Demon Singer

Demon

Singer

BENJAMIN J NICHOLS

Copyright © 2014 BENJAMIN J NICHOLS

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1497530041

DEDICATION

For Emily

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Thank you to Vanessa, my first reader.

Acknowledgments tend to be boring, so allow me to offer you some special little known details about some key people involved in the awesomeness of this book:

Ronald O'Rourke
(who will be playing Lyric in the upcoming Demon Singer trailer) is a giant of a man. He hates brick walls and regularly crushes them into dust... with his pinky toe.
Red Sand Beach on Kaihalulu Bay in Hawaii used to be white. It's red now because that's where Ron has all the brick dust shipped. We expect that soon Red Beach will become known as Red Sand Dunes.
Eventually Ron will have crushed enough bricks to build an enormous castle for his children. No one has yet been brave enough to point out to Ron that that will likely require all his red dust be formed into bricks.
Ron also single handedly trained 106 mustangs to travel only in configurations that spell out his initials. If you wonder if those are cars or horses the answer is yes

Laura Fortman
(who will be playing Acheron in the upcoming Demon Singer trailer) manages to find light in the darkest places. A foolish king once bet her she couldn't find a spark at the bottom of a bottomless well. Laura dove in head first and searched for over a year. It seemed to the kingdom that she would fail her challenge when Laura decided to shoot the laws of physics the bird and begin glowing.

Her glow grew into a pillar of fire so bright it forcibly evicted every shadow in the bottomless well. Those shadows fled so fast that they actually traveled backward in time and told her story. That is why today we have the legend of the Phoenix.

Laura has also won by popular election the mayorship of Strawberryville. She is now responsible for all the legislation and community health of every strawberry on the planet.

Maijel Chisolm
(who will be playing Cadence in the upcoming Demon Singer trailer) has led the charge to ban mermaid fishing for the last 13 seconds.

She also organized a 600 piece orchestra of kangaroos to beat out the Canadian national anthem on the world's largest xylophones. Even though she isn't Canadian... as far as we know. To make it a challenge for herself she wouldn't allow the 'roos to use their arms or feet. They had to use their ears.

Maijel is also the first human to master the mystical power of ostrich running. Not to be confused with ostrich racing, ostrich running involves running like an ostrich. Forever dissatisfied with mediocre, Ms. Chisolm runs like a cracked out ostrich trying to escape a herd of butterflies. Why? Because butterflies are scary.

Cathy Phillips
(who will be playing Lisian in the upcoming Demon Singer trailer) once told a blue whale she could beat him in a swim race. The whale, whose name was Sven, scoffed at her claim and promised to run for president if she could.

Cathy began training that very day, participating in every single marathon, triathlon, tough mudder, hopscotch competition and bake-off she could find. She would win the competitions secretly and donate her awards and acclaim to various other individuals.

The time came to race and Cathy passed Sven eight times in their 3 lap race.

Eventually, she grew fatigued and stopped to squelch a fight between Ursula the sea witch and king Triton, because resolving the differences between giant fictional sea characters relaxes her.

Sven is expected to announce his candidacy later this year.

1 demon ties

The woman at the center of the blast zone gave him a briefly interested up and down before her light violet eyes dismissed him and flicked to the other occupants of the room.  Her gaze fell on Master Lomong, a mountainous man sitting on the floor against a pillar carved with ancient symbols forgotten by all but a handful of people on the planet.  Delicate nostrils flared slightly, she headed straight for him, back erect, hips swaying and curves wondrously immune to the surly demands of gravity.

The only man standing - the same one she had dismissed as unimportant - came to his senses.  He sang a low soothing note, and instantly she was back in front of him, nose to nose, staring intently into his eyes.  His lower back spasmed into a knot at the proximity of her lips to his.  

“It was
you
who brought me here. Who are you?”

“My name is Lyric.”  

“That's a stupid name.
What
are you, Lyric?”  She seemed to stare at him, but her gaze did not quite focus on his face. It was as though she looked
into
him.   “There’s something different about you.”  

“I’m a soul singer, a protector of the Score of Creation.”  Lyric met her gaze calmly, even though her nearness made him feel anything but calm.

The woman cocked her head thoughtfully to the side, staring at Lyric through those dazzling eyes.

"So, really, you have no idea either."

Master Lomong slowly picked himself up from the floor.

“And what is your name Verger?”

“Verger?” As she turned to look at Lyric's voice instructor, her tinkling laugh made every Y chromosome in the room smile happily. “Don't insult me.” Turning back to Lyric a delicate hand reached for his neck.

Move you idiot!
 His brain screamed at his frozen body.  He could not account for his certainty, but he had no doubt that this creature was far more deadly than any Verger he had heard of.  Furthermore, he was certain that if she decided to kill everyone in the room he would not be able to stop her, even though he was responsible for her presence.  She smiled knowingly, as though amused by his secret thoughts, and the knot in his back pulsed.  To his surprise, she did not attack.  Instead, she hooked a finger in the silver chain that encircled his neck and pulled the soul singer pendant out of his shirt.  Almost lovingly, she caressed it with her thumb. “You wanted power sweetie, you got it."  Her eyes moved from the pendant back to his, she leaned in close enough for him to feel her hot breath on his skin.   "You overshot your mark... by a lot.  My name is Acheron.  But I’m no Verger." Icy fear filled Lyric's stomach.   The room stopped breathing in shock.

“You’re a demon?” again, Lomong regained his composure first and spoke.

“Demoness,” she corrected absently, tucking the pendant back in Lyric’s shirt. She patted his chest, electricity shot through him at her touch.  She slithered around the perimeter of the blast zone, looking curiously at the carvings on the columns and the walls. “And it looks to me like this is the fabled Soul Singers Guild.  One of the few sanctuary’s of the Composer that no hellion has been able to penetrate.  Aren't
I
the lucky girl?" She gestured casually at one of the glyphs, "That one’s wrong by the way."

She spun on a booted heel to face Lomong.

"Funny how anyone who’s even
heard
of you thinks you’re a myth.”  Looking back at the pillar, she reached out a single finger to touch a symbol in recognition. The demoness jumped back as her finger came within an inch of it and blue sparks flared up, accompanied by the smell of ozone.  She stuck her burnt finger between her pouting lips her eyes narrowed as she looked back at Lyric.

“Really, Lover?  You have me shielded?  Let’s drop this little barrier you’ve got your girl trapped behind, huh?  I’m completely at your disposal and solemnly swear,” she crossed her heart, that is if she had a heart... and if it was located directly behind her left breast.  “No harm will come to you...

“from me...

“today...

“Or are you into the bondage thing? ‘Cause I could teach you some fun...”

Lyric’s voice sounded again, a strange phrase that silenced her.  Acheron shivered in a fascinating manner and smiled lasciviously.

“How’s about a warning next time stud?  You can’t just compel a girl to obey you.  It’s bad manners you know, besides, I already told you, you’re in no danger from me.”

Lyric remained silent, letting that serve as his answer.  Acheron sighed resignedly.

"Fine, be a douche."

Lyric was finally able to tear his eyes away from the sultry demoness and survey the damage to the Casting Chamber.  One of the ornate columns sported a large crack.  Blood smears marked the blackened floor and walls, a result of the demoness' arrival hurling the Guild Masters into them at speeds that they were all likely to agree were unreasonable.  Several of the tapestries were either burnt, burning or already ash.  Acolytes were carrying unconscious Singers from the room, while the remaining Masters vigorously discussed something in a tight circle.   Whatever they were saying, it involved a great deal of dramatic gesturing.  Master Singer Lomong held himself apart, as usual, and watched his student and the demoness with an inscrutable expression on his face.  

“They have no clue what to do with you and me, and it scares them somethin’ awful...” Her voice in his ear nearly ejected Lyric from his skin.

“Please don’t sneak up on a fella,” he said, “it’s bad manners you know.”

She laughed again.  The sound was intoxicating.

“Uh-oh, someone’s being unfriendly,” the demoness sing-songed.

Hairs stood up on the back of Lyric’s neck.  The song quietly filling the air was familiar; it had taken him over a year to memorize it.  The Masters were singing a complicated and powerful banishing song, one written to send even the strongest demons back to Hell.  Panic gripped his chest as he realized they were preparing to banish the only demon in the room, the one that happened to be tied to his soul for life.  If they sent her back to hell what would happen to him?  Vergers and Singers share their fates, if one dies the other dies.  If the masters banished her while tied to him, it stood to reason he would be dragged to hell along with her.  

Lyric began singing the first song he could think of, a drinking song he and his classmates used to prank one another in the Guild. Remembering Master Lomong's exhortation not to hold back, he let it fly, throwing everything he had into it.   Much to his surprise, Lyric watched the Masters of his order - dignified and austere men - slur their words and wobble unsteadily on their feet.  Within seconds, every Singer in the room passed out on the cold stone floor in a drunken stupor, leaving Lyric standing alone with the demoness.

Looking around at the softly snoring soul singers the demoness burst out in laughter.

“That’s damn impressive; this might be fun after all!”