Song of the Piper

::25:: Ruins of Glory

Image above is Erstürnach.

Music is The Islands of the West Indies from the Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag OST. Play it!

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We spent the next few days travelling in haste. We had to arrive in Erstürnach as soon as possible, before Lord Himmel received the lodestone message and set any trackers upon our trail.

However, this also meant that we sacrificed sleep in order to make the journey. I hadn't gotten the brunt of sacrifice; the poor sorcerers who rode outside the carriage were the ones who truly suffered. Feeling thoroughly guilty and useless, I sang spells of renewal, urging them—and the horses—to go on. Lady Anya and Lady Gertrude, who both sat in the carriage with me, never said a word of protest.

"All right, so we'll run through the plans one last time," said Lady Anya. She had pulled out a detailed map of the city's ruins, and it now floated in the space between me and the two Magi. "We'll have to leave some of the sorcerers and all of the horses by the borders of the province. The rest of us will continue the journey to Erstürnach on foot, and we'll approach it by taking the southern gate."

Lady Gertrude and I nodded. They had explained that the north was the compass point of gathering magic. This meant more monsters towards the particular direction. Strangely enough, the sorcerers were downing the magic phials we kept stashed away in the trunk of the carriage at an alarming rate—they needed far more magic now in order to maintain the wards. Perhaps it was because the northern lands were fairly barren.

It would also explain why the humming of my Core was less apparent now. I never knew until I'd missed it: there had always seemed to be a comforting warmth in the pit of my belly. It was still there, but it was slightly colder now.

In direct opposition to it, the south was the compass point of dispelling magic. All provinces with Fountains and barriers were built according to this law, following the natural flow of magic which ran in the earth. Hence, the southern gate. Our magic would be weakened, but there would be a lesser chance of us running into corrupted creatures.

"From there, we'll make our way to the Fountain. We'll start our search for clues there. If Anton had truly left something behind, and if Klaudia truly is the only one who can unlock it, I should be able to sift through the memories," said Lady Anya, sounding just like a stern war general. Her tone did little to disguise her anxiety. She knew that the plan had plenty of holes in it. We all knew. But it was our only plan.

"Milady, if I may be so bold to speak, but have you tried sifting the Fountain for any memories before?" I raised the question meekly.

"I tried. Unfortunately, Erstürnach is a city which has stood through many troubled times. There are simply too many memories jumbled up in there. If Anton knew what he was doing, he would leave one clear memory just for you."

"How is that possible though?"

"He had with him a Magus and a sorcerer who were both experts of the mind. And he himself had an Affinity for transferring energy. He could possibly employ the same method when he was transferring magic from one individual and into another with memories," she explained patiently. She was probably used to the numerous questions I had raised for her so far.

It occurred to me that there was still so little of magic I knew about, even after all these months. It was a wonder that I'd managed to blunder by. "All right, assuming that we don't find anything in Erstürnach, what do we do?"

Lady Anya's eyes widened in surprise. She certainly wasn't expecting this issue to be raised, of all times. She looked at Lady Gertrude for guidance.