A Tune of Demons Box Set: The Complete Fantasy Series

by J E Mueller

  “I don’t trust you,” Lydia said bluntly.

  “Good,” Marella called back as she walked ahead of us. “Never trust a demon.”

  For a while we walked on in silence. Lydia seemed to be in a constant state of uncertainty. She wanted to fume and yell at Marella for being so contradictory but we both knew her words were right. One should never trust a demon, so why should we be working with her now?

  It seemed to fill Lydia with anger, but for me, it was another bit of curiosity. Marella had proven she could be trusted time and again on many levels in a wide variety of ways. Was she just speaking of her kind in general, or was she considering herself in that lot? Not wanting to dwell much on it, I pushed it out of my mind. For whatever reason, we had to make it to the Order of Reawakening. Finally, there was someone there who could actually teach me what was going on.

  “Do you think there will be much to learn there?” I asked Lydia, breaking the silence. “It seems rather weird to have a sudden push in this direction.” Suddenly, it hit me. Key had mentioned that I should check there to begin with. How had I forgotten? Kegan showing me those books, Lydia’s confession of her feelings, and this demon hunting mission might have pushed - rather shoved - that suggestion aside.

  “I trust Lliam, but I don’t know how much you have to learn. He can’t even stick around for details, and Blessed love going into great details, even to the point of exaggerating…” Her thoughts trailed off.

  “But if he’s on a mission, and just dropping in to help here and there he wouldn’t have time for that,” I pointed out. As boastful as the group was, they always seemed to know when to put aside the stories and songs and get down to business.

  “True, but what mission? What is he even doing?” The frustration returned to her features. “This whole thing is just bloody nonsense and we’re stuck on the worst end of it.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. It was humorless and tired, but still a laugh. “No kidding.” I shook my head. “Run here, run there, hope to not die. At least earlier we didn't have a target on our backs.”

  “What is hunting us down going to do for these demons anyway? It’s not like we really know enough to cause them too much more harm than normal,” Lydia grumbled.

  “That I can answer,” Marella chimed in sweetly.

  “By all means.” Lydia gave a sarcastic bow and continued on walking. “What is going on?”

  “To put it simply, at this stage of their plan, things are in a very sensitive and critical state. The balance of Spirit Guides has been disrupted. The power to guide the spirits of this world to their proper resting place isn’t taken away once a guide perishes. Instead, it is spread to others until a new Guide can take their place.” Marella paused to let this soak in.

  I did not like the way that sounded.

  Lydia beat me to an answer. “So, all the power is going to Tella and whoever is left making them extra powerful…. So, if Tella learns what to do, she can cause maybe as much damage to whatever their cause is as say a hundred or so guides combined?”

  “More or less, yes.” Marella smiled. “So, they are running out of time to hunt down everyone, and all that is left are the ones who haven’t come forward. It is very hard to find those who won’t talk about their gifts.”

  “So, what is their end goal, anyway?” I asked. We knew they somehow closed off the good from going to heaven, but how and why?

  “That is very simple, dear,” Marella replied tiredly. “With the gates closed off to the guides, and by shutting down passage for spirits to one side of the realms, they can collect a much larger army for themselves.”

  Lydia sighed tiredly. “How can they turn spirits into their own army? I thought only those who had made previous contracts could even be turned into demons?”

  “Oh no, contracts just assure where the soul is going after death. Spirits are complex things, which is why Guides are trained to help them. Do they go to what you’ve labeled as heaven or hell? Or are they sent back to be reborn and grow more? Spirits are a very specific form of living magical energy. They are in everything and can be remodeled to become anything. Demons, angels, trees, rain…” Marella smiled sweetly at us. “Before the gates were made, when someone or something passed on, angels and demons alike of all ranks would fight to gain them and reshape them into what their side needed. It was quite a long time before we established a balance and the guides were created and the gates were formed. With this new thing formed, the fighting stopped. Neither side could simply grab hold of a spirit and neither side knew why. A very small secret group formed this and has all the information.”

  “Until the last few years, I take it,” I replied. “Or did one of the sides betray the creators?”

  “Who are the creators?” Lydia demanded to know.

  Marella looked at us each in turn before deciding which question to answer. “What happened is best described as betrayal. A member of this group who had been going by the name of Arno decided he wanted to change things. He knew none of us would agree, but he needed some help with his grand scheme and took on a vile apprentice.”

  Marella shook her head and continued. “Lucky for us the apprentice slew him early on. Sadly, the apprentice decided to take things up a notch and went on an even more corrupt mission of his own. Thankfully the apprentice has also been slain, but of course there was someone under him to pick up the mantle and spearhead more chaos. Now because of all of this, we are losing balance. If this realm collapses, we’ll lose a lot more than just an army for both sides.”

  “When did this all start?” I asked curiously, well aware she had skipped over who created the Guides in the first place.

  “About ten years ago. Five years ago the apprentice was slain. Even with them putting the plan into effect two years ago, no one’s told me who is in charge. The lackeys seem to not know, and well…” Marella laughed coldly. “The high up of my kind and I don’t get along well enough to give answers.”

  “But who are the creators?” Lydia demanded again. She wasn’t going to let Marella pick and choose answers so easily.

  “My, aren’t you determined to get answers about things you don’t understand.” Marella glanced her way.

  “How can I understand without answers?” Lydia challenged her.

  “The names of the creators won’t help you with that.” Marella answered simply, “But if it helps to satisfy your curiosity, there were three from the demon side, three from the angel side, and seven from the human side. Those of us from the outer realms built the gates and set the system in place. This was only to create balance so we wouldn’t need to find a new world. To no surprise, we haven’t joined forces for anything else since.”

  Marella pressed on with the answer we sought. “The humans were the ones who ultimately decided how guides were chosen. It needed to be uncommon, magic that could be given instead of being inherited by birth, and it also needed to be something that no one would learn about easily.”

  “What event could do that?” Lydia asked genuinely curious.

  “They could have picked something less cruel,” I spat, understanding hitting me like a kick to the ribs.

  Lydia turned my way, surprised. She didn’t understand. I didn’t care. “Why would they choose that?” I demanded from Marella. “Why?”

  “The gift ultimately needed to be given somehow,” Marella replied calmly, but sadness filled her voice. “We decided to make it so all spirits could gift it, even without knowing it.”

  I picked up the pace and walked ahead of the group needing to be with my own thoughts for a moment. Not that my own thoughts were helpful, but I didn't want to direct my anger at everyone else.

  “I…. I don’t get it,” I could hear Lydia say from behind me.

  “Do you know when she could start seeing spirits?” Marella asked simply. “What event happened before?”

  There was a long pause as things came together for her.

  I remembered the night well. Father was possessed. H
e almost killed me, but I didn’t cross. I was told to go back - maybe even pushed. I remember feeling the healing touch from Lydia and her mother. I was pulled back just from the brink of death. A passing spirit gifted this to me, likely without even knowing what they were doing. They just wanted me to live and not join them. And in a way, I was now joined with them through other senses.

  Something dawned on me. “Marella, are there other creatures that are in this world? Ones that aren’t on either the demon or angel side?”

  Marella and Lydia caught up with me.

  “I doubt this world could handle more.” Lydia shook her head.

  “Plenty,” Marella replied, causing Lydia's eyes to widen. “There are hundreds of thousands of realms, parallel universes, everything out there. The only other ones we deal with are those that keep watch over the balance. They make sure that if one side or the other is too strong, they bring them back down a few notches. If we destroy this series of realms we don’t just hurt ourselves. We can have a nasty effect on the ones connected to us.”

  “So, they are stronger than both sides?” I asked curiously.

  “Much stronger, though you’d never know. They blend in, lead normal everyday lives. You think they are normal, mundane people.” Marella smiled widely. “They are here and there and already working to restore balance.”

  “How?” Lydia asked softly. The fire seemed to be dying down in her questions.

  “How do they know? How are they helping?” Marella asked with a shrug. “Very simply by giving the tools needed, giving the direction needed. I was asked to join this fight as well, and one does not simply deny such a request.”

  “Why? Would they vanquish you?” Lydia asked curiously.

  “Oh, much worse. Imagine being imprisoned in a realm with no magic for a few thousand years.” Marella let chills roll off her.

  “That sounds like a very interesting punishment. Maybe some time without magic would help the balance,” I mused.

  “No, magic just gives more power to those born into power. Nothing more. The good and evil play much the same,” Marella replied, “but I couldn’t smash in faces with fire anymore.” She made a disgusted face and for once I saw her demon side shine through.

  It was easy to forget she wasn’t inherently good. But was she really evil?

  I let the thoughts turn over in my head for a bit before I asked. “How were the sides originally created?”

  This caused Marella to stumble for a moment, but she kept walking as if nothing happened. “We’re from two different worlds that crossed paths several millennia ago. Both of us had essentially destroyed our homes and were looking for better places to live. We live off of different things, and not what you would expect.” She paused as she thought about how to explain. “At first it was just some of our different kinds. We figured out that together we create just the right way to survive. We need certain elements to continue to live forever.”

  “You seriously can live forever?” Lydia sounded skeptical.

  “Yes,” Marella confirmed. “The originals of our kind cannot die. Sure, we can be killed, but we do come back. We just….” She motioned for the words she was looking for. “It is hard in your language. We are reborn from nothing. We will suddenly be again, from a young age. Most memories can be regained, but not all, so we can be re-raised, if that makes sense.”

  “So, there really is no doing away with demons.” Lydia sighed.

  “What if the other side were to find you and raise you?” I asked, ignoring Lydia’s statement.

  “That’s often what happens,” Marella replied.

  Lydia’s eyes went wide. “What.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Nature versus nurture is always a fun topic, is it not? Neither side is exempt from stealing away toddlers to reraise into their form. Though how we survive is still genetic coding.” Marella shrugged.

  “So… anyone who is now a demon could actually not be a demon.” Lydia held her head in her hands. “This is a headache.”

  “It’s the truth.” Marella didn’t seem to mind the facts.

  “So, genetically, what side are you on?” Lydia pushed.

  “I don’t know,” Marella replied honestly. “I was most recently for the last….” She thought hard. “...several centuries on the demon side. I know I feed off of both hope and fear. I know the other side feeds off of determination and failure. Good luck figuring out what side belongs to which.” She smiled sweetly.

  “I don’t know if I can handle this information,” Lydia said, slowing her pace.

  “It still doesn’t get me any closer to understanding what I’m supposed to do. Apparently something with gates?” I grumbled. I need to switch topics. This angels and demons mess was a bit much.

  “If it helps,” Marella said to Lydia, “The angel side at least is very precise in what they say and do. If they say you’ll have this gift for this amount of time as long as you do this, that is all there is to it. For the demon side, well, you already know they want to jump to the end result as quickly as possible unless more damage can be caused.”

  “I’m done with new information. Can I go back to stabbing things?” Lydia grumbled.

  “Do I get to learn more about these blasted gates or not?” I grumbled louder.

  “In time, dear,” Marella replied. “Reawakening will be a great help with that, and you’ll be much safer since we are nearing very heavily filled demon lands. They’ll be trying to listen to us for sure if they don’t just attack on sight.”

  Eavesdropping demons. Lovely. “What’s another day without answers?”

  “Safety,” Marella replied. “If they know you know how to fix things, we’ll see much stronger demons and in greater numbers. I can only do so much.”

  “I feel like you can do a lot more than that,” Lydia stated.

  “Destroy a couple dozen low-level minions in a single swipe? Sure. I didn’t even faze Beleth, now did I?” Marella shook her head.

  “I thought you were stronger,” Lydia scoffed.

  “I was,” she retorted. “A lot has happened, more than you need to know right now.” With that Marella pressed on ahead more quickly.

  Without much more to say for the moment we quickly followed along.

  13

  Late the next day Reawakening was within our sight. Marella had us shielded and hidden, a trick that only worked when we were stationary.

  “I’ve counted thirty-seven demons that I can see,” Lydia grumbled.

  “Twenty-eight in hiding,” I added, simultaneously thankful and annoyed by how well my gift helped with this.

  “How are we supposed to get from here to there? There’s no way.” Lydia shook her head.

  “Isn’t that supposed to be my line?” I looked at her.

  “The odds usually aren’t this far from our favor.” Lydia remarked as she crossed her arms, “I’ve no idea how we’ll succeed at this.”

  “With very careful planning,” Marella said, concentrating on the landscape. “I think I spotted a route with the least trouble. Fighting is inevitable. Once that starts it’ll draw in the others…”

  “Can’t you wave these low levels away with some magic again?” Lydia asked, almost pleaded.

  “Yes, but that will draw even more attention to us. So that will be our last resort. Before that you will need to make a break for the safe zone and get as close as possible before I wave them away.” Marella kept plotting out her path.

  “How will that draw attention if they’re all dead?” Lydia shook her head. “Do I even want to know?”

  “My stronger magic pulls at the balance. It will alert someone with equally strong magic that I am near. They’ll want to jump in and see what's going on,” Marella explained, never glancing our way.

  “What if none of them are near?” The hopeful sound that escaped my lips surprised me.

  “One is very near. I can feel them, even if they haven’t caught scent of me,” Marella replied gravely. “Thankfully, they aren�
��t able to disrupt the safe zone so the plan will work anyway.” Marella looked off in what I guessed was the direction of this other evil before turning toward us.

  “Wait, there are demons that can disrupt these? I thought you said they can’t be broken?” Lydia almost screamed.

  “Disrupted isn’t broken. It can only affect the outer edges for a mere moment. Sometimes that’s all you need to cause damage.” Marella waved off the concern. “Tella is fast enough that I’m not worried about that, and you’re good enough that I doubt it’ll be an issue.”

  Lydia wanted to argue but nodded. “I am good at what I do.”

  “So we’re set then.” Marella ended the discussion.

  “What’s the plan?” I asked curiously.

  Marella pointed a bit out of the way. “We will head through the forest down toward the small cliffs. It’ll be harder to walk, but we’ll avoid half the goons looming near the main path. Once we get within sprinting distance we will undoubtedly be drawn into a fight. Lydia and I will take them, you will run.”

  I scrunched up my face in disgust. “I’m not leaving you two to just fight for me.”

  “You will run,” Marella emphasized again, pointing sharply at me. “They will follow you, and we can take them from behind instead. It will be easier for us if you keep them distracted. While it is not a fancy or exciting plan for you, it is the best one.”

  “I agree.” Lydia nodded. “And you know if I’m agreeing with her, Tells, it’s got to be the best.” She shook her head and sighed. “I don’t know how we ended up here, but this is it. Listen to the demon lady's plans.”

  “Yes, listen to the Blessed child’s suggestion.” Marella rolled her eyes. “Any other problems we need to discuss?”

  “How many does it look like we’ll be facing?” Lydia asked.

  “Eighteen,” Marella replied without hesitation. “It’ll draw the rest in quickly, but by then Tella will be safe, a good number will be slain, and I can whisk the rest away. At that point, Tella should be even further into safety so when more trouble does come it won’t matter.”