Song of the Piper

::35:: Maelstrom (Part 2)

Music is Cryptwalker, composed by Shades of the Abyss. Play it!

Media: Lady Gertrude as of now.

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A figure stepped out from behind the body. Lady Anya, her face grimy and clothes rumpled. Yet she looked as poised as ever, grey eyes shining like steel. In her hands she held a matchbox and a match at ready.

"I was trying to find you!" she said as soon as she saw me. Then she noticed Elise beside me, still playing her song. Still holding on, despite the nasty gash running down her side. "What are you doing?"

"Elise is going to try and destroy Lord Himmel's mind," I said.

"You mean, kill him?"

"Yes."

There was a brief pause. "That's the problem, isn't it? He just can't be killed," she said. Only now did I notice the chinks in Lady Anya's armour, the cracks in her countenance. She whipped around, watching the scene continuing to unfold. So much blood. So much chaos. "We're losing badly. Lady Gertrude was just one of the few who had spent far too much of their energy. A few of my best sorcerers have tried to get close to Lord Himmel, but to no avail. Even I daren't approach him. The other Council members are doing their best to hold the line, but they won't last forever."

"We just need a little more time," I insisted. I looked at Elise. My mouth opened, ready to sing a song of healing for her, even if I felt drained enough already.

Lady Anya interrupted me before I could start: "But do you understand the consequences of killing Lord Himmel? Do you know why we were holding back?" She jerked her chin towards Josef, who was stiffly standing guard. "He should know."

"What—we don't have any time for arguments!"

"You kill Lord Himmel, you kill the Fountain of Heidelberg. Usually, a lord will choose his heir beforehand, so that not all the magic of the province will die along with him. Why do you think we wanted him to marry so desperately?"

Realisation doused over my head. "So that means—"

"Everyone who was bound to Heidelberg, whether now or then, will be killed."

"No—no!"

"It depends if you're willing to sacrifice an entire city for the sake of a country now, Klaudia," said Lady Anya. I couldn't bear to look at her, so I turned to Josef.

"You knew," I said to him, words barely audible over the din. "You knew—and you didn't tell me?"

"I had no other choice," he replied simply, while knocking aside a spell of lightning aimed for us.

I went mute with despair. I didn't mind sacrificing myself, but the other of having so many others forced to be sacrificed along with me...I thought of Heidelberg, of the city, of its people, of its life. It was alive, and though I didn't have the fondest memories of the place, I couldn't just take all its life away. I couldn't let it become another version of Erstürnach, a decaying remnant of days long gone. And to think that Elise and Josef, who had already given so much, meeting this fate...It was unbearable. I would sooner sell my soul to Lord Himmel than let them die.

"There has to be another way," I said. I was past crying now, but the emptiness that filled my being was even worse.

"Perhaps Maria has an alternative in store," suggested Lady Anya. Her tone was gentle, but it sounded doubtful.

I cut my flow of magic into Elise's body. She gasped from the sudden loss of backup, slowly allowing her song to die away. The impact of her spell induced nausea rising in me, but I held it back, gripping her by the shoulders and shaking her till her eyes were aware of her surroundings. Only now did she look down at her waist, noting that red stained her dress. She simply frowned, then looked at me.