Starsong

Scene 7

{--} Ren {--}

          Ren stared in horror as Piya's hands began to slow, her own song stopping as the woman's took over. The flute's music was soft, seeming to swirl around her, trying to reach in and calm her too. Well, if Piya's state could be called calm. She just stared, eyes aglow, beginning to tilt her head slightly into the music and purr, but without the smile to match it. Ren started toward her, "Kid--"

          Without the woman saying a word, Piya snapped into action, as though the music itself carried her commands. Baring her teeth slightly, Piya began to play again, her own music now mingling with the flute. A ball of light began to gather at the end of her lute, and Ren barely had time to pause before--

         BYOOOM!

          Ren dropped down onto her stomach to avoid being incinerated as the ball of light exploded outwards into a ray of fire. She reached over, grabbing one of Piya's legs and pulling, hard, making her fall onto her back. Sickness hit her in the gut as she heard the cracking-- this was a stone floor. Piya wouldn't die from just that, but making a child hit their head on a hard floor didn't exactly sit right with her, even if it was in self-defense. She tried to grab Piya's arm to hold her down, find some way to get to her, but Piya was faster, getting on top of Ren's arm and playing faster, summoning golden ropes to tie her other arm down so she couldn't get the better of Piya again. She tried to fight, but the Nightmonger had been right earlier-- there was no muscle-and-disclipline way out of magic. That's why she'd always hated it. No matter what she did, more golden ropes came, pressing her entire body into the cold ground.

          "Help me!" She screamed at the Nightmonger, enraged, trying to catch sight of his silver silhouette. All that talk about helping, and yet in the one situation where she'd actually need it--

          "Tsk-tsk, darling." The woman said smilingly, moving so she stood over Ren's struggling form as the ropes tightened. She turned to Piya, "You can stand down, now. We have her. Go refresh yourself."

          Piya, without nodding or even acknowledging the command, turned and left the room.

          "What do you want with her?!" Ren roared, trying to seem intimidating even as she knew she wasn't in control here. She never was.

          "It's been a long while since I've had someone to work on." The woman's voice was airy and careless, a far cry from the warmth it had held when they first met, "See, my flute is excellent for amplifying my talent-- drawing others in, calming them down, making them into good little children for my service, like yours. But I can't do much else, and it's so much work-- too long without a lullaby between their ears and they begin to wake up. It's beyond frustrating. But you, darling... You've brought me two perfect gifts. Two already-impressionable children, and not just that-- the perfect children! A young bard who's capable of the more..." She nodded vaguely at the ropes, "Physical means of control that I lack, and a boy that can keep her mind under while I'm occupied. I don't suppose you've ever heard his singing voice. It's widely known to be so very hard to ignore. And yet, he didn't use it on me, afraid of what it would mean for him. That's part of why he was so perfect. He was so hesitant to hurt me that he didn't fight back. Not that I hurt him, of course. I simply convinced him to settle down and let me take care of everything, including his mind. So, to answer your question, I only want your friend's cooperation. We'll have much more success together, she and I."

          "What kind of success? What are you?!" Ren demanded, still trying to struggle. Where was the Nightmonger? Stars, so much for his help.