Song of the Piper

::34:: The Night Claims Lives (Part 1)

Music is Heroes Collide by Aaron Wilde. Play it!

So the city isn't Hamelin. But its mood fits the chapter!

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First I heard the laughter.

Unbridled, wild, mad. Absolutely mad. Ringing in the night, clear and hollow. Echoing in the silence, almost a part of it.

Then I saw him.

His face aglow with power; his blond hair dancing with the bitter wind. His crystalline blue eyes bright, drunk from happiness. A full, blinding smile graced his lips. His pipe cradled in his arms, polished and beautiful. He looked like a saint, standing over me, moonlight bathing him in silver.

"Thank you, my dear Klaudia," said Lord Himmel. "Thank you for giving back what you had taken from me."

Only then did I feel it—the aching loss of something inside me. It was as though I had lost a limb or an eye, and all of the sudden I was lost. It took me a few moments to let the full realisation sink into my head.

My Affinity had been stolen.

It was gone—ripped away from me. The emptiness in my soul would testify that. There was no way to describe how the loss felt. It was worse than everything I'd been through so far. Worse than suffering multiple beatings from the Mayor; worse than the pain of learning about my past; worse than being locked in that wretched dungeon for weeks; worse than having all my inner demons being set upon me just now.

"What have you done?" I whispered hoarsely.

"An illusion, my dear. It was all an illusion. One that feeds off your deepest, darkest fears. A mighty splendid one, I might say. Of course, that might be attributed to the fact that all your nightmares had started in Hamelin."

I felt sick. Lord Himmel had used every single one of my weaknesses against me, just in attempt to win the power to control minds.

My Affinity had been stolen.

And it now belonged to Lord Himmel.

I was crouching on the ground, arms hugging myself, head bowed so low it almost touched the snow. I couldn't cry—I felt too hollow for that. And yet I was soaked in grief, drowning in it. All that I had endured, and it all came to this. All that I—and so many others had fought for, and in the end, my nightmares had come true.

I'd failed them all.

It was over.

"There, there. Don't look so downtrodden. You made the right choice, my dear." His voice was as smooth as honey. As sweet too. But it invoked a storm of anger within me. My hands clenched into fists, and I gritted my teeth, looking at him through white-dusted lashes and tangled curls.

With a roar, I threw myself at him.

He looked mildly surprised when I managed to spring up from my crouch, in spite of my bad leg. The full force of my weight came crashing upon him, and we fell together, him below and I above. I screamed, flinging my flute aside and wrapping my fingers around his throat, squeezing them for all I was worth. So vulnerable. He was a Magus, but he was still human. He still had life; he still could die. He clawed at me, unable to use his voice to sing. He was a man, and he was supposed to be stronger, while my muscles were weak and untrained. But I was fuelled by pure, unfiltered rage. It poured out in a torrent, fixing its focus upon the man before me. And at the sight of his face going purple, some small part of my heart rejoiced, gladdened that I was taking revenge for what he had done.

Strong arms pulled mine away from Lord Himmel's throat and dragged me away from him. I kicked and screamed, to no avail. Kaiser held me fast, not allowing me a chance to escape. Another sorcerer came up to me and swiftly applied a gag to my mouth. I continued to thrash around, furious.