Song of the Piper

::34:: The Night Claims Lives (Part 2)

Music is You Will Die Here by Alliance. Play it!

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I opened my eyes. I had to take action. Fast. I didn't know how I could stop Lord Himmel, but whatever he was doing was going to be the death of us all. I whipped my head around, searching for a means of escape. The splinters of wood continued to jab into me, and I cursed mentally.

Before I started praising the saints mentally.

Lord Himmel had clearly thought right about squeezing me in between heavy barrels. But he hadn't foreseen my determination to set myself free. With splinters of wood slicing up and down my arm, I moved. I selected a sharp end that looked sturdy enough to my right, and enduring the pain, I sliced the ropes against it.

Front. Back. Front. Back. I sawed the ropes against the splinter frantically, adrenaline pushing me to move faster. The barrels were pressed against me, and the wood drew thin lines of blood as I continued to saw. But I didn't care. I kept working with the ropes.

And it snapped.

The ropes fell away from my wrists. I wanted to revel in the moment of respite, but I had no time to lose. I snapped the sharp end from the wood—accidentally cutting one or two fingers in the process—and started to saw at the ropes binding my ankles together.

It fell away too. I pushed myself out of the tight space, launching myself onto my feet. I didn't bother to access myself for any further injuries.

Lord Himmel was chanting by himself this time. I gritted my teeth, feeling my pouch. It was empty. Didn't matter now. Keeping to the shadows, like I always had done, I slipped away into one of the streets away from the town square. Then I chose a door that didn't seem locked, and stole away into the house.

It was deathly quiet; not a single sound stirred the air, save for Lord Himmel's ominous chants. "Liohtia," I said, summoning a steinlioht to illuminate the way.

The area looked like a combination of a reception room and a dining hall. With a start, I identified the place as the local inn, Helga's Home. There should have been plenty of people here—or at least, a sizeable amount of people. It was the only inn available around, after all. Someone should be awake, woken up by the sorcerers' chanting, if not by the sudden flash of light that spiked into the sky.

"Hello?" I called out tentatively.

I was met with nothing but silence.

My Core stirred with urgency. Lord Himmel was close to finishing whatever spell he was casting. Without wasting another moment, I hobbled up the stairs, breathing heavily. I had to find someone—anyone to help. I couldn't stop Lord Himmel alone.

When I reached the upper floor, I tried the first doorknob I saw. The door wouldn't open, and in my desperation I drew on energy I never knew I had and sang, blasting the wood apart. I stepped into the room, kicking splinters aside, attention on the figure snoring on the bed.

I walked towards the figure. A man, with heavy set eyebrows and a crooked nose, probably broken once or twice. I shook his shoulder and said, "Wake up."

He didn't wake up.

I frowned. "Wake up," I repeated, a little louder this time.

He still didn't wake up.

"Wake up!" I screamed. I pounded my fists against his chest. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!"

He didn't wake up.

I finally gave up, snorting. This man was totally dead to his surroundings. But how was that possible? My shrieks should have been drilled into his ears. Unless...