Demon Singer II (20 page)

        This is asinine. Someone needs to deal with that insane mermaid.
Cadence added

        Calypso had recovered and launched a water bolt at her daughter. Oberon made a quick gesture and a scattering of white flower petals splashed across the mermaid’s chest.

        “What are you doing?!” He screamed at Calypso furiously. “Leave her alone!”

        Glas was grappling with Tovi, shoving her back with brute strength. The two of them were covered in flower petals as Calypso continued throwing water bolts and Oberon kept changing them.

        Tovi fell to the deck beside Glas’ sword. Grabbing it she sprung back to her feet just in time to be greeted by Aidan who decided to lend his calm demeanor to the situation.

        “Please, Tovi, just stop fighting-”

        Aidan stopped talking as he looked in surprise at the sword buried in his chest.

        The sound of his body falling to the deck was echoed by the sound of Tovi's body doing the same. Cadence's knife was sprouting from her throat.

        Calder Glas was at Aidan's side and gently placed the quiet man's head on his lap.

        Aidan smiled up at the queen of the sea and whispered.

        "My heart always belonged to you first, Calypso, as does every Blue Man's. It has been an honor serving you. Please care for my brothers as you've cared for us all along."

        Aiden looked at Lyric and chuckled.

        " 'I know now why you cry. But it's something I can never do. Goodbye.' " Then he gave Lyric a thumbs up and closed his eyes.

        "That's from Terminator. They seriously watch too much TV." Acheron muttered.

        All eyes turned to Tovi as she lay bleeding on the deck.

        Amazingly, she was still alive for the moment. A finger reached up to catch a single tear which she flicked at Calder Glas. In mid air it became a glittering, green gem.

        “Find your son.” The mermaid whispered painfully.

        The captain automatically caught it, surprise all over his stern expression.

        “My son?”

        Tovi did not give any indication she heard him. She scanned the faces staring at her. When she reached Fugue, Lyric thought he saw a glimmer of recognition followed by an attempted snarl. Then her gaze went blank and she could never snarl again.

        Lyric was watching Oberon's shock slowly melt into anger and began singing a holding song to stop the fairy king from doing anything rash. But Oberon made a gesture and his mouth filled with feathers.

        Cadence stepped forward and raised her sword level with Oberon's throat.

        "She killed an innocent and suffered the consequences. You know my laws, Oberon."

        Oberon made another gesture and suddenly enormous bolts of lightning hung frozen above the heads of Lyric, Acheron and Calypso.

        The sudden burning light and intense heat caused the Gaoithe Mhín to immediately began to melt.

        "This isn't your kingdom. Do you
know
why you're queen of the Verge?" Oberon turned to face Cadence. "It's because I allow it. You have no authority here, and no power. But I do. Without her magic, Acheron's lightning bolt will kill her. Lyric will be spitting out feathers until I take my leave. And Calypso, even by my extremely lenient standards, you're insane. I'd fry you just for fun."

        The Fairy King gathered his daughter in his arms and stood back up to face Cadence again.

        "I'm taking my daughter to lay her to rest. Anyone trying to stop me will be responsible for the death of every living thing within a mile of here." Oberon trembled with grief and barely contained fury.  "This will be dealt with, your highness. I promise you that."

        Then he vanished, and the lightning bolts vanished with him.

        Calypso looked around at Lyric's party and the Blue Men, seemingly in a daze.

        “Calder you have served me well. Your heart is in Markhato. He’s a member of the city guard. Do you remember his name?”

        “Nocent,” Glas replied, “Iann Nocent.”

        Calypso pulled the blue man down and kissed his forehead.

        “Go with my blessing blue man. Once you reach the shore, as long as you remain dry your true nature won't be seen by humans.”

        Glas bowed low.

        “Thank you, my queen.”

        Calypso nodded. Her eyes slid past Fugue to look at Lyric spitting out feathers and Acheron looking tired. She seemed about to say something, but changed her mind. Instead she turned her attention to Cadence and her eyes became cold.

        “I remember you, Giant, from when I destroyed the world. You died screaming.”

        Lyric felt Cadence's blood pressure immediately skyrocket and silently urged her to remain calm.

        Calypso continued.

        “If I catch you in my waters again I'll make sure you die that way again.”

        In the future, Lyric would be unable to recall his decision to slap the sea queen across the face, but he must have. His hand stung from the contact and an ugly red print immediately showed up on Calypso's cheek.

        “Holy shit!” Acheron hollered enthusiastically. “Yeah! Take that you soggy bitch! Go jump back in your puddle!”

        Glas roared in fury and lunged for Lyric only to have Fugue trip him and Cadence redirect his momentum at the ship's deck. A sickening thud told everyone he would be unconscious for a little while.

        The crew surged forward to lay hands on Lyric but were brought up short by Calypso's command.

        “Do not touch him!”

        "Mind your threats against my friends, Calypso.” The Singer ground out angrily. “I will answer them.”

        Calypso glared at Lyric.

        “Blue Men!” She shouted. “Escort the Singer and his companions safely to their destination and keep them safe. Tell your captain of my command when he awakens. No one who serves me is to harm him.” Lowering her voice she spoke to Lyric directly. “I have heard secrets whispered in the currents. Rumors of the Demon Singer and the plans in store for him. I will not be the one to take you from your path.” Her water skirt began swirling around her legs. “Lay a hand on me again, though, and I may help you reach its end sooner than you like.”

        With that she raised her arms and her dress extended upward to surround her in a column of water. The water swirled furiously and evaporated to reveal the sea queen had disappeared.

*   *   *   *   *

                “Captain, I take it you didn't know about your son?” Lyric asked.

        Calder Glas had recovered quickly and when he was informed of his queen's command he shrugged. Lyric expected him to be angry but he accepted the order without question. Calypso was unpredictable, he explained, there was no point being upset at her decisions, whether they made sense or or not.

        “Mermaids don't have sons,” the captain looked at the green gem in his hand in confusion. “What the devil am I supposed to do with this?”

        “Take it to a seer,” Fugue offered. “If it's a memory maybe one of them can help.”

        Glas gave Fugue a measuring look.

        “Calypso's protection doesn't extend to you, pirate. It was shrewd to put me in your debt by saving my life during the battle. That is a debt I will easily forget it you continue to talk to me. Be grateful I haven't thrown you to the sharks and be silent.”

        Fugue held up both hands in surrender and walked away. Lyric wondered briefly what happened between the two. He decided that could wait for another time. Glas invisible did not feel inclined to share.

        “He makes a good point.” Acheron said. “But I'm more curious about how Oberon controlled lightning. He has managed to steal some of Trytohn's power somehow. The Thunder Monks can't hold lightning like that. Trytohn could, though. I don't really know if that's good for us or bad for us.”

        “Considering how angry he is at Cadence, I can't imagine it's good for us.”

        “Oberon is a selfish child,” Cadence said sourly. “I don't find him to be much of a threat.”

        "There's your island, Demon Singer."

        Calder Glas gestured at the smudge on the horizon ahead of them.

        Lyric breathed a sigh of relief.

        "We'll get you there soon, but the Gaoithe Mhín doesn't put into port. You'll go the rest of the distance by skiff. I'll take you myself"

        “Captain, I'm so sorry for the loss of Aidan. I wish you'd let me sing for him.”

        The captain held up a hand.

        “Your traditions are not ours, Singer. The Blue Men and the Quiet Men both prefer to avoid the final rest. We let the memories of our lives ride the waves until Calypso escorts us to that rest all together.

        “Aidan died bravely, which will make me proud. That is a memory that I look forward to feeling when I get my heart back.”

        He guided the foursome to the small skiff hooked to the railing of the great carrack.

        Releasing the hooks, Glas let the boat drop to the water where it bobbed happily beside the ship.

        Lyric wondered how they kept it from floating away.

        "Magic."  The captain answered the unspoken question as he threw a ladder that looked like ice joined by strands of water down the side of the Goethe Mhín.  "I realize you Soul Singers consider all magic to be witchcraft and all witchcraft to be evil, so I'm sure we must be evil by association. Really though, no one cares what you think. So climb in the skiff or swim. I can't possibly imagine caring less."

        Lyric, frustrated by the preconceived notion against Singers from the Guild, decided it wasn't worth arguing over.  True, the Guild opposed
humans
who practiced witchcraft because of its source. Many supernaturals didn't fall into that same category though. Magic wasn't inherently evil, the source and the intent always matter. Humans tended to use magic provided by the fallen, which was strictly forbidden. Realizing it would be pointless to try to explain this to the surly blue man, he climbed down the ladder into the small boat. Acheron and Cadence joined him, then Glas, true to his word, climbed down himself.

        Once he reached the skiff, several blue heads popped out of the water awaiting orders.

        "Take us in, men."  The captain ordered and leaned back comfortably as the Blue Men towed the small boat to shore.

        In no time they were pulled up beside a simple dock.

        Glas walked with them a ways then stopped.

        "We won't forget what you've done, Lyric. If not for your singing I would never have found my heart and Tovi Rafe would still be terrorizing the deep. Rather than release us from our debt to Ervin, you've added to it." The Blue Man grinned fiercely.

        Lyric shook his head.

        “I'm glad you know where to find your heart, Captain, but I can't help but feel there was more to Tovi Rafe than we knew. I grieve her death.”

        "Regardless, Demon Singer, you have friends in the Blue Men. Thank you."

        Glas reached out to shake Lyric's hand.  The Singer smiled and laid his own hand over the hole in the Blue Man's chest.

        Glas looked startled a moment, then threw his head back and laughed loudly.

        “Be well, Singer,” he said, then he punched Fugue in the face, nodded to Cadence and smacked Acheron smartly on the ass before walking back to his boat.

Chapter 14

        "Dispo Sitorem? Never heard of him.  You might try Dick Mack's. A bunch of old men like to drink there. They know everyone around here."

        The woman’s beautiful lilting accent made Lyric want to ask her to read the dictionary aloud, just to hear more of it.

        "Where's Dick Mack's?" Lyric asked instead.

        "Opposite the church."

        "Aaaaand, where's the church?"

        "Opposite Dick Mack's!" The woman laughed.

        Lyric thanked the woman and sighed as he continued up the road with Cadence and Fugue.  

         "Y'know," Fugue said as he pulled out his phone.  "There's this magical thing called the Internet. I bet
it
knows where Dick Mack's is." He began surfing the web as they walked, muttering, "my phone bill is gonna suck this month."

        Acheron had taken off to hunt. Lyric wondered aloud how that would work without her magic. The demoness grinned wickedly and pointed out that she needed to satisfy more than just hunger, and hinted that a warm Irish lad would help considerably.

        "What makes this guy so special you have to track him down in person anyway?"  Fugue gestured for them to turn left.  "Is he not online?" He winked at a pretty redhead passing by as he spoke.

        "He's not eager to share his whereabouts."  Lyric gave Fugue a sidelong look.  The mercenary was easy to get along with and handy in a fight, but even though he saved Lyric’s life on the Gaoithe Mhín, the singer still didn't trust him. "You don't need to escort us, Fugue. We can't pay you and I'm sure you had other plans."

        Fugue shrugged.  

        "It's no bother, I don't really have plans right now. One direction is as good as another until I find new clients. Besides, I enjoy your company." He smiled at Cadence who rolled her eyes in response.

        "Why come to Ireland?"  Lyric asked as they walked up the street toward a small pub. "Wouldn't it be easier to find business in more densely populated areas? The supernatural community in Ireland is close knit and they aren't likely to hire an outsider."

        "Perhaps, but I have a small problem stateside with a certain gentleman by the name of Gar Lich. Being jobless in Ireland is better than being one of his object lessons."

        "The zombie boss? What does he want with you?" Lyric's confusion was apparent.

        "Mostly my head separated from my neck," the mercenary grimaced.  "Although, knowing him as I do, I’m sure he'd like to smoke me like a Cuban first.  Do you remember when we met and I told you about the Polynesian zombies I accompanied to Markhato?"  Lyric and Cadence nodded.  "Those weren't exactly free agents. In fact, they happened to be some of Gar's best product, and he may or may not have known they were accompanying me."

        "You stole zombies from Gar Lich? No wonder you want an ocean between you and him." Lyric shook his head. "Did you sell them to Markhato?"  

        Fugue nodded.

        "Understand, I am a firm advocate of zombie rights and support the undead slavery abolitionist movement," he said. "But Markhato will actually pay in American currency."

        "I completely understand.  You accepted money for zombies you stole." Lyric said. "Thereby propagating the system you claim to oppose."

        "A guy's gotta eat." Fugue replied unashamedly.  Giving Lyric a measuring look he said, "You're kind of a schmuck aren't you?"

        “You're kind of a crook.” Lyric shot back.

        They entered the little blue pub with red trim and began again the tedious process of asking around for Dispo Sitorem.  Cadence headed toward a group of men in the corner while Fugue set his sights on the pretty waitress.  Lyric sat beside an old man at the bar and had grown so accustomed to the litany of no's it took a moment to process the stranger's answer.

        "Dispo Sitorem?  Yeah, I know the gee eyed arse." The old man took a swig of his pint before turning his blood shot eyes on Lyric.  "Nothin' but trouble.  You'd best steer clear of him, lad."

        "I believe you, sir," Lyric smiled his most winning smile and watched it bounce ineffectually off the old man's frown.  "Regardless, I need to find him. I have a message from his family."

        "Family?" The oldster blinked.  "Diz doesn't have any family. He never has to my knowledge, and I've known of him since I was wee."  The man got lost in his pint for a moment before mumbling.  "Funny thing, that.  He was old when I was just a youngin'.  Doesn't really seem possible now I think of it."  The bloodshot eyes turned back to the Singer, unfocused and drunk, then angry.  "Who the hell are you?" He demanded.  "What do you want?"

        "You were going to tell me about Dispo Sitorem." Lyric gently reminded him.

        "Diz, aye, I know the gee eyed arse.  I followed him home one night to see where he lived." The man drained his pint and looked sadly at the bottom of his glass.  Lyric put a twenty on the bar and gestured to the bartender to pour another. "It was amazing.  We walked for two hours north into the hills, then he vanished.  I'll never forget what I saw that night.  The sky was alight with the most amazing music.  Fireflies danced with the notes, not just green ones, but blues and reds and purples and oranges and colors I couldn't even name.  They spun and flew and laughed," the old man smiled years off his face.  He looked Lyric in the eye and his delight was infectious.  "I heard fireflies laugh, boy.  I heard them giggle and sing and whistle.  And that was just the bugs. I saw bats carrying fruit that wasn't in season and drop it into the waiting hands of men and women who sang with the night.  Not a single instrument to be seen, yet the air vibrated with the sound of an orchestra.  Men whistled,women danced, flowers shone, trees sang and joy rose from the stones themselves.  I'd never seen the like. Then he was beside me."  The old man paused to drink from his new pint.  Cadence and Fugue had quietly wandered over to listen with Lyric as the man remembered. "He was drunk and loud and old and beautiful.  He sang along with the music and everything around us seemed to grow brighter.  I felt tears hot on my cheeks and wondered why I was crying. He seemed to read my mind because he smiled at me and said 'your heart has raced ahead of your head, boy.  It knows that this night can't last and so your body has begun to grieve even though your mind hasn't yet understood.  You wanted to see where I live.  Here it is.  I live on the outskirts of breathtaking beauty.'  

        " 'Why don't you join them?' I asked.

        " 'I'm not welcome' he replied.  I saw the tears on his own face.  It was then my mind caught up to the heartbreak my body already knew.  To live on the fringes of such loveliness.  To see and hear such joy and not be welcome to join.  No wonder he was drunk all the time."  The old man drained his pint and slammed it to the table.  Looking at Lyric his eyes clouded and became confused.  "What can I do for you, lad?"

        "Tell me where to find Dispo Sitorem."

        "Dispo Sitorem?  Never heard of him."  Then the old man left, sorrow running down his cheeks.

        Lyric and his friends watched the man go.  Fugue made a move to stop him but Lyric put a staying hand on his arm.

        "He has no more to say," the Singer murmured.  "Let him be."  Fugue shrugged and sat at the bar signalling for a pint.  Lyric stepped to the door and watched the old man shuffle down the street.  Quiet and low he sang into the Score and sent a song of peace and comfort to accompany the man on his way.  Turning back he saw Cadence smiling at him, knowing what he'd done.  

        
You two have the worst timing for these stupid warm fuzzy moments.
Acheron's thoughts reached them across the tie.  
Please stop, I almost threw up on my date.

        Lyric glanced in the mirror behind the bar and noticed Fugue seemed to be watching him.  As if reading his mind Fugue grinned and raised his pint in salute.  Spinning around on his barstool the mercenary called to the Singer.

        "Where to next, boss?"

        Lyric stepped up to the bar and asked for two pints.  Handing one to Cadence he sat next to Fugue.

        "Don't call me boss.  Cadence, Acheron and I are heading north to continue looking for Sitorem.  You can do as you like."

        "North it is." The mercenary said easily before draining his glass.

*   *   *   *   *

        Connor Lot stood looking at the landscape ahead of him. Green rolling hills ahead in the distance were speckled with flashes of light. There were some trees walking in that direction. Connor knew they probably weren't really there. To his left the sky was dark. Red and orange glows illuminated clouds from underneath. Off to his right was water as far as his eye could see.

        The utter lack of  strangeness was itself strange. Connor wondered, not for the first time, if he was insane. He knew they were not on earth, he knew what he was seeing should be strange to him, but he felt completely comfortable here.

        He also wondered for a moment just how big this place was. With a name like the Verge he expected it to be very small, but it extended as far as his eye could see in all directions. Turning around he looked into the enormous valley he just climbed out of. A huge beam of light that matched the one in Markhato shot into the sky from the center of it. He noticed that the valley seemed shaped not unlike the inverse of the mountain he just left.

        “Holy shit, what the hell is that? Is that
actually
hell?” Three fingered guy climbed out of the pit behind him. Connor turned to see where he was looking. The red place. It might be hell. He supposed it was the right color.

        “Maybe,” Connor replied. “It'll be a long walk.” He handed the soldier a water bottle. “Make sure you're hydrated…” Connor tried to remember the man's name. He was pretty sure it wasn't actually three fingered guy.

        “Saul,” the man grunted. “My name is Saul.”

        “Saul,” Connor nodded and immediately forgot.

        Nose showed up next with Muscles. They both stared around wonderingly.

        “Is that tree walking?” Nose asked.

        “Oh good,” Connor said, “you can see that.”

        One by one, what remained of Company Thirteen climbed out of the pit and looked around wonderingly.

        Soon they would be joined by the hot. angry demoness. Connor liked her. He felt like he understood her - a rarity these days.

        He knew he was unhinged before meeting General Rondeaux. The general eased his mind though, gave him sense and purpose. When he died, Connor’s cracked mind split the rest of the way. Lately, the only things that made sense were the demoness, the invisible man and killing things.

        He liked killing things.

        When the demoness and the invisible man showed up they would help Company Thirteen find the entrance to hell. Connor looked forward to killing things in hell.