Song of the Piper

::35:: Maelstrom (Part 1)

Music is Fallout by Rodney Spence. Play it!

Media: Okay, so it isn't an epic clash, but the meteors remind me of magic. So there.

******

Chaos ensued.

Arms grabbed me. Lord Himmel's. Then someone smashed his or her whole body into him, forcing him to release me. Then that same person's arms latched onto me and dragged me across the chaos. Elise's.

The sorcerers from Starkfurt had swooped out of nowhere, taking advantage of the element of surprised, and they now clashed against the ones from Heidelberg. Scarlet uniforms versus blue, the gryphon insignia versus a dragon. Two sides clashing mercilessly against each other, unwilling to relent.

Elise had probably woven a shield around us, as everything bounced off us harmlessly. She pulled me into a street; I followed dumbly. The night had taken its toll on me, and I was tired and still in shock from everything that had just taken place. I was infinitely grateful that Elise was here.

Then I remembered what Lord Himmel could do.

I stopped in the middle of a street of dilapidated houses, resisting against Elise. She stumbled a bit and looked at me, panic in her eyes. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "We have to get you to safety! Lord Himmel can't take away your Affinity now, of all times."

I sucked in a deep breath. "He already has."

The silence was so thick that it was a sound in itself.

"What?" she cried. "Klaudia, this isn't the time for jests!"

"I'm serious," I replied evenly, fighting to keep my emotions under control. "Lord Himmel had tricked me into using the Affinity, and—and he stole it away."

Her expression crumpled. I saw the hopelessness in it, the despair, the knowledge that everything was over. "No. No, it can't be..."

"We have to go back," I said.

She resumed control over herself, eyes hardening into two amethysts. "No. There's no point in sacrificing ourselves."

"Then what can we do?"

"Nothing!" she screamed, all her bottled-up frustration finally gushing out. "There's absolutely nothing we can do!"

The quiet that followed was unnerving. Then tears began to stream down her cheeks. My failure pressed upon me, as heavy as a thousand mountains. Because of me, all the sorcerers were doomed to die. Lord Himmel would begin his war campaign, stealing the magic from Fountains everywhere, hoarding it to himself, spreading his reign of terror. No one could stand against him, even if they wanted to.

I closed my eyes, crying silently. There were only a few Magi left amongst our presence, and none of our Affinities could match his. Individually, stealing and mind control overruled everything; together, they would devastate the world. How could any Affinity ever match up to them?

Then an idea struck me.

My eyelids flew open.

I lay my hands upon Elise's shoulders. She looked at me, questioning. "How powerful is your Affinity?" I asked. Her memory-wiping Affinity; the one she'd used to save me. Even if it'd meant that she might lose me forever.

She blinked. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry if this seems sudden, but tell me if your Affinity can kill people?"

A shadow of understanding flickered across her face. "Possibly. If I do it right," she said.

"Have you ever tried it on Lord Himmel before?"