Chapter Fifty Seven

Fire and Ice

ELSA

A cry from one of the soldiers was all it took to have all the weapons swing round and trained on her and Deirdre, and time froze as the muskets seemed to cock in slow motion.

Stupid, Elsa gnashed her teeth and swore silently as her mind worked hard to think of something that wouldn't result in the two of them being shot dead. I should have seen this coming.

They had waltzed through the entrance of the west wing after parting with Janus, and she had been distracted worrying about him having to face twenty four men by himself that she had inadvertently led Deirdre and herself straight into a makeshift firing range. Belatedly, she was beginning to understand that there was something about having a romantic partner in the field that made her distracted at all the wrong times.

She couldn't blame Deirdre either for their carelessness, since the latter was already on edge at the thought of having to confront her younger sister who thought her dead after five years. And Deirdre didn't have to say anything about her feelings either, not that she would, since she was never one to discuss them.

Elsa could only imagine the fear, anxiety, anger and uncertainty that danced around in Deirdre's mind as she drew closer to facing her evil sister with every passing second. It must be torture knowing that you have to face the one person who is responsible for your life taking the turn it did five years ago. She herself wondered what her life would have been like if Anna had hated her to the point where she had set her mind on destroying her sorceress of a sister.

But that was besides the point, to be pondered later. Right now she had bigger issues at hand. Such as how to survive a military onslaught?

They had literally walked right into the sights of a firing squad. Sacks of rice from the kitchens, boxes of supplies and literally anything that could create barriers had been stacked around a sergeant and four pairs of soldiers spread across the long hallway.

At this range, the chances of being hit by a lead ball was quite likely, and obviously the First Imperials knew that. Again, Elsa lamented in this split second, I should have seen this coming.

As the sergeant screamed a command in Exonite and the triggers were pulled, a single unified crash sent a volley of lead balls their way. Elsa dove in front of Deirdre and planted her hands on the ground. A barrier of her own drew up instantly, creating a thick translucent layer of ice just wide enough to shield her body and Deirdre's from getting penetrated by burning hot lead.

The lead balls hummed and whined past them while a few thocked into the ice and chipped off small bits of the protective shield. Thankfully though, the ice held up and the balls that did hit the ice stuck halfway.

"That's not going to hold for long." Deirdre noted.

"A thank you would've been nice."

"We won't survive another volley."

She was right. Elsa knew that her ice barrier would most likely crumble if eight more muskets fired on her location. Surely not all would hit their target, but this wasn't something she was going to bank on. They couldn't afford to wait the soldiers out.

A shout came from across the hall for the first rank of soldiers to reload while the second took their place in the front with their muskets and bayonets aimed outwards like lances.

"You got any ideas?" Elsa glanced at Deirdre as the soldiers began to reload.

"Do I look like Melody to you?" Deirdre hissed.

Guess not. Elsa looked at the First Imperials blocking their way. Four sets of soldiers, hiding behind four small hastily built firing bays, adjacently spread out across the width of the hall, with the sergeant seeking shelter in one of the four firing bays.

Four of the soldiers were fumbling to reload their muskets in haste while four of their companions had their bayonets levelled in case the girls decided to get too close. Not that they could, since there was twenty yards between them and the soldiers. They wouldn't be able to cross it in time before the soldiers got another volley out.

"You need to buy me time." Elsa said as the soldiers finished loading their weapons and a command was issued for the first rank to level the muskets to their shoulders.

"What are you planning to do?"

"Improvise." Elsa said shortly. Truth is, she did not know what she was going to do beyond the next thought that was in her head. Planning a tactical attack wasn't something in her wheelhouse, to put it bluntly. "I need to get across the twenty yards."

"It's your funeral." Deirdre shrugged, and dodged out from behind the barrier of ice.

The First Imperials looked startled that she was leaving herself out in the open susceptible to musket fire, and that split second of hesitation was all that Deirdre needed, evidently.

Before the command could be given to open fire, Deirdre beat them to it. Shoving her hands out towards them, a visible heat wave marked by orange-yellow energy surged out of her hands and whooshed towards the soldiers. They were thrown off balance by the impact of the heat wave, and their sacks and wooden boxes burst into flames.

Perfect. Elsa darted out from behind her barrier too, and began to dash across the twenty yards towards the soldiers who were still distracted, trying to fan away the fire or simply get out from behind their now flaming barriers.

She pushed her screaming legs as hard as she could as she closed the final five yards, and dropped to the ground as a soldier saw her and swung his musket with the intention of clubbing her viciously to the ground with the butt of his weapon. As she touched the carpeted floor, Elsa willed her ice to do its work.

As opposed to the flames, ice spread out quickly across the ground where the soldiers stood. Some of them lost their balance and were again forced to the ground by the element of nature, shouting and cursing as they went down.

Those that remained on their feet though, numbered to three. Two spun as cautiously as they could on the ice, bringing their muskets to bear on Elsa, but she was prepared for this, if nothing else. Two diamond-shaped ice shards flew from her hands, jamming themselves snugly into the barrels of the weapons.

As the two pulled their triggers, the flint hit the flash pan with a spark, igniting the black powder. The lead balls travelled down through the barrels, found themselves stuck on the unbudging ice, and the muskets exploded in their hands from the unreleased pressure. With undignified yelps, the two soldiers cast their flaming weapons aside.

Elsa hurdled over a firing bay, extinguishing it with her hands as she went, and crouched low, delivering two short bursts of ice which punched the two soldiers off their feet, slamming them into two more of their companions who had just regained their balance on the slippery ground coated with ice.

"Look out!" Deirdre screamed.

Elsa spun and just in time too. Behind her, a soldier slashed at her with his musket, the bayonet attached, and the blade nicked her narrowly across her upper arm. Biting back the urge to allow a squeak of agony, Elsa faded backwards and clutched her left arm at the cut, backpedaling as the soldier advanced, still brandishing his musket like a spear.

Deirdre slammed into his flank with flames blazing, sending him crashing into a flaming sack behind him. His uniform caught on fire, and he gave a scream, rolling desperately in the tight narrow space of the confines of the firing bay, trying to extinguish the flames.

"Thanks." Elsa turned to Deirdre, who in response simply indicated the four soldiers further down the hall.

These remaining four soldiers had abandoned their now compromised firing bays, retreating to a safer position further down the long hall, about fifteen yards away from the two girls. The sergeant was standing behind his three men with a musket in his own hand just like the rest. All hands on deck, it seemed. Two soldiers were crouching with muskets levelled, while the two behind held back.

"Down!" Elsa pulled Deirdre behind a firing bay, flames still dancing around on the boxes and sacks. A crack of musketry, and two lead bullets bore holes through the makeshift firing bay. It was a miracle that the two girls hadn't been hit. Yet.

"We can't stay here!" Deirdre shouted.

"I know, I know!" Elsa hovered her hands near the flames, and ice spread out to meet its adversary. Extinguished, smoke rose from the remains of the firing bay, and Deirdre rose from her hiding place, hands outstretched towards the soldiers.

A second volley from the sergeant and the other man cracked as the former two tried to reload their weapons as quickly as they could. The two lead balls zipped towards Deirdre, and melted in mid flight. They dropped to the ground, reduced to nothing more than steaming, molten red hot metal.

Elsa swung her legs over the smoking wreck of the barrier, and hurtled towards the former two soldiers who had managed to load their weapons quickly enough in the heat of the moment.

A shield of ice formed in her hands, a relatively thick sheet which extended four ways, expanding up, down and sideways to fill out the size of her frame. The ice shielded her as the soldiers fired two more lead balls at her, and she was only momentarily slowed down by the ice taking the impact of the shots.

But that didn't stop her. Elsa rammed the shield into the two soldiers head on before they could scurry out of the way. The two moved a few inches back before they regained their footing, and attempted to wrench the shield out of her hands.

Deirdre barrelled into the sergeant and the other man who had moved safely to the side, and flames melted their muskets as she grabbed the barrels of their weapons, resulting in resounding yelps and the tossing aside of their muskets which were unbearably hot to the touch.

Elsa felt her feet grind against the ground as the former two soldiers pushed back. She promptly let go of the shield, swiftly moving out of the way as the two lurched forward due to the sudden lack of resistance.

Sidestepping them cleanly, she sent a single, strong stream of ice which struck them in their backs, sending them flying a few feet before they crashed unceremoniously onto the ground atop the shield of ice which shattered beneath their combined weight.

Sweating, Elsa glanced at the long hall which was strewn with nine defeated First Imperials. Somehow we survived, but not without injuries. Elsa gripped her injured arm, where blood subtly stained the sleeve of her coat.

Shedding her midnight blue coat, she tossed it aside and winced as she saw the fresh bayonet cut, deep and crimson red on her pale skin. Maybe if she'd worn a thicker blouse with sleeves, it wouldn't have been so bad. Why did I have to choose sleeveless?

"Come on." Elsa winced as she spread a thin layer of ice over the wound to sterilise it for the time being. "We need to find the Empress."

Author's Commentary:

I always always love to write Elsa in action. It has become one of the biggest joys of my stories. There's just something so graceful and powerful about her that's hard to put down in words, so hopefully my words do her justice.

I've always been a huge fan of seeing women in solid action roles in films, games or on TV. Characters like Wonder Woman, Ahsoka Tano, Lara Croft, and most recently Anna and Elsa. They're uniquely entertaining and have defined the role of women for this generation, empowering the image of women in film and media.

And there's more on the way :) We're nowhere near done with seeing Elsa immerse herself in the heat of things. Let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions of what other kind of fight scenes you wanna see her in and I'll think of how to incorporate it into my story :)