Demon Singer (29 page)

Yellow troll?  That was Keith Normvy's shape shifting Verger, Johaus.  That meant short tempered, extremely accomplished, Song Master Normvy was here and about to hand out ass whoopins.  It also meant that if it was Normvy and his Verger in the bayou, things were getting out of hand quickly.  The Singer sang a minor counterpoint against Philip's theme and focused on his tie with Acheron.  The familiar discord jangled harshly in his mind's ear.  Forcing himself to ignore it, he tapped into the seemingly limitless torrent of Acheron's power.  The demoness, engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Verger responded to Lyric's draw by vanishing in her puff of dark and reappearing at Lyric's side.

"Do it, Lover.  Use me."

"I don't know the measure yet."  Lyric ground out listening as Philip changed his song.

"Doesn't matter, this is practice."

"Doesn't feel like practice," the soul singer prepared himself.

The time for doubt was past.  Lyric shoved aside all his feelings, feelings of disgust, of betrayal, of anger, disappointment and shame and laid hold of the tie with his song and brandished Acheron as a weapon.

As drilled by his Demoness, the Singer focused solely on the tie and began his battle song.  His vision became disoriented as he saw through both his eyes and Acheron's together.  Closing his own eyes, he poured the power of his song into the demoness.  Seeing through her eyes gave him the benefit of the sight.  He was again amazed at the detail with which he could see and the glows of the men in the courtyard rallying to attack both Demoness and Singer.  Philip was glowing a beautiful azure that was actually reflected in the glows nearest him.  The biggest surprise was Normvy.  A gaunt, blustering, but unimpressive man he looked like a magnesium flare.

FOCUS!

Acheron's thought reminded him of the very real peril he faced.

Casting his arms out he sang a dark minor line from Mistress Holts' book that caused a thick fog to fall on the soldiers, but more than fog it stuck to them and slowed them down.  From the mist, the ponderous form of the Verger trundled forward, easily walking through the airborne sludge.  The newly revved up Acheron smiled and launched herself at him.  Just as she reached him, Normvy's clear tenor sounded out of the fog.  His Verger caught the demoness in midair and smashed her, face first into the cement.  The shock forced Lyric out of her head.  He almost fell, disoriented and nauseous.  Not ready yet.  Acheron disappeared in a flash and reappeared atop the troll's head preparing to rip it from his shoulders.

"No!" Lyric cried and used his song to send the demoness flying again.

"Asshole!" She screamed as she disappeared in the fog.  

Lyric saw he was being surrounded by the slow moving guards and Philip was concentrating on a song to renew his attack.

Lyric sang his repellant song from the diner and cleared the area with the exception of Philip.  He listened to Philip's complicated song and couldn't help but admire what he'd constructed.  The tune was two themes put together, one focused on the attack he was preparing, while the interwoven theme was for defense, nullifying the effects of Lyric's tune.

Lyric tried to predict what to expect from the primary melody Philip sang.  They had years of experience sparring with one another, so Lyric knew his friend tended to be unimaginative and predictable.   His favorite form of attack was sheer crushing pressure that forced his opponents to yield.  

Lyric prepared his counter measure, watching the area around him for the telltale signs of the approaching attack.  At that point, Philip would be forced to concentrate solely on his attack and let his defense drop. There it was, a faint blue glow surrounded the singer and began contracting.  A sharp phrase from Lyric caused the earth beneath Philip to shoot up several feet, catapulting his friend back into the fog.  Lyric prayed he didn't get hurt when he landed.

Suddenly Lyric's world turned sideways as he was picked up by one enormous yellow hand.  Normvy's Verger had taken advantage of Lyric's distraction to get behind him.  Wicked yellow eyes stared balefully at his face and the giant mouth grinned as the troll raised its opposite fist, preparing to smash Lyric's head into jelly.  Lyric tried to sing but the troll's grip tightened and constricted his chest, not allowing him to breathe.  He couldn't even cry out when he felt his ribs break.

An unholy shriek shattered the air as Acheron slammed into the Verger.  The giant troll lost its grip and dropped Lyric in a heap as it reeled from the ferocity of the demoness' attack. Lyric tried to inhale and sing but fire lanced through his chest and almost made him pass out.   He watched in a daze as Acheron, beautiful still, even in her rage, ripped the troll's arm from its body and used it to beat the yellow monster backward.

Lyric rolled to his knees and prepared to stand when a knifepoint was pressed against his throat.  He looked up into the cold eyes of Keith Normvy.  The Master Singer spoke softly.

"You will die, Demon Singer, and the veil will fall."  
Traitor!
  Lyric howled inside, unable to speak still.   Furious, the singer looked for a solution while he waited for the kill stroke.  Normvy's face took on a startled expression, right before he collapsed in a heap.  Philip stood behind him still holding the shield he'd used to render the man unconscious.  Reaching down he helped Lyric up. The remaining guards surrounded them, humming a theme Lyric recognized as a holding song.

"Lyric, you will accompany me to the holding cells to await the counsel's judgment."

"No, he won't."  Acheron came strolling through the circle of men with the troll's yellow arm over her shoulder like a club.  "He will accompany me away from here.  You won't stop him because you know you can't take me.  You have nowhere
near
the juice of this dickhead, who you might be interested to know is a traitor," she threw the troll's arm across Normvy's back.  "And besides, you love Lyric as much as the rest of us.  Step aside."

Philip took a breath and prepared to blast the demoness.   Acheron smiled.

"Before you make that mistake, ask me how many Singers I've killed.  I have no problem adding you to the tally.”  Taking Lyric by the arm, she escorted him toward the gate.  

“Don’t go, Lyric.”  Philip called after them.  “Let me help you, the Master must be able to do something.”

Lyric shook his head at his friend, still unable to speak.  His heart broke at the sorrow on Philip’s face.

“Then I have no choice.  Lyrical Sound of the Evening, as the Discerner responsible for this gate and the safety of the Soul Singers Guild and in light of your situation and the events of this afternoon, I must declare you to be fallen, an enemy of this guild and beyond salvation.  The Guild will take the appropriate steps to ensure you cease to be a danger to the Score.  I’m sorry.”

Hot tears flowed freely down Lyric’s cheeks as he allowed himself to be led out of the gates of the place he loved most and up the street.  Acheron walked slowly, allowing him the dignity of leaving under his own power, but supporting the majority of his weight.  If she were ever capable of compassion, this would have been the time for it.  The closest she came was to say to Lyric quietly.

“The next time I meet the Singer tied to that Troll he is going to die.”

26 REUNITED

"You're being a little bitch," Acheron scolded Lyric as they lay next to each other in the grass outside the back of the motel.

Lyric wearily flipped the demoness off.  He'd refused to let her try to heal his broken ribs.  He refused to go to a hospital to be examined.  He refused to try to sing a healing song on himself.  Since tying to Acheron, Lyric's world had spiraled out of control.  He was done with things happening
to
him.  He was determined to regain control of his life. Now that the Guild had declared him fallen he had no constraints except his own.  That was both freeing and terrifying.

"Seriously, this is asinine.  Your pet is still missing.  Your Guild has declared you enemy number one.  Moreover, we still need to make it to Markhato.  Instead of getting on with it, you're pouting because your little friends are being mean to you. You need to conquer some of your issues and either let me fix your ribs, or do it yourself."

If it didn't feel like fire, he would have sighed.  He couldn't breathe without pain.  He couldn't sing more than short phrases at a time.  Every time he moved his body he could feel the bones grinding.  Best to start his new found freedom small.

Okay, Acheron.  What is it going to cost to fix me?

Nothing, stupid.  How is it possible we've been through the last few months together and you still don't get the fact that your well-being is my well-being?  Just hold still.

Acheron rolled over and looked carefully at his body.  A piece of leather materialized in her hand and she shoved it in his mouth.

"Bite down, this is gonna suck."

Lyric braced himself but was completely unprepared for the agony that washed through his chest and abdomen.   The demoness plunged her hand into his belly up under his rib cage and forced the bones back into position.  Lyric tried to writhe away from the pain but Acheron held him still with one arm across his chest and both legs wrapped around his like a vise.  He screamed into the leather gag as she rooted around inside him.  After what must have been less than a minute but felt like hours, she removed her hand and let go of him.  Lyric lay still in an exhausted heap.  Acheron kissed him on the spot her hand had entered and started working her way down.

Lyric threw himself to the side and forced himself to his feet.  Obviously some taboos remained.

"What the hell!?"

The demoness smiled wickedly as she stood up as well.

"I figured I'd get you up or I'd get you up.  Either way I win. Though I was hoping it would go the other way." She pouted prettily.

Lyric stood frozen, staring at the demoness.  He thought his body might very well rip apart as he struggled with the waves of desire that screamed at him to give in.  It was so much easier to resist when the attraction was physical.  After the events of the last several weeks he found his hatred for Acheron waning.  He was beginning to question his blind faith to the Guild.  His leg twitched as he almost took the step necessary to close the distance between them.  Closing his eyes, he prayed and turned away from her, forcing his feet against their will to walk away.

Acheron grinned and followed.  She wondered when he finally gave in whether she'd satisfy his desire, or rebuff him as he had her so many times. Probably, whichever was cruelest at the moment she decided.

Inside the motel room, Lyric got out of a shower that was much colder than he'd have liked, but at least his mind was clearer.   Immediately there was a knock at the door that threatened to splinter the wood.  

Acheron sniffed the air and said.

"You're going to want to answer that, I think."

Giving the demoness a confused look, he headed for the door.  Throwing back the bolt and the chain Lyric barely turned the knob before the door flew open and Cadence was bursting in and wrapping her arms around Lyric in a firm embrace.  The Singer stepped back in shock, but happily returned the hug.

"Cadence I've been so worried, where were you?"

The warrior stepped away from Lyric and approached Acheron.  

"Welcome back sexy," the demoness greeted Cadence.  The smaller woman grabbed a hold of Acheron's head and pulled her close so they were eye to eye.  The demoness put her hands around the woman's waist with an expectant grin that immediately vanished.  They stood like that for close to a minute in complete silence.  Lyric watched in confusion.  He tried to hear Acheron's thoughts through the tie, but picked up nothing other than she was there.  The discord that tended to distract and annoy him was all he could hear.  The harder he concentrated the louder it seemed to get.  Finally, he gave up and waited.

Cadence dropped her hands from Acheron's head and turning back to Lyric. She held him by the shoulders and looked him up and down.  Her fingertips lightly touched the place his ribs had been broken and a dark look came over her face.  She looked over her shoulder at Acheron accusingly.  The demoness held up her hands.

"Don't look at me. He's the one who thought it'd be a good idea to fight that giant troll again.  He's lucky to be alive."

Cadence wearily shook her head.  Patting Lyric's cheek, she dropped her pack on the floor and disappeared into the bathroom.   In a moment, they heard the shower start.  Lyric looked expectantly at Acheron.

"You can hear Cadence, can't you?  That's how you knew her name."

"Of course I can.  I can hear anyone who's shouting their thoughts.   That little bitch is
noisy.
"

"What did she tell you?"

"She stopped counting.  Rondeaux has over a million trained soldiers moving north and south of the California coastline.   There are two fleets of sailing ships that will pick them up and carry them to the western shore, behind Markhato.  While Melody advances with another quarter million soldiers from the east, Rondeaux will bring his army in from the west and take Markhato from behind."

"I wasn't able to get to the High Master to warn him.  Nobody knows, they still think Melody is the main threat."

"I think that's the point.  She a distraction."

"How did Cadence get away from Rondeaux?"

"When you sang your discernment song to come out of Rondeaux's influence she heard it."

Lyric stared at Acheron.

"What is she?"

"She's deadly and she's loyal to you.  She isn't human.  She may have been once, though I'm not certain of that, but she isn't now."

"How did she find us?"

Acheron didn't answer for a long moment, finally she said,

"She can hear your soul song." The demoness looked like it was painful to say that.  "She's been looking for you since she escaped Rondeaux."  

"Acheron, is Cadence a Verger?"

"I honestly can't tell you that, Lover."

"Why not?"

"Because she doesn't know."

"What is she?"

"She doesn't know."

"You do."

"I have a suspicion."

"Tell me."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I see no benefit to it."

"It would benefit me."

"I'm not certain of that.  Regardless, it doesn't matter because in this particular case, my Lover, it's not about you."

"Stop calling me that."

"No."

Lyric turned away from the demoness as the water stopped.  Looking toward the bathroom, he had a thought.

"Acheron, I can communicate with Cadence through you."

"Yes, you
can,
but only if I agree, which I
don't
.  I'm not a telephone.  I'm going hunting, Lover.  Bye."  The demoness smoked out before Lyric could protest.  He tried yelling at her over the tie, but she ignored him.  Frustrated, he pulled himself back to the motel room.  Cadence was dressed in jeans and T-shirt with the familiar long glove on her left arm.

"You can talk to Acheron."

Cadence nodded.

"Why didn't you before now?"

Cadence put a hand to her head and winced as though in pain.

"It hurts?"

His pretty bodyguard nodded.

"Cadence, are you a Verger?"

Cadence looked at him mystified.

"I don't know how else you could hear my song from hundreds of miles away."

Her expression didn't change.

"Do you know what a Verger is?"

She shook her head.

"Vergers are the souls of those who didn't hear the Voice during life."  Lyric kept a careful watch on her expression, looking for any spark of recognition.   "They are not allowed into heaven because the only way there is through the Voice.  They don't belong in Hell, because they never had the opportunity to choose.  They are placed in what we call the Verge.  It's a kind of waiting place, a purgatory that is on the verge of Hell.  Souls who exist on the Verge are not confined by the restrictions of mortal flesh.  They develop abilities and powers from their proximity to the gate of death and their own natural predilections.  No one really knows why, it's one of the mysteries of creation the Composer chooses to keep a mystery.  

"Soul singers, like me, sing a special song called the Soul Song.  Each one is unique, each one is untranslatable, and each one is that individual Singer's echo of the Voice of Creation who sang the Score of the Composer into existence.  According to what we have of the Score, the Soul Song is only understood by the Song who is one with the Composer and the Voice.  Mankind was made in the image of the Composer, soul singers are given an echo of His Voice, it manifests in our Soul Song, which is literally His Song inside of us.  This echo allows us to cast into the Verge and tie to the Soul of a Verger.  I can't help but wonder if you are from the Verge."

Cadence shrugged her shoulders.  

"Acheron says you aren't human.  The Prophet Man says you are special.  I have watched you do things I wouldn't think possible for any human.  I believe you honestly mean to protect me, but why?  Who am I to you?  There is no reason for you to be so attached to me.  Unless you're a Verger and I'm supposed to be your Singer..."

Cadence didn't respond in any way.

"Where'd that scar come from?"

Immediately tears sprang to her eyes and she looked away from him.

"Why does the mere mention of it cause you tears?"

Still not looking him, the woman shrugged.  

"How do you fight the way you do?"

That elicited a response.  Cadence turned and looked him in the eye proudly and her body went rigid as though snapping to attention.  Her right arm drew up to her chest, parallel to the floor her hand over her heart in a fist.  Her mouth moved as though shouting, though of course no sound came out.

"Uh, what was that?"

Cadence blinked and looked at him, then down at herself as though confused.  She shook her head wearily and sat on the edge of one of the beds.

Lyric considered the woman in confusion and wonder for a moment before saying.

"I'm glad you're okay, Cadence, and I'm glad you're back.  You look exhausted, get some sleep; we're heading for Markhato in the morning."