Chapter 30 – The Oath
An explosion ripped apart the still evening air, as a gunshot rang out through the castle's ruined courtyard. The magician ran into the tower, opening the south facing window as a flare exploded into the night sky before ricocheting off the tower's outer wall with a shower of sparks. "Piper!" A voice screamed from the courtyard, echoing up into the tower, "My name is Wilhelm Grimm and I'm here to reclaim the children of Hameln and my brother. Come face me like a man, you coward!"
Startled awake by the echoes of an explosion reverberating through the courtyard, Jacob slowly opened his eyes. Disoriented, he noticed the discarded mirror beside him on the bed, slowly recalling what it had shown him. Jake felt the blood leave his face as he recognized Wilhelm's voice echoing in the courtyard below. Leave it to his brother to make such a flashy and ill-timed entrance. He had to warn Will, or at least explain the situation to the magician before things escalated. Unsure what to say, Jacob unsteadily rose from the bed. "Wait, Gram, please. I know everything," he blurted out.
The Piper slowly turned to face him. "I see. So you were lying, Jacob, about passing through here to study folktales further east?" He asked softly. "I shouldn't be surprised. Perhaps you are a skilled liar, or I'm just a fool who has failed to learn his lesson one too many times," The magician continued, his dark gray eyes full of disappointment.
"I'm sorry," Jacob responded, knowing his apology was meaningless, as his deception was just one of a series of betrayals in the other man's harsh life. Any lingering fear he had of the magician was overshadowed by heavy guilt tinged with regret.
Stepping towards the younger Grimm, the Piper came face to face with Jacob, looking into his eyes with a sad smile. "I'm sorry as well," he whispered softly into Jake's ear, cupping the side of his face gently. "Go to sleep, Jacob," The magician commanded, catching the other man as he lost consciousness, and gently lowering him to the bed. Heading towards the corridor, the Piper slammed the tower door forcefully, the echoes reflecting hollowly throughout the empty stone corridors.
"Return the children, Piper," Wilhelm yelled as Lied stepped out into the castle's ruined courtyard, illuminated under the cold light of the full moon.
"I cannot," Gram replied coldly. Raising his pistol, Will repeated his demand, taking another step towards the magician. "Drop your weapon, Grimm," the magician ordered, "Don't make me ask you a second time."
"You can go to hell," Wilhelm spat, cocking his gun and advancing towards the other man.
"Drop. Your. Weapon." the Piper commanded angrily. At the magician's words Wilhelm's pistol wrenched itself from his hand, propelled by an invisible force, and was sent flying across the courtyard.
"Listen to me, Grimm," Lied hissed, stepping towards Wilhelm.
"Absolutely not," Will yelled, aiming a lit flare at the magician, "Return the children of Hameln and my brother. How could you make so many innocent children suffer because of your petty grudge?"
"It's not that simple, you fool," the Piper retorted angrily as the flair leapt from Wilhelm's hand and burst towards its target. A musical whistle cut through the night air and the explosive suddenly transformed into a shower of red rose petals, floating softly to cover the ground in front of the magician. "Your strategies are frightening uninventive, Grimm. Really, it's hard to believe that you and Jacob are related at all," Lied jeered.
Will reached for another flair undeterred by the taunts as the Piper stepped towards him and began to sing in a low voice, "With roses adorned under old oak trees, great beauty sleeps in quiet solitude, as cold as winter's harsh breeze." As the words flowed from his lips, massive green tendrils covered with jet black thorns erupted from the ground at Wilhelm's feet.
Stumbling backwards in surprise, the older Grimm dropped the flair in hand, feeling his throat go dry with fear as the unnaturally large briars continued growing, tendrils reaching towards him. Feeling a thick vine twine itself around his ankle, Wilhelm cursed as he tried to free himself from the enchanted plants. Another tendril began to twist around his forearm, its long black thorns quickly deterring any further struggle.
"Do you yield, Grimm?" the Piper asked angrily, approaching the growing thicket of briars.
"I do not," Will gasped stubbornly, reaching into his pocket for another weapon.
Without warning, a massive black shape exploded over the ruined courtyard wall behind Wilhelm with a piercing howl, jumping over the briars in a flurry of shining black fur and snarling white fangs. The large wolf barreled into Lied, sending the magician backwards and knocking him to the ground. The canid growled again before being thrown violently against a broken stone pillar in the courtyard with a sickening thud.
Pulling himself off the ground the Piper walked towards Wilhelm, pausing to stand in front of him as the briars forced the older Grimm down to his knees. "No more tricks, Grimm. Do you yield?" the magician asked, his voice dangerously sharp as the vines tightened around Will's limbs.
Wilhelm tried to keep calm as his mind raced. That wolf had been Schwarz, Will was certain of it but why had the werewolf protected him, were those beasts capable of such a thing? And could even a lycanthrope survive such injuries? Turning his thoughts back to the looming threat of the Piper, Will ran through his options. He was without his gun, he could not reach his sword let alone breath because of the tightening briars, and had exhausted his other weapons. But, however much the Piper may call him unimaginative, the older Grimm did have one last trick up his sleeve that even Jacob could not outdo him in.
Taking a deep breath to steady himself, Wilhelm reached into his pocket and felt around for the chain. "Piper," he said softly, looking up at the magician from on his knees, "I yield."
Raising an eyebrow in surprise, the magician gestured faintly with his hand and the briars around Will's neck almost imperceptivity loosened their hold. "What did you say?" the Piper asked.
"I yield to you," Wilhelm repeated, as the briars continued to loosen. "Please don't kill me, I don't want to die for these peasant children," he begged in a rather pathetic display of cowardice.
"I see… you lack your brother's bravery as well as his imagination," Lied replied flatly as the briars released from around Wilhelm's wrists, "Tell me, why should I do as you ask?"
"I will serve you, if you wish, or you can have Jacob," Wilhelm replied, taking the Piper's hand in his and raising it to his lips in a show of loyalty.
The Piper hesitated as the briars began retreating underground. "What did you say about Jacob?" he asked cautiously.
"Take him in my stead if you prefer. Just let me leave this place. His stories will bring me money and fame enough when I publish them," Wilhelm replied, lowering the Piper's hand in his own as he slipped the invisible ring onto the magician's finger.
"Grimm, even if you are trying to deceive me, you are a truly despicable man," the Piper spat, pulling his hand away from the other man in disgust. "Your brother would do well to be rid of you," he continued, raising a hand to command the briars once more.
"Not the first time I've heard that," Wilhelm replied dryly. Noticing the early light of dawn streaking across the east, the older Grimm hoped the courtyard would soon be illuminated enough to see where his pistol had fallen.
The Piper moved his hand to summon the briars once more, recoiling suddenly in horror as nothing happened. "What did you do to my magic?" Lied shouted, taking a step back in fear.
"Not bad for an unimaginative, coward, eh?" Wilhelm taunted with a smirk, pulling himself to his feet and scanning the courtyard for his gun.
The sound of a hacking, wet cough startled both men. Will turned to see a dark-haired figure laying where the wolf had fallen. "Schwarz?" he shouted, moving towards the injured man while keeping the Piper within his line of sight. Reaching the nobleman, Wilhelm noticed a spray of blood, almost black against the courtyard's cobblestone.
"Impossible, it was a man who attacked me… I didn't realize… What did you call him by?" the Piper demanded in a strained voice, frozen in place.
Sensing panic in the magician's voice, Will saw a way to move against him, and hoped that Schwarz would forgive him for it. "His name is Schwarz von Prinz zu Aalen," the older Grimm spoke emphatically. "I hear that he and his family have treated you with great kindness over the years," Wilhelm said, nudging the prone figure with the toe of his boot. "There's a lot of blood, Piper. Listen to his breathing, it's shallow… and getting slower as we speak. I wonder how many of his ribs you've shattered?" Will asked coldly, kneeling beside the dark-haired man and subtly placing a hand on his inner wrist to feel for a pulse before continuing to taunt the magician.
Lied's face paled as he dropped to his knees helplessly. "Return my magic," he pleaded softly, "I can save him. Please, undo whatever you have done."
"Why should I do that?" Will countered with a smirk, "Why would I care if this creature lives? We're paid to destroy monsters like this all the time."
"That's a man, an immensely kind man, not a monster. Please, let me heal him. I will do whatever you ask of me, Grimm. He cannot die, especially not by my hand," the magician begged.
'Finally,' Wilhelm thought to himself in relief, noticing that the werewolf's pulse had actually begun to slow. "Fine, Piper. I'll unbind your magic on three conditions. First, you return Jacob to me. Second, you return the children of Hameln home, unharmed. Third, you grant my brother and I safe passage from this forest." Will stood to face the magician, gauging his reaction.
"You and Jacob may leave, but I- I can't return the children, it's not that simple," Lied stammered.
"Don't let your hatred destroy any hopes of future happiness, magician. He is dying as we speak," the older Grimm responded dispassionately.
"Fine, Grimm. I agree to your terms," the Piper conceded, staring at the ground.
"Swear it to me, Piper. Swear an oath, so I can hold you to your word," Wilhelm pressed.
"As the morning sun is my witness, and as the echoes of my words against the ruins of this castle are the ink on parchment, I swear to return your brother and the children of Hameln, letting no harm befall either, in exchange for unbinding my magic," the Piper answered.
"I accept," Wilhelm responded, walking towards the kneeling man and offering an outstretched hand. As the magician accepted his hand, Will removed the ring, pocketing it.
Rubbing his finger gingerly where the ring had sat, the Piper reached into the folds of his jacket and produced the small wooden flute. "Play one note on this to return the children from their feathered forms. Play two notes and the children will follow you back to Hameln. Play a third note and the children will forget everything that has happened. But you must ensure you collect a payment in full from the people of Hameln, elsewise the town will remain cursed forever. Your brother is in the western tower," Lied instructed sharply, tossing the flute at Will and pushing past him towards the prone werewolf. "You really are a wretched man, Wilhelm Grimm. Get out of my sight before I'm tempted to break my word," the magician snarled, kneeling down beside Schwarz to cradle his head gently as he began humming a low, familiar melody which Wilhelm recognized as an old folk song.
Satisfied that Schwarz was in good hands, the older Grimm sprinted towards the castle ruins.
Taking the steep steps two at a time, Wilhelm sprinted up the tower's curved staircase. Looking down at his blood-stained hands as he reached for the door's heavy latch, the older Grimm hesitated at the door. Will considered whether he really was as despicable as the magician had said.
'Would Jacob be happier if we parted ways here?' Wilhelm wondered, trying to wipe the blood from his hands as he paused at the doorway. Indecision gripped him as the stains remained. 'I'll let him choose,' Will decided, sighing in resignation, 'I've selfishly kept him at my side too long already.' The older Grimm swung the tower door open cautiously, his breath catching in apprehension as he stepped across the threshold.
Jacob lay motionless in the bed as Wilhelm approached. Noting his brother's pale complexion, Will feared the worst. Leaning over his younger brother's still form, he held his breath, listening for any signs of life. Moving closer, Wilhelm felt the faintest tickle of warm breath against his face. Exhaling in relief, he lightly stroked Jacob's cheek and whispered his name. When this failed to stir the younger man, Wilhelm leaned in closer to his brother, pressing their lips together in a chaste kiss. "Please don't leave me, Jake. You know I'm incomplete without you," he whispered.
"I wasn't planning on it anytime soon, Will," Wilhelm heard Jacob murmur faintly in response as he opened his eyes and returned the kiss.