Song of the Piper

::33:: Demons of Fear (Part 2)

Music is Betrayal from the Mass Effect OST. Play it!

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I put my flute to my lips and played.

A slow, gradual tune built upon chromatic notes and abrupt modulations came to life. My Core roared in defiance, finally free to unleash its rage after such a long time of remaining dormant. The tune reached higher, higher, vaulting towards the skies, the stars the moon. My magic poured out, solidifying into a barrier around me.

Then I changed the rhythm: more smooth transitions than sharp ones, and the melody became softer in shape. Less jarring, but more deadly. I felt my magic snaking towards the people like a thousand fingers, and each one of them were caught within it, unable to move within the trappings of my spell. I kept playing. The townsfolk were nothing more than several blots dancing across my vision, and their shouts was just an incumbent buzzing in the background. In this moment, there was nothing else except for me, my flute and my music.

My bones, my heart, my soul—all one with the music. There was only vengeance on my mind, and I clung onto that thought, continuing to hold my magic in place, feeding strength into it. I closed my eyes, feeling the magic that thrummed through my veins, revelling in its river, being swept away by the current. I wasn't afraid. This wasn't the drowning I'd experience the very first time I'd truly attempted magic. This was all me—every single note, every chord was of my own doing.

The power was being entwined with my soul: I was magic, and magic was me. It was hard to tell where one ended and the other started. Now I truly knew the meaning when Elise had said that the Core was a part of the body, no more than the heart and the limbs were. It was part of me and my identity. To have it taken away was death itself.

And so I played.

I didn't know when the song actually finished of its own accord, only that when I finally returned to myself, a barrier with pulsing blue light was protecting me, and the townsfolk were all in front of me, held in place with the strands of my magic.

And that they were smiling.

Then they moved.

Slowly at first, as though they were straining against bindings. Then stronger, more confident. At last, I felt something snap in the air—the tethers tying me to them. I doubled over, wheezing, acutely aware of the dispelling. My Core shrieked with incredulity, and I was left staring at them, dumbfounded. They weren't Magi. They weren't even sorcerers. How did they gain the power to resist my spell?

Their grins grew wider.

They raised their arms.

Swept it to one side.

And my barrier shattered.

It just shattered, literally exploding into a million glimmering fragments. I threw up my hands over my face in reflex, while my mind went into a blur, struggling to comprehend what had just happened. The explosion rocked me on my feet, catching me on all sides, compressing me in the middle of it all. My vision dimmed, and I felt my limbs slacken.

No, not like this.

A small voice kept me anchored to the world, and I told myself to hold my ground. I forced myself to recover quickly, staring the townsfolk down. They didn't move towards me, although they could have rendered me unconscious in the brief moment I'd been thrown off by the dispelling of my barrier.

"You cannot run, little mouse." Papa Gunter bared his teeth at me; I fought down the urge to weep and grovel at his feet.

"I may not be able to run, but I can try to fight," I snarled back, not revealing my fear.