Chapter Sixty Seven

Rooftop Showdown

ELSA

His posture made it clear that he was going to make this quick as he shifted his grip on the hilt of his sword. It broke her heart to see him like this, and it took every ounce of her self control not to shed a tear. No. She had to focus right now.

Planting her feet, she let her elbows bend slightly, her biceps tensing as the cold swirled around her hands. "Come on, then!"

Janus obliged her, brandishing his falchion which gleamed ominously in the moonlight. A gust of chilly wind blew at his back, giving him the advantage without the wind and snow in his eyes.

Eyes narrowed, Elsa bounced lightly on the balls of her feet, waiting for Janus to take the bait. From the peripheral of her eye, she could see Tracy had scrambled onto the ledge of a joining building to put some distance between herself and Janus. Either she needed to get into the headspace to perform the spell, or she was really rattled by him.

Janus closed the gap slowly, taking his time like a predator who knew he had his helpless prey conquered.

Filled with tension, Elsa waited. Almost in position.

From the side, Peggy slammed head on into Janus' flank, attempting to stagger him off balance and drag him to the ground long enough for Elsa to make physical contact with him. Or at least, that was the plan.

Janus saw her coming two steps away and faded backwards as he dropped the falchion, grabbing Peggy by her jacket with both hands as she charged into thin air, slamming his knee into her ribs once. He drew back his knee to repeat the attack, but as fast as he was, Peggy was remarkably fast too.

Slippery as an eel, she twisted out of his hold and darted behind Janus, hooking onto his leg in an attempt to grapple him to the ground. But again, as usual, Janus seemed to have a counter for everything. He allowed her to pull him sideways but as both of them fell, he twisted in mid air and matched her grappling tactics, using his free leg to pry her body away from his.

The moment they hit the rooftop rolling, he leapt at Peggy, locking both arms around her waist and heaved. She was sent crashing over his head, body hitting the snow hard with his arms still locked firmly around her. He disengaged, pouncing on her like lightning. Peggy exhaled sharply as the air was knocked from her lungs a second time, and Janus unsheathed a dagger.

It was now or never. With Janus on the ground and his focus still on Peggy, Elsa lifted a hand and a controlled measure of ice hit his side, not enough to mortally wound him but enough to send him stumbling off balance. As she darted in to engage him, he regained his footing quickly and leapt away from her, unhooking his bow and nocking an arrow.

Hissing quietly, Elsa ducked sideways as an arrow zipped past her ear, then with all her might launched herself straight at him before he could nock another arrow. As her body collided with his, a wave of cold energy burst from the impact, and he was knocked to the ground in a daze, his bow flying out of his hand. It was Elsa's turn to pounce, driving a sorcery-imbued fist across his cheek and she felt his mask shifting on his face. Not giving him a chance to react and counter, she quickly forced him to sit up with a yank and moved so that she was directly behind him before and locked him in a rear choke.

She knew that if she got into a straight-up brawl with Janus, she would definitely lose, just like the many times when they'd sparred in training. With him not holding back now, he would likely turn the tables before she knew it and kill her. Which was why she wasn't going to give him any window of opportunity.

Holding on tightly to Janus, Elsa mustered all her strength and grunted as she slammed herself backwards, pulling Janus right on top of her. One arm still locked around Janus' neck and the other bracing against the back of his hooded head, she landed with the air leaving her lungs as Janus landed squarely on top of her, but this was right where she wanted him.

Executing the grappling manoeuvre Janus himself had taught her, Elsa arched her back and hooked both her legs round the inside of his thighs and dug the toes of her boots into the rooftop to find purchase. He was struggling to escape from the hold but it was cinched in tight. As he thrashed furiously with an agitated snarl, Elsa's grip on his hooded head began to slip, and she tugged off the hood to get a firm grip on his tousled head.

"Tracy!" Elsa shouted desperately. "Start the spell!"

Tracy sat cross-legged on a higher ledge, thumbs and ring fingers touching. Her eyes were closed and she began chanting in a low voice. "Szimathe. Conquir. Ishtala morrconan. Yindanla mancoth zubrailambda." Her voice began to sound disembodied as her entire figure glowed purple. "Konye Pygjela Taninyl Homavtozin. Szimathe. Conquir. Ishtala morrconan."

Janus' adrenaline must have kicked in, for he was beginning to hoist himself to his feet in spite of the fact that Elsa was clinging to him like a koala. Still wrapped around him with the rear choke locked in, Elsa found herself lifted off the ground and Janus got to a knee.

"Stop it!" Elsa hissed in despair, trying to lean her weight as far back as she could while keeping her grasp tight on him. "Janus! I know you can hear me in there. Stop this!"

"No," Janus growled. "This ends tonight."

"-mancoth zubrailambda." Tracy's voice echoed loudly throughout the nearby vicinity. "Konye Pygjela Taninyl-"

In a desperate bid, Elsa allowed the ice to flow through her. Her arms became like ice itself, the cold touch meant to shock Janus long enough for her to drag him back down into the snow. But all it did was spur him into a frightening feat of strength. Before she knew what had hit her, he'd broken free of her grip and hoisted her over his shoulder and she found herself sprawled messily on the rooftop. Gripping her biceps, Janus pinned her painfully to the ground.

"Janus," Elsa winced as his gloved fingers squeezed her arms. "Listen to me!"

He paid no heed to her words as he leaned over her.

But again, he'd taught her well. Elsa drew in her knees as hard as she could, catching him sharply on the chin which knocked the mask loose from where it'd been clipped onto his face. Janus was stunned momentarily by her knee strike, the mask hanging loose by a strap to reveal his face. But though the features were the same ones Elsa had fallen in love with, his eyes were cold, impassive and driven with bloodlust.

Willing herself into action again, she wrapped her legs around the back of his neck and locked her feet together. "I know you don't want to kill me." She hissed as he let go of her arms to try to pry her legs off him. Tensing her muscles, she kept her legs fastened around him and reached up to lock her hand around the back of his neck too to keep him down. "You wouldn't have tried to warn me if you did!"

"You're wrong," Janus said, his voice no longer mechanical, but equally as cold and unfeeling. Overpowering her again, he managed to stand with Elsa still wrapped around him, his mask finally falling away from his face. "The emperor wants you dead and I'm here to make sure of it."

Suddenly, he buckled to a knee once more. Peggy had slammed into the back of his leg to keep him off a vertical base, then wrapped her arms around his calves and threw herself to the ground to keep him anchored.

Elsa leaned sideways, toppling them both into the snow again. "No! You don't believe that. Think, Janus! You came ahead of the Mage Slayers to warn me to get out. Even brainwashed, deep down you still love me."

"I love no one," Janus growled coldly. "You're just prolonging the inevitable."

"Konye Pygjela Taninyl Homavtozin. Szimathe. Conquir. Ishtala morrconan. Yindanla mancoth zubrailambda. Konye Pygjela Taninyl Homavtozin!" Tracy's eyes flew open, her entire being glowing purple and radiating an aura that had never been there before. "Elsa! Now!"

Something flowed into her, something she couldn't explain. The rush of foreign sorcery flowing through her veins felt like fire, adrenaline pumping from her heart and burning itself into every cell of her body, seeming almost to merge with her own well of sorcery. There was a clarity that hadn't been there before. It was almost as though she could hear Tracy in her head, with the Ha'naeth's potent magic being channelled into her body. Elsa steeled herself as a light came on in her head. In that moment, she knew exactly what she needed to do.

Legs straddling him in an iron grip, Elsa managed to get into an upright position over him with much difficulty. Both hands clutched Janus' temples, palms against his cold skin. Stiffening for a second, he then went wild, jerking and clawing at her with all sense of tactical fighting going out the window. He grabbed a fistful of her hair in a desperate bid to make her disengage. Biting back the pain, she pressed her palms more firmly on his temples and tried to ignore the fact that Janus was trying to tear her hair out.

"You are Janus De Vesques," She began, eyes narrowed and body tensed. "Son of Jåne De Vesques. The famed mercenary of Bruvesqk. You are Prometheus, a hero who fights for the Coalition. A warrior who fights for freedom."

His hand loosened on her hair, much to her relief. She could see confusion in his eyes, a conflict that brewed just beneath the surface. It was working. The magic Tracy had imbued her with was flowing through her like a torrential river, the way Tracy had said it would. Every fibre of her being felt like it was on fire, but she ignored it and persisted.

"Janus De Vesques. Remember who you are." Elsa felt him stop clawing at her. "You gave up everything just to be a Warrior. To be with me. You sacrificed yourself to save me from certain death. You allowed yourself to be captured and turned into the emperor's puppet. But you're not a monster. You're not an assassin. You're Janus De Vesques and you won't hurt me because you love me. And because I love you."

Janus stiffened, and for a moment his eyes glazed over as though a storm was passing. His features which had been hardened and impassive suddenly eased. The colour returned to his eyes for a brief instant as he stared back up at her with familiarity. Then the light behind his eyes went out and his head flopped back, all the fight having gone out of him.

"Janus!" Elsa gasped and ease her grip on him. Heart thumping sporadically in her chest, she put her fingers in front of his nose. He wasn't breathing. Unable to help herself, she gave a loud sob as she hugged him close to herself.

"The spell worked the way it was supposed to. He's already dead," Tracy ran over. "But we can still save him. Remember the plan, Elsa. Elsa! Don't fall apart on me now!"

"He still needs you," Nursing her ribs, there was an urgency in Peggy's voice as she got to her feet. "But we have to be fast. The Mage Slayers are already here."

It took every ounce of her willpower to tear herself away from Janus' motionless figure and lever herself to a knee. Turning her head, Elsa saw that the Mage Slayers had indeed arrived, standing on the other end of the rooftop. Beast, Inque, Venom, Mover, Vertigo, Dreambinder and Carnivore were all there. Below, she could hear the cracks of rifles, muskets and even the screams of men mixed with the blasts of supernatural power. She figured that the some of the Mage Slayers were down on the ground with the Blitzguard in an attempt to smoke the Equalitar volunteers out.

Elsa narrowed her eyes. Arriving from behind the rest of the Mage Slayers was Lord Magnus himself, and with him, Jade.

"Guys, get ready," Tracy hissed. "We need to be quick."

Taking a deep breath, Elsa got a grip and locked eyes with Jade. "Do it."

"Right." Tracy uttered a few words under her breath as she extended her arms outwards, and abruptly jerked both hands towards herself which abruptly altered the space between them and the assassins, closing the gap as though they'd just been three feet apart.

Before the assassins could react, Peggy and Elsa grabbed Jade by one arm each and tugged her towards themselves. Immediately, Tracy's hands shot up and a purple bubble engulfed them and the lifeless Janus, shutting the Mage Slayers just outside a protective shield of her black magic.

"Hurry!" Tracy grunted as she held the bubble in place, the Mage Slayers already hurling their powers at it. "I can't hold them off for long!"

Jade broke Peggy and Elsa's grips, snarling like a cat. She leapt back and hurled a bolt of lightning at them, forcing both girls to dive in opposite directions. Her sorcery bounced off Tracy's shield and evaporated.

Scrambling to her feet, Elsa clenched her fists and circled round Jade. There was only one thought in her mind. A thought that consumed her entirely with no room for anything else. She had to bring Janus back. I can't afford to lose him.

Peggy leapt and feinted at Jade, prompting the Elemental Sorceress to duck and counter with a fist glowing with electricity. The girl grabbed Jade's arm and twisted, shoving her towards Elsa.

Elsa intercepted, throwing a jab which glanced off Jade's jaw, trailing particles of ice. It wasn't meant to floor her, just anger her enough to build up a charge powerful enough to shock Janus back to life.

Hissing, Jade drew a longsword from her scabbard and electricity pulsed through the blade like a sabre of light. She swung it viciously at Elsa with every intention of killing her, but Elsa faded, grabbing Jade's wrist and slamming the flat of her palm into her hand which knocked the hilt from Jade's grasp. Then, she let go of Jade and used both hands to channel a volley of ice right into the brainwashed girl, powerful enough to push her a few feet back.

"I said hurry the hell up!" Tracy screeched. "They're breaking through any moment now!"

"Elsa, we're running out of time!" Peggy shouted.

Dropping into a half crouch, Elsa mindfully positioned herself between Janus and Jade. They're right. We're running out of time. Janus is running out of time. Eyes locked with Jade, she allowed ice to swirl round her hands and hurled an attack at Jade to goad her into lashing out with her own sorcery.

"Come on, Jade." She hissed beneath her breath. "Come on, Jade!" In desperation, she hurled another volley of ice at Jade which she evaded again. Acting on pure instinct, Elsa chanced a glance over her shoulder at Janus.

"Look out!" Peggy screamed.

That split second of distraction almost cost Elsa. With a short gasp, she threw herself out of the way as tendrils of lightning lashed out, a potent charge of Jade's sorcery hurled in her direction. The jolt hit Janus, lighting up his body in an intense, blue glow. The goal accomplished, Peggy tackled Jade head on, buying Elsa the few precious moments she needed.

Sliding across the snow-covered rooftop, Elsa dropped to her knees beside Janus as the blue glow faded. She put her hands on his chest to feel for a heartbeat and placed her ear near his nose. "Come back to me, Janus. Come back. Fight!" She pleaded. "I can't do this without you. Please!"

Janus groaned and opened his eye a fraction.

JANUS

"Hell," He muttered, his entire body pulsing with what felt like the remnants of an electric shock. Every cell felt like it was on edge, muscles quivering with newfound life even though he felt like death itself. Had he been hit by lightning?

Prying his gummy eyes fully open, it took him a moment to get rid of his blurred vision of a familiar figure kneeling beside him and as his eyes came into focus, tears fell on his face.

"Janus!" Elsa choked in delight. "You…you're alright!"

"I'm feeling pretty far from alright," He found that his voice sounded distant in his own ears, though he wasn't sure how that worked. "What the hell happened? Did you get the evidence to Ludwig?" The last thing he remembered was fighting Jade in the arena, desperately fending off her attacks as the emperor and the Crimson Order watched. She'd jolted him with an enormous charge of her lightning and then everything had gone black. But that had been in the castle. And this was definitely not the castle.

Janus sat up, Elsa anxiously holding onto him like a fragile child. Baffled, he looked around, the dry air punctuated with freezing cold as snow fell all around. There was a purple aura of energy formed into a bubble courtesy of Tracy, while seven Mage Slayers were furiously attacking it and trying to break down the shield of black magic. There were the familiar faces. Beast, Inque, Venom, Mover, Vertigo, Dreambinder and Carnivore.

Somewhere beneath them - most likely on the ground - it sounded as though an all-out firefight had broken out, musket and rifle shots cracking throughout the night at fast, erratic intervals.

Surveying the surroundings further, he saw Jade tussling with Peggy, while Tracy staggered to a knee, arms trembling with exertion. And then there was Elsa by his side, clutching him with tears profusely streaming down her face. What the hell is going on?

"What-" he stuttered. "I don't-"

"It's a long story," Elsa's voice cracked. "But I'm so glad you're okay. I thought I lost you."

"Hey! Welcome back from the dead!" Tracy hollered as she struggled to lever herself back to her feet. "We could really use your help here!"

So he had been dead. With a long groan, Janus forced himself to a knee with Elsa's help, his entire body feeling sore as though it'd been run over by a train. If this was what coming back from the dead felt like, he would've preferred to remain dead.

"Jade's down!" Peggy reported, having somehow managed to choke the Elemental Sorceress into unconscious.

Janus was so confused. What was Peggy, a servant girl, doing here? He stared at Elsa. "Why-"

"I'm gonna drop the shield now! Get ready for phase two!"

"Phase two?" Janus echoed.

"We're getting out of Exon tonight," Elsa let go of him as they got to their feet. "Tracy's going to find the Mage Slayer who's been messing with her powers and flush him out. Can you fight?"

"Don't have much of a choice, do I?" He forced a grin which he hoped put Elsa at ease. Truth was, he wasn't feeling anywhere near a hundred percent. But he'd be damned if he didn't put up a good fight. Snapping his mask back onto his face and pulling the hood over his head, he felt for his sword and bow but found them missing. The falchion and bow lay a couple of feet away and he picked them up, brandishing both at chest level.

Tracy gave an ear-piercing screech and pitched backwards into the snow. The purple aura dropped and six Mage Slayers rushed in like a flood.

Janus rushed in front of Tracy and brought up his sword to fend off a poison-tipped knife from Venom.

"Stay with her!" Elsa raised a shield of ice that stopped Peggy from being hit by Inque's tendrils of pure darkness.

"Whew. Good to have you back," Tracy pushed herself up to a knee and quickly fired a bolt of energy into Venom and Vertigo, throwing them five feet back. "Just try and kill the right people this time, alright?"

Behind the mask, Janus raised an eyebrow. What is she talking about? Darting forward, he met Beast's charge and swung himself to the side at the last moment, stabbing the giant's thigh with the falchion. It barely sank deep into his flesh.

The big assassin growled and tried to deliver a vicious backhand to Janus' face. He ducked, yanked the blade free and spun to Beast's rear as blood splattered from the giant's wounded leg. Drawing back his sword arm for a thrust through the back, he grunted as a wave of nausea hit him. He staggered to a knee as his vision swam, and felt himself being picked up by Beast like a rag doll. Vertigo overwhelmed him and everything spun, and he felt himself soaring over the edge of the rooftop.

"Janus!" Tracy shrieked, shooting her hands out.

A hand made out of pure purple energy caught him mid-flight and drew him back towards Tracy, her other hand using a wave of black magic to hold both Beast and Vertigo at bay.

"When I said 'kill the right people', I didn't mean yourself!" The moment Tracy put him back on solid ground, she extended both hands to defend them with her black magic. "Just hold them off and give me a minute to get a lock on!"

Normal vision returned to Janus and he saw a flash of metal from the peripheral of his eye. Moving on pure instinct alone, he caught the knife's blade between two fingers before it could sink itself into Tracy's skull.

Spinning, he hurled it back at a grinning Venom who ducked and returned with another two poison-tipped blades aimed at them both. Janus threw himself into Tracy and barrelled her to the ground just as the two blades whizzed overhead.

"I can sense him. He's near," Tracy said as they both got back to their feet, Beast and Vertigo closing in with Venom on their flank.

"Who?" Janus' eyes swivelled round.

"The one who's screwing with my magic," Tracy's eyes narrowed. "There."

Janus looked at where Tracy was indicating. A Mage Slayer stood beside Magnus, guarding the High Priest. It was the same assassin who'd taken Maui's powers from him and rendered him human.

"Carnivore?" Janus asked. Somehow, the ridiculous names had stuck.

"That's the bastard!" Tracy exclaimed. "I can feel his demonic powers screwing with me!"

"Stay close and move on my signal!" Janus fished out two pellets from his belt and hurled them at his feet. Smoke engulfed their immediate surroundings and he sprinted past Beast and Vertigo while they were momentarily stunned, Tracy hot on his heels. Sheathing his sword as he ran, he drew an arrow from his quiver, nocked and aimed it dead at Magnus and loosed.

Carnivore pushed the High Priest to safety, and turned to see the masked archer leaping at him. Janus landed on top of the Mage Slayer, slamming the riser of his bow into his nose. Growling, Carnivore gripped Janus' wrist. Nothing happened.

"That's the perk of being a regular human," Janus twisted free and drove a hard fist into the assassin's nose again, snapping his head back. "No sorcery to be sapped."

"Incoming!" Tracy yelled from behind him.

Janus spun and snatched another of Venom's knives out of the air before it caught him between the eyes. Tracy was still busy holding off Vertigo and Beast as they closed the distance.

"Bloody hell, this rooftop's getting too hot!" Tracy shouted over her shoulder.

She was right. Janus could see Peggy and Elsa busy engaging the remaining Mage Slayers on the other end of the rooftop, even as the three assassins began to hem him and Tracy in at the edge. Tracy wasn't going to have enough time to break Carnivore's wards and free herself to use her teleportation spells, at least, not up here with the assassins swarming them.

We need to put this fight on our terms. Janus looked around. Fortunately, Magnus was still close by.

"Use your magic and grab him!" He shouted to Tracy.

"Why?"

"Just do it!"

She ran to Magnus who was still sprawled on the ground and a large, purple hand made out of her black magic caught him by the scruff of his collar.

"Let go of me, witch!" Magnus struggled indignantly but Tracy's sorcery held fast.

"Get your hands off him!" Vertigo warned as they advanced.

"If you want your High Priest to stay alive, you'd better bring Carnivore to us!" Janus hurled a smaller pellet at the Mage Slayers which exploded in a flash of light right in front of their eyes, blinding the three of them.

"Hold on tight!" He yelled at Tracy who rushed to his side with Magnus at her mercy. She hooked her arm around his shoulder, with one hand still conjuring the sorcery that kept the protesting High Priest captive.

"No! What are you doing?" Magnus gasped as Janus and Tracy stepped onto the parapet.

"Improvising," He leapt backwards and off the rooftop with Tracy clinging to him, and Magnus - still held by Tracy's sorcery - screamed as he fell, held by the purple hand.

In mid air, Janus shot a grappling arrow into the parapet and let it go taut as they fell a few storeys. The cable tightened, and Janus used their falling momentum and the sudden stop to swing them towards the glass windows. They crashed magnificently through the glass and tumbled into the interior of the building which was pitch black apart from a few rays of moonlight streaming through the unbroken windows.

"Oh, hell," Tracy groaned as she got up, her back popping. "A little warning next time would be great, you piece of shit."

"Sorry. Didn't have time to explain," Janus levered himself to his feet, detaching the grappling arrow's cable from his bow.

Magnus tried to scramble away silently on all fours, but Tracy snatched the hem of his long cloak. "Not so fast, old man."

"What do you want with me?" Magnus hissed, his voice crackly with fear and indignation. "You're not going to kill me."

"No, I'm not. But I'm sorely tempted to after everything you put us through the past year," Janus grabbed him by the lapels of his cloak and pulled him close within a hair's breadth. "Instigating a war, turning our allies against us, but worst of all, you messed with Elsa. Believe me, I'll like nothing better than to put an arrow through your eye right here, right now."

Magnus whimpered.

"But you're lucky we need you alive as bait. For now." Janus drew a dagger and brandished it clearly before the High Priest's eyes. "Stay quiet or I'll make sure you bleed out slowly," He turned to Tracy. "We need to find cover. The assassins will be down here any moment now."

"Split them up, pick 'em off one by one, isolate Carnivore for me to do my thing?" Tracy asked.

"It should work in theory."

"Good play but why take the fight down here?" Tracy motioned at their surroundings. "The dark supposed to scare them or something?"

"Because the shadows are my turf," Janus drew his sword, his black outfit blending into the darkness as his blade shone against the reflection of moonlight. "And I'll be damned before I let the Mage Slayers get the drop on us. We're playing by my rules now."