“There’s an iron ore in these hills, an iron thick and bold.”
“And one of these days I’ll strike the rock that rich with iron holds”
Preston twitched in his dreamless state, stirring to the sound of the music around him. His eyes sharpened, then unfocused, sharpened, then unfocused. The bard was singing again, and he demanded their attention. The remainder of the nine shifted around him, stirred by the endless song’s intensity swelling.
“And in that day, my sweet cherie, we’ll come home hand-in-hand” “Like giddy lovers, young and free, with riches run like sand”
The bonds around Preston’s arms stung with their familiar magic, but they became thorns with the bard’s song. Despite three years of imprisonment, some things could not be ignored. The bonds were like electricity, holding a sort of prickling pain that ebbed and flowed just enough to keep one in its grasp. Sleep was scarce, and time impossible to track save for the faint brush of the outside world they had with the escapees.
“There’s an iron ore in these hills, an iron once we stole.” “An iron forged for swords and shields and not our wedding’s toll.”
Preston’s eyes sharpened with the song’s lyrics, the bonds flaring to life in purple light. He looked for something, anything, to distract himself from this madness. His eyes searched in a frenzy, and with a painful ache they began to look beyond what was in this realm. He scanned for an escape, mistakenly laying eyes upon the seams of reality, that which should not be seen. And in a haze of neon light and impossible shades, he saw an impossible figure.
A young girl, swallowed up by her robes, strode forward through the dimensions of reality. She walked slowly, but assuredly through the tunnel of impossible light, carrying a gigantic harp in her arms. Behind her, a tall robed lady with her head bowed, two lantern staffs across her back. Preston nearly cried with relief.
“Lady-“ he gasped.
Tai looked up, trying to figure out where the voice had come from, but Preston knew that the lantern carrier could not see him yet. For the first time in a long time, though, Preston felt his heart swell with hope.
The two walked on for what seemed like forever, until finally they stepped into the realm of the giant, stepping softly into the midst of the circle. Preston kept his breathing still, but he could practically feel the excitement emanating from his brothers.
“And in that day, my dearest gem, we’ll die like pigs on swords.” “We’ll bend and break on spears and shields-“
“Spailascor.”
Lady Parhelion’s voice resonated with power, sending a gust of wind rattling through the bars of the cells. Preston felt the strings binding him sway under the influence of her magic. The giant stopped his song, looking over without amusement.
“You’ve returned.” The giant noted. He did not seem pleased, but neither did he seem scared. Preston’s blood pricked with the anticipation, with the fear of watching the giant cut her down again, but something else was pricking at the back of his mind. He barely heard them, but a telltale swish of a cloak had Preston swivel his head around.
“Shhh… quiet now.” Yez cackled softly, cat mask glinting in the dark cell. Sawyer sat on his haunches behind her, watching the scene unfold in front of them with caution. Preston looked back at Lady Parhelion and Tai, then at the thieves again, horror dawning on him.
“You’re freeing me?!” he whispered angrily. “Get Kida!”
“Lady’s orders.” Sawyer responded, “Now hold still.”
Preston’s head swam with confusion, and he struggled as Yez tried to cut his bonds. “No, it should be-“
But a low hum began to fill the room, and Preston felt the Nine shudder under its grasp. The bindings around Preston began to glow with a greater intensity as the bard giant began to sing once more. His soft, mourning knell shot knives into the minds of those who heard it, and even Yez and Sawyer seemed to recoil from the noise. Preston cringed under the sound and the shock it brought, but he could make out Lady Parhelion preparing her counter.
With a deft stroke of the harp, the bard’s song broke, and the sword of the north stepped into action. As she danced around the man, magic hands appeared to carry the song on the harp, plucking and twisting with unnatural speed. Sounds of drums and warfare filled the air, countering every note the bard sang of his own song. It was captivating, but powerful to an extent that Preston could not yet know. And then, as she opened her mouth to sing, a blade slid out of her sleeve and she struck at the giant.
“My bones are wrought of iron, my body wrought of steel,” “My heart a wandering warrior, now yearning for to heal,” “The periled plight of wilted might in reds and golds and greens.” “So save your breath, await your death, I’ve gone and found the means.”
Lady Parhelion’s blade slid against Spailascor’s skin as she danced along, leaving rivets in his mirrored flesh and sending harsh sparks up into the air. Tai, now recovered from the initial onslaught of sound, took her dual lanterns staffs and began to direct them in glyphs throughout the air. Preston began to interpret them when he suddenly felt rough hands forcing him down. When he twisted his head back around, Sawyer had pinned him, and Yez was frantically cutting the bindings again.
“Hurry.” Sawyer growled, keeping his eyes on the fight ahead. “Trying to.” Yez growled back. Her knife finally slipped under the bindings on Preston’s left arm. As they fell away, a shudder of relief passed through Preston, and he nearly sighed as the pain subsided. It was blissful to be free of the agony, even a portion of it, after this long. He watched through watery eyes as the dance continued.
“My blade has tasted battle, my harp has fed its fill” “But I can’t rob a pauper, not even of freewill.” “A borrowed blade, a sea of jade, four nooses in row.” “You forced my hand on foreign lands and now they lie below.”
Another stanza heartened the fight. The giant swung with vigor, hoping to crush Lady Parhelion as she danced about, directed in her fervor by Tai. While none of his hits landed, a strange sort of magic continued to pour from him as he sang silently. Preston could not hear his voice, but it seemed as though Lady Parhelion could. She struck with great speed and accuracy into the giant’s flesh, but with every blow her own strength seemed to wane. Beads of sweat now rolled down her brow.
Yez cursed as the bindings on Preston’s right arm cut into her own hand, leaving a trail of smoke behind. She began sawing vigorously, leaving behind the prestige of a clean cut. Sawyer, still holding down Preston, watched unmovingly. It was strange enough seeing the two of them in a state of fear, but the stranger feat was watching Tai send nervous glances as his cell. Preston realized, with a bit of a start, that Tai wasn’t sure Lady Parhelion was going to win. She wasn’t sure if she’d even buy enough time.
A stark cry sent everyone’s heads snapping back to the battle. Yez paused cold in her work, still holding a burning string in her hand, as Lady Parhelion was slammed into the floor by the giant’s palm. In an instant, the girl was back up, but her legs wobbled and the hands on the harp plucked their melody back up with a staggering pace. The giant moved in for a killing blow, but Lady Parhelion’s song shot back up.
“My name is that of starlight, my name is that of snow” “So hear my cry you creatin, for these two things I know” “My song shall reign on this domain, you murderous cowling swine-“ “Our statues broke, the flame’s been stoked, you’ll never best the Nine.”
Yez severed the final cord of Preston’s bindings, and he melted to the floor in a pile of wrecked nerves, unable to move. His breath came in jagged with the freedom from his imprisonment, from the torturous bonds which held him. He barely registered when Yez and Sawyer melted back through the realms, and he had no idea how he ended up hoisted up by Tai on the other side of the jail’s bars.
But he saw as the bard and Lady Parhelion squared off in a final exchange of glances, the bard’s lips still moving. Lady Parhelion held her ground, putting herself between Tai and Preston’s limp form, waiting for something to happen. The bard spoke a single word, and Lady Parhelion’s entire body began to shake with racks of pain. She writhed, remaining standing and stalwart, but unable to control her body from whatever spell he had placed. Glowing symbols and glyphs enveloped her entire body, flickering in and out of existence with pops of white and red light.
And then they were gone, Tai carrying Preston as they ran from the realm to wherever they had come from. Tai threw nervous glances behind her, and suddenly Lady Parhelion was by their side as well, running to match pace. They ran for a short distance and jumped out into an oak-paneled room. The portal between the realms shut behind them with a definite seal, and Tai landed hard on the floor, dropping Preston as she did so. He forced himself up immediately, trying to preserve a modicum of dignity.
Lady Parhelion hit the floor with grace, but braced herself against the bedstand as her condition worsened. The glyphs swirling around her did not cease with the bard’s absence, and instead they began to bury themselves in her skin, causing her to shake as they made contact. With a soft cry, she collapsed onto one knee, leaning on the harp, and then passed out altogether.
Before Preston could take in the shock of what had just happened, he felt his own vision begin to fade away. He welcomed the Sifstring, that familiar connection, when it was offered, but his body gave up nonetheless. Tai bent down to sit him upright again, placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Good to see you, Preston.”
Preston clapped his hand on Tai’s hand, chuckling under his breath. “Good to see you both.”
And with a sigh, Preston drifted off into the first true sleep he’d had in three years.