On Stage

Some time later, Sonja and her stood on an improvised stage. At the behest of the innkeeper, the twins, with the help of Ralf and Tom, had pushed a few tables together. Now the burly looking man, together with the rest of the patrons, were looking at them. All their staring didn’t help with her stagefright. On something that wasn’t even a real stage.

It got silent. Eerily so. Creepily so. The silent stage was worse than Silent Hill could ever be.

Then Sonja lifted a hand, and a small flame appeared on her palm. It sat there, waiting. Flickering a little, as if annoyed. Probably because it was supposed to be her cue.

Her voice shook as she tried to get the first tone out. Even her breath was shaky. What was the most common advice against stage fright? To imagine your audience naked? That didn’t help at all. Especially not with her in a young female body and her audience being almost exclusively brute looking men.

Nia closed her eyes and tried to ignore what was around her, and where she was. She imagined her being alone, just with Tina and Sonja, practicing in the corner. Alone in her head, she tried to raise her voice once more, and this time, it was less shaky.

In a land where mystery lies
a dragon took to the skies.
He flew over lakes and seas,
flapping his wings with ease.
He saw forests and plains from above,
looking for his one true love.
For a treasure so special,
one not made of metal.
He sought a maiden fair
to bring back to his lair.

In a land where mystery reigns,
a girl fought against her chains.
Heavy on her heart they waited,
for she was promised to one she hated.
Hoping to escape her fate,
she left through the village’s gate.
Guided by the stars and the moon
her future would change soon.
With no time to cover her track,
she didn’t dare to look back.

In a land where mystery abides
love overcomes all divides.
Unexpectedly, girl and dragon met
and soon enough their hearts were set
But their love, it shouldn’t be
the villagers were deaf to her plea
They had followed her track,
wanted to bring her back.
To the sword the dragon fell
and the girl became an empty shell.

In a land where mystery is fought
even love’s power is for naught.
And with the dragon thusly banished
the light in the girl’s eyes vanished.
With her smiles and magic gone
the mystery of the land was done.
And while the magic faded away,
hatred and might were there to stay.
I hope this song’s message is heeded,
and a dragon’s greed never exceeded.

As Nia opened her eyes once more, it was still silent around her. Sonja’s flames had died down. Because Nia had seen Sonja practice, she knew that the other girl’s flames had taken the form of the girl and the dragon, and played out the scenes of the song.

As the people before her stayed silent, she wondered whether her voice had been terrible, or maybe the strange song Tina had given her, had not suited the audience. But then, finally, the innkeeper began to clap. A moment later, the rest of the men joined in.

“That was a good start,” the burly man said with a smile. “I’m honestly impressed. What other songs do you know?”

Nia bit her lower lip. Wasn’t one song enough? Sighing, she resorted to singing a fan-made song for a fandom that centered around friendship. It was hard to hit the right notes without any instruments, but it seemed that the magic in her demanded that she produced harmonic tones. It even forced her to.

Sonja somehow managed to do something spectacular with her flames as she improvised as much as Nia. They both kept at it, until, roughly an hour later, they were finally allowed to leave the stage.

Nia trembled all over. Even if she had managed to sing in front of the crowd, she had been tense. And that had drained her completely.

She almost didn’t notice, when the innkeeper approached them. “Thanks for the entertainment,” he said, and handed them three keys. “The rooms are upstairs. You can split them any way you like. For this evening you can have the leftovers. Breakfast will be at first light tomorrow.”

With that, he walked back to the counter, responding to a call for more ale from another customer.

“I’d say the boys get one room, Nia and I take the second one, and Tina and Mother Clemens the third,” Sonja suggested.

“Why should we split the rooms like tha-” Tom stopped mid-sentence, as Sonja glared him down.

“Who is in favor of the idea?” She lifted her hand. Tina raised hers as well.

“Nia …” Sonja looked at her. “You earned the rooms with me. So it’s only natural that we get a room, right?”

A shiver ran down her spine, and she slowly raised her hand.

“There, three in favor, two against.” Sonja had this evil smile on her face. “You insisted that we decide things democratically.”

“But …” Tom sighed. “Very well.”

I guess your ploy backfired. Nia shook her head. She was just glad that she could sleep soon. And after that, they had to get some serious money. Maybe she should ask whether there was something like a lottery here …