Demon Singer II (21 page)

Chapter 15

        "How are we going to find this guy in the middle of these hills?" Acheron complained drowsily from the back of the line. "I can't smoke out and search for him and none of you have magic."

        "I know a locator song that should help.  I haven't used it in a long time and never in Ireland, so it should be effective." Lyric replied, feeling more winded than he should. The truth was, both he and Cadence were feeling the strain. They had been consistently feeding Acheron strength since Oberon took her magic.  They couldn't keep it up indefinitely though.  Something had to give.

        "When will we get there? We've been walking for eight days." The demoness complained.

        "Another half hour." Lyric said checking his phone.

        Acheron darted past him and jumped on Fugue's back.

        "Carry me the rest of the way," she said to him, "and later I'll let you touch my boobs."

        "Seriously!?" Cadence and Lyric yelled in unison.

        "Shutup!" Acheron shot back. "I'm providing a morale boost for our newest friend."

        "No complaints here!" Fugue said enthusiastically.

        "See? It's working!" The demoness said smugly.  "I'm helpful dammit."

        "We're not slowing down," Lyric growled as he strode past the two of them.  He was annoyed at the significant twinge of jealousy he felt.

        
You need to work on blocking your feelings.
Cadence thought at him.

        
Too laaate!
Acheron sing songed in his mind.

        Thirty minutes later, Lyric's timer went off and they stopped.  They were high up the side of a mountain with a sheer drop off to one side.  The Singer listened closely to the score of Creation so he could sing his locator song, but something was amiss. The score sounded ominous.

        Quickly Lyric changed his plan and sang a shielding song.  It required a bit of time to make it effective and he didn't know what was coming, but he knew he wanted to be prepared as possible.

        The forest surrounding them erupted with nightmares.  A collection of weird and horrifying monsters surrounded them and began attacking.

        "Lessers!" Acheron shouted as Fugue abruptly shrugged her off his back and drew his sword. Acheron yelped as she landed hard on her butt.

        "What the hell are Lessers?" He shouted back as what appeared to be a tree with legs rushed at him.

        "Lesser demons. They're just a bunch of bitches. Kinda hard to kill though." Acheron brushed herself off and watched Fugue's first experience fighting a Lesser.

        The swordsman spun in a circle to add momentum to a healthy swing of his sword arm that bit deep into the wood-like creature. It displayed very untree-like teeth in a nasty grin and swung a limb at his head. The limb stopped six inches short thanks to Lyric's song. The creature looked confused - at least as confused as it's possible for a tree to look. Fugue yanked his sword free and swung at the limb, severing it cleanly at the trunk.

        Cadence was a whirling dervish of steel and death, the creatures facing her shrank back from the fury of her attack.

        Lyric pulled Acheron behind him while finishing his protection song and drew a circle around her on the ground. Twisted and vile creatures - the kind Freddy Krueger might have nightmares about - snarled from several feet away, trying unsuccessfully to get closer.

        "Stay in the circle!" Lyric shouted at the demoness.  "You should be fine."

        "Yes, Mr. Lyric, sir, I will stay safely in the circle and bat my pretty eyes and squeal with terror in a most fetching way while you protect me." Acheron simpered. She carried on with various promises all carnal in nature,  but Lyric had stopped listening. Facing the creatures he prepped himself for battle.

        He was unable to use his most effective songs against them for fear of damaging Acheron. Time was running short, his protection song wasn't as powerful as it should be.  He'd given too much strength to Acheron, and the Lessers were getting closer.

        He tried reaching through the tie to Cadence to try fighting together as he had in the past with Acheron. Something strange occurred.  As he approached her consciousness she shoved him back mentally.

        
No!
She shouted at him across the tie.

        The Singer blinked. That wasn't a good sign.

        Thinking furiously he began humming in tune to the Score of Creation. An idea surfaced and he quickly latched onto it.

        Scanning the crowd of encroaching Lessers he selected an ideal candidate and began the marionette song. Written as a prank by a third year singer long ago named Rosmal Carmina, the song was frowned upon by the Guild. It allowed the singer to control the body of his victim. It was so wildly successful that students had passed it down to one another through the years, sparring with it and wagering chores on the outcome.  Lyric had never lost. He had also never done the dishes because of it.

        Singing loudly, he tied his tune to the limbs of the largest lesser in the pack. Abruptly the big brute began pulverizing his fellow Lessers. The demons quickly divided, some facing this new enemy and the rest redoubling their efforts to destroy Lyric's party.

        Cadence showed no sign of slowing as bodies piled up around her,  but Lyric could feel her fatigue across their tie. Fugue was holding his own, but was being forced away from the others.  This put him at the edge of the area affected by Lyric's song.  He would soon be overwhelmed if something didn't happen to help their odds.  

        Lyric's own exhaustion was increasing at an alarming rate. Suddenly an influx of energy perked him up.  He glanced in concern at Acheron who was kneeling on the ground.

        
Acheron stop!
he shouted across the tie.  
You're going to kill yourself.

        Don't worry, Lover.  
The demoness chuckled in his mind as she fed him and  Cadence strength.
I won't die.  My sense of self preservation is far too strong to allow me to sacrifice myself.  I won't give more than I can afford.

        
Concentrating on his marionette, Lyric sent him barreling into a press of Lessers that looked about to overwhelm Fugue.  The mercenary looked around in surprise and his eyes met Lyric's.  The Singer began to beckon the man to come away from the edge when a nasty lesser with the top half of a werewolf and the bottom half of a centaur spun around and kicked Lyric's marionette monster with its hind legs.

        Lyric watched helplessly as the big lesser collided with Fugue and they both went over the side of the cliff.

*   *   *   *   *

        "General Sabre, General Tagshout." Thenso Hefit glared up at the taller men in spite of the booster in his chair. "My demands are simple. I would like to avoid any more bloodshed in our beautiful home. To that end, I'm giving the non-Dwarven population of Markhato until midnight tomorrow to leave the city. Anyone left, regardless of age, race or gender will be pressed into service in the mines."

        Sabre considered for a moment killing the Dwarven King here and now. His patience was exhausted and he was growing weary of threats, real or imagined. A quick glance at Tagshout told Sabre that he wasn't alone. In fact, his former commanding officer was clearly much closer to surrendering to his desire to kill Hefit.

        "It's an odd opening gambit, King Hefit." Sabre spoke calmly when inside all he wanted to do was smush the King's stupid face. "Demands and threats don't sit well with General Tagshout or me. What has led you to this drastic measure?"

        "Markhato used to be a sanctuary, a haven.” Hefit replied. “Second sighted and supernaturals could live here in safety and peace. Kings of Markhato were extraordinary men through the ages. Less so in recent years. The only leader worth anything was Westfall. Now you've been betrayed from within, your unbeaten Legion would have been beaten were it not for the Demon Singer.  Which means the war was won by the power of evil. That means the more important war has been lost. This was made all the more obvious by the intrusion of Gar Lich and his zombies into our city. Plus there are humans masquerading around in Milleytes Lux uniforms killing my people. I lost family to those monsters." The dwarf king’s glorious mustache trembled with barely restrained fury.  "I answered the threat of Gar Lich and now he's gone because of
me
. Humans cannot protect this city. Which means humans cannot protect the Light of Markhato. Your walls and wards may be intact generals, but the fact is, Markhato has fallen."

        "King Hefit, if you would listen-" Sabre began.

        "I'm not finished!" The dwarf roared slamming a thick hand on the table. "You may be satisfied to rely on dark means to save your people, but I am not.  As far as we're concerned, the moment you trusted the Demon Singer the Milleytes Lux ceased to exist. My own brother sought a similar alliance with the zombie master and I gave him over to be executed for it. Ask yourselves: if I will sacrifice my own blood to protect the light, how many of you will I sacrifice to do the same?"

        The dwarf paused, red faced and winded but held up a quieting hand when Sabre tried to speak again. Thenso sat back down and spoke in a quieter tone.

        "Hundreds of years ago, a great man asked the dwarves to guard the Light of Markhato.  He was the founder of the Soul Singer's Guild. For the first time dwarves were treated with honor and respect.  He told us the secrets of the light and we eagerly agreed to accept his charge.  We have always protected the light and will continue. Even from you. We will protect this sacred place and you will leave. Otherwise you will spend your lives toiling in our mines. You have nothing to say that I care to hear. This is not a discussion, it's a generous offer.  Everyone not of Dwarven blood will leave here or die here."

*   *   *   *   *

        Varia Tur watched Company Thirteen march into the Verge. He still didn't care for Connor Lot, but the man had an uncanny effect on his soldiers. Varia couldn't imagine any other group of humans marching into another world intent on conquering hell and looking excited to do it.

        Varia's new Vergers that he stole from the Soul Singer's  Guild walked behind him, with Company Thirteen bringing up the rear. Jessica Fairfield walked beside him with Lisian on the other side of her. The girl seemed shaken.

        “Don't worry, Miss Fairfield, it won't take long. Hell is never more than a short walk from anywhere on the Verge.” Varia said encouragingly. “That's a big part of the reason I'm conquering it before taking the Verge itself. It's a convenient base of operations for the rest of my campaign. Once we get there it will all be over quickly.”

        “Amazingly that doesn't actually make me feel better.” Jessica replied.

        “Forgive your little meat shield,” Lisian cut in, “she recently met Cassum.”

        “Ah, now your anxiety makes sense.” Varia nodded understandingly. “Cassum is unnerving, cryptic and damn good at poker. What did he say to you?”

        “Not much, just that he couldn't see any of my due dates.”

        “Seriously?!” Varia's face lit up into an enormous smile. “That's fantastic! That's so much better than I could ever have planned! This is amazing, Lisian! We're going to win!”

        Lisian looked ready to blow a rage gasket at Varia's overly familiar use of her name. She furiously twisted her ring. Suddenly she looked confused before smiling doubtfully.

        “I'm counting on it,” she finally managed.

        Varia pointed ahead to a large pair of gate doors set in a beautiful garden.

        “There we are,” he said excitedly.

        Jessica surveyed the direction he pointed blankly.

        “All I see are some pretty doors in a garden.” She finally said.

        “Awww, thanks bitch,” Lisian smirked. “You called me pretty.”

        Jessica stared at the demoness, mystified.

        “Lisian is a member of the highest echelon in hell. She is a power. Specifically, the power of Bondage. She's not just the demoness walking there beside you, she actually
is
the gates of hell.” Varia pointed again. “Those doors you called pretty are her.”

        Suddenly they were walking through the garden. Varia felt Jessica wobble beside him.

        “What just happened? Why are they so much closer?”

        “It's the nature of hell, Jessica, it’s very easy to get to.”

Chapter 16

        Jessica Fairfield finally found terror. Growing up immune to hurt had stunted her sense of fear. It was one of the reasons she willingly left home in the company of a vampire named Drake. He managed to shake her from her lethargy and make her realize there was such a thing as excitement.

        The instant she stepped through the gates of hell she experienced fear on a level she didn't even know existed. Immediately she fell to her knees. Varia laid a hand on her and hummed. The fear didn't disappear, but it became… detached, like an angry snake in the other side of a window, there but not a threat. At least she could breathe. How did he do that?