Demon Singer II (3 page)

              He watched as his song went to work, guiding enormous tree roots through the sod to wrap around the trolls' thick legs.  Instantly the enormous brutes stopped, many toppling to the ground only to be secured completely by the roots.

              Cadence quickly danced free of the suddenly frenzied beasts as they struggled against their wooden fetters. She fell back to where Lyric stood.

              Acheron sauntered up unhurriedly.  Cadence glanced over her shoulder at her posterior then smiled sweetly at the demoness.

              "Looks like my bacon is just fine, sorry you had to hurry all that way."  She said sweetly.

              "No apologies necessary, you saucy flirt, I'm glad Lyric saved you from your stupidity.  Things would get pretty dicey for me if anything happened to you."  The demoness grinned at the Verger's annoyance.

              Lyric did not want to contemplate the idea of Cadence being killed. Not just because he had become genuinely fond of her, but there was also the matter of the mystery of a three way soul tie.  None of them truly knew what would happen to the other two if one was killed. Recent experience had reinforced the clear truth that the soul tie was not severed by death.

              Singers and Vergers share a fate.  If one dies the other dies.  

              No one knew exactly what would happen if one of them died now.  Odds were they would still share a fate. However, a demoness bound for the pit, a Verger whose fate was a question mark and a Soul Singer in service to the Song of Creation were bound to experience bizarre repercussions when they swung out into eternity together.

              "We can't leave them like that." Lyric said, "I could try to sing them to sleep and then we could..." He paused. The Singer had done more than his fair share of killing, but he truly hated it. Worse, he hated those times when he did
not
hate it.

              "...cut their heads off." Cadence finished his thought for him.

              You didn't realize your pet was so bloodthirsty, did you?
 Acheron's thoughts floated across their tie to Lyric's head.

              I'm not a pet and I'm not bloodthirsty, Acheron.  
Cadence's own thoughts flared in Lyric's brain.  
I'm simply willing to do what needs to be done.  Besides, they don't count as living beings, they’re parodies at best. And don't forget I'm part of this little telepathy thing you two can do.

              No worries, sweetie,
the demoness answered.
I don't mind you peeping.  Maybe you can watch the next time I-

              "That's enough!" Lyric interrupted, stopping the demoness from finishing what was sure to be a needlessly detailed pornographic thought.

              "Regardless," Acheron said aloud.  "Trolls are immune to magic.  Your pretty songs will work on them now about as well as they did back at the car."

              Cadence scowled and stalked to the edge of the cluster of trolls. Turning to look at Lyric impatiently, she jerked her head toward the angry beasts.

              Acheron was right.  Lyric had tried singing to influence the trolls to leave when they stopped his car, but they just tried to squish him instead.

              Lyric closed his eyes and focused on the sounds of the trolls struggling.  Revulsion set his head spinning as he picked up the hatred flowing toward Acheron from the ugly brutes.

              Shoving aside his pathological need to extend mercy, he picked up his previous melody and forced more roots up to tether the standing beasts' arms as well.  The creatures remained silent, which made them creepy as well as terrifying.  Unable to move, they stood still, but beneath the surface, their loathing for the demoness continued to boil.

              They really hate you,
Lyric observed to Acheron.  

              Cadence answered before the demoness could.

              I bet I hate them more.

              Then the Verger was back among them, spinning and slicing. Lyric poured all the strength he could into the small warrior, noting with approval that Acheron did the same. The added strength made the difference. Heads left necks and bodies slumped in the embrace of the large roots. Soon she alone stood among them.  Winking her sword back to whatever mysterious place she kept it, she headed back toward Lyric and Acheron.

              "Thanks for the help,” she said brightly. “Let's get back on the road before the next attack."  She walked between Lyric and Acheron and headed back for the car.

*   *   *   *   *

              General Noale Sabre looked down from the lower battlements of Markhato. His city had been through a lot in the last couple of weeks and she had a lot further to go. He shook his head wearily.  He was a soldier, not an administrator. His head swam with all of the politicking and dumbassery that had become his day to day.

              Just a week ago, the pretend goddess Melody and her vast hoard had cut the Four Kings down all on the same day. Markhato's army, the Milleytes Lux, had put a stop to the attack with more than a little help from the Demon Singer Lyric. Tragically, some of the invaders had been granted access to the main chambers by King Branigan's traitorous daughter, Ceylan.

              Sabre rubbed his temples while his brain wrestled with the mess of it all. Had it been one or even two of the monarchs, Markhato would have reeled from the shock, cried a while and carried on. However, losing all four at once had caused the glorious city to grind to a halt. Now the future of the City of Light was in question and he was the one who had to answer it.  

              Sabre stopped rubbing his head, reviewing instead the message in his left hand from Thenso Hefit, King of the Markhato dwarves.  

              The dwarves were a huge portion of the public services force. Everything from organizing the pixies in the traffic lights to performing maintenance in the public buildings to removing and disposing of the city's waste was handled by the Markhato dwarves.

              Last week, the dwarves began behaving strangely, causing concern throughout Markhato. Tourism, roadwork, the postal service and water treatment had virtually disappeared from the city. The various services the dwarves provided to the people of Markhato abruptly ceased. They even closed down tourist access to the Light of Markhato. Sabre was not convinced they had the authority to do that, but considered it more of an annoyance than a serious issue. It could be handled after more immediate concerns were taken care of.

              Now he was holding a message from their king, Thenso Hefit, demanding a dwarven meeting with the de facto administrators of the city.

              The general grimaced. He had heard of dwarven meetings. They involved days of drinking, fistfights and occasionally weddings. Thenso had it in his head that members of the Milleytes Lux had murdered some of his people. The ludicrous notion begged Sabre to crumple up the message and throw it away. Instead, he summoned Nocent, one of his young assistants and dispatched him to the Dwarven King with his reply. The meeting would have to wait until things settled down in Markhato.

              Sabre went back to rubbing his head. He would happily step aside to let someone else try to get it sorted, but the Demon Singer had left him in charge.  His former superior officer, General Brad Tagshout had objected the instant the man was out of earshot, but Sabre believed in the chain of command.  Certainly, there were plenty among the nobility who would happily take the reins. Some might even do a passable job. However, in the absence of the four Kings, the Soul Singers Guild was the next level of authority. Being that Lyric was the only Soul Singer in the city at the time - as well as the chief reason Markhato still stood - Sabre stood by his orders, refusing to back down and let someone else take over.

              The general would much prefer to be training with his men, but responsibility to his position forced him to grapple with bureaucrats rather than soldiers.  

              "Noale, you should come eat."

              The general turned toward the gentle voice and smiled at his reason for living.

              "I'll be down in a minute, Madelyn. The city council wants to meet in the morning to discuss placing regents on the thrones until the heirs are located, informed and prepared. Some council members want to select different rulers, claiming the heirs are scattered and not part of Markhato society. Others want to forego restoring the monarchy at all and take power for themselves. Aside from that, Tagshout has been bawling at me to help him plan drills for the Lux to run in the morning.  I'm running them in my head so I can give him my input and still be at the council meeting.”

              Maddy's lovely brow drew together in a scowl. If Sabre did not already know how his wife felt about Brad Tagshout, her expression would have made it very clear.

              "If that man doesn't stop running our soldiers ragged, the Milleytes Lux is going to fall for the first time in history, to one of its own generals."

              "This is important, Madeline. The Lux
almost
fell to Rondeaux and Melody.  We’ve gotten lazy."

              "They didn't fall though." Maddy pointed out.  "And it wasn't just Rondeaux and Melody; they threw better than a million soldiers at our boys. Your men faced insane odds and we still won."

              "Lyric won,” Sabre interjected. “Him, his psychotic demon and that swords woman, Cadence, who I'm told was a member of the Standard. If it weren't for those three, we'd have lost."

              "I will remain politely skeptical, Noale Sabre.” Maddy said sourly. “Regardless, I know those men almost as well as you do. Tagshout is going to do more harm than good if he doesn't back off."

              Sabre ran a hand through his hair. He had known Maddy for twenty years and loved her for longer. Her thoughts mattered to him far more than they should considering his position. There was no helping it, though, he loved her with every part of himself.

              Her voice softened.

              "I'll make you a plate, general."

              Sabre grinned.

              "Thank you, Madelyn."

              Maddy headed back to the stairs.

              "By the way," she called over her shoulder.  "There's a man here who insists you'll want to talk to him. Says his name is Fugue."

*   *   *   *   *

              Back on the road in his unmolested car, Lyric considered who had the power to make zombie trolls, and why they and the rest of the world had suddenly developed a hankering to see Acheron’s head on a stick.

              "If you’re wondering who can make zombie trolls I’d consider Bonen Tansyon. Rumor had it years ago that she was voodooin’ it up in New Orleans," Acheron leaned forward from the back, her elbows resting on Lyric and Cadence's seats.  

              “Who is Bonen Tansyon?” Lyric asked.

              “Another of the Nychta Polemistis. She’s the Power of Good Intentions.”

              “How many of you are there?”

              “Seven. Don't worry, the way things are going I'm sure you'll eventually meet us all."

              "What does Nychta Polemistis mean?"

              "Night Warriors. We are the strongest warriors of hell. Every hellion draws power from somewhere. Our strength depends on our source. Some have a trickle, some a stream, some a river, etc. The Nychta Polemistis have oceans of power. My own power source, as you know, is the river that runs throughout hell. Anyway, Bonen Tansyon has the juice to make zombies out of trees if she wanted to, she could handle making some zombie trolls. The important question is, why would she want my head?  I have a lovely head, which is attached to other lovely things; things Bon herself has enjoyed in the past. Plus, I really have been extremely well behaved since getting hitched to
your
candy ass.  Add to that my willingness to put up with your adorably violent and completely unnecessary pet and I think I deserve an honorary doctorate in awesome bitchonomics."

              "Are you able to speak without being offensive?" Cadence sighed.

              "I don't know," Acheron shrugged. "Ask me again, but do it slutty this time."

              Cadence lapsed into silence.  Lyric did not bother getting involved, it never helped.  Acheron was a demoness.  You could count on her being awful.

              "So Lover, wanna let sweet cheeks drive and come back here with me?  We can make bad choices together."

              "I'd rather make gentle love to a cactus."  The Singer lied.  Suddenly his steering sprouted needles.

              Many dangerous swervings and colorful obscenities later he got the car back under control and glared at Acheron in the rear view mirror.

              "You suck." He said.

*   *   *   *   *

              Oberon seethed with fury.  

              While the ignorance of humanity could be annoying, generally he found it entertaining.  Humans had a hedonistic streak almost as wild as his and his children's.