Chapter Twenty Six

Break of Dawn

ELSA

The sleep she had gotten was far from sound. It had barely been ten minutes - or so it felt - before Elsa had reluctantly mustered up all her willpower to rise and ready herself for the assault they were about to mount against the Empire.

Elsa groped about in the dark, not fully conscious yet as she tiredly made her way to the communal bathroom to freshen up. To her dismay, there was even a queue made up of all those who were going to be involved in the early morning mission.

"Morning, Frost." Jade glanced lazily at Elsa as she joined the queue.

"Didn't know that we had to queue to use the bathroom." Elsa groaned as she looked at the people in front of her. At the very front was Tracy, who had somehow managed to get up earlier than Elsa did. Usually she would've been the last to wake up in any given situation, but perhaps the adrenaline and restlessness coursing through Elsa's veins had been contagious and Tracy had been the first beneficiary of it.

"Welcome to communal living, Princess." Jade sniggered. "While you lived your life in a castle, Jordan and I lived in a province where this was the norm wherever we went."

"I can't imagine how anyone can live like this." Elsa looked round at the still pitch dark room, where people were strewn messily across the ground on thin bedrolls as if they were part of the army - but without the military discipline or organisation.

"Eh," Jade shrugged her shoulders sluggishly. "You get used to it after a while."

"Hopefully not for much longer, assuming we succeed today." Elsa took a step forward as someone got out of the bathroom and Tracy stepped into it.

"Yeah, then you can go back to living in the forest, or whatever it is you were doing before we found you." Jade chortled.

Elsa couldn't resist the urge any longer. "Jade,"

"What?"

"I'm…ummn…I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"For leaving the League," Elsa went on guiltily. "I felt that it was too much pressure at the time and thought that the best thing would be to leave. Being the Queen of Arendelle and the Pilgrim was too much. But that wasn't fair to you guys. All of you."

"Nah, it's cool." Jade said. "We all agreed and understood what you were going through. Not exactly, coz none of us ever ran a kingdom before, but we understood."

"You all...weren't angry with me?" Elsa ventured cautiously. Could it really be that all this time, the League of Sorcerers hadn't been furious with her for abandoning them?

"How could we be? After everything you'd been through, you deserved a good break." Jade said sympathetically. "But now you seem to be quite free these days, what with Anna running the kingdom as the new queen."

"Not anymore." Elsa muttered under her breath, but apparently it was loud enough for Jade to hear.

"Don't sweat it," Jade chuckled. "This'll all be over soon and you can go back to that forest."

"And you're okay with that? Me leaving again?"

"What can we say? We can't force you to stay if it makes you unhappy. Though you do make a great Pilgrim."

"Thanks. Let's just get through this first before we think about what comes next." Elsa smiled uneasily. In truth, she really hadn't considered what would come next. What would happen after they had defeated the Empire - if they didn't die trying that is - and life went back to normal? Would she return to the forest with the Northuldra? Or would she go back to assume her role as the Pilgrim and lead the League of Sorcerers once more? Or would she just stay with Anna and help her out in Arendelle?

Elsa shook her head and closed her eyes. One thing at a time.

###

By the time Elsa had refreshed herself and gotten out of the bathroom, the place had begun to show a little more life. People were moving about with logistics, no doubt still working to finish up from the previous night.

Elsa entered the makeshift meeting room for the Insurgency members, where those who would be involved were already waiting. Apparently they were all waiting for her.

She cleared her throat. "Sorry to keep everyone waiting. There was a long queue for the bathroom."

"We know." Melody said. Apparently Melody, like herself, was also not privy to living in conditions like this.

"Well, here we are." Ivon said in his rough voice, glancing around at everyone in the room. "The big day. You know your teams and your rules."

Everyone nodded, and Elsa was a little doubtful of how sure they all seemed to be. Could she be the only one who had somewhat of a premonition about all this?

"Good," Charlotte said. "We only have one shot, so let's make it count."

When she and the rest of the Warriors had walked out of the room, she turned to Melody.

"I have a bad feeling about this." She said uneasily.

Melody frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I can't explain it. It's just a horrible feeling that's flip-flopping about in my stomach. I can't help but feel like something's about to go wrong."

"The pre-mission jitters, huh?" Tracy slapped her on the back. "You've been out of action for a while. It's normal, remember?"

"I know, I know." Elsa's eyebrows furrowed a little and a tiny crease appeared on her forehead. "But this feels like…something else."

"Don't worry, alright?" Jade replied. "You'll be fine. Besides, you got me and Will to protect you."

"Very funny." Will said dryly.

Elsa pursed her lips, the frown still painted on her forehead. She couldn't put her finger on it, but there was something awfully strange about the whole thing, as if she could anticipate that something was about to go wrong today.

Nonetheless, she formed a comfortable and functional dark blue blouse with tight dark grey pants that would allow her mobility while running about in the Merchant's Bank. She had no doubt that her team would run into some form of conflict with the Exonian soldiers. It was inevitable, since their main goal was to draw attention away from the other team. So this is what I've become. A bank robber.

She pulled on a lightweight dark grey coat and tightened her boots. Even after the bath she had taken, nothing could shake the fatigue and lethargy from her body, but it seemed like she would have to make do and hope that when the time came, her reflexes and combat instincts would kick in again.

###

Led by Ivon, Elsa, Jade, Will and a few other insurgents stepped out of the Crossing Point that Tracy had conjured up for them. Without Tracy's magic, they would have had to sneak from building to building, street to street in hopes of not getting spotted by the First Imperials.

Emerging out onto the roof of a multi-storied building overlooking the Merchant's Bank in the heart of New Town where the kingdom's municipal buildings were clustered, Elsa glanced at the building across the road. Another Crossing Point opened up a few seconds later, and it was Melody, Tracy, Deirdre, Charlotte and a few other insurgents who stepped out of it. Tracy gave them a cheery wave, and Jade waved back in response.

Elsa smiled a little. She didn't know how people like Tracy and Jade could keep their spirits up in times like this. That was really something she needed to learn. Looking down over the rooftop, Elsa surveyed the ground below.

Even though the sun had barely risen, the roads below were already being patrolled by the First Imperial soldiers. They really lived up to their reputation, it seemed. Guards patrolled in pairs, with muskets rested against their shoulders as they prowled the streets, while others stood stiffly in front of the municipal buildings, bearing weapons as well.

"From what I can tell, the Merchant's Bank is heavily guarded, even at this hour." Ivon said, lowering a spyglass from his eye. "Four guards at the entrance, three more up on the roof facing three different sides of the building." He pointed at the roof of the Merchant's Bank which was the building beside the one they were currently on. "See their weapons?"

"Sharpshooters." Elsa narrowed her eyes. This was not going to be easy, but then again, what was she expecting?

Ivon nodded. "And we don't even know how many of them are inside the bank. We might be running straight into a firing squad."

"That's where our powers come in." Jade grinned, electricity sparking briefly from her fingertips.

"At this range, what can we do?" One of the other insurgents asked. "Our pistols don't have the range to shoot them from here."

"For starters," Elsa glanced at Will. "We could have a mini storm distract them for a bit."

"That could work."

"And I can add on my lightning to zap the guns out of their hands." Jade added.

"That's good." Elsa said. "But it's not going to stall them for long. With their weapons knocked out of their hands, we only have…" she glanced at Ivon. "About thirty seconds before they retrieve them?"

"Maybe less."

"Then we need to move fast." Elsa glanced round at everyone. "I'll make a bridge made out of ice that'll connect this rooftop with that one. Don't worry, it's perfectly stable and strong enough to hold all of us at the same time."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Remember," Ivon cautioned. "The plan is to draw attention but keep ourselves alive. We're making it out of this intact, hear me?"

Everyone nodded and muttered words of acknowledgement, and Elsa could feel the air of tension and jitters so thick that she was sure she could cut it with a knife.

"Get ready." Elsa said, crouching low with her body facing towards the rooftop of the Merchant's Bank. The gnawing feeling was still present in the pit of her stomach but she brushed it off. There was no time for doubt now, only the danger that lay ahead of her.