Demon Singer II (9 page)

              Cadence nodded as she dabbed at the corners of her eyes.

              Lyric kept his eyes open this time and took up the melody once more.  He hummed gently. Determined not to get lost in the music again.

              As he sang the ball of light returned almost immediately. Lyric watched as it grew and elongated and eventually coalesced into a figure. The figure stepped forward out of the light.  Bright blue eyes danced with an infectious joy. Ervin, the High Master of the Soul Singers Guild and Lyric's barber smiled warmly.

              "Hello Lyric, you're looking well"

Chapter 6

              Lyric stopped humming, but Ervin didn't disappear.  He stood there calmly, a pleasant smile curved his lip and bright blue eyes danced with secrets.

              "Are you real?"

              Ervin shook his head.  

              "I'm a golem powered by an echo. I have all of Ervin's memories up to the last time he updated me. He built me into this place."  The copy gestured to the wallpaper border along the ceiling.  It was a collection of antique looking sheet music. As Lyric examined it closely he realized every piece was a variation on the theme he'd just been humming.  Suddenly he remembered how he knew it.  It was the same melody Ervin had been humming the last time he saw him.  The doppelganger smiled knowingly as the light went on in Lyric's eyes.

              "You're Ervin's song. I've heard him sing you a hundred times."

              Ervin's creation nodded.

              "He created this body for me to be able to interact you.”

              “With me?” Lyric asked in confusion.

              “Not you, Lyric. You the Singer who sang this song in this place.

              Before we get down to why you're here, it's important for you to know and accept certain difficult truths. The first of those concerns my identity.  I am not only the High Master of the Soul Singers Guild, I am its founder."

              "Impossible," Lyric objected.  "Soul Singers are powerful, but we are mortal.  Time treats us the same as it does everything else."

              Ervin's copy nodded again.

              "True enough, but I was different." The old man chuckled. "Forgive me, that sounded arrogant. I have no intrinsic value that makes me different.  In truth, I am a plain, simple man of modest talent and ability.  But I was cursed more than fifteen hundred years ago."  Lyric carefully remained quiet but Ervin's copy discerned his thinking and smiled.  "I know I'm straining the limits of credulity, but I promise you it's true. I'm never to be allowed rest until I undo a terrible wrong I have done.  I cannot die, yet
something
has happened, otherwise you wouldn't be here talking to me."  The doppelganger paused, seeming hesitant.  "Did anyone survive?"

              Lyric shook his head.

              Ervin's copy rubbed the top of his bald head and closed his eyes. Tears streamed down his weathered cheeks.  Lyric remained quiet. Golem or not, his personal issues with the man could be still long enough to allow Ervin to grieve.

              Soon the kind barber opened his eyes and fixed his gaze on Lyric. When he spoke his voice was calm and steady.

              "I'm not dead, Lyric. I can't be. It's forbidden." A hand raised to forestall Lyric's objection.  "I have no way of telling you what has happened to me since I last sang this song, but I assure you, until I find and return Varia Tur to the Verge I cannot die."

              "Varia Tur?" Lyric did not recognize the name.

              "He's a Verger. He was the first Verger to be tied to a Singer. In fact, he was tied to two. Myself and my older brother, Dispo Sitorem. Diz and I sang together all the time.  We sang while we worked, while we traveled.  We communicated more in song than in words. But that was common in our village. Everyone sang.  

              "There are places, Lyric, all over the world, places where the wall between our world and the Verge is thin. People pass them everyday, noticing without noticing.  A spark at the edge of your vision, the sound of someone speaking your name, the sense that another heart besides yours is beating nearby. These are the thin places.  These are where the Verge is close to the earth."

              Lyric stared at the man, mystified.  None of this was covered in his education.

              "My brother and I knew of just such a place, in the hills outside of our village. We would go there to sing, because in that place our songs seemed just a bit sweeter.

              "One night, something different happened.  Diz began singing as we watched the embers of the campfire perform their dance. He didn't sing a song we knew, but it was familiar all the same. It was what I would later come to understand to be his Soul Song."

              Ervin paused, his eyes years away.  Lyric listened closely.

              "A violet tendril of light curled around the sounds of his voice and shot into the night. I was so taken by the beauty of what I was witnessing I didn't realize I'd begun to sing with him. I didn't even know the song, but it locked into place with his. Then my own soul song, brilliant blue, cast into the darkness, alongside my brother's.

              "Then
he
came; out of the dark, out of the night, out of the Verge.  He sang with us and it was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard.  Three voices, woven into one, in perfect harmony.

              "His name was Varia Tur and he was magnificent. Physically he appeared human, but he knew so much more than the both of us. He'd lived for thousands of years on the Verge and knew secrets wonderful and terrible. He seduced our imaginations with his magics and his imaginings of the world we could build together.

              "Diz and I were spellbound. There was no Soul Singer's Guild. There were no rules, no guides. This was brand new and we had no idea the nature and power of what we played with."

              Ervin's gaze slowly spanned the centuries and landed on Lyric.  Every doubt the singer had about Ervin's sanity or honesty was erased with that look. He knew in his soul this man was speaking the truth.

              "We'd both tied the same Verger. We were young, human, selfish. It didn't take long for us to argue over Varia, as though he were a piece of property.

              "Diz tried to leave and commanded Varia to come with him. In anger I threw my soul song around him like a lasso. By this time we had discovered the power these songs had over our new friend. Diz reacted and sang his own song, which had changed to an aggressive counterpoint. His song grabbed Varia too.

              "As our hostility grew, our control diminished. Varia screamed in pain as we relentlessly pulled against each other."

              Ervin's voice became ragged with emotion, sobs lurking behind each sentence. A long silent pause spoke volumes of his regret.

              "Our selfish fight broke him. Our soul songs cut through him and snapped back at us..." Ervin stopped abruptly.  Lyric eventually prompted him.

              "He didn't die?"

              Ervin smiled at him sadly.

              "He did not. At the time I was thankful; ashamed that I'd hurt him so terribly, but glad that he lived. Eventually I came to regret that as well.  

              "Things changed. Varia was no longer tied to us. He had no stabilizing force in this world. I've learned a great deal over the centuries, Lyric. Vergers aren't meant to be here. They belong on the Verge until the judgement. A Verger stuck on earth without being tied to a Singer becomes insane.

              "Why?" Lyric asked.

              "I had an opportunity to ask an angel that used to visit me from time to time. He said: Imagine not being able to see or hear or taste or smell or touch.  Being locked utterly alone in the darkness of your thoughts. That is what it's like for a Verger to walk the earth without a Singer.

              "The Verge has an anesthetic quality.  The Song of Creation can't be heard there and while missed, it's more like a fading dream. But here on earth, alone, untied, the Verger becomes aware of the absence and it's unbearable. Like hell.

              "Diz and I continued coming back to him, but he would often hide. When he did show himself he was different than the friend we'd had. He became angry and unbalanced and finally..."  Ervin choked on his words, gaping for a moment like he couldn't speak.  A sob rent the quiet in the bar and he drew a deep shuddering breath.  "He left."

              Lyric blinked, certain the old man had been about to say something else. He decided not to push. Instead another question came to mind.

              "The Masters-" Lyric forced down the cotton ball that lodged in his own throat at the thought of his mentor Master Lomong, now among the memories of those he'd never see again.  "The Masters each had Vergers. How did I never see yours?"

              "Diz and I received a visit from the angel I mentioned. His name was Revelation." Lyric started at the familiar name. He'd met the angel Revelation himself recently in Markhato. "He told us about the Verge and the heinousness of what we had done. We had been given an opportunity to be part of something amazing. Our petty selfishness perverted our soul songs, so instead of reaping the blessing our tie to Varia
could
have been, we turned him into a curse.

              “Even so, our foolishness would not alter the Score of Creation. The Composer wrote my part clearly. As penance I was to build the Soul Singer's Guild and protect that score and all of humanity from the fallen. Diz was not to join me though. For the first time in our lives, we were to separate. I would spend the rest of my days building the Guild and hunting for Varia Tur and Diz would stay to protect our village and do whatever else he was charged with. I wasn't allowed to know what that was. Neither of us would die until our old friend was returned to the Verge."  

              "If the Guild was actually established by the Composer how did it fall?"

              "I fear I know. All of our wardings were built around my own blood and paranoia.  There should be no one capable of breaching them. It pains me to say it, but the betrayal must have come from within."  Ervin's weary eyes caught and held Lyric's. “I received word that you had an envelope to deliver to me. It involved something of a ruckus with discerner Phillip and his guard.”

              Lyric's insides went cold as he began to sense where Ervin was going with this.

              “I'm told the envelope was opened and a green fireball caused quite a commotion. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt at the time. But it's been bothering me every since. Who was the envelope from?”

              “I don't know,” Lyric answered honestly. “I made a mistake in Sta Catoe and now I'm on the hook for seven contracts with hell. I've already fulfilled four. The Keylac promised no one would be hurt by any of my assignments.”

              “You fool.” Ervin’s voice was quiet but the disappointment on his face was something Lyric had never seen before. It became clear how much the barber's opinion mattered to him by how much that expression hurt.

              Cadence spoke, Lyric could feel her anger welling up.

              “Pardon the interruption,” the steel in the warrior's voice commanded attention. “I don't know you, but I know Lyric. I know that he has more integrity than any other mortal I've encountered, here or on the Verge. And while he's made mistakes, they've all been in service to you and what your Guild has taught him is right. You taught him to put himself between danger and others. My life was in jeopardy. He did what
you
taught him to do. Hell knocked at my
door, and Lyric answered it. In the time I've known him I'm  confident in saying he would never destroy someone for selfish reasons. How old were you when
you
made that choice and Varia Tur suffered for it? Lyric could not have made a different choice, that would make him less than he is. Think twice before you call him a fool in my presence again.” Cadence was trembling with fury by the time she finished.

              Ervin nodded.

              “You are correct, my dear. Lyric, I apologize, I was wrong to say that. I have no idea where I am, but if I can't get free
you
must rebuild the Soul Singer's Guild."

              "No," Lyric shook his head. "I am not the man for that job. Besides, regardless of how much I respect Ervin, my commitment to his organization bled to death with faithful men and women on the battlements of Markhato. The Soul Singer's Guild should have been there, leading the way. If they were they wouldn't be dead now. Instead the only help Markahto had was an exiled Singer, a mute warrior and a demoness. ”

              Ervin's copy smiled sadly.

              "I understand completely, I truly do. The Guild, in many ways, became so much more than I thought possible, in others far less. I was so focused on my own purposes I ignored important warning signs of its corruption. But you, Lyric, you can do better than I did!” Ervin said earnestly. “The world needs the Soul Singer's Guild, just not the way I built it. You have an opportunity to do it differently.”

              Lyric again shook his head.

              “I will seek retribution for the destruction of the Guild because those were my friends, but not until I have located and secured Emma. Otherwise, my time with the Guild is done."

              Ervin’s face was inscrutable. He didn't respond for what felt like a long time. When he finally spoke he glanced briefly at Cadence first.

              “It is with respect and affection I’d like to point out that retribution won't bring anyone back, nor will it bring you peace. Furthermore, regardless of how they got in, our unknown assailant has managed to destroy one of the safest places on the planet. It is immensely arrogant to believe you can exact revenge against someone strong to do that when you don't even know who they are. Far better to focus your time and energy on something that will do some good. The Guild must be rebuilt. The world needs it.
You
need it. Finding your mother is important but rebuilding the Guild should be your priority.”