******

I was in Erstürnach. The wind whipped my skin, and the Fountain was churning and brimming with pure magic. I stood strong and straight and tall. A legion of sorcerers filed in behind me, looking to me for guidance. But even so, I barely managed to stop my limbs from trembling.

On the other side of the Fountain was a young blond man. Energy sparked off him in fury; his Core pulsed with wild magic. And yet I immediately knew who he was, although his aura was near unrecognisable.

Hans.

Or Lord Himmel.

I saw myself raise a hand.

The sorcerers charged at him.

Then I saw their magic being stolen by Lord Himmel.

Horror overcame me. They were all reduced into shrivelled husks—every single one of them. No one was spared. Gone. Here one second, then gone.

It was a massacre.

I held a pipe in hand, staggering towards the field of corpses. But then Lord Himmel started to cast a spell. The Fountain glowed a brilliant white—possibly brighter than the sun itself, and I threw my arms over my eyes to avoid being blinded.

Only when the light dimmed out did I slowly put down my arms. And I wished I weren't able to see anything at all.

The Fountain was empty. Its magic was gone—gone.

No. Not exactly gone. It was all in Lord Himmel's Core. His entire being was practically brimming with magic. His face was radiant with all the power he just absorbed. My grip around my pipe tightened; although I knew that this was a dream, I still felt fearful.

I wanted to sink to my knees in despair, yet I kept upright. I looked down, noting that I was wearing breeches. I also felt stronger, faster. Then I saw why—I had no limp.

Before I knew it, Lord Himmel was right in front of me, attempting to sneer over me. But I was almost as tall as him. He flashed me a malicious smile.

"It's time for your reign to end," he said.

He put his pipe to his lips and played.

Pain seized every fibre of my muscles. My knees finally gave way beneath me, and I fell face-first onto the ground. But the pain of falling was nothing compared to the agony in my Core. It was burning, burning, burning, reaching a fever pitch. Numbness rooted itself in my stomach. It could be pain, for all I knew. I couldn't feel anything else but the heat.

Then I felt like my Core was being compacted into a ball, being ripped away from my body.

My Core rose upwards and was ripped out from my throat.

An empty scream escaped me.

******

I jolted awake at the clanging of metal.

Cold sweat was running in rivulets down my neck, and I was trembling. It was a nightmare, but it had been so vivid. The feeling of having my Core being ripped out of me...I shivered in the darkness.

Then I noticed the figure standing at my cell door. I pushed myself backwards and curled into a timid ball by instinct. Although the steinliohts were weak here, I could recognise my visitor.

Lord Himmel.

His expression was unreadable, masked by the shadows. However, I sensed anger radiating off him. Faint irritation also touched him. That, and mild admiration. It seemed like he couldn't decide how he should feel.

He pushed the cell door open—not even bothering to close it behind him—and walked towards me, snatching my arm and practically dragging me out of bed. I tumbled onto the ground, biting down on my tongue to muffle a scream. He merely snorted in disgust.

"You will do as I say," he snarled, hauling me upwards till I was forced onto my feet. "Control my mind."

Like yesterday—or was it today? Time didn't exist down here—I felt the blood oath tugging at my insides, trying to push my Core to do as it willed. Lord Himmel let go of me, and my arms immediately whipped towards my pouch.

No! I screamed in my head. You didn't promise him this.

The thought kept me anchored to the world as I fought against the strange, primal magic driving my arms. Just when I thought I was gaining the upper hand, the blood oath would suddenly pulsed in me, regaining control over my limbs. I sang, and some of the pressure alleviated, but not by much.

Then my flute was in my hand.

With horror, I saw myself putting my instrument to my lips. I took in an involuntary breath, preparing to blow into it...

No!

With one last burst of energy, I pushed against the blood oath.

It ebbed away.

I gasped, flinging my flute far away and collapsing onto the floor. It took me far more effort to break the blood oath this time, and my head felt extremely light. My Core was singing in alarm.

Lord Himmel roared in frustration.

It was a beastly, chilling sound, echoing throughout the crevices of the dungeon. The sounds of critters stopped in its wake, only picking up a few seconds later. I closed my eyes, waiting for his slap to come. But instead of that, I heard the crash of a metal door.

I opened my vision to the world to see that Lord Himmel was now outside my cell door, which had been locked close. His eyes were blazing with fury.

I held his stare. It reminded me of what was at stake, and why I shouldn't give in to him.

He opened his mouth, probably to curse me, but in the end he decided against it and stalked away.

I sank against the bedframe, both from relief and from fear. How long would it be till I couldn't resist the blood oath? When would I break? I wasn't a fool. I knew that Lord Himmel was purposely keeping me down here until I gave him he wanted.

My flute sat a distance away. I looked at it for a while, before crawling towards it and taking it in my hands. The familiar feel of wood was oddly comforting. I put it to my lips and played.

I held an image of a rose in my mind. I wasn't trying to conjure an object, just an illusion. However, my Core refused to wake at my command. It was as though I was trying to move a boulder. The boulder moved an inch—a thin, shrivelled stem appeared before me. But I couldn't keep up the effort for long. I was straining myself far too much, and I felt like I was slowly losing my mind to the corrupted magic of the earth.

I dropped the spell; the stem vanished.

My flute fell from my shaking hands, clattering loudly against stone. My hair fell in wild tangles over my vision, and I was panting desperately.

Once I recovered, I pushed my hair out of my eyes and sat on the ground. The flute lay by my feet, useless. Not even my Medium could save me from this situation.

I screamed.

I screamed and screamed and screamed. I pounded against the floor till my fists ached, then I got up and scraped against the walls till my fingers were blistered. All the while, I was screaming. My screams filled the air, and I didn't stop until my throat went hoarse and dry. I looked around; there wasn't any water. Not even a single drop.

Rage boiled in me. I stomped over to my flute and picked it up. So delicate, so slim—so useless. Useless useless useless. What was the point of having a Medium if it couldn't save me? My grip around it tightened.

I held it before me, ready to snap it against my knees. I only saw red; I only knew that this was the instrument that couldn't save me.

Then I returned to myself.

Shame suddenly washed over me. What was I thinking? I had been ready to destroy the only thing that was real in this stupid, stupid world. I had been behaving no better than Lord Himmel.

With the adrenaline now gone, I dragged myself towards the bed and hugged my flute to my chest. I flopped onto the mattress and stared up at the ceiling.

I waited for something to happen.

******

I must have fallen asleep again, as I only realised that there was a person outside my cell when he or she rattled the door.

I pushed myself up so that I sat upright, rubbing fatigue out of my eyes. My visitor was a woman this time. My heart leaped when I recognised her.

"Elise," I said, getting off the bed and limping towards her, flute in hand. I tried to touch the metal grills, but magic seemed to block me, and I couldn't get it within two inches' distance. In the end I settled for dropping my arms by my sides.

She was carrying a tray loaded with plates and food and water. Finally. Carefully, she bent down and slid the tray towards me. I fought the urge to scrabble on my knees and gulp down the jug of water and tuck into the limp vegetables and undiscernible gruel. How long had it been since I'd had my last meal? How long had it been since I'd last drank water? Not that long, granted, since I was still alive and still somewhat sane, but my throat was terribly dry from all the screaming, and my stomach felt hollow.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into the darkness.

I looked at her with mild surprise. "Whatever for?"

Her violet eyes glittered with shame. "I couldn't do anything to help you. And now—Markus intends to keep coming back until you give in." Her hands clenched into fists. "Everything I worked for—it cannot end this way." Her voice was low, trembling with rage. I wished I could reach across and take her hand, say that everything was okay. But everything wasn't okay. This was, very simply put, a mess. An extremely big mess. One that couldn't be cleared up with a simple spell.

In the end, I whispered harshly, "It won't. I—we won't let it end this way. Not if I can help it. We can't."

Elise's brows shot upwards, probably slightly startled by the conviction in my tone. "We won't let it end this way," she agreed. Then after a momentary pause, she continued: "Just hang in there. I'll find some way to get you out."

"I don't intend to do anything otherwise." I tried plastering a smile, but it only seemed to make her mood drop even further, so I settled for a neutral expression. "I'll—I'll try to think of something as well."

"Good girl. For now, do anything Lord Himmel says except for giving him your Affinity."

"Yes, Mother."

Elise stared at me in shock; I did likewise. The word had slipped off my tongue unintentionally. And yet it sounded so...natural. I never had a chance to call anyone Mother—Papa Gunter's wife had died long ago, he'd told me. So it was just me and him in Hamelin. There had been remnants of a long lost son in his house though: the scattered toys, the tattered clothes, the room that was always locked. I'd never badgered him about the son—it was clear enough that the poor boy was another one of Lord Himmel's victims.

So in some way, the Pied Piper had touched my life before I was even aware of all this, and not just in the way the townsfolk treated me, but with my only family as well. The townsfolk had also treated me terribly because they couldn't bear to be reminded of what they had lost, even if I was merely a cripple. The thought just occurred to me in a flash, and all of the sudden I understood them. I couldn't say that I forgave them, but I could understand them.

"What did you call me?" Elise squawked incredulously.

Hesitation numbed my tongue, but I managed to push it away and said, "Mother."

Silence filled in the gap between us.

"Mother," I said again, wanting to taste the full effect of the word. It was as though it were diamonds tumbling into my greedy hands, and I could only half-believe that it was real. It still didn't feel real, the fact that my mother was standing right in front of me, alive, breathing.

"My daughter," she said in return. She lifted a hand, trying to slip it in between the bars, but again, the magic kept us apart. Her eyes were glistening with tears. "I will get you out, even if I have to sell my soul for it," she promised, tone low and dangerous.

I opened my mouth to say something, but emotions constricted my throat. Elise and I were victims of the Pied Piper, and we certainly wouldn't be the last if we didn't stop him. We had been separated for far too long—we wouldn't stand for it anymore.

Both of us had to get out of here. Alive.

"We will get out," I corrected her, holding her gaze.

She gave me a determined nod. "We will."

Another moment of silence fell over us. A myriad of emotions clashed in my heart. Sorrow, regret, anger—and perhaps many more, were being mixed into a hurricane inside me. Sorrow for what Elise had been through; regret for not being there for her; anger for what Lord Himmel had done to her. She hadn't divulged the details of her experience here in the castle, but if the way Lord Himmel treated me was any indicator, I had an excellent inkling that she was treated far, far worse. At least I had worth in wielding the mind-control Affinity.

She had none. Only her beauty, wits, and subservience.

Fire boiled in my veins. Lord Himmel had slapped me, thrown me into a dungeon, and starved me. And I had only been with him for roughly six months. Or technically, four, not counting the time I had spent in Starkfurt. I could only imagine what he had done to Elise over the years.

Elise. Magus. Trainer.

Mother.

Mother. Just the thought of the word sent a warm pleasant feel tingling throughout my body. It held the weight of unknown and unsought hopes and dreams; it carried the unspoken whispers of lost treasures.

It sang of love.

My nose started to grow itchy, and I hastily rubbed it. Elise was barely constraining herself as well, her stoic mask discarded—I could see it through the trembling of her lips.

"Rest well," she offered, unable to come up with anything else. "You'll need to save up every bit of energy you can get."

"Will do."

There was a pause. "I'll be leaving now. Stay safe, Klaudia," she said.

"As to you."

Before she could stall for another second, she spun around and stalked down the corridor. I strained my neck trying to catch one last glimpse of her disappearing figure. Foolishly, I waited, hoping that maybe she would come back here, talk a little while longer with me, make up for the decade we had lost between us.

After a few minutes, I gave up and carefully settled myself on the ground. I stared at the tray. It wasn't much compared to the food I had for these past months, but I reminded myself that it was better than what I had in Hamelin. So I gulped the water down and began to eat.

******