Chapter Thirteen

Return to Swynvort

ELSA

"I'll say." Jade grinned. "At least you guys made new friends."

Elsa, Janus and the two young sorcerers dismounted from the falcon's back. Maui then promptly shape-shifted back into his human form, fish hook in hand.

Tracy's team was already back at the rendezvous point on the other side of the city away from the church. They didn't come back with anyone new though, and they didn't look like they had been chased by Blue Wolves.

"You didn't find anyone in the library?" Elsa asked.

"Oh, we did." Tracy said. "But no sorcerers. Or at least, no one willing to come forward to side with us. I guess everyone's afraid of getting arrested or caught, be it Exonian or Blue Wolf."

Deirdre, who was standing behind with Jordan, shrugged in acceptance of the fact. "If they don't want our help, we can't force it on them. Not our fault if they get caught. We already made the trip down."

"Right." Elsa sighed. "Anyway, we found these two hiding with the rest of the refugees in the church."

"Only two of them?" Jade waved a hand at the kids.

"I guess so." Elsa knelt down to be level with Ramsey and Silva, the latter looking a little nervous at seeing so many new faces. "These are my friends. They have powers like us too, and they're going to help get us to safety." She glanced at Tracy.

"Oh, yeah. Safety." Tracy waved her hands in the air. "Pay attention, kiddos. You don't wanna miss the light show." Purple mist sparkled from her hands, and a wide portal of purple mist materialised to form a Crossing Point. "Step right through." She bowed dramatically, and the others filed through the portal.

"It's alright." Elsa held Silva's hand. "We'll be safe. Come on." Guiding the young sorceress, they stepped through the portal and Tracy closed it behind them all.

In the Crossing Zone which was a dark oblivion with a purple hue cast, Tracy formed yet another Crossing Point which led them into the compound of Swynvort.

"Welcome to the League of Sorcerers." Elsa said to her new young friends, who were glancing at their new surrounding in awe. She had to admit, it was a lot to take in at one go. Elsa remembered when she had first been brought to Swynvort and had learnt of the League's existence. What a shock it had been for her, and she didn't delude herself into thinking that the young sorcerers were any less impacted by the sight.

"There's…so many." Ramsey said, pointing at the training hall.

He was right. The training hall, which had once been used by practicing sorcerers to get better at their skills and spar with each other using their magic, was now being used as a massive common area for refugee sorcerers.

To begin with, even before the CAST existed, the number of sorcerers in the League and grown to a rather alarming number. Elsa had been impressed by what her allies and the League had accomplished while she had been away. However, over the past few months, the numbers had grown ever more, since sorcerers from all over the continent were taking shelter from the Confederation's discriminative legislation.

Right now, Elsa knew that there had to be close to a thousand sorcerers living in the various levels and rooms of Swynvort Tower. The ancient hideout of the League was big, yes, but it hadn't been designed to hold so many sorcerers at one go.

"Yes, all of them are like us." Elsa said. "We all have something special about ourselves." She glanced over to check on Silva, and couldn't help but smile.

The young girl had already made friends with Jordan, Jade's mute brother. Though silent, he made up for his lack of words with his big heart and his kindness, and evidently the young girl had sensed that. She looked comfortable being with Jordan, who was holding her hand.

"So you made a new friend." Elsa bent over. "That's good."

Flashing a grin, Silva nodded, much happier than she had been back in the claustrophobia-inducing loft of the church crammed full of refugees.

Elsa stood upright. "Jordan, maybe you can take her to one of the common rooms upstairs and find her and her brother a place to sleep."

He nodded, and gestured for Ramsey to follow him.

"Wait." Ramsey said, and looked up at Elsa. "There is more. More of us."

She frowned. "More? Where?"

"Yesterday Silva and me…escape from Wolves." Ramsey explained. "They catch us after big fight finish, and drag us before we run. They said something of lock us in cage with others."

A stab of anger hit her, and Elsa felt her blood boil. The absolute gall of these Blue Wolves! Had they no boundaries? These were mere children! She tried to keep her voice level. "And you two managed to escape?"

"Yeah." Ramsey said. "Someone bring Silva and me to church and tell us stay hide with them till safe outside. The bad guys there today look for us."

Trying hard not to clench her fists in anger, Elsa nodded slowly. "Do you remember where the Blue Wolves took you and Silva?"

Ramsey frowned, trying to piece together the words in English. "The warehouses. Down inside fishermen's wharf." Ramsey said. "I think it warehouse eight. I see the number on wall as they tried drag us there."

"Where's the fishermen's wharf?"

"South part of city. You need pass Nadortte Avenue before see warehouses." Ramsey looked worried. "Are you free others?"

"Of course." Elsa smiled, trying to sound confident.

"You have to help other brother, Carlos. He taken too and in cage."

Elsa felt her heart sink as he said the words. "You two have another brother?"

"He separated from us when we all taken. Look like me, but younger."

"We'll get your brother back." Jade promised him. "Promise."

Elsa nodded. "She's right. And don't worry, we'll bring Carlos back to you and Silva. You'll both be safe here. Follow Jordan, and he'll find you both some food and a place to rest."

"Nice kid." Jade said after he left with Jordan and Silva. "You and Janus should think about adopting them."

Elsa balked. "You got to be kidding me. They…they might even have parents lost out there somewhere. We have to help the kids locate them."

Jade snorted. "Parents? Kids like them are orphans. The boy's definitely a street tough who looks out for his sister like an overprotective sibling. Trust me, I know an orphan when I see one."

Awkwardly, Elsa glanced at Deirdre who shrugged. If anyone would know, she supposed it would be Jade and Jordan. The two siblings were orphans too, who had grown up far away in the Eastern continent in a remote province. They too had fended for themselves as they grew up, and it was only the intervention of Ingrid Grendstav that had brought them to Swynvort to join the League.

And the part about the overprotectiveness would have stung a little close to home for Jade. Particularly so, since she had always harboured the guilt of not being able to protect her younger brother Jordan from getting attacked by the other kids in an orphanage prior to their escape. Jordan had since lost his ability to speak, and had grown up to be a silent but powerful sorcerer.

"So we're gonna swing back to Turnsheim, aren't we?" Jade asked. "To liberate the rest of the sorcerers being kept there, right? We have to get their brother back too."

"We have to." Tracy said. "God knows there are countless sorcerers out there who are being rounded up every day and we can't be there to help them all."

"Of course." Maui agreed. "So what's the plan?"

"The plan," Janus interjected. "Is we're going to lay low. At least until dark. We can't afford to risk going out there in daylight again, now that the Blue Wolves know we're here in Turnsheim. Word would've spread by now."

Grimly, Elsa nodded. The Blue Wolves would increase their patrols and station more operatives around the warehouse being used to hold the sorcerers. No doubt the warehouse was just a holding facility for the prisoners before they would be transported off to the infamous Stormtide prison located on an island not far off the coast.

"We need to keep on our toes." Elsa reminded the Warriors. "The Blue Wolves are probably going to tighten security around the warehouse because they know we're here. They can't risk losing another batch of sorcerers to us. It's happened far too many times already, and something tells me that they're growing more cautious and aware of our techniques."

"Okay, fine, so we wait till nightfall." Tracy said.

"Lay low?" Jade asked. "Every moment we wait, those two kids might end up losing their brother forever. We can't let that happen."

"Look," Elsa said. "I know we have to get their brother back, along with everyone else. But we have to be smart about this."

"I don't believe this." Jade looked round incredulously. "We're wasting time!"

"Jade-"

"If it were Anna out there in a cage waiting to be shipped off to Stormtide where you'd never see her again, would you be saying the same thing?" Jade exploded.

Elsa closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Jade, please."

"Those two kids are going to lose their brother forever if we don't act now!" Jade shouted angrily. "I know what it feels like to be guilty all my life because of something that happened to my brother." Her voice took a more pleading tone and her own eyes were filled with guilt. "Please. Please don't let those kids live with that."

"They won't have to." Elsa said firmly, feeling hot tears prickling her eyes. "I promise. The transport won't get into the city until at least tomorrow."

"How are you so sure?"

"The Coalition just entered Turnsheim. Blue Wolves are still out rounding up sorcerers, and they won't ship them off till they're sure the city is clean." Elsa blinked away her tears and steeled herself. "Trust me on this, Jade. Please."

The girl still looked exasperated, and now on top of that uncertain too, but she neglected to respond.

"Question." Maui said cautiously. Tensions were running high now, and everyone knew that. "How are we gonna get in and out if we don't know what the place looks like?"

"Don't look at me." Janus said. "There's no way I can properly reconnoitre the warehouse without getting spotted by someone. Not with the Blue Wolves swarming the place now."

Deirdre scowled. "So we'll be going in blind, then?"

"That's…not good." Maui said.

"But what choice do we have?" Tracy waved her arms dramatically. "We don't have eyes on the place, and the Blue Wolves are gonna move their prisoners anytime whenever transport is ready."

"Then we don't have much time."

"Can we afford to risk going in without a proper plan?"

"Melody would have been able to think of something."

"Melody's not here."

"What do you think she would have said?"

"Does it matter? She's not here!"

"That's besides the point. We still don't have a way inside!"

"Guys." Elsa finally said. She felt frustrated, but she knew what they had to do. It was crystal clear to her. "Even if we're going in blind, we'll have to take that risk. We've been in tough spots before. Countless times. Maui. You, Anna and Melody were sent to a whole different dimension and you all made it back."

The demigod nodded.

"And you," Elsa turned to Jade. "Both of us almost died at the hands of our Exonian captors. But we survived, didn't we?"

Even though Jade was still evidently vexed, she nodded stiffly in acknowledgement.

"Look, I know the situation isn't ideal. But we can't stand by and do nothing when we know that there are victims out there, scared, innocent sorcerers who are counting on someone to save them from spending the rest of their lives in Stormtide."

"Then we go to the fishermen's wharf." Janus said. "Tonight."

"Tonight."

The Warriors began to disperse, and Elsa took Jade by the arm. "We're going to free them all." She said firmly. "Including the children's brother. I promise."

Her face still set in a deep scowl, Jade nodded slowly. "You better make good on that promise." With that, she jerked her arm away and moved off to find her brother.

As they all went their separate ways, some back to their rooms and others to find food in the pantry, Elsa took a walk alone along the corridors of Swynvort, and took in the sights of the place.

It was familiar to her, as she had spent quite a bit of time in this place, but also strangely foreign to her even as she looked at it now. The atmosphere was vastly different.

When she had first arrived, the League was a place of evil, with sorcerers being forced to bend to Ingrid Grendstav's will. After she had been defeated and dethroned, the League was refashioned into a force for good. Things had been great, and sorcerers had thrived and flourished under the guidance of the command team comprised of senior League members and the Warriors.

But now, the atmosphere was one that was heavy with depression, doubt, uncertainty and anger. Mainly because the sorcerers, both legitimate members of the League and refugees alike, couldn't see a future for themselves where they would be free.

The way things were, sorcerers would keep piling up in Swynvort Tower, being forced to squeeze fifteen to a room. Then twenty. Then thirty. And then soon we'll have to stop bringing them in. Which meant that out there, many more sorcerers would suffer the wrath of the CAST Force.

Elsa shook her head. This is just a temporary solution. The senior members of the League would have to come up with a better strategy for expansion and harbouring sorcerers from the Confederation. And fast. Looking out into the sea of humanity crammed in the training hall, Elsa chewed her lip absentmindedly as her mind was filled with thoughts about the Warriors' last conversation.

Everyone had been right, in their own way. They all had cause for concern that they might be caught without a proper escape plan. But it's a risk we're going to have to take. All this power given to us, and we owe it to ourselves to use it for good. It's a risk we will take.

###

Nightfall took an excessively long time to arrive. Elsa had spent the rest of the afternoon pacing back and forth throughout Swynvort, checking on the many sorcerers they had saved over the past few months. Many of them continually expressed their gratitude towards her for allowing them safe refuge with the League, but for every person she was glad she saved, Elsa was also reminded that there was some poor soul out there she hadn't managed to rescue from the Blue Wolves.

That gnawed away at her, and she found herself questioning if she had what it took to save the latest batch of sorcerers that night. She had to save Carlos. For the children's sake. She couldn't bear the thought of returning empty handed, to look Ramsey and Silva in the eye and tell them that she had failed to save their brother even though she had promised to. No. Elsa set her jaw in resolve. We have to succeed tonight, no matter what.

Eventually, the sky did grow dark and it would soon be time for the Warriors to regroup and break into warehouse eight down by the fishermen's wharf. Elsa took the time to go back to the room she was sharing privately with Janus. All operations had been called off since the CAST had been established, and the Warriors were the only ones who were still actively going in and out of Swynvort to rescue innocent sorcerers from the Blue Wolves. Most of the time though, Elsa and her allies didn't stay in Swynvort, and this was one of the rare times she was going back to the rooms.

Finding her room beside the one Tracy and Deirdre were sharing due to lack of space, she pushed open the door to find Janus half dressed in his tight black mercenary outfit. His weapons: recurve bow, arrows in a quiver, a new katana, countless small daggers, two pistols and special little gadgets were all laid out on the bed where she and Janus would usually sleep whenever they were back in Swynvort.

She shut the door behind her. "I thought we agreed not to have weapons on the bed."

"I didn't think you would've minded. We rarely come back here anyway." Janus was stunningly attractive, standing half dressed only in his tight black pants and boots. His upper body was as chiselled as ever, and Elsa found her heart beating a little faster and her cheeks growing hot.

"I guess not." Elsa walked towards him, and glanced down at his arsenal as he put on his shirt and threw on a padded jacket. The nights were getting colder as winter drew ever imminent, and soon Elsa knew she would be the only one not wearing a winter jacket. Her eyes fell on the intimidating black mask that had been missing from their missions for quite a few months.

"What's bothering you?" Janus asked as he zipped up his jacket.

"Haven't seen this in a while." She picked it up. Truthfully, she hated the mask, since Janus had worn it when they had first been enemies over two years ago. Seeing it again reminded her of the early days of their interactions, and they hadn't exactly been very pleasant. "Why bring it out again?"

"Well, tonight's a stealth mission." Janus said. "Since we might run into some resistance at some point, I thought it best that I went in comfortably."

Elsa raised an eyebrow. "Comfortably."

"What's wrong?"

"I just…" Elsa shook her head. "It just reminds me of those days when you were a mercenary. When we were enemies. Seeing the mask…it all still feels so fresh."

"Hey." Janus stroked her cheek gently with his ungloved hand. "Those days are behind me. I'm not Prometheus anymore. It's not who I am now. You made sure of that, remember?"

Elsa forced a smile and rested her cheek against his hand, holding it there with her own hand. "I know."

"It's just a mask." Janus said. "It only protects me in the field and scares my enemies."

"Hopefully we won't even bump into them tonight."

"Here's hoping." Janus pulled on his gloves and began stuffing his equipment into various compartments of his belt, holsters around his limbs and pockets.

Grudgingly, Elsa watched as he donned the cursed black mask, and it clicked into place as he adjusted it to fit securely on his face. He pulled the black hood over his head and once again, he became the mysterious, fearsome mercenary known as Prometheus, his filtered voice cold, deep and mechanical. "Let's get tonight over with quick."