Chapter Fifty Five

Fighting a Losing Battle

JANUS

"Get down on the ground. Now!"

Like lightning, Janus' hand flew to his belt. He hurled a few pellets at his feet which burst open upon impact. Smoke engulfed them immediately, and he saw Elsa move quicker than he did. He dove low through the smoke and tackled someone's legs to the ground. As the Blitzguard soldiers began to fan out away from the smoke as per protocol, Janus drew his falchion blade and set to work carving through the Blitzguard soldiers before they could raise countermeasures. They were too good, and he wasn't going to give them any chance to react to his tactics.

As he slashed and thrusted, he could see from the peripheral of his eye that Elsa had no problems gracefully smashing through more soldiers on her own, and he instantly felt relieved. Now that all bets were off and she could use her magic, there was no way the Blitzguard stood a chance against her. He wouldn't have to worry about her, which let him focus on the task at hand.

Another three soldiers fell beneath his sword and he rolled to safety as one tried to skewer him with at bayonet point. Coming up to one knee, he dropped his bow and whipped a dagger end on end which embedded itself in his would-be attacker's skull. A rifle came down towards him and he parried at the last moment, picking up the bow in his free hand and viciously ramming it into the soldier's kneecap. There was a satisfying crunch of bone and the man cried out, but Janus silenced him mid-yell with a lethal thrust to the stomach.

Pulling his sword free, he parried another well practiced stroke just in time and riposted, hoping to skewer his next attacker. The Blitzguard soldier, like the rest of his brethren, was skilled enough to backpedal to lure Janus in for the kill. But Janus knew how to switch up his tactics too. He raced towards the man, feinted and as the man lunged, Janus sidestepped and slammed his boot into his spine. The man crumpled with a cry of agony, and Janus delivered a coup de grâce with a thrust through the ribs and into the heart.

Someone applied a rear naked choke hold on Janus from behind, and Janus slammed his elbow into his attacker's side before the hold could tighten. His feet springing off the ground, he performed an aerial backflip and landed behind the soldier, using his bow to choke his attacker in a quick turn of the tables. Kicking the soldier's feet out from beneath him, Janus leaned back and jerked his hands viciously. The man's neck snapped and Janus let him slide out of the hold, sparing a few brief moments to check on Elsa.

On the other side of the corridor where the fight had spread, Elsa had things well in hand. Either her injury had already healed, or she was powering through the pain like an unrivalled champion. She moved with the grace of a dancer, fading and striking with a series of moves that were so quick and efficient that the soldiers around her fell like flies as she came into contact with them. Mixing intermediate hand to hand combat with her mastery of sorcery, she weaved in and out from among her overwhelming number of attackers, hitting and countering with a natural ebb and flow to her movements. Her momentum carried her through soldier after soldier, all falling one by one before her elegant and deadly efficient fighting style.

In that moment, Janus was immensely awed. He'd rarely had the chance to see her cut loose in an uphill battle, and he was once again deeply attracted by her poise, aggression, restraint and control. He felt so damn lucky to have her. His lightning instincts shook him from his reverie and he ducked his head as a bayonet glanced past, the sudden rush of air against his masked cheek.

Before the bayonet could be retracted, he tangled its hilt with his bowstring and wrenched it out of his assailant's hand. Catching it by the point, he flipped it around and spun, slashing the soldier's throat. Then in the same breath, he hurled it into the chest of another oncoming soldier.

Gritting his teeth, he felt himself getting slightly winded, rudely reminded of his limitations as a regular human. Thankfully though, Elsa was just about finished with the soldiers swarming her. A ferocious explosion from her sent blocks of ice smashing into the soldiers surrounding her, throwing them back. Janus spun, caught the arm of no doubt one of the last few remaining soldiers and slammed his other forearm into it. Bone snapped and the man gave a blood curdling scream, and Janus cut him off mid-scream with a mortal wound from an arrow to the side of his head.

He looked round. So he was wrong. That was the last soldier. The carnage around him was terrible. White-uniformed Blitzguard soldiers lay in pools of their own blood, some with arms and legs contorting in ways they shouldn't be, while others were down for the count with ice crystallising on their skin. Some were even encased in human-sized blocks of ice. Surely these were just a fraction of the men at the emperor's disposal, but Janus was confident that he'd had enough of them for a lifetime.

"We need to go! Now, before the Crimson Order shows up!" Janus shouted across the hallway at her as he removed his sword that was sticking out of someone's back.

ELSA

"Too late. They're already here." Elsa stared in dismay as the brown cloaked Mage Slayers emerged from the shadows. Her heart hammered sporadically in her chest, dread spreading through her. Janus hurried to her side, bow across his back and armed with his blood-soaked falchion. He looked uncharacteristically winded, a testament to how hard it'd been to best the emperor's elite guard in combat. Still, as expected, he'd emerged victorious. But that wasn't something Elsa could say for the battle they were about to face. Janus was an unrivalled combatant, but even he couldn't go up against these many demon assassins.

She stared at the Mage Slayers who were filing into the large hallway which was now strewn with the unconscious or dead bodies of the Imperial Blitzguard soldiers. The unsettling thing was, she recognised all of them like she would any of the Warriors. In the time she'd been locked up by them, she had come to learn their names - or at least their codenames.

There was Venom, the Bastrusian expert knife wielder who had the tip of all her blades and needles coated with poison. Double, the assassin who could clone and replicate himself at will, stood beside her grinning beneath his hood. Then there was Mover, the man who could manipulate objects and people with a single thought. Carnivore, the fiend who'd stripped Maui of his demigod powers, came into view as well. And some of the more familiar faces - Banshee and Inque stood behind, flanked by Beast and Shade.

We're screwed, she thought grimly as she dropped her knees slightly into a fighting stance. She had no idea how the two of them could take on eight of the Mage Slayers. There really was no doubt in the outcome.

Clapping accompanied a hoarse cackle as another cloaked figure stepped out of the shadows.

Elsa narrowed her eyes. "Lord Magnus."

The High Priest spread his hands. "There is no need to resist. You've both put up a good fight, but this can only end one way."

"You won't kill us," Elsa retorted. "Hans won't let you. He'll want to do it himself."

"That is an annoyingly accurate assessment." Lord Magnus sighed insufferably. "I have every intention on capturing you both alive. But the emperor never ordered that you had to be presented unwounded."

From the corner of her eye, she saw Janus slowly reaching towards his belt. His movement was so slow and indiscernable that he might just make it. Elsa decided to keep them all distracted.

"And what happens if we surrender?" She said haughtily.

"I guarantee nothing. I am not here to negotiate," The High Priest drawled sinisterly. "I have no tolerance for theatrics, unlike that bastard."

"Be careful how you speak of him. You never know when he might be listening," Elsa said, seeing that Janus' hand was already on his belt.

"No more games," Lord Magnus snapped. "Seize them!"

Janus hurled a single pellet at Beast's feet, and pulled Elsa sideways just as a blinding flash and an eardrum shattering explosion rocked the entire hallway. "Move!" He roared as the two of them sprinted across the hallway.

Ears ringing and heart thumping violently in her chest, she moved quickly alongside Janus, rounded the other corner and continued running. Janus had bought them a few precious seconds and a head start, but she knew they couldn't escape. "We can't outrun them!" She shouted.

"No, we can't." Janus reached the parapet of the third floor overlooking the seemingly yawning drop to ground level. He shot a grappling arrow into the ceiling and tugged on it. The grapnel held.

Elsa hooked her arm around him as they both climbed over the parapet and descended three storeys by way of the sturdy cable that held both their weights. Touching down safely on the ground level, they took off without a moment's pause, hearing the shouts of the Mage Slayers still above them.

Then came the connecting corridor between wings, the one that stretched out for an eternity with the portraits on one side and the ridiculously large window panes on the other. To her dismay, Janus halted and spun.

"What the hell are you doing?" Elsa too skidded to a stop.

"We can't escape this time. At least, not both of us," Janus avoided eye contact. "You need to go."

Elsa's blood went cold. "What?"

"You have the evidence and the purge list. Keep the bag safe and go, while there's still time!"

"You got to be shitting me," She grabbed his arm and tugged. "I'm not letting you die alone! Come on!"

"Don't be stupid," He growled. "It's two of us against eight of the bastards. There's no point in both of us getting caught!"

The worst part was that he was right. But there was no chance in hell she was going to abandon him, not when he'd always come through for her so many times before. Sentiment clashed with common sense, her personal feelings for Janus colliding with the mission. She stared at him, trying to find the words to respond. But none came. It was too late anyway.

Beast was the first assassin to come charging at them, the others probably not far behind. The giant barrelled straight at Janus with a roar, but he faded sideways, slashed at Beast's leg tendon with the falchion and spun to safety. Beast stumbled, and Janus kicked the back of his knee, spun and slammed his gloved fist across the big assassin's jaw.

"I said go!" Janus shouted, but it was already far too late.

Inque emerged from out of nowhere, springing off the ground through a gloopy puddle of purple ink and wrapping his slimy ink-based arms around Elsa, forcing her to the ground with a bear hug from behind. The assassin tightened his hold and the solid ink around her contracted. She gasped, feeling her vision grow fuzzy at the edges. Willing her sorcery to work, she grunted and let her ice spread across her body to freeze the ink around her body.

The assassin who was hugging her tightly released her with a snarl as his entire body began to freeze. Part of him that wasn't frozen began to transform back into liquid ink, flowing down the sides of the ice and trying to pull itself across the ground in a bid to regroup. Elsa had seen it before. She whirled round and shot a potent blast of ice straight into Inque, encasing most of his body in ice before he had a chance to melt back into his ink form. A defiant hiss came from within the ice, but apart from that, Inque could mount no further offence.

"Look out!" Janus shouted from afar as he battled Beast and tried to fend off Venom and Double at the same time.

Elsa turned her head and gasped, dropping and rolling sideways as Shade sent a dark pool of shadows her way in an attempt to envelop her in darkness. Acting on pure instinct, she countered with a blast of ice at the Mage Slayer who intercepted it with his own demon powers. He raised his hands and the entire surroundings began to grow dimmer, the already badly lit corridor getting even darker than before.

Shit, shit, shit. Elsa stared in dismay as the supernatural shadows began to blot out the moonlight filtering in through the enormous window panes. Shooting ice parted the shadows slightly and she barrelled through them before they could close in on her. She fell through the layer of darkness, landing safely on the other side. Scrambling to her feet, she raised spikes of ice from the ground, forcing Shade to backpedal and break his concentration. The shadows vanished for an instant and Elsa threw a volley of ice at him at point blank range, knocking the Mage Slayer off his feet and crashing into a portrait on the wall.

A chair collided viciously with her back and wood splintered into fragments as she doubled over, dropping to a knee with a gasp. Pain spread across her back and she tensed, but tried to see where the attack had come from. Mover stood on her right, hands raised and swaying as if orchestrating a symphony. The remains of the broken chair levitated through the air and came crashing down towards Elsa's back again. Pushing through the pain, she forced herself to scrabble away and the chair missed and hit the ground, smashing into smithereens.

Mover wasn't fazed. The cloaked assassin stretched out a hand to the side, and one of the portraits of an Exonian aristocrat was pulled off the wall, flying on a path aimed straight at Elsa's flank. With a grimace, Elsa extended her own hand to intercept, freezing the painting and frosting over the thick frame. Her supple fingers moved expertly to control it, not letting her ice fade as the portrait was held in abeyance by both Mover's telekinesis and her ice. Overpowering the Mage Slayer with her sorcery, Elsa seized control of the portrait in mid air and countered the initial attack by hurling it at him with a cry of exertion.

The Mage Slayer managed to raise his hands to block, stopping the portrait from colliding with him at the last moment but Elsa leapt and came crashing straight through the portrait, landing atop Mover and dealing a sorcery-laden blow straight across his cheek which left fragments of ice trailing his skin.

As she pulled back to land a second blow to knock the Mage Slayer unconscious, inky tendrils wrapped around Elsa's wrist and forearm, wrenching her arm back so hard that she felt her muscle pull excruciatingly. Letting out a sharp gasp as pain bloomed through her shoulder and spread like fire, she staggered as Inque lashed out at her ankle and hauled her off her feet. In a move of desperation as she was being dragged across the carpet towards him, she used her other hand to swiftly grab Inque's tendrils, freezing it instantly.

An earth-shattering scream put Elsa in shock and she immediately let go of the inky tendril to cover one ear. Her other arm was still hurting immensely from where it'd been violently tugged. Banshee continued screaming, the sonic energy amplifying as she closed in on Elsa. Crumpling to the ground, Elsa clenched her jaw as she felt her eardrums pulsing and aching from the sensory overload. She tried to will her sorcery to the forefront of her mind so that she could counter, but it felt hazy and too far away.

"Give it up!" Shade shouted at her, having already recovered. "You're beaten."

"Never," She forced herself up on her elbows.

In front of her, Mover levered himself up to a knee and outstretched both hands. A long wooden table floated through the air and hovered till it stopped in front of Elsa. The Mage Slayer brought both hands down in a jerk, and the table came crashing down on her.

The air was knocked out of her with a whoosh as she fell straight back down onto her chest, chin hitting the carpet as the table broke in half. Everything hurt. Her jaw ached, her back felt like it was broken, her head was going dizzy from Banshee's screeching and she was quite sure her ears were bleeding.

"Ready to give up?" Inque pinned Elsa wrists and ankles to the ground with a few of his inky tendrils as Banshee drew closer, her screams growing ever louder.

Not far from Elsa, a different high pitched scream broke out, and Venom collided heavily with Banshee and Shade, dragging the two off balance. The sonic scream ceased as the two women and man fell in a heap. Janus sprung up from seemingly out of nowhere, driving a knee straight into Mover's ribs before he could move. With a grunt, he picked the Mage Slayer up and hoisted him straight at Inque. Mover went through Inque in a mess, dark purple ink splattering on the walls, portraits, furniture and carpet. The tendrils restraining Elsa melted back into liquid, slithering across the ground to return to their fallen host.

"They won't stay down for long!" Janus shouted as Beast swung at him again, flanked by a few of Double's replicants. They backed Janus off, trying to separate him from Elsa, knowing as well as the two Warriors that if they could keep him and Elsa apart, the fight wouldn't last much longer.

Groaning, Elsa forced herself to stand, seeing Shade getting back up as well as he was joined by Carnivore. Somewhere, she heard the hoarse cackling of Lord Magnus.

"Yes. Fight, fight!" Magnus' voice echoed throughout the wide corridor as he came into view, brown cloak flapping ominously. "Resist as long as you can. I can have ten more Mage Slayers here in a heartbeat. You are just prolonging the inevitable."

Ignoring the High Priest's taunts, Elsa gritted her teeth and dropped back into a fighting stance as she locked eyes with Carnivore and Shade. Her right shoulder still burning, she knew she had no choice but to fight handicapped with one arm.

"I will strip you of your sorcery just as I did to your big friend," Carnivore smirked as he removed his gloves and wriggled his fingers.

Anger pulsed through her at the mention of Maui and the reminder of what had been done to him. "You won't," Elsa took a step back and felt splintered wood crackle beneath her sandals. Her sorcery flared at her fingertips, ready to strike hard.

"Elsa!" Janus yelled as he threw one of Double's replicants into Shade. "Get out of here. Now!"

"I won't abandon you!" Elsa cried as she shot a potent stream of ice at Carnivore as he tried to thrash the back of Janus' head, flooring the Mage Slayer for the moment.

"The old bastard is right. We can't win this!" Janus took a backhand from Beast which flew him a few feet off the ground but he broke his fall and landed in a crouch. "Go!"

Anger and despair building inside Elsa, she unleashed a pent up snow storm with a loud cry which blanketed her surroundings in snow and ice, flooring Double, his replicants, Banshee and Shade at the same time. Groaning from the exertion, she dropped to a knee and clutched her right shoulder. Meanwhile, Inque was beginning to reform himself and Carnivore was headed straight for her again.

"I said go, damn it!" Janus roared, delivering a two handed swing to Beast's sternum.

"I can't leave you to die!" Elsa half choked as she faded away from Carnivore's long claws and repelled him with another stream of ice. Her sorcery punched Mover off his feet before he could raise a hand against Janus. "I won't!"

"I'm not going to die. I'll be right behind you!" Janus shouted as Beast clutched his collar and hurled him into the wall like a toy doll. "Remember the plan! If we get separated-" he dove out of the way as Beast's fist cracked the wall where his head had been.

"-Regroup back at base." Elsa felt hollow, knowing what she had to do. Beast's flank was exposed, and she threw a powerful blast of ice into it, sending him skidding across the room and frozen to the ground for however long that would hold him.

Janus threw a couple of pellets at his feet and as thick black smoke rose from the ground, he grabbed Elsa's uninjured arm and pulled her to the large panelled windows. "You have to go right now." He begged. "Please. Before it's too late."

"You wanted us to do this together," She felt tears brimming in her distress and anger.

"And we did," He put a hand on her bag. "You have the evidence and the list. Save the Equalitar. Save yourself."

"We can still escape together. Right here, right now," Elsa looked down at the frozen moat beyond the glass. "We can make it!"

"We won't. The Mage Slayers will come after us and we'll lead them right back to Ludwig. We can't compromise the Equalitar," He drove his elbow into the glass and shattered the window. "I'll hold them off as long as I can."

"Damn it, Janus!" She cried and glared up at his emotionless mask. "Don't do this!"

He gripped her arm tightly as their bodies pressed against the glass, their immediate surroundings still engulfed in smoke. "I love you."

"Please don't do this." Elsa begged, dangerously close to tears.

"I'll find my way back to you. I promise. Now get out of here!"

Before she could react, he shoved her through the gap and she fell backwards. As she plunged towards the moat below, she saw everything unfold before her as if time had slowed to a crawl. Janus spun away from the window, unsheathing two daggers from his leg holsters and charged back into the clearing smoke.

"Janus," she whispered as her body hurtled towards the frozen surface of the moat. Her body acted on instinct and she turned in mid-air, extending her uninjured arm towards the ice. It cracked and disintegrated just in time, forming a gap large enough for Elsa to fall through. Her body plunged into freezing water even as she felt her heart splintering into a million pieces. As she sank deeper into the depths of the moat, she knew that Janus had been lying. He wouldn't be able to find his way back to her. He'd just sealed his own fate.

Focus! She willed herself to shake off both the physical and emotional agony. Holding her breath, she began to swim upwards to the surface of the ice and used her sorcery to lift the frozen surface up by a fraction. Reaching the surface and holding the ice up with her magic, she pressed herself up into the gap, gasping for air. Okay, focus. She tried to think. I need to get back to the river mouth that joins back to the canal across the bridge.

This wasn't part of the plan. They were supposed to make their escape the same way they'd come, vanishing into the blind spots before making their way back through the tunnels. Throwing her through the window and sending her plummeting towards the frozen moat wasn't one of Janus' contingencies - at least, he hadn't shared it with her. And now Elsa knew she had to improvise. She checked the bag. It was still intact, holding the files and purge list. Good.

Sucking in a great gulp of air, she orientated herself in the direction of the way she'd first entered. Then lowering her head below the freezing water, she began swimming as quickly as she could, employing the breaststroke technique to avoid putting too much strain on her right shoulder which now felt like it was on fire. Thankfully, the freezing water numbed the pain a little.

Contrary to myth, the moats around the castle weren't filled with savage animals like those scaly, large-jawed creatures lurking in swamps. The waters were safe and clear, the only living creatures being Elsa herself along with some fishes and eels. They left her well alone as she swam and glided through the water, stopping periodically to lift the ice so that she could suck in a breath of fresh, cold air. She felt something slimy brush her leg and resisted the urge to scream. It was just an eel passing by.

It felt like hours, but she managed to swim out of the moat and into the river, and then let the current carry her towards the canal. The water grew shallower, and Elsa could see moonlight through cracks in the broken surface. That meant she was nearing the end of the river. Finally she stood, pushing away the floating fragments of ice at the edge and wading back towards the mouth of the canal entrance where the tunnel would conceal her escape all the way back to Modeley district.

She reached the canal entrance and collapsed on the tunnel floor in exhaustion, letting river water mixed with drainage wash over her arms and legs. Desperately, she felt for the bag strapped to her back. It was still intact, sealed tight and protecting the evidence Ludwig had requested as well as the purge list from getting wet. Relief was the first thing that came to her mind, but it was quickly overwhelmed by a wave of emotions washing over her, and she broke down in tears.

Janus was right. This was a suicide mission. But she'd insisted on doing it because it was the right thing to do, and look how that turned out? By now Janus must have fallen and was probably being escorted to Hans for execution. The only man she'd ever loved was going to die by her worst enemy's hand. Snot and tears ran down Elsa's face, her right shoulder trembling in agony from where her muscle had been pulled. She was a wreck, and she was alone.

Jade was gone, and now Janus was going to be killed too.

"You bastard," She choked through her tears as she realised that this might've always been a part of Janus' plan. There was a reason why he'd given her the bag in the first place. He had always been ready to sacrifice himself so that she could escape. And now I will never get a chance to thank him or kiss him, feel his arms pull me into a tender embrace again.

Letting out a shuddering sigh, Elsa pushed herself off the tunnel floor and stood on shaky legs. She could grief later, for now, she would just have to compartmentalise. There was no time to waste. She had to get the evidence back to Ludwig and warn him about the purge list before it was too late. Willing herself past her pain, she set off at a jog, splashing into the dark tunnel.