beginning to think you'd all died in the snow."

"The blizzards," Melody gritted her teeth. "You forced Elsa to conjure them, didn't you?"

"That is correct."

"Where is she?"

Hans clicked his tongue. "Somewhere safe where she can't stir up trouble."

"With Lord Magnus and the Crimson Order? Where are they?"

"My, you're relentlessly determined." He looked strangely at her. "I admire that."

"Where are they keeping our friends?" Maui spoke up, slapping his fish hook into his meaty palm.

Hans glanced at him, unaffected by his threat. "The ex-demigod, am I right? What threat do you think you pose to me, now that you're nothing more than a man?"

"Well at least I'm a man." Maui said. "Ten times the man you'll ever be."

"I hate to disappoint, but I'm no longer just a man. No, I'm more than a man." Hans' eyes gleamed dangerously.

"Yeah, we know you sold your worthless soul to the Eternal King." Deirdre retorted.

"Wrong. I didn't sell my soul to the Eternal King. I am the Eternal King." Hans spread his hands. "I am Exon's Last Emperor, and I am eternal."

"You're mad." Eleanor shouted. "You're never going to rule the Empire. My Empire."

"My dear Eleanor," Hans said sympathetically. "What are you going to do? You've already tried to kill me."

"Then we're just going to have to try harder." Melody said quietly.

"Excuse me?"

The crack of a rifle echoed through the air as a pink-white flare stabbed out from the balcony above. A bullet whizzed through the air at a terrifying speed, making a beeline straight for Hans' head. But before it could reach his scalp, he suddenly picked the lead ball out of the air with his fingers.

JANUS

Damn it. Janus clenched his jaw as he watched Hans' hand move with supernatural speed, catching the bullet between his fingers deftly before they could even come close to grazing his skin.

He saw Deirdre and Melody gasp, watching as the Emperor finally got to his feet and waved the bullet at them.

"You thought a bullet was going to stop me?" Hans laughed in amusement. "You really have no clue what you're up against, do you?" He turned to the balcony to finally regard Janus, nodding at him as though he'd known the mercenary had been there all along. "I've been wondering when you were going to make that shot."

Janus stared into the cold, unfeeling eyes of the Emperor, and felt his heart sink. Damn it. So that had failed bitterly. And to think that he'd hoped the ambush would catch Hans off guard.

"The powers of the demon augment my senses." Hans tapped the side of his head. "I heard you coming through that ventilation pipe."

Shit. Janus began to reach for his bow which he'd laid beside his backpack. He still had a trick or two up his sleeve.

"Just remember. Whatever you've thought of, I've already prepared for." Hans called up to Janus. "Don't you think I'd have had the best vantage points covered?"

A hand yanked on Janus' collar from behind, and he felt himself being pulled backwards as if he weighed nothing more than a stray cat. Before Janus could grapple free to get a look at his assailant, he was tossed against the wall and felt pain shoot through his back. Blinking away the blurriness, his eyes focused to see a monster of a man dressed in the brown cloak of a Mage Slayer.

The assassin was bald, his face pockmarked, and he had the eyes of a wild predator. Even with the loose flowing robe sleeves, Janus could tell that the man had arms the size of someone's thighs, and if his broad shoulders were any indication, the man had a beast of a frame which Janus would have a hard time evading. He was at least a head and a half taller than Janus, and Janus was by no means short. The man was a giant.

"I see you've met Beast." A familiar voice called in a Bastrusian accent.

Janus' eyes darted to his right.

"Venom."

"Ah, Prometheus. You remember me. I'm honoured." Venom said in her thick accent, flicking her hair behind her shoulders. She was unhooded like her muscle-bound companion, and in the decently lit conditions of the audience chambers, Janus could see that she had pretty features and a face that marked her as a girl in her late teens, but a deadly one nonetheless. Two tiny blades slid down her sleeves into her palms.

Janus hurled himself out of the way as she tossed the poison-tipped blades at him, only to have his arm caught by the large man. Once again, he found himself being thrown across the balcony like a rag doll, and managed to break his fall in time. The giant - or Beast - had tossed him near his backpack and weapons. Big mistake.

Rolling out of the way as another blade flipped at him end on end, Janus picked up his bow and nocked an arrow from the quiver on his back. He shot the arrow straight through the shin of the giant. Beast grimaced, but barely, and continued to advance towards Janus with arms outstretched. Before he could get within reach, Janus shot two more arrows into both his legs in rapid succession, and then dove to safety as the giant made a lunge at him. The giant sprawled heavily, arrowheads sticking out from the back of his legs.

Rolling to a squatted position, Janus pivoted on his left foot and shot an arrow straight into Beast's spine. Finally, this elicited a loud growl of pain from the giant. As the Mage Slayer tried to reach behind to pull the arrow out with much difficulty, Janus bulled forward, slamming the riser of his bow into the small of the Beast's back and pushing the arrow deeper into the wound.

The assassin roared, swatting Janus off his back like a fly. Janus ducked, yanked one of the arrows out of his thick leg, and jammed it into the giant's back.

His instincts screamed at him to move, and he rolled to the side just as Venom swung a long bladed knife at him. She grunted in exasperation and swiped at Janus again, who evaded this attack with relative ease. Ignoring the pain lancing through his body, Janus tore his falchion out of the scabbard and parried yet another mad strike from the assassin, and riposted.

Venom appeared to be a well skilled duelist, who was able to fend off his counter attack and return a riposte of her own. Janus' falchion was longer and broader than her own blade, but she was holding her own all right. By now, Janus had lost his element of surprise, and was too busy trying to hold off the two assassins to turn his focus back to assassinating the Emperor. He could hear some commotion going on below, which meant that the fighting had already begun.

His hands were occupied though. Janus moved on the offensive, using his longer and broader blade to force Venom to backpedal. Unfortunately, the giant had joined the fray again. Growling, Beast wrapped his thick arms around Janus' midsection and heaved. Tossed over the assassin's head, Janus collided with the nearest pillar messily, unable to break his fall. The sword clattered out of his hand, but he snatched it up again instinctively, ignoring the pain which threatened to plunge him into oblivion. This time, it took a little longer for his vision to clear. Thankfully, Beast moved slowly enough, and Janus spun to the side, bringing his falchion sword up against the side of the assassin's knee as he tried to crush his shoulder into Janus' face. There was barely a spray of blood as the blade cut into the Mage Slayer's thick skin.

Grunting in frustration, Janus swung his body sideways as Venom hurled another poison tipped blade at him. Sword and compound bow in hand, he fended off another blade and crossed weapons as Beast tried to bear down on him. Pulling away at the last minute, Janus let the giant's momentum carry him forward, and drove his knee into the Mage Slayer's nose. That done, he dove sideways, dropping his falchion and drawing a special pellet from his belt. He hurled it at Beast's feet, and there was a loud but controlled explosion, the impact sending the giant flying off the balcony and crashing into one of the pillars on the opposite side of the audience chambers.

Whirling round, Janus wasn't surprised to find that Venom had disappeared. Wherever she'd gone, Janus knew he didn't have time to give chase. Scooping up his rifle, he fished out a small pellet from his belt that was the size of a lead ball. Removing his powder horn, he stooped to a knee and began the process of loading his rifle again. He had bigger fish to fry.

MELODY

The Order's assassins and priests came out of nowhere. It seemed that Hans didn't like getting his hands dirty, even though he was now literally an immortal. Instead, he preferred to sacrifice Lord Magnus' own zealots to do his dirty work for him while he enjoyed the entertainment.

"Cover me!" Melody shouted to Maui as she nocked another arrow and spun, turning her back on one of the cloaked human priests who had a knife in hand. She aimed at a target in front of her and let fly in the same second, and her arrow struck one of the brown cloaks in the chest. Behind her, she heard Maui grunt as he stopped the charge of another.

She turned to see him lift one of the priests and toss him into a pillar which chipped off bits of stone and plaster. Even without his demigod powers, Maui was still a fearsomely strong individual to be reckoned with. He let out a signature war cry - one Melody hadn't heard in quite some time - and rammed another two assassins down with nothing but his outstretched arms. Picking them up, he slammed both their temples together, and let them crumple to the ground in a heap. He turned round, breathing hard.

"We can't keep this up forever." Maui said, sweat beginning to drip from his face. "They just keep coming."

"You're right. We can't." Melody glanced to the far side of the audience chambers, where Deirdre and Eleanor were fighting separately against their own share of Mage Slayers and human priests alike.

Deirdre was roasting brown cloaks with ease, each one burning to a crisp with his cloak set ablaze. Eleanor, on the other hand, was tearing through some of her old allies with her sharp-edged black tendrils, making a beeline straight for Hans. Meanwhile, Hans stood in front of his throne, hands clasped behind his back and watching the entire fight.

"We need to get to Hans!" Melody said to Maui as she slammed the riser of her bow into one of the priests who tried to grab her.

"And then what?"

"I don't know!" Melody admitted, feeling well and truly outmatched for the first time in a major confrontation like this one. This was a losing battle, and she knew it. We've fought terrorists, witches, demons and generals. But how the hell do we beat an immortal?

"Where's Janus?" Maui shouted, sidestepping another priest, grabbing his cloak and hurling him across the room like a handball.

"I don't know." She repeated, grimacing as she drove her bow into the sternum of another brown cloak, and executed a perfect roundhouse kick which floored him in an instant. Where the hell is Janus? He's supposed to be giving us the high ground advantage!

In frustration, Melody looked up to the balcony, wondering if he'd betrayed them. To her relief, she saw a rifle barrel swing into place just at that moment, sliding out over the parapet and adjusting to bear on Hans.