Sing aloud, O witch of Andania!

Let your carols resound, O daughter of Krall!

Behold, your king has come to you; weary and burdened with fear.

Afraid and becalmed on land is he.

- Andanian Chronicles

Laura rejoiced as Krall trembled and thrashed about in tune with her singing. The earth cracked and shattered as his massive tentacles, the width of entire buildings, slammed repeatedly into the tortured landscape. The horrified cries of people and animals rang through the air like a macabre symphony, and the pungent scent of coppery blood stained the air around her. She sighed with satisfaction as an enormous appendage slammed into the Saadian encampment and smashed it into churned kindling. “Good, kill them all Krall! Slaughter the foul invaders till there’s nothing left…” The exhausted princess muttered vengefully as she leaned weakly on the three-story high appendage quivering beside her and closed her eyes.

“Hey!” Laura complained bitterly as Krall withdrew his tentacle and slunk away from her. He dragged himself laboriously, up from the crumbled riverbanks and onto the plains, and stretched out towards the distant hillside. Krall wailed loudly as he strangled the mound within a sea of squirming appendages and his massive maw widened as if to consume the Saadian encampment entirely. The princess straightened up and strummed furiously, “Swallow! Swallow!” she cheered eagerly.

“Bad Krall,” Lily tutted reproachfully as she admonished the beast looming above her as if he was just another misbehaving child. And she swatted at the tentacles that had crept towards the unconscious girl in her arms, “Look at all the damage you caused! Aren’t you the least bit ashamed of yourself?” Krall nodded mournfully in reply as he reached out to pluck at all the bloody pieces lodged between his teeth and stacked them into a massive bloody totem of shattered corpses before the disapproving princess. Lily sighed as she glanced at the ruined tentage around her, “Well Krall, there’s nothing left here. So, if you want to hear me sing, fetch me a zither!”

“Why, why have you forsaken me?” The wolf strummed and sang feebly in an effort to recapture Krall’s attention. But he wailed in protest and Laura let out a strangled cry as a tentacle darted out and constricted forcefully around her slender neck before tugging her into the air. Her legs cycled powerlessly as she gasped for breath and her zither fell to the ground with a discordant clang as a weakening numbness crept down her limbs. Laura opened her mouth to scream, but Krall shoved a tentacle down her throat and silenced the helpless witch before she could cry out, and his limbs swarmed over and encased her suspended body within a cocoon of squirmy moistness. Krall heaved a sigh of relief as he inspected his handiwork before retrieving the fallen zither and delivering it to the distant hillside.

“How excessively gaudy…” Lily stroked the delicate strings gently while humming a wordless melody. Then the princess breathed in deeply and straightened up to face Krall.

"Little Krall what are you fearing?

Little Krall why are you wailing?

Little Krall who are you seeking?

Let me tuck you in warm ocean’s fleece,

To soothe your woes and bring you peace,

And seal your sleep with a royal kiss."

The beautiful Andanian princess smiled as her angelic voice drifted out over the battered landscape and calmed the fearful hearts of Krall and man. And Krall wobbled with contented relief as he curled around the singing princess and closed his eyes to snooze.

“Krall. Why did you come? Were you so afraid that I wouldn’t keep my promise?” Lily inquired gently.

Krall responded by gashing his teeth with frustration as his head swayed from side to side with dissent.

Lily nodded observantly, “Well in any case, you are stuck. All because you forced yourself into that too narrow stream and trashed about like that. I suppose that it will take years for you to untangle your body now. Why did you do this?”

Krall raised the securely sealed cocoon before Lily and pointed repeatedly at it with his tentacles, then he shook it angrily as he jabbed at the zither while miming an attempt to play the instrument.

The princess sighed, “So a witch sang and you were afraid? You’re such a wuss Krall, I hope that you didn’t kill her too. You have inflicted more than enough death and destruction for today. So where is this naughty witch?”

Krall groaned with relief as he uncurled his appendages and dumped the gagging wolf in an unceremonious heap before Lily. The wounded wolf was on her last legs, she moaned as she stretched out blindly across the battered grass, “Aryan… Aryan…” she whimpered weakly as she trembled powerlessly in the dirt.

“You!” Lily flushed with anger as she stared at the culprit, “You were the one that hurt Xerxes!” The furious princess raised her heel to grind it into her opponent’s body. But she hesitated as the wolf coughed out a steaming puddle of blood and her features softened with pity. “Why would you resort to such extreme measures, don’t you care about yourself?”

“Another Saadian!” Laura swore with fury as she propped herself to face the voice and gestured sightlessly, “You assassinated my only sister! Kill her Krall! Destroy them all!”

Lily pursed her lips disapprovingly as she faced the wolf lying at her feet, “Krall isn’t some servant that you can order around like that, you don’t understand him at all.”

“How dare you! Who are you to lecture me like this?” Laura cried out, “Krall is mine! I inherited him.”

“I am also a witch. And I say that Krall isn’t a piece of property to be owned or used by anyone! Krall was born to be free!”

The wolf seethed with indignation as she assessed her foe’s Talent, “A witch serving the Saadians? A weakling like you must be from some long-forgotten branch family! How dare an impetuous upstart question me like this? I am from the purest pedigree, with the strongest claim to Krall.” She coughed weakly as she gasped for breath, “That’s it. I demand a trial by Krall, Krall will decide if he will serve under me or listen to your worthless chatter.”

Lily frowned as she crossed her arms over her chest, “Considering the witch’s three trials, we don’t have any paper for talismans and you are certainly in no condition to fight me. Do you mean to challenge me in song then?”

“Pick whatever you want.” The wolf growled as she snatched up a jagged shard of rock and staggered to her knees to face her opponent, “I’m not some worthless sheltered wimp like you. I’ll draw or fight, even if I have to carve the bloody spells into my flesh.”

Lily sighed as she gazed at the tottering wolf, “Can you even sing?” She questioned doubtfully.

“Hah, who do you think I am? I was trained to do anything, I’m the Best!” Laura boasted confidently, “You would be a fool to pick a trial by song, I could decide to sing anything! Even a song that you have never heard in your entire life… you wouldn’t even stand a chance!”

Lily placed the ivory and mithril lined zither before the crouching wolf, “Do your worst, Miss Wolf. If I win, you will swear to never frighten or hurt Krall again!”

Laura growled as she clawed the zither onto her lap, “I’m not going to play around with half-baked requests like yours. If I win, I shall have both your head and heart!”

“Krall be our witness, Krall be our judge.” The sisters entwined their fingers together and channeled their Talents to seal a binding contract between them. And the wolf gloated, her graceful haunting voice pierced like a blade through the air as she sang the song she had painstakingly composed to rile Krall into his terrified destruction.

“Beat that.” The wolf smirked as she tossed her zither to the ground. The final notes of her tune drifted off slowly as Krall shivered with fear, “Remember, you have to sing the exact same song, and do it better than me! Have you even managed to memorize the words? If you grovel at my feet and beg, perhaps I will be kind enough to write them down for you.” Laura mocked.

Lily ignored her opponent’s taunts as she shook Naomi to her feet, “Here’s your first task as my apprentice,” she instructed the trembling child with a soft calm whisper, “bring me your washing board and some steel tentage strings. I refuse to use the instrument that was responsible for stroking Krall’s fear.” The child gulped as she stared at Krall, then her chains clattered loudly as she scampered off into the tents and rummaged desperately for the requested items.

“Running off won’t save you,” Laura queried uncertainly as she peered sightlessly towards the sound of departing feet, “have you decided to concede already?”

“I’m still here, I won’t be going anywhere before I defeat you.” Lily answered patiently.

“There were two of you!?” Laura jerked back with surprise, “But you are the only witch, how did that Talentless mundane survive Krall?”

“I asked Krall not to harm her, nicely.” Lily explained.

“You did what!? That’s impossible!” Laura spluttered, “Whatever is your relationship with Krall?”

“I’d like to think that Krall and I are mutual friends. It’s just too bad that Krall can’t speak well, so I’ll never know for sure…”

“Hehe… Haha…” Laura sniggered, “Have your gone completely batty with stupid? You’re might even surpass that super idiot sister of mine, you would have got along really well with her if she was still alive…” The princess wiped at the tears that trickled down her cheeks, “You’re not half bad, let’s just call this match a draw and you won’t have to die here.”

“I refuse,” Lily pouted. “Your song was horrible and filled with untruths. Why should I tie with a blind witch who doesn’t even understand the first thing about Krall? I’ll ensure that you will savor the taste of defeat today.”

“Are my ears also failing me?” Laura muttered incredulously, “Do you even remember the words I sang? How do you expect to win if you can’t even sing my song?”

“It is the heart that counts,” Lily teased impishly, “Krall will understand.”

“What!?” Laura spluttered with disbelief, “Rules are rules! If you flout the laws of the contest, Krall will destroy you…”

“Noble lady, mistress… princess… Um the washing board and strings as instructed,” Naomi trembled fearfully as she knelt before Lily and proffered the items she had gathered. And the child could not help but sneak repeated glances of horror at the eagerly drooling beast that had curled up to surround them.

“Good girl,” Lily praised her kindly, “now sit next to me and observe my performance, you will have much to learn if you wish to be an accomplished witch one day.”

“A witch? But she doesn’t have any Talent, is she even from our bloodline…” Laura argued.

“Shut up. It’s my turn to sing now.” Lily instructed distractedly as she poured her magic into the wooden board in her hands and sculpted it into a roughened soundboard. Then she stretched out a dozen strings of varying thickness to form a device that vaguely resembled a musical instrument. The princess strummed the strings experimentally, and a harsh discordant note screeched from the crudely crafted item.

“Hah. What are you doing? Destroying my zither won’t help…” Laura’s taunts were silenced as Krall rested a thick slimy appendage warningly on her shoulder. The princess gulped and wisely choose to keep her mouth shut as Lily continued to shape her instrument patiently.

“It is done,” Lily nodded approvingly as she examined her handiwork. A small and roughly hewn twelve-stringed zither nestled in her lap. She strummed the instrument one last time, and a passable melody piped out from the zither she had carved from the humble starting materials. ‘If only elder sister was here with me to witness my performance!’ Lily thought with a faint wistful smile as she raised her eyes to meet Krall’s excited gaze. And the princess of Andania straightened up to sing a song that bubbled straight from her heart.

"Setting like the westward star be at peace,

Meekness in reality,

Krall rest within my voice’s fleece,

Be still my dear child of amity.

Calm your soul and your endless limbs uncrease,

Regain peaceful faculty,

And in eternal slumber liest,

Till your fears have all found remedy."

As the radiant girl sang, Krall let out a long hissing sigh of contentment and his waving limbs drifted lovingly to surround the singing princess.

“Krall,” Lily rose and curtseyed gracefully as the final notes of her melody trailed off into the distance, “who would you like to hear from again?” Krall chortled with gladness as he snuggled against Lily while avoiding the dismayed wolf.

“Impossible! How?” Laura blanched with disbelief as she realized that she had been utterly overcome by her opponent, “You flipped the intent of my song by switching up all my words while using the same melody? It took me months of hard work, just to come up with those two verses! But you managed to compose a perfectly synchronized counter chorus during the fleeting moments of our competition? How can a nobody like you, possess such genius? Who are you? There’s no way that we wouldn’t have heard about your Talents!”

“Does it matter?” Lily sighed sadly, “I’m just a lonely princess from a forgotten kingdom, searching for my lost sister.” She turned away and nodded at Krall, “I realize now that instigating a war of this magnitude, just to recover my sister, was a worthless endeavor. Perhaps your presence here will be beneficial to the people of these kingdoms after all. Will you please return the Vaishyans to their lands and prevent another war from breaking out while you are lodged here?”

Krall nodded silently in assent, thousands of tentacles shot out to blot out the lands and separated the Vaishyans from the Saadians. The people screamed in horror and fought back desperately to break free, but Krall did not harm a single soul as he deposited them safely on their side of the border. And Krall drew a deep warning line through the soil on either side of the river, and filled the trenches with the corpses of their dead.

“What shall I do with you?” Lily inquired gently as she turned her attention back to the listless wolf.

“I’ve lost and my life is forfeit.” Laura muttered grudgingly, “I have nothing else to live for anyway…”

“Aryan,” Lily uttered a single word, “does that name ring a bell?”

“Aryan!” Laura babbled with horror as she screamed and clutched at her suddenly aching head, “He was someone important! I promised to meet him… Ugh, my magic…”

Lily eyed the mumbling wolf kindly, “I’m sorry for not noticing it earlier. You must have used a forbidden device in your fight, perhaps I can help…”

“No!” Laura wailed as she backed away desperately, “I promised to see this Aryan person right now. I remember, there’s no more time left!” The ring of calamity embedded in her finger began to smolder and the wolf’s features contorted with barely suppressed agony.

“That’s an Andanian treasure!” Lily exclaimed as she strode forward swiftly, “You were desperate enough to wield the Calamity Ring? Surely you knew the consequences of using it! Where did you find it? Who are you? Remove that mask of yours immediately!”

“Who am I?” The wolf growled as she struggled to pry her mask from her body. But try as she might, the obscuring device had somehow been fused to her flesh during the heat of battle. Lily stepped up and attempted to tug part of the cursed item from her face, but the wolf screamed with pain and a powerful surge of energy lashed out from the ring in her finger and blasted the two sisters apart. The wolf’s eyes glinted with hopeless mania, “It doesn’t matter who I am anymore, we will never meet again. I just need to get back to Aryan before this ring kills me.” She wept as she fell to her knees and begged.

Lily shook her head sadly, “What a waste. You can’t be much older than me, why did you throw your life away like that? What did you hope to accomplish?”

The wolf chuckled crazily as tears coursed down her cheeks, “Hehe… I don’t remember. I don’t remember anything! Hahaha! I just need to get to Aryan right now!”

Lily gazed sympathetically at the wolf, “Say please, and I’ll…”

Laura cast aside her lingering remnants of pride and prostrated immediately before her younger sister, “Please! I beg you, send me to Aryan… I’ll do anything, I’ll give you anything you want…”

“I don’t want anything, this is goodbye then...” Lily sighed as she bent down to retrieve the shrieking Spear of Calamity and thrust it into Laura’s hands. “Here is the weapon you flung at me just now, you should take better care of your treasures, witch of Vaishya.” The princess turned to Krall, “Please send this girl safely back to the man named Aryan.”

Krall nodded silently, he curled his limbs around Laura, lifted the confused princess into the air, and transported her swiftly back towards the Waters of Merom. “Wait… she’s a princess…” Laura mumbled under her breath as she fought to piece together her fading memories, “This spear, I threw it. The Saadian witch is related to the demon, the only person I know with that much power… and the ability to sing like that…” Her eyes widened with realization as Krall lifted her across the river, “Lily!” she cried out, “You are alive! You are safe…” but her younger sister was too distant to hear her shout of joy.

Lily dusted off her dress and turned to the child at her side, “It’s finally over, let’s go find out what happened to that idiot Xerxes. Hmm… was it my imagination, or did someone call my name?”

Naomi stared numbly at the princess and at Krall’s departing back, then she surveyed the destruction Krall had wrecked through the lands and contrasted it to the damage Lily had inflicted on the Saadian campsite. “I believe the legends! They must be true!” She blurted out impulsively before she could stop herself, “You are certainly a relative of Krall!”