Chapter 14: Band Battling and the Song of Tragedy

Laud Boum had a new pipecannon organ. It was far more ominous, uncounted cannonpipes clawed at the air above him, his mask had cruder slots on it, in fact, it was just generally of very crude construction, it was made of some shining black metal, perhaps black rock changed by magic.

The armour covered his chest and back this time, and his back was also covered with pipecannons.

That Laud could stand at all with the monstrosity on his back at all was testament to his strength. Most curious of all though was the strange boxes he had on his shoulders, they had in them something that looked a bit like drum cymbals, but not quite.

Laud was not however alone, he had with him a small army. He had somehow subdued a number of red eyed tailless slugs, they were in pairs, A slug holding a metal drum between its stalks and a slug with a stick to bash against it.

Not only had these spineless beings bowed to Laud, he had with him all the snuffers that were under his direct command, many denizens each with a ramshackle instrument of their own.

To Lupix however, what dismayed her was not these numbers, but that they all had crossed the wall, she could not understand why they had been able to, the wall was not supposed to let those with ill intentions across, it was supposed to reach into the sky or deep underground to consume any who dared.

This had not happened, the sand had not risen.

It had not moved even a little.

“Fire Howler!” Laud yelled, his voice vibrating out his pipecannons.

He lifted a hand and pointed at her, the air thrummed.

“I will prove myself! I challenge you to a beat down!”

Lupix’s heart skipped a beat, she knew what the snuffers were, but she wanted to hear his music again, to play music with him again. Together they had made some brilliant muisc.

There was discord and disquiet among her subjects. Lupix was now both Queen and a musician, no that was not quite, for the wolves, a Royal had to be a musican, if they were not, they could not be a royal fire howler. She stood tall, or at least as tall as she could manage.

“Grand Snuffer of the Firelord, I the Queen of the Firehowler accept your challenge” she proclaimed proudly.

“Laud Boum” Laud cut back.

“What?”

“Laud Boum, call me Laud Boum, accept my challenge in that name”

Lupix didn’t quite understand why he was insisting this, something seemed off.

“Well then Laud Boum, I, Queen Lupix VII, accept your challenge? Is that acceptable”

“Kakakakakaka!”

Laud laughed, his laugh splitting and wobbling out of his pipecannons.

“No holding back on me, not now that you are safe”

Then Laud launched full into his song.

Again, Laud had no names for his song, he only would of described this one as the “Pulse of bang, ripple of boom, rattle of doom doom da doom and roar of notes!”

Laud began by firing his pipecannons one at a time, one after the other, blasting notes yelling from his instrument, as if he had one explosion that was running from pipe to pipe, each time changing tone. His minions weren’t the best of musicans, but they were fired by Laud’s fervour and energy.

The rushed headlong after Laud’s rapidfire salute of music, missed notes consumed by his explosive melody, he carried them to his level, to a realm where the music was raw wild and utterly unfettered.

Then, the strange boxes on his shoulders began to pulsate and sound crashed from them in waves, back and forth and back and forth. The air rippled with it, explosions filled the air above Laud. Lupix was shocked and amazed by this sound so unlike what she had ever heard before, but she collected herself.

Taking up her thunder-lute, she began to blaze, like her hair was aflame. She struck a thunderous not through her lute, and lighting cracked around her, whipping the song to greater frenzy. Koul and the three conepeople joined her.

Lupix howled, and flame came, it swirled among the explosions, framing them, feeding them, roaring pure noise. She sang no words, she just screamed and yelled emotion, all blending in with the music. This was the nature of this wild primitive yet advanced song.

Laud’s laughter leapt into the song, hopping like mad out of the explosions.

Lupix would pull a fury of storms from her instrument and voice and Laud would answer with a barrage of melody.

They swung back and forth, explosion and howl.

Lupix realised that she had no control of the song. It was in no way her’s, she was merely adding to it, improving Laud’s manic marvellous music.

She was simply not better than Laud at this volatile music. They were doing awesome music, but she was losing the challenge.

It was then that a rumbling voice like the great train of the tunnels outside Elcon ran through the song a train of old fire, that blasted through the explosion to feed itself.

Lupix’s father stood before the royal beanbag and beanbowl, back to Lupix, he shuffled backwards toward her and spun around when he went past her. His howling flame took the song and ate it.

Laud could not break out, he found himself feeding the old ex-king’s relentless voice.

A steady onrushing song, one that moved mechanically forward ploughing through on tracks of notes. The explosive music had become a mere part, a fuel to a greater song, a combustive engine powering a mighty train of a tune.

“STOP” Lupix yelled.

The old ex-king, stopped, and wheezed coughing out a little ash and smoke. The song braked.

“what? Why?” The king and Laud said together.

“I must do this without your aid father, or how can I be queen?” Lupix said.

Her father turned away abashed.

“Well, if you put it like that, I gotta bow out I guess, just don’t lose my strawberry”

Lupix smiled awkwardly as her father hugged her.

“Well, round two? I guess I’ll start back up again!”

Laud wasted no time, and his song was blasting back again.

Lupix did not join in again this time. She thought, and remembered. She knew what she had to do.

She sang, and from the very first notes, Laud faltered.

What she sang was not full of charging energy, was not remotely explosive. She sang with words, and the words were a story. She was singing an opera song that had never been sung before.

She sang of the razing of Wolfhiem. Of a little wolfpup in a operahouse that was consumed by flames. She sang of the chase the Firelord’s minions gave.

It was her tale.

Laud was chained utterly by it, his pipecannons let out only subdued cries that gave background to Lupix’s tragedy. The beats of his tailless slugs were but the tromping feet of the army of the Firelord sullying wolfhiem.

He could not bear to try to bring his joyous explosive music back. This was unlike any music he had ever experienced. His organ cried with Lupix and in the end went silent. Laud Boum felt sorrow for the first time in his life and was also sorry that he had ever held a part in wolfhiem’s destruction.

Sorrow was not a feeling that came naturally to his kind, but Lupix wrung it out with her mournful flame. Those that had eyes cried, and those who did not sobbed and those who could not sob, weeped in the manner of the faceless, shaking and shuddering in sadness.

Laud tumbled and tripped and crashed before Lupix as she came to the end of the first act, when she found unstable refuge in the Great Snowy Forest.

“Forgive me, let me serve you, I’ll protect those wishing to travel here, I’ll champion this place, I’ll help rebuild it, please, let me join your band, let me hear more of your music!” Laud wailed his aims spilling out.

Lupix looked at the explodahead before her. A part of her wanted to cast him out, to let him wail outside the sandwalls of Wolfhiem, but she smiled crookedly.

Laud seemed sincere, and his music had heart to it, it was honest and without evil intent. On the more practical side, Lupix knew that having someone to protect travellers to Wolfhiem would be very important.

She guessed that after all, the sandwalls would not let anyone with ill intentions past, they had worked just fine. She turned her head to the side. Lupix supposed that she had to do this properly, after all she remembered something her father said about ruling being about showmanship to a certain extent.

She reached out a paw and placed it on one of Laud’s noiseboxes.

“Arise Laud Boum, my Knight of Blastnotes!” She said dramatically.

As soon as she had said that, she gasped as flame leapt from her and washed over Laud, this had happened totally involuntarily.

When the flame had cleared off Laud, there was “ooohhhs!” as it was revealed that his pipecannon organ armament had changed into crystal like that of the crown of the fire howelers! Its colour flickered like flame!

Then everyone cheered.

The cheering however cut short as a loud horrid voice shouted out.

“WHO DARES DEFY THE WILL OF THE FIRELORD?!”