The gnome decided he wasn't ready to be forgotten and he sank into the ground. Moving below Cadence, he reached up and opened the ground beneath her feet. The warrior slid into the hole, pressed tight against the slimy gnome. Giderg had already grown back his missing appendage and was using it and its mate to read Cadence's body like a brail map. The warrior couldn't move or breathe in the quiet earth and realized she was in a bad position. Fighting her revulsion at the gnome's groping she considered her limited options. The gnome could move through earth as if it was water, while she remained stuck fast. She could feel the dirt move for him though and waited for his hand to near her own. Her lungs were beginning to feel the strain but she ignored them. There! His hand passed hers and she was able to move her arm parallel to his in his wake, using her sense of touch to follow his motions. He soon slid his hand over one of her knives, which she grabbed. That same hand worked its way down her side to her derriere, and then left her body to prepare himself for her defilement. Perfect. Twisting her wrist, she shoved the sharp blade exactly where he didn't want it. His reaction was loud and severe. His thrashing loosened the earth around her enough for her to stretch her hands upward, she felt the air and hope surged in her chest even as sparks danced in front of her eyes from oxygen deprivation.
Suddenly strong hands gripped hers and she was pulled free of the dirt. Giderg came out behind her shrieking and rolling around on the ground, both hands covering his wound. Cadence wondered if he could grow that back like he did his hand.
"Cadence, I was worried!" Her rescuer smiled as he helped her to her feet. Cadence smiled brightly back at him, at peace now that she was with him again. Rondeaux ordered Giderg executed while he put his arm around Cadence and helped her back to his tent.
23 DISCERNMENT
By the time Lyric had to get gas Acheron knew exactly what she was going to do. It was going to suck, but desperate times and all that.
As soon as Lyric was out of the car Acheron punched him in the head hard enough to knock him out. Picking him up, she tossed him over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Walking a few hundred yards into the woods behind the gas station, she conjured up some sturdy rope and a satin gag, no need to be unkind. Satisfied her Singer was secured she flitted back to move the car. In a handful of minutes, she returned and looked at her Singer with affectionate loathing while she waited for him to awaken.
Eventually Lyric groaned in pain and rejoined the land of the living. Acheron looked up from the rabbit she was torturing and beamed at Lyric.
"Good morning, Sunshine!"
Lyric struggled to focus on her before his eyes narrowed. Acheron flowed to her feet.
"Now I'm going to take this gag off, and I'll ask you kindly not to sing. Of course, if this were a motion picture you'd feel inclined to sing anyway and cause all sorts of fuss. So I'll carefully layout what you can expect to happen here. Cause me trouble and I'll kick you in the balls. Clear?"
Lyric struggled violently against his bonds, but his demon strength seemed to be unequal to the task. Acheron let him thrash about for a minute before pulling his gag down.
"Lover, cut it out, I spelled those ropes. You can't break them."
"What the hell is this, demon?"
"Demoness," Acheron corrected automatically. "You, my Love, are under the whammy of General Rondeaux, military mind behind Melody. I'm fixing you."
Lyric looked genuinely confused.
"Rondeaux is dead, I poisoned him myself. Let me go you crazy bitch!"
Lyric's head rocked and stars exploded behind his eyes from the force of Acheron's slap.
"Stop calling your girl names, Lyric, it's rude."
"I hate you."
"So I've heard. Right now, I need you to focus on your training. You have learned to listen and watch. I've been inside your head. If you would stop second-guessing yourself you'd discover your instincts are dead on... mostly. Do you remember the Song of Discernment?"
An ugly red handprint decorated Lyric's cheek, he nodded slowly.
"Good, start dusting it off and consider the notion you have in that big brain of yours that not everything adds up right now. You're going back to the last place you are wanted, to deliver an obviously bogus report at the command of a stranger. All the while, leaving someone you've come to care for twisting in the wind. Now, don't believe me, I don't care. But at least get the straight scoop and sing that damn song."
Lyric resisted her logic. Something was wrong, he knew it, but he could not fathom what it was. Her words were sensible, but all the best lies are. Still, the discernment song came straight out of the Score. There was no way Acheron could twist it.
Closing his eyes, Lyric called to mind the music and prepared as best as he could. Tied to a tree wasn't exactly ideal for vocal production, but Lomong had forced endless hours of practice in the most ridiculous and uncomfortable positions. Lyric had never appreciated that before.
The song began, ancient words that had been penned into the Score of Creation by the Composer Himself. As the music flowed from Lyric he kept his eyes closed and turned his thoughts to the mission given him by the man who served Melody.
* * *
Cadence stopped dead in her tracks and stared in shock at the handsome man at the head of the column in front of hers. Those who followed her began to stop but she waved them on, looking around as though for the first time.
Rondeaux was leading his troops down a mountainside headed for an ocean of bodies. Beyond them, an actual ocean. Cadence blanched and terror threatened to destroy her sanity. The ocean, it terrified her. Why? Shuddering, she forced herself to calm down and focus on the enemy. She experienced something akin to awe as she tried to grasp the number of soldiers she was looking at. Turning around she saw thousands more following in her footsteps. There were too many. No one could stand against a force this size.
Looking back down at Rondeaux, she saw him looking at her. Even from two hundred yards away, she could feel his influence as he raised his hand and called to her.
Cadence slipped away into the rocks and quickly made her way back the direction she'd come from, putting as much distance between her and that terrifying body of water as quickly as possible. Besides, there was no way she was going to give Rondeaux an opportunity to kidnap her mind again.
Turning east, she headed for Lyric.
* * *
In his memory, silver words hung in the air, floating between him and the man, glittering on a cloud that hid the man's face. The man. Who was the man? The man had told him Rondeaux was dead, that Lyric had seen it happen. But Lyric hadn't seen it, he'd just been told by those words. Silver words that floated like dust motes caught in a sunbeam. Beautiful words, like being able to see poetry. He wanted to believe them. He had to believe them, but the song wouldn't let him. As the truth began to cut through the mist, the words began to tarnish and fall. With increasing speed, the fog let go of his head. There weren't a few thousand rag tag bums wanting a fight. Melody had an army. A huge army that boasted hundreds of thousands of healthy, disciplined men and women eager to die for a cause they believed in. The man with the words, it was Rondeaux, he saw that now. Cadence was in danger and Lyric was driving in the opposite direction.
Still singing, Lyric opened his eyes and focused on Acheron. She watched as the lights came on in Lyric's mind. Nodding in satisfaction she poofed his restraints out of existence. A flutter across their tie held a trace of sadness and she looked sharply at Lyric who was staring at her intently, as though seeing something unexpected.
"There's more to you..." He said softly.
"What?"
Lyric shook his head briefly, the sadness dissipated.
"Nothing. We have to go back!"
"I know," Acheron sighed, then wrinkled her nose in disgust. She turned to look behind Lyric.
"Not just yet." A familiar voice came from behind them. The Keylac, in his impeccable suit, stepped from the trees. He looked completely comfortable, as though nine hundred do
llar suits were standard attire for tromping through the woods. "So glad I found you here."
Acheron rolled her eyes in disgust.
"What do you want, Lackey?"
The Keylac smiled his perfect smile, unfazed by Acheron's dig. Pulling an envelope from his jacket pocket, he offered it to Lyric who made no move to accept it.
"Next payment. This needs to be delivered to the High Master of the Soul Singers Guild. Since you’re headed that way anyway it shouldn’t be too far out of your way." He gestured for Lyric to take the envelope. The Singer remained unmoving.
"Cadence has been taken by Rondeaux. I have no idea where she is, or how to find her. That is painful for me. I would never abandon a friend like that. You haven't kept up your end of the deal, why should I keep up mine?"
The Keylac's smile never wavered, but his eyes glittered dangerously.
"Ask the lovely Acheron about the authority of a Keylac, Lyric. I dispute your claims and submit that your own lack of appropriate caution and care allowed Cadence to be taken from you while you were forcibly ejected from the compound. The deal stands. You deliver this envelope to the High Master or I will drag you alive into Hell right now."
Lyric started to answer but Acheron snatched the envelope from the Keylac's hand and shoved it into Lyric's.
"Find your way home asshole, before I test your authority." The demoness hissed angrily.
"See to it that the High Master gets the envelope. It's intended for him alone. If he opens it, all will be well, if anyone besides him opens it... well, I don't know what will happen, But my guess is it will be something you'd rather avoid." With a broad grin and a wink the Keylac vanished.
"What the hell, Acheron? I'm not honoring a deal that bastard broke!"
"Officially, the Keylac hasn't broken the deal. I saw your visit to the compound. You are an intelligent, capable and highly trained soul singer. You should have been able to complete your task easily with little to no risk to yourself or Cadence. Instead, you attended that jackass' little dinner party completely unprepared for what would happen."
"Are you taking his side?! Wait, of course you are. That’s stupid of me, you’re a demon. What authority does he have?"
"Demoness,” Acheron corrected. “And I’m certainly not on his side, considering whoever he’s serving has already tried to send me to the pit. Regardless, he does have authority. Keylacs are protected by Trytohn himself. They are the official couriers of Hell, so if you dispute one's commands you'd better be certain you're right. If he considered you in breach of your contract, he'd take you and I wouldn't be able to stop him." Acheron was headed back toward the car. Lyric followed, trying to ignore the swing of her hips.
"So instead of going to find Cadence, I have to deliver this letter to the Master of my guild. Going to the very place you just stopped me from going. And why would I ever give this to the Master of my Guild? For all I know it’s poisoned."
Acheron took the envelope back and sniffed it.
“No poison, Lover.” She examined it closely. “You can sing your discernment song again but I can’t sense anything supernatural about it, aside from the fact the paper it’s printed on is a product of hell.”
The discernment song. Lyric took the envelope and focused on his breathing. Singing softly he watched the paper for any sign of malignancy. The envelope flamed briefly without heat, but that was all. Lyric ground his teeth in frustration. What did that mean? Would it start a fire? Was it simply reacting that way because it came from hell and the Song came from Heaven? The Singer looked at his companion. Acheron met his eyes and shrugged.
“It could be something awful or it could just be a letter. Maybe someone really wants the High Master's banana bread recipe. I don’t know. What I do know is the Soul Singers Guild has been around a long time and survived repeated attacks from Trytohn himself. So even if it’s something awful it isn’t likely to bring your precious Guild crashing to the ground.”
Lyric felt the pressure of his uncertain future threatening to crush him. He wished Emma was available to talk to, and offer her quiet wisdom. Well, as Niq used to tell him, sometimes you reach the end of talking and just need to “do”, and leave the talking to others. Making a decision he hated he looked again to Acheron.
"Can you find Cadence while I deliver this letter?"
Acheron nodded.
"I can find her, but if she's within the same demon warding the compound was I won't be able to reach her. This means no rescue by me without punching a very large, very noticeable hole in the wards. Considering the fun times we've had so far I've got to think you want to stay under the radar as much as possible."
"True enough, but if you can at least find her, we'll know where she is and I can work out a rescue."
"I'll find her, but you need to stop pussyfooting around. You are better trained than almost anyone else on the planet is to deal with whatever you might encounter. If I go find your pet, you'll be completely unprotected. Stay alert and try not to be stupid."
Lyric realized if Acheron hadn't made him sing and break Rondeaux's hold over him, he'd be betraying his Guild and Cadence would be lost. He knew that the demon wouldn't do anything to help him unless it involved helping herself, but it didn't change the fact she'd put a stop to a disaster in the making. It was difficult, but he forced the words past his pride.
"Thank you, Acheron."
Acheron flashed that dazzling smile that made his stomach flip over.
"Anything for you, Lover." She vanished in a flash of lilac scented darkness.
Lyric struggled with the unwanted feelings the demon stirred in him. Demoness, he corrected himself. Then couldn't help but smile wryly as he made his way to the car.
As Lyric drove toward the address given him by the Keylac he considered the events unfolding around him. He had three payments left to Hell, had valuable information concerning the war that needed to make its way past the rumor mill and straight to the Master of his Guild, or at least Master Lomong. He needed to find a way to rescue Cadence from Rondeaux's thrall and he still had the mystery of his town's disappearance along with Joe's prophecy to deal with, which apparently had to be fulfilled within the year given him by the Guild.
24 FREAKIN' FAIRIES
The demoness hurtled across the country, reaching Rondeaux's training ground in a matter of minutes. It was so much faster traveling without having to wait for her Singer. She slowed down as she reached the location. Easing up to the perimeter, she felt for the wall of force that kept her out and encountered... nothing. Frowning she strode forward with hands outstretched well past where the demon proofing should have kept her out. Swirling out of sight, she ignored the burning discomfort of her spirit form, entered the valley and raced from one end to the other, searching for any sign of life. The grass was there, the lake, the buildings, but not a single human being.
Floating to the roof of the large pavilion, she materialized and extended her senses to their limits. Her ears picked up the sounds of industrious insects, grass breathing and traffic several miles away. Closing her eyes, she tilted her face to the breeze, searching among the scents for Cadence. Nothing.
Damn she hated doing this. Hated that mute little bitch, though she had to respect her abilities. She hated that she had to find her, especially since she knew the longer Cadence traveled with them, the more likely it was Lyric would find out who she was. Acheron wasn't sure what she would do in that case.
Her strongest inclination was to kill the woman and be done with it. Unfortunately, Lyric was growing more aware of Acheron and less fearful of the tie. For the most part that was to her advantage, but it made misleading to him close to impossible. So, for the time being her strongest inclinations would have to be subjugated by reason.
Oh well, she would find Cadence and get her back to Lyric. That in itself would do wonders for her cause.
Acheron swirled back to vapor and shot upwards to survey the area. She saw the tracks from all the buses leading back to t
he road. The tracks all seemed to turn east. She considered where Rondeaux might be headed as she drifted back to the ground.
Taking solid form, she walked toward the road. Walking was slow, but it was also therapeutic and helped her think. As she contemplated where she should look next an awareness tickled the edge of her brain. Instantly she vanished and shot upward only to be forced back to solidity and thrown to the ground. Back on her feet in an instant she looked around for her attacker and saw only air. Swirling back to spirit form again she was immediately made solid and thrown to the ground. This time she heard a laugh.
“Do you think this is a very good idea?” The demoness questioned the air, keeping control of her temper. “If you have any idea who I am you must know this can’t end well for you. If you don’t know who I am then you should understand that this will be your last day on earth.”
Another tinkling laugh sounded behind her ear and suddenly she was flying through the air. Acheron twisted gracefully and landed on her feet. Obviously, her attacker was invisible, even to her demon sight. That made her one of the Fair Folk. That would explain the laughter, those crazy bastards found everything funny.
The famous story of Sterje the Todii told of how he was captured by Ogres when trying to impregnate one to create a halfling Todii and Ogre. Unfortunately, being less than bright, his attempt was made on a male Ogre, the chieftain of his particular tribe. The extremely racist Ogres would never sully their lineage with anything not an Ogre. The fury Sterje called down upon himself became legend. The various tortures visited upon him by the wrath of the Ogre tribe lasted for three months, and Sterje laughed through the entire ordeal until he was drawn and quartered. If you hear the story from one of the Fair Folk, they swear Sterje’s head continued laughing after it was separated from the rest of his body and the Ogres were so freaked out about it they threw it into the sea. It’s said that you can hear Sterje laughing along the shore as his head is rolled in with the tide.
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