Demon Singer (24 page)

“Because you are on the other side of the veil here, you can see what I can see.  You were not selected randomly, but intentionally.  To anyone with the sight you all stick out in a crowd because you have a touch of the supernatural world about you.  This is what makes you the best candidates for leadership.  You already have a foot beyond the veil even though you don’t know it."

As the small group examined one another, Lyric saw that everyone glowed a bit.  Either in a specific place like Polph or all over with an iridescent shimmer.  How on earth did he not see this before?  For the most part the glows were white, with various colors introduced.  He wondered what that signified.  His eyes widened a bit when he looked at Cadence and saw her shine bright white with a brilliant violet streak traveling up her arm from her scar and terminating at the top of her head.  She was more luminous than he remembered from the jam.  He began to register several gasps and slowly noted that everyone's eyes were on him.  Most looked shocked or frightened, Cadence looked sad.  Looking down at himself, he saw he was split down the middle; half glowed like the sun the other half glowed black, just like Acheron when she appeared.  His heart started to pound.  

I'm half monster!

"I realize this is a bit shocking for some of you, so I invite you to take the day, rest, explore, think, pray to our Goddess.  We will speak tonight over dinner."  

Rondeaux bowed formally and left the room.  Silence replaced him for an uncomfortably long time as everyone stood where they were, staring at each other and trying to figure out how they were going to process all of this information.  

The only person who seemed at ease was Cadence.  Lyric looked at his mysterious companion.  She was a beautiful woman to begin with, but her glow and the dazzling flare of violet that wrapped around her arm and climbed her neck to her hair made her something more.  She was exotic and achingly lovely, Lyric couldn't look away from her.  He noticed she was half grinning at his inspection.  He blushed in embarrassment at his indiscreet appraisal of his guardian.

Cadence smiled graciously and curtsied in acknowledgment of his clumsy gawking.  

"Shall we explore?"  He offered his arm to Cadence and they left the group of people still staring at him.

* * *

Lyric climbed the side of the valley with Cadence in tow.  His pace was steady but his thoughts were a flurry of confusion and despair.  Was the blackness that covered half his body a result of his tie with Acheron?  Or had it always been there?  They reached the lip and turned to survey the land.  The valley was huge.  Every inch was well manicured, like a park.  The lake sparkled at one end and played host to several groups of people engaged in structured fun or aquatic exercises.  People were everywhere, marching in lines, sitting in circles, playing volleyball, practicing combat exercises.  He looked for blackness akin to his own and found it in several places, though none seemed as dark as his did.

Lyric feared the conclusions he might reach were he to consider his odd glow any further.  He attempted to distract himself by counting some of the groups and doing some mental addition.  He figured there were over two thousand people on the wide-open fields, plus the impossible to guess number in the lake.

"This is only a small sliver of the army."  The voice behind them made Lyric start but didn't even cause a twitch in Cadence.  She must have known Rondeaux was approaching.  "The rest of the forces are already moving into position to begin the war of the veil."

"Hello sir," Lyric acknowledged the older man with careful respect.

"Rondeaux will suffice for now, Mr. West.  How is it that you and..." he paused, looking at Cadence.

"Cadence," Lyric supplied.  "She is unable to speak."  

"I see.  How did you and Cadence meet?"  Lyric thought he detected a hungry look in Rondeaux's eye as he looked at the beautiful warrior.

"She grew up in the house across the street," Lyric was surprised and considerably nonplussed at the ease with which the lie slid past his lips.  Rondeaux's manner and face remained unchanged, but a chill entered his voice.  Too late, Lyric recalled the talk of Rondeaux's ability to see through deception.

"I see.  Childhood friends often make the best traveling companions, Mr. West.  The Goddess has smiled on you in more ways than one.  I've never seen glows such as the two of you possess, I look forward to getting to know you both better this evening at dinner."  The general nodded farewell and turned to go.

"Rondeaux?"  Lyric stopped the man who turned back to him.  "I've never had the sight and am... curious about my glow.  Does it signify anything?"

The soldier stared intently at Lyric for a moment before replying.

"You are concerned that the blackness represents evil."

Lyric didn't answer.

"The glows of the supernatural do not indicate good or evil Mr. West.  Consider a room with no windows.  If the light is on, you see plainly what the room holds.  If the light is off you see nothing.  The darkness is morally null, like so many things, it is not good or evil. Your glow is indeed unique.  I've never seen the like, but the blackness you see doesn't mean you're half-evil.  It simply means there's more to you than meets the eye and your supernatural aspect is half-plain to you, while the other half is hidden.  Perhaps you will learn what it conceals, perhaps you won't, and then again, perhaps you already know.  Blackness in the glow can only be known to you.  With the exception of the Goddess herself, no one else can know what it conceals.  Don't worry Mr. West, all will be as it should be according to the will of the Goddess."  With that, Rondeaux nodded to them then turned to vanish among the trees.

"Can you see my glow?"  Lyric asked his companion.  Cadence nodded.  "Half of me resembles Acheron."  Cadence nodded again, her expression barely faltered, but Lyric saw the sadness there.  "My tie has made me half monster."  Cadence shook her head vehemently.  Reaching forward she touched his chest and gave him a ridiculously huge smile with an enthusiastic thumbs up.  Lyric laughed in spite of his fears.  "You think my heart's okay, huh?"  This time she nodded.  Lyric, unthinking, reached up and touched her gloved arm.  Instantly the warrior jerked away and cradled the scarred limb against her body.  Lyric was shocked to see tears running down her cheeks.  He thought the woman was indestructible, it was ludicrous to imagine a slight touch on a glove could cause her such agony.

"Cadence, I'm so sorry!"  Lyric stepped toward her, distressed at the obvious pain he caused.  "What can I do?"

Cadence held her good hand out, making it clear she wanted space.  Her face was pale and suddenly she threw up on the ground, toppled over and passed out.  Lyric stared at her small form for a moment in shock before he rushed to her side and scooped her up.

ACHERON!  Lyric shouted across the tie.  An odd pulling sensation in his gut stopped his movement and Acheron slowly appeared in front of him.

"Hello, Lover, what did you do to your pet?"  The demoness sounded tired.

"She has a scar on her arm.  I touched it and she threw up, then passed out.  Can you help her?"

Acheron shrugged.

"No idea.  This place is warded against my kind.  If it wasn't for your call across the tie, I'd never have been able to come here.  Just staying here is taking a crazy amount of juice."  Acheron put her hand on the warrior's head and closed her eyes.  Lyric watched in silence while Acheron faded in and out of sight.  Her forehead crinkled in concentration.  She let go of Cadence's head.  "There's nothing I can do for her, but she will recover.  Get her somewhere quiet and she'll be back to her annoying self in no time.  And don't touch that scar again.  It has wreaked havoc inside her pretty little melon."  With that, Acheron vanished much quicker than she appeared.

Lyric carried his unconscious friend down the hill and came across a small clear brook in the shade of a beautiful weeping willow.  He laid her down carefully and sat with her, holding her head in his lap.

As the brook sang its happy tune Lyric snatched bits of it and fashioned an impromptu melody that he hummed as he contemplated Cadence gently stroking her hair.  

He noticed that as he hummed, her brilliant violet streak seemed to pulse slightly in time to his song.  Curious, he accelerated the tempo and watched in interest as the streak matched his beat.

His wondering was interrupted by the sudden opening of Cadence's eyes. She regarded him quietly for a moment before sitting up and turning toward him.  A stern look fell across her face as she pointed at the place her scar was, then lifted his hand and slapped the top of it smartly.

Lyric got the message.  Don't touch.

"I'm sorry, Cadence, I won't forget again."  She sighed and patted his shoulder before rising fluidly to her feet.  She jerked her head toward the compound below and started off.

22 WHAMMIED

The shadows began stretching in preparation for nightfall.  A young woman with a happy smile and crazy eyes interrupted Lyric's contemplation of a small group of pixies who were buzzing quickly among a stand of enormous flowers, doing whatever pixies do to flowers.

"Dinner is ready," she barely waited for them to join her, dancing about like a dog needing go outside.  As they joined her, she kept skipping ahead of them then turning and loping back.

What a weirdo
Lyric thought as he watched her antics.  She stopped and scratched the back of her head furiously for a moment.  Then she sniffed her fingers and looked confused.  Lyric forced down the various comments that sprang to mind, chiding himself for being unkind.

As soon as they reached the large dining room, the girl bolted out the far door full tilt.   Lyric looked at Cadence and thought the mystified expression on her face must be a match for his own.  Dismissing thoughts of the odd girl, he looked around the finely furnished dining room as they took their seats with the rest of the diners.  He nodded politely to them, recognizing everyone from the group selected by Rondeaux.  The general himself was sitting at the table on the other side, between the African and the tall red head.  Lyric wondered why the man didn't sit at the head of the table.

As Cadence prepared to sit, Rondeaux rose respectfully to his feet, followed hastily by the rest of the men at the table.  She nodded graciously to them and sat down.

Once everyone was settled and the dinner began arriving, Rondeaux queried.

"How was everyone's afternoon?  Anything grab your interest?"

"I encountered a small man who tried to take my wallet," educated surfer dude said.  "Luckily, one of your officers was there and caught him.  He told me the man was a dwarf.  I turned to get a closer look and the man vanished into thin air as I looked at him!"

"Our dwarven brothers do tend to be extremely casual about the idea of ownership.  I'm glad one of my men was there to assist you.  It is difficult to find a dwarf if he doesn't want to be seen.  They have an innate ability to go unnoticed.  It isn't invisibility per se, more of a projected desire to be ignored.  If you truly want to see them you can, but most people don't.  One of the expected outcomes of this war is the universal acceptance of all of our supernatural brothers and sisters."

Murmurs of agreement sounded around the table.

Conversation continued at various times enthusiastic, hushed, nervous as everyone related their experiences of the day while enjoying an amazing meal together.  Rondeaux was the gracious host, encouraging them to talk and giving his full attention to what they had to say.

An elbow in his side drew his attention to Cadence who discretely showed him the Keylac's wine bottle resting in her lap.  He wondered for a moment how to get it to Rondeaux without arousing suspicion.  An idea occurred to him.  Turning to the African woman on his left he quietly murmured, "the only thing this meal is missing is a good bottle of wine."  

"Hmmmm, I would love a bottle of Constantia."

"Constantia?"  Lyric prompted.

"When I left home, my mother began taking me to Constantia valley in Cape Town every year.  A beautiful vineyard in south Africa.  I had a terrible breakup with my fiancée.  My mother counseled me with Ms. Austin’s words to try the wine, it had special
“healing powers on a disappointed heart”
  
As time and my mother’s patient shoulder comforted me, I came to associate the sounds and smells of Constantia Valley with peace and joy.  Gentle summer breezes cooled the homes.  On quiet days you could hear the animals and insects in the distance.  The sun warmed the ground and looking out across the vineyard was like looking through flowing water as the heat waves bent the vines.”  Turning to Lyric, she flashed that enormous smile. "You know how some psychologists and therapists will ask you to go to a happy place in your mind?  That’s my Constantia.”  The whole table had stopped talking to listen to the beautifully accented voice describing her personal haven.