A Piper's Song: The Pied Piper Tales

by C. K. Johnson

  A few of the children shuddered, letting me know that despite the fact they were in my circle, the things they had seen would not be forgotten. I didn’t envy their parents’ job after the field was cleared. I hope the compensation was worth it for putting their children through this.

  I gritted my teeth to keep from snarling as my emotions flared and pulled back on my power. If it was talking to me, I had given it too much leeway. Yet, even as I thought this, I wanted to turn back to the boy behind me. Think of the deer, the poor deer that had come to you when you called. My opponents, the lesser pipers and apprentices, around me were deer, and it was time to put them out of their misery.

  I stomped up to the first piper near me and played a single note. The piper muscles tensed as he froze in place. I took his pipe, making him useless. One of the children behind me brought the extra children into the fold, and down the line, I went. Piper after lesser piper stared as I disarmed them and went on my way. As my exhaustion rose, my anger built, blinding me from reality. Before I pushed what was left of my shield to the children, I waved Maybelle forward.

  “Maybelle, honey, did you know I am a little scared of these teddy bears? Remember when the teddy bear accidently hurt me?” I asked as I looked at my arm, and then quickly looked away. The blood had already begun to seep through. The Maybelle in front of me morphed back and forth from a child to a figure of a man holding a jagged-looking knife, and back again. I swallowed and closed my eyes.

  A quick peek revealed her as a child again. She wrinkled her nose at me as if I had just said the silliest thing in the world. “You see, they have sticks and I’m worried they might hurt me again, or hurt your new friends.”

  She pursed her lips and nodded.

  “To help everyone play nicely, I’m going to take the sticks away. So we are going to play a game. I’m going to close my eyes and you are going to lead me to the different people carrying sticks. When we get close, I need you to tell me. How does that sound?”

  “Like following the leader?” she asked, her wrinkled nose replaced by a growing grin.

  “Just like that—and you are the leader.”

  “Yes!” she squealed with joy, beaming with the new responsibility.

  “For the rest of you, I have something important, too. After I make the teddy bears drop their sticks, I’ll pick them up and hand them back to you. I need some of you to hold the sticks and some of you to help the children. Now, is everyone ready?” I took the shouts of excitement as a yes and with my eyes closed, I was led by the children until the final pipe announcing the end of the field was called.

  Parents came rushing towards us. The children had started a game to guess who had been which teddy bear. As the children left, they handed me the pipes back until I had such an armful, I was afraid I was going to drop them. I couldn’t quite set them on the ground, for I knew how I felt about my pipe. If the pipers felt a fraction of the same way I did, I would not disparage their instruments.

  Malcolm ran over, took one look, and gathered the pipes from me. He quirked an eyebrow in question, but I just shook my head and shrugged.

  “Well done, Little Bird. Now maybe you should head over to the judges and not make them wait any more. I’ll look at that arm later,” he said as he glanced in the direction of the judges. I looked around, startled, and indeed saw the judges were waiting. I ran as fast as my impractical little shoes allowed, breaking whatever lady-like illusion I had achieved. I arrived before them, panting.

  “I’m so sorry. I felt responsible for them once they started following. I do apologize. I sort of forgot in the process of making sure they got back to their parents,” I said as I bobbed up and down less than gracefully in my attempt to go faster. How was I supposed to kneel in this dress without ruining it? I thought as one of the judges halted my descent.

  “I believe in this case, just an extended pipe will suffice,” he said, a smile playing on the corner of his lips.

  “Clean forgot you won,” another one said, shaking his head. “I’m sure we could give this to the next highest scorer and they’d be happy to relieve you of the burden,” I could feel the color drain out of my face.

  “No,” I barked, and then thought better of it. “I mean no, sir, Master, Judge, Piper, Sir, I,” I bumbled along and stopped when I saw they were laughing at me. I sighed, taking it as a good sign, and held my pipe out.

  The judge who had joked about giving the ring to someone else slipped it on my pipe. He placed his hands on my shoulders and gave me a kiss on each cheek. I tried to suppress the confusion I was feeling at the double kisses, but knew it must have shown anyway because he started smiling again.

  The judge beside him stepped forward and did the same until all four judges had kissed my cheeks. “Your Master didn’t tell you about this, as it’s not part of the ritual, but we wish to give you a father’s blessing,” started the first one.

  “And we have heard rumors there might have been some mistakes made with how your father and his clan have treated you; however, we thought you deserved a blessing all the same. So for your clan, we offer this,” said the last one.

  “Oh, are you part of my clan? The part that started in Europe?” I asked, excitement rising through my weariness with the hope that some family, although on the extended side, cared for me.

  “No, what they mean is because you are not tied to a clan, they will stand for you. They have given you their blessing,” said Malcolm. He stood beside me again, minus the stack of pipes. His sudden appearance startled me. I needed to put a bell on him or something. “It’s a great honor. It might be wise to thank them,” he added, starting them laughing once more.

  “Thank you. Really thank you,” I said. It was touching that these men would stand for me when my own father would not and my uncle had tried to take my power.

  “You are welcome. Now, I would suggest you move on to the next field. The last match will begin soon,” said the quiet one.

  “Couldn’t I wait a little longer? Maybe one more set?” I asked as I scanned the crowd that had grown even larger since my earlier glance. A group of pipers dressed in the same colors as my French friend from the first field waved. I smiled back. The thought of waving seemed like too much energy.

  Malcolm unwrapped the handkerchief and removed a few of the larger bits of wood from my arm. “Kyra, I would not think any less of you if you stopped now. You’ve done well and there is no shame in stepping down. I can contact some friends and we can continue to train until I walk you directly to your Master Piper exams.”

  The offer sounded so tempting. If I came any closer to exhaustion, I’d be asleep on my feet. I couldn’t imagine not helping the children the other pipers had lost, but it had drained me dearly. We’d come here after running to Malcolm’s clan to protect me, to protect my family. If I stopped now, what was to stop him from going after them? “What about my family?”

  “I think he is only interested in you. You are the one who dealt him the blow.”

  “But you are not sure. What if he goes after them? I won’t be there.”

  “Did you ever think you being there might put them in more danger?” he asked, resting his hand on my shoulder.

  “I need to make sure they can protect themselves. If he can kill someone he loved, what is to stop him from killing them to draw me out?”

  “It is your decision, Kyra.” Malcolm held my gaze until I nodded. “Then we’ll take care of this when you’re finished.” He wound a clean white cloth around my arm and leaned closer as he hurried me to the next field. “This is the last Master Piper field and the most difficult round. Not only does it have different levels but it will also include all of the winners from the previous fields. You must finish at least two of the levels in this round to win.”

  The image of the smashed piper from my first day here surfaced. Was I truly ready to go against Master Pipers? Did it matter if I was ready? This wasn’t about me anymore, it was about my family. I pushed the grisly picture out of
my mind and made myself focus on Malcolm.

  “Do you know what it is? Did you see anything?” I asked as we got closer. The crowd parted for Malcolm so we could get through. I tried to pull back the calm I’d had at the beginning of the day.

  “No one knows what is coming. Stay near the short side with your back against the line whenever possible, stay in one piece, and do not let your guard down for a second. Only attack if you are sure you can beat them. Know that my blessings and those of the judges go with you,” he said as he shoved me onto the corner of the field. Again, what was with the shoving?

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  Master Piper Field

  MY OTHER FOOT BARELY HIT THE ground as the starting note rolled across the field. Instead of the usual sweet tone that sent adrenaline coursing through my body, this note sounded wrong, off. The dissonance grated against my nerves, sending a signal that my power recognized—Duck, it commanded me.

  Most of the pipers around me looked at my action in confusion and pity, a few shook their heads in dismay and a couple laughed. The tenor of their laughter only served to make the note that still sung out much more menacing. I shivered as it slithered by. It took all my willpower not to slap my hands over my ears.

  A group of three pipers stood to my left. The one with shocking red hair and freckled skin raised an eyebrow. I knew it was a contest but I waved at him to drop down anyway. They conversed for a second before all three nodded at me and ducked.

  A moment later, the sky opened up, pouring flocks of birds down. They started nipping and clawing at us. The field erupted into chaos as pipers cringed and huddled underneath their flimsy cloaks, which offered little to no protection.

  From my crouched position, the field seemed alive with flapping wings and pecking beaks of all shapes, sizes, and colors. It became hard to distinguish where one bird ended and another began. My competitors were swarmed so completely in birds, they looked as if they had been transformed into giant, twisted storks.

  It was surprising that more didn’t join us on the ground. The birds soared over me and went for moving targets first. It gave me a small moment’s reprieve to make a plan of attack.

  I remembered the first time Malcolm requested I call the birds to me, and I cemented the song I had used in my mind. I put my pipe to my lips and played a rich, sweet song that intertwined with the dissonant note and cancelled it out, stopping the trigger that had started the attacking frenzy.

  My song promised safety to the finches, the robins, the starlings, and the other small birds I could encompass in it. That peaceful sanctuary lay on the other side of the field. The small birds around me paused, started to shift, and in one eerily smooth and fluid motion, like a rising wave, ascended into the air and started for the other side of the field.

  A few of the larger birds followed, but most seemed too content to circle their prey, occasionally diving in to claw at an exposed bit of skin or scalp. The exodus of the smaller birds seemed to calm them, but they still didn’t deviate from their prey.

  I spun a second melody that spoke of an end to hunger, calling to their primal need to hunt for food. It promised sustenance on the other side. The air whooshed as the huge wings rose in unison, and they joined their counterparts on the other side. The few remaining birds were vultures. I didn’t bother to promise them anything.

  The pipers on the other side of the field must have caught on. They riled the birds back up and sent them against their nearby opponents. I shook my head as I watched the disturbing scene and steeled my focus for what may come next.

  Another cacophonous song flew out, and I found myself so unsettled, I could not match it to the notes swirling around inside my head. As it rolled toward me, a piper in front of me cast a song to strengthen it.

  If he had been with me on the Field of Sorrow, he would not have made the same move. I pretended to be oblivious to his trick and tried my best to look as if I were forming an attack plan against the three pipers at my side. I glared, but they seemed more amused than concerned. Had one of them actually winked at me?

  The piper to my right fell into my trap as he continued to feed more strength into the song. With all the power added to it, by the time it hit me, without protection, I’d be lucky to be disqualified, much less minced meat. This guy wanted blood.

  I waited until right before it hit me to respond. I brought my pipe to my lips in one smooth motion and let out a song that would rebound the nasty attack. The song hit my block and boomed so loudly my ears popped. An instant later, the melody flew back.

  The tune I picked had to be exact. With all the amped-up power the other piper had added, I didn’t want my song to hit him and continue on to who had sent it.

  I shoved in a note so harsh, it caused even me to flinch, but it had the desired effect as it sent the full force of it pounding into my opponent. He fell hard to the ground and lay still. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone drag him off the field.

  The redheaded piper—who had taken my warning earlier—strode toward me, flanked on either side by his friends. “Sean, the smart one,” he said, giving me a half salute with his pipe.

  “More like the comic relief,” his friend quipped. “I’m Ian. I keep these two in line,” said the second as he pushed back a strand of brown hair that had fallen forward and flashed me a wry grin.

  “Robert,” the last one said. He continued to scan the area around us for possible attacks. Of the three, he seemed to be the only one worried that we were going through introductions in the middle of a competition.

  “Thanks for the warning, apprentice. We won’t forget it,” Ian said. All three nodded and walked away.

  A few steps later, Robert lobbed a song so powerful that the man it hit flew into the air. My nose bled from the concussion wave it left in its wake. Ian followed the attack with an intricate, hypnotic, song.

  One of the pipers outside the line across from me, spanning the width of the field, lifted his pipe. Until this point, all the attacks from the officials came from pipers standing along the length. The song lay so quietly on the air, I could only decipher it as a major chord. Whatever its end game, it would come with no warning.

  “Behind you,” hissed Robert.

  I whipped around, startled that I had not heard a piper drift up to the line behind me. I thought I saw an amused smile flit across his face. Just as fast as it came, it left, so I couldn’t be sure. The piper threw out a haunting melody in minor that made Poe’s stories sound like quaint nursery rhymes.

  Had I not been prepared for it, I’m sure I would have been entranced by its spell. Instead, I gritted my teeth as tears stung my eyes and I clung onto my pipe tighter. My fingernails bit into my flesh, leaving crescent moons that grounded me against the beauty swamping me with breathtaking sensations.

  The hair on my arms rose as I started to piece together what the judges were planning. If my guess was correct, they were attacking us with two different, conflicting songs. I feared what would happen when they collided.

  I threw up a song that acted like white noise, encasing me in a bubble of silence. I hoped it would stop the clashing songs from affecting me when they hit. Other than a soft boom that made the air around me ripple and quiver, I didn’t fall prey to the colliding songs. Two contestants nearest the epicenter ran off the field, roaring in rage. With bloodshot eyes and foaming mouths, they seemed to be in the throes of madness. There were a few more in a similar condition, but they made no move to leave the field.

  I worried how this would bode later. It was one thing to have someone strategically attacking us and another to have a mad person running around releasing songs that they might not be able to take back. I found it at once horrifying and fascinating to watch music turn a once-sane man into a lunatic in an instant.

  My blunder with Mark had been child’s play compared to this insanity. Maybe that was the purpose of The Fields: to show us how terrifying we could truly be. After all, skilled pipers, if needed, could bring a group of t
heir brethren to their knees. Imagine what we could do to someone not familiar with our power!

  The clashing songs ran their course as madness broke out in front of us. Malevolent songs, some of which I would not wish on my uncle, were wildly thrown in no specific direction. People broke out in painful open sores and festering boils.

  I staggered backward as a strong illusion came my way. Before me, I saw a jagged-looking blade flying at my head.

  Sean grabbed my cloak and yanked me toward him. My retreat from the imaginary knife would have put me over the white line. I nodded in thanks, but he shook his head. I started to understand they were making good on a favor for a favor and I was now even with two of them.

  I raised an eyebrow in question. Ian nodded in confirmation before he started for the center of the field. The music around me intensified, pushing me away from the safety of the white line. I took one more moment to memorize where the key players were, then waded into the growing chaos. The first bell rang just as I reached the middle. One more level and I will never have to do this again.

  At the start of the day, I had thought, Hey, pipers are great. We have these rules set out so we don’t hurt ourselves or anyone else. One of our Fields even taught us the importance of protecting the innocents. That thought was gone. I didn’t see us as wise and noble any more. The Fields stood as a witness to the fact that we were little better than a pack of wild dogs snapping at each other over an imaginary bone.

  Two pipers, wearing the insignia of a volunteer, started releasing all manner of thick, rich illusion songs. I staggered back, using precious energy to keep my shields up against the onslaught. Somehow, I needed to take down three pipers to make up for only taking out one in the previous level. I wove three different layers of song into my shield and hoped it would hold.

  Now that I had moved from the safety of my corner to the middle of the field, I had a choice of whom I could attack. In a risky move, I started piping a revenge song toward two men who were already in the midst of a duel. The song intensified their desire to destroy each other. I waited for them to wear each other down long enough that I could play a sleep song and watch them both fall over.