******

I returned to the physical world with screams ringing in my ears.

I immediately pulled myself to my senses. Someone was latching onto my shoulder, and a wave of coolness washed over me. I turned around to look at the source.

"Heidi!" I exclaimed when I saw the Healer's face. Her eyelids fluttered open.

Instead of saying "Klaudia!" or "Thank the saints you're alive!" or even a "Get moving!" she cried over her shoulder, "She's awake!"

That was when I saw the gryphon.

I'd only seen them circling overhead in the wastelands, always a safe distance away. This was the first time I'd seen one up close. Its wings, spanning the length of three full grown men each, had a brilliant red and brown plumage. Its eagle head had two clear golden eyes set into it, ending in a deadly, curved beak. The forelegs resembled a bird of prey's, equipped with wickedly hooked talons; the hindlegs, a giant cat's, power rippling in its muscles, a tawny colour of sand. It truly was magnificent.

If only it weren't trying to eat us.

The Warders were doing their best to keep the beast away, but their magic was failing. Just like how Maria's had weakened in my vision. Lady Anya and Lady Gertrude held back, ready to act as a second wall of defence.

At Heidi's cry though, they whipped around and saw me, dazed, blinking, but conscious. "Pull back!" Lady Anya ordered, desperation tightly laced into her voice.

"Can you stand?" Heidi asked. I nodded, and with her help, climbed onto my feet. She began knitting a support for my leg with her water, and I stood on my own.

"Run!" screamed Lady Anya.

With the well of energy she had been reserving, she flung fire at the gryphon. The sparks caught the tips of its wings, and soon it was entirely ablaze. It screeched and writhed and thrashed, roaring in fury. The distraction wouldn't last long.

So we ran.

We didn't bother to move quietly or cautiously. We wouldn't have a chance to anyway if we were snagged in the gryphon's vicious talons. The Warders managed to maintain a barrier. However, I felt their fading strength—all of them. I was the only one who had her Core still reasonably full with magic. In between gasps and puffs, I sang. My notes came in stutters, and so did my magic, but it was enough to keep my companions going.

We blundered out of the castle gates, stumbled across the numerous streets, tripping upon the various obstacles that hadn't been cleared for two hundred years. We kept going. The roars of the gryphon echoed in the distilled air, getting closer and closer with every passing second. If we had any luck, it would chase away any monsters near us. And we would escape it too.

Wishful thinking. The only sort of thinking that was going to be efficient in this situation.

Lady Anya led us, somehow not forgetting our route of escape in the midst of panic. We zigged and zagged, bobbed and weaved, only keeping our eyes on the distance. I'd long dropped my melody; I was far too out of breath to sing anything.

Then suddenly, Lady Anya stopped.

We stopped too, confused. She held a hand up, slowly scanning our surroundings. We were in a narrow strip of road, and the exit was far up ahead. Nothing remarkable about this place—there were plenty of them like this in Erstürnach.

"Do you hear that?" whispered Lady Gertrude, her eyes wide in understanding of what was going on.

The sorcerers and I looked at each other before focusing our attentions upon the street. Silence hung in the air.

Silence.

No screeching of the gryphon.

No roaring of monsters.

Nothing.

"On guard," said Lady Anya. Her voice was quiet, yet it was unnervingly loud.

I reached for my flute, realising that I held the lodestone in my hand. After fumbling around with the pouch strings, I dropped the stone inside and took out my instrument. I put my Medium to my lips, shaking, cold sweat beading down my forehead despite the fact that I had been sprinting for at least five minutes nonstop.

"What a coincidence to see you here, is it not?"

That voice. I froze in my position, mentally counting to ten before slowly spinning on my heel to see the intruder at the end of the street.

Lord Himmel.

I wanted to scream.

Lady Anya stood at the front of our group, holding a lit match out defiantly. "Lord Himmel. A coincidence indeed. So I suppose that it's also coincidence that the gryphon which had been pursuing us has abruptly stopped giving chase?"

He threw his hands up in the air. "I do apologise for my pet's rudeness. I'll make sure to teach her some manners the next time we have guests."

"Who are you?" snarled Lady Anya.

"Who am I? Oh, I'd tell you, but I'm sure that the fair Klaudia herself has the answer for you."

He grinned, madness shining through his teeth, not unlike when Hans had been standing at the Fountain in the storm he had conjured. Except that this time, his golden hair was rich instead of dirty, his height was diminished, and his madness was no longer tinged with grief.

I took a step backwards. He knew what I'd seen.

"Come now, Klaudia. Don't you want to tell everyone what you know?" he taunted.

My tongue froze in fear. This was the man who had drained a Fountain dry, who'd held the power of a full Fountain inside him, who'd doomed Erstürnach to its ruin. This man was the Pied Piper, and he'd been leeching off the youth of children throughout the years in order to sustain him. This was the man who'd set a whole village ablaze with a few words.

Who could stand against him?

"Klaudia," Heidi's voice drew me into focus. Her thin, freckled face was pale, but she looked braver than I could possibly imagine for anyone in this sort of situation. "Klaudia, say something."

I locked eyes with Lord Himmel. Only they remained the same throughout the centuries: cold, hard, glittering like ice. Beautiful, but dangerous.

"His Affinity is for stealing magic," I finally said, making sure that my every word was properly drilled into my companions' heads. "Don't use magic in his presence—he'll only take it away."

Terror emanated from their bodies. If monsters were here, they'd immediately attack from the scent of fear cloaking all of us right now. "You—but how?" Lady Anya sputtered. Then her expression twisted with understanding. "So that was how you subdued me so easily? How you managed to slip past Starkfurt's barriers before I could reinforce it?"

He swept himself into a mocking bow. "But of course, milady."

Her face contorted with silent rage. Magic sparked at her fingertips, but she held it back. The other sorcerers arose with her anger, ready to strike. However, Lord Himmel had us trapped: we use magic, we'd die; we don't use magic, he'd attack.

"What do you want? And how did you know we were here?" I barked. Inside though, I was trembling like a leaf.

"Second question shall be answered first. As you already know, I am connected to Erstürnach—I know when people are foolish enough to step into its borders. Besides, I figured that if you weren't going to come to me, Lady Anya would have led you to where the pesky Magus had last been in before Hamelin."

I had a feeling that 'the pesky Magus' was my father. I opened my mouth to protest that Anton wasn't pesky, but stayed silent.

"Oh, and of course, those two sentinels posted up front were dead giveaways to your whereabouts." Lord Himmel snapped his fingers, and another figure materialised out of nowhere. Elise. Her violin was in her hands.

"Maria?" Lady Gertrude gasped. Surprised, my attention flicked back and forth between my former trainer and the group. The two Council members seemed to recognise Elise well enough, but the others came up blank.

"I no longer go by that name," Elise replied coldly.

"What—"

Before Lady Gertrude could ask another question, Elise yanked her bow across the strings, and two bodies came tumbling out of mid-air. They were husks. Similar to the bodies I'd saw in the memory. And they were dressed in the exact same clothes as the two sorcerers we'd left behind.

"These two were courageous, I admit," Lord Himmel said amiably, as though there weren't two corpses lying by his feet, "but really, Lady Anya, have your sorcerers lost their touch? I must say though, you are smarter than I thought. I almost expected you to come charging towards me as soon as we ran into each other."

Lady Anya's eyes were fixed upon what remained of her sorcerers. I could see the horror in them, their steel grey colour almost black in the light. Lady Gertrude managed to contain her emotions a little better, interestingly, though some of them leaked through when she gave a faint whimper. The other sorcerers just stood rooted to their spots, stunned, unable to react to their comrades' untimely deaths.

Meanwhile, I just took in the scene calmly. This was hardly anything compared to the complete destruction of Erstürnach.

"You haven't answered my first question," I reminded Lord Himmel.

He raised a brow. "Haven't I made that clear enough? Well then, I'll put it my answer in words, I suppose: Give up, Klaudia."

I closed my eyes. I'd expected that. It was a blow, all the same.

"Klaudia, don't," warned Lady Gertrude. My eyelids fluttered open to see her beautiful, vibrant face pinched with worry.

"I want my revenge too, but we must use the right method to do so," her words echoed in my head.

"If those two didn't convince you," continued Lord Himmel, "then perhaps this one will."

Right on cue, Elise played a few more chords. A rift opened in the space beside her, and out tumbled a tall, gaunt young man.

Josef.

I nearly released a shriek. The Josef I'd saw in the message had been tortured, beaten, and left to rot in saints-know-where.

This Josef was in a far worse condition.

He didn't even have the strength to kneel anymore. He just lay there in the dirt, breathing laboured, shuddering in his soiled loincloth. The lashes on his back were blackened and oozing with pus. Even if the ground were completely polished and shining, his whole body was caked with dirt. From what little I could see of his face, there was a nasty cut running down one side of it, still-healing and marring his handsomeness. One eye was missing. His once healthy body had been driven into decay.

And all this for helping me escape.

I thought about Starkfurt, of the moments where I'd strolled about the city, the times where I'd attended the Council meetings, the respites I had when talking to Heidi. I hadn't exactly been happy—I didn't really understand how to be happy anyway—but at least I was safe. And while I was safe, Josef had been suffering.

Guilt forced its way up my throat, burned the backs of my eyes.

Lord Himmel must have noticed the slight shift in me, for he grew smug. "If you come to me, he might live. And so would many others." Then his tone softened: "I know you don't want to start an unnecessary conflict, Klaudia. That's good. It's that nature of yours which makes you you. Don't ever sacrifice your compassion, no matter what."

"Klaudia, no!" cried Lady Gertrude. But I hardly heard her.

"I want you to give me your word," I said.

"And what would that be, my dear?" If possible, his grin grew wider.

I squared my shoulders and stood as straight as I could. "I want you to let Lady Anya take Josef to Starkfurt, and I want you to let them return there safely," I said before my courage failed me.

Lord Himmel tapped his chin in faux thoughtfulness. "I can't guarantee their safety—Bromilde is very hungry, and she's tired of eating the little goblins for supper—but I will try to convince my pets to not touch a single hair on your companions' heads. And as for Josef, I'm afraid I can't do that just yet."

"Why not?" I was growing bold, I knew. However, Lord Himmel wanted me just as much as I wanted Josef and my companions alive. I had every right to ask for my conditions.

The only question was if Lord Himmel would keep to them.

"Let me finish my sentence, my dear." Lord Himmel actually had the decency to call me 'my dear' and sound miffed at the same time. "I mean, I can't let him go to Starkfurt because there is a slow-burning poison in his system which can only be removed by my Healers. And he wouldn't be able to survive all the way to the city, at any rate—in his condition, he'd be dead halfway there. But I will promise that I will release him as soon as he recovers. He will be a free man."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "How can I be sure that you will keep to whatever you say?"

He took out a dagger out of his boot and walked towards me. My companions bristled, and I could sense them wondering if it would be all right to attack him now, catch him while he was off guard. I held up a hand, holding them back. I sensed their tension grow, but they went along with me. Perhaps they thought that I was only pulling off some sort of a trick.

They shouldn't have overestimated my capacity.

Lord Himmel finally stood before me, silver blade glinting in the sunlight. Elise was a slim silhouette against the background, and Josef a pathetic heap of flayed skin beside her. I looked directly into Lord Himmel's face, and though I was mildly frightened, I was determined.

He folded back the sleeves of his left arm and sliced the dagger of his palm. Dark red blood immediately welled up from the wound and fell to the ground in droplets. He then passed the dagger to me, waiting for me to do the same.

My companions were probably expecting me to drive the weapon into his heart.

And for a moment, I contemplated doing so.

But in the end, I was a coward. I couldn't kill. Even now, as lives hung in the balance. Like Lord Himmel said, I had compassion by nature. He was wrong in one aspect though: it had never been a strength, only a weakness.

I drew the blade across my palm.

The tension in the air thickened.

Lord Himmel took my hand with the wound, and my blood met his blood. I could feel the surge of his power mingling with mine, wanting to devour it, but not quite. It was dizzying. I held on only because his grip was so tight.

"I hereby swear that I will see to it that Josef, Tinker of Heidelberg, shall regain full health and be released from Saint Bromilde's Fountain as soon as possible. I shall also ensure the safety of Lady Anya, Lady Gertrude and the remainder of their sorcerers so long as they remain in Erstürnach, and I shall not initiate any attacks upon them once they leave the city."

Something rippled in him. He waited for me to fulfil my end of the bargain. I took in a deep breath. "I hereby swear that I will go with Lord Himmel to Heidelberg."

Magic rose around us. It was subtle though, and I hardly noticed when it was gone. Lord Himmel pulled his hand back, and I saw that my wound had healed.

"It is settled," he said, satisfied.

"Klaudia, what have you done?"

Heidi's voice, plaintive and hurt, rang out sharply. Something in me broke. She had trusted me to do my duty, to find a way to defeat Lord Himmel and free all of us from this madness. But now I was going to him.

I turned around, facing my former companions. My betrayal was written all over them.

"I'm sorry," I whispered.

Then I heard someone playing a violin. A spell surrounded me, and my vision blurred. My stomach lurched; nausea swept over me. The two Magi and three sorcerers from Erstürnach faded from my sight.

My surroundings cleared soon. I was standing in a familiar room—Lord Himmel's office. Sure enough, he was right beside me, along with Elise and Josef.

"Welcome back," he said.

I sank onto my knees and wept.

******