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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?"

"No. In fact, I haven't used my Affinity in about a decade, ever since that night in Hamelin. I—I didn't want to be burdened anymore by its power. It felt wrong somehow, to take away people's memories so easily. Besides, Lord Himmel warned me if I so much as laid a finger on him he wouldn't hesitate to kill me, even if I were the most valuable and faithful servant he had."

"Do you think you have the same control over it as you did ten years ago?"

"I doubt it. But if another person augments my magic, I might be able to be strong enough to crush Lord Himmel's mind."

My Core wasn't in its best state, but it would have to do. "All right, let's go."

"Hold on." She took her violin out of her case, and played a few chords. I sensed an illusion falling around us like a veil. Then she played a little more, closing her eyes, deep in concentration.

When she opened them, they were full of new light. "Now we go."

With her violin and bow in one hand, she took me with the other. We dashed back down the streets, breaths forming clouds in the air. "Listen to me," she managed in between breaths, "I have to see Lord Himmel"—puff—"in order to use my Affinity"—huff—"And I will have to drop the illusion"—puff—"to be able to use it to its full extent"—huff—"You will have to defend me"—puff—"from any attacks"—huff—"while lending me your magic"—puff—"Understand?"

"Yes," I said. My bad leg was hindering our progress, but I clenched my jaw and forged forwards. I wouldn't let a disability stand in my way.

"Good."

Just as she said it, we approached the town square, and a sorcerer from Heidelberg launched several glowing projectiles towards us.

I hadn't expected to encounter any danger so quickly, and I couldn't react fast enough. But someone stepped in front of me and threw a metal disc towards the sorcerer. Webbed substance shot out from the contraption, shielding us from the projectiles and making them impale their user instead.

I stared at the mangled body on the ground. He was innocent. All the sorceres were innocent. They had no choice but for Lord Himmel's. And this was the price they paid for being a citizen of Heidelberg.

Tearing my eyes away from the corpse, I looked at the person who had just saved Elise and I. Josef. There was a tool belt slung across his upper body, containing a multitude of magical weapons. His face was streaked with dirt, and he looked worse for the wear, but he was alive.

That was all I needed to know.

"I'd appreciate you two not dying as soon as you come to the fighting," he said, before wheeling around to turn his attention upon the battleground.

"Thank you for your assistance, Josef," said Elise. I took a peek at the background. The night sky was painted an entire song of colours, reflecting the piercing glow from the town square, almost beautiful, in a tumultuous sort of way. Spells were being flung about everywhere, pandemonium only giving way to more pandemonium. Lord Himmel was the centre of it all, furiously playing his pipe and rendering any sorcerer of Starkfurt who was foolish enough to get close to him into husks.

"You're welcome," he answered without looking back.

As though she had just read the question in my head, Elise said, "I called him here. An extra hand to help us wouldn't hurt."

"Maybe not to you, but I risked neck and limb to get here. This better be worth it. Lord Himmel is still getting used to his new powers, it seems, but I assure you that it won't take very long before he learns how to control the minds of all of us."

"This will be worth it," I promised. "We're going to kill Lord Himmel."

He turned around this time. It was almost too late when I sang a few notes, slamming a wave of energy into a stray fireball. It singed the ends of Josef's tunic, not adding much damage though, truth be told. His eyes held a weight of unfulfilled dreams. They were locked onto Elise.

"Why? What is it?" I looked at Elise for clarification.

She didn't give clarification, only saying, "Time's running out. Make this quick, Josef."

He nodded curtly. "Will do."

Elise propped up her violin and bow, but she didn't play. She kept a wary gaze on the background, watching out for any signs of danger. Josef ignored the roar of fighting behind him, taking a step towards me.

Then he bent down and kissed me.

This was nothing like Lord Himmel's kisses—cold and stiff and forced. This was full of passion, of something that had been held back for the longest time, of a thousand unspoken words. I startled at first, but soon sank into his warmth. His lips tasted of ashes and magic and fire, and somewhere in between there was just the slightest tang of earth and wood. He moved as though he wanted to devour me whole, to proclaim to the world that I was his, and he was mine.

For a while, there was no one else in the world except the two of us.

He broke away first. I reached for him, but he shied away. His lips—his passionate, full lips—were upturned at the corners, but they were tinged with melancholy. "I never did tell you what the first memory in Hamelin that had returned to me was," he said.

"What is it?"

"I had crafted a flute—the one you wield now as your Medium. I have no idea why I did it; it was just a spur of the moment project. But I was proud of it. You were passing through Hamelin with your family, like you always did on occasion. I knew you were an aspiring musician, so I gave it to you."

He closed his eyes. Screams of agony and of victory rang in the background, but I was oblivious to it. I waited for him to finish his story."

"And you kissed me on the cheek. You laughed and told me that you believed that I was the best craftsman in the world." He opened his eyes. They were wet. "I fell in love with you then, and I love you now. I just want you to know that whatever happens, my feelings will never change."

My jaw slacked open. I had imagined this, of course—yearned for it, even—but I had never dared hoped. We were all in danger of dying. I knew that. It didn't stop me from giving my heart to him though. "Josef—" I started, reaching for his hand.

He jerked away, spinning on his heel, suddenly a sorcerer ready to throw himself into war again. "Elise," he said.

"Will do," she responded. She took up her violin and slowly fell back to my side. Without giving me a moment to process Josef's words, she continued, "When I start playing, hold onto me. Just keep a small, steady stream of magic from your Core flowing into mine. If you think you can't endure it, stop. I'll find someone else to do the job."

I nodded dumbly. She sucked in a deep breath, steadying her nerves, and began to play.

I was only dimly aware that I was latching onto her elbow. I felt like I was a child again, taking cover behind her mother. Magic automatically flowed from me and into her; I felt her song taking shape, growing in power. Its melody was lost in the maelstrom, but there was no doubt that it was there. She drew strength from me, continuing to find her way amongst the crowd, trying to get a good whole upon Lord Himmel's mind.

Meanwhile, my eyes were pinned onto Josef's broad back. Why the sudden confession? Why the heaviness on his shoulders?

I didn't have time to come up with any more questions when a scream pierced the air.

This wasn't a usual scream. No—it rang with challenge, pure evil, and primeval hatred.

Then more screams rang out.

This were the usual screams of terror. Screams of people, screams of pain. Yet they chilled me to the bone, invoking a whole new level of panic within me.

Only then did I notice the witch raking down the sorcerers.

It didn't care which side it killed, it only sought blood—desired it. It danced across the battleground like a tempest, destroying everything that crossed its path. Its black hair was a ribbon of silk, twirling to the tempo of an unheard dance. Lord Himmel was watching it with interest, not bothering to stop it. I wondered who had lost control over their magic already, giving in to the corruption.

The witch halted, fixing its blood-drained, bloodshot eyes upon me. And I knew who had lost control over her magic.

Lady Gertrude.

As though she had finally found what she'd been looking for, she tore the sorcerers apart, carving a path straight towards me. Josef tensed, taking almost everything out of his tool belt, suddenly at a loss on how to deal with the situation. Finally, he opted to throw another circular disc at the witch, forming a barrier between us. I sang, lending power to the spell, hoping that it would be enough to keep Lady Gertrude at bay.

It wasn't.

Ice formed over her arms, and with a feral snarl, she ripped the barrier apart as though it were no more than a buzzing fly in her way. The ice grew, flexible yet solid, two natural whips in hand. Josef firmly stood in front of Elise and I, determined to shield us from her. I choked back a sob.

But she was so, so fast. One blink, she was in front. The next, she had sidestepped Josef and was by Elise's side. Elise jumped back, but not fast enough.

Her left side had been slashed open by Lady Gertrude's ice.

I barely had enough time to process the blood soaking up Elise's dress when Lady Gertrude—the witch gathered more ice in her hands and raised them to strike again.

Then she burst into flames.

These weren't regular flames. They burned with a fierce intensity, and they were only fixed upon hurting their target, not extending to other areas. They licked up the body of what had once been Lady Gertrude's greedily, and her screams of agony was unlike anything I've ever heard. And that was saying something. I'd heard so much throughout the past few hours.

The witch collapsed onto the ground, giving once last twitch before lying still. The fires died out, their mission accomplished.

******