A Tune of Demons Box Set: The Complete Fantasy Series

by J E Mueller

  “Beleth knew the time was nearly freaking nigh and managed to hit Emmyth with a clear shot, knocking him all the way across the clearing into a tree. He got another good shot at me knocking me, where you found me. I know the rest got injured thanks to their cries, but as I looked up I saw Marella get a near kill shot on Beleth and subdued him. That demon was finally not going anywhere.

  “My head was spinning and I couldn’t tell what Marella was saying to Key and Lee, but with a blast of magic she sent them away. I saw Rosalie stagger over to me, after a moment of healing energy she left for Emmyth. I couldn’t keep up with what was going on, but that didn’t matter ten minutes later, tops, you were back!”

  Marella carefully got up and went over to Danni. We probably needed to join her. Tiredly, I helped Lydia up and we walked over.

  There was so much to take in from Lydia’s rambling but Dani quickly interrupted my thoughts, “Get the other two please.” Her comment was directed at Marella.

  Marella snapped her fingers and the bodies of both the angel and demon appeared next to her. “We’re just missing…” A sharp wind whipped through the area and I turned to see Kegan appear with both Key and Lee at her sides. “Ah, never mind.”

  “What the blazes have you gone and done now?” Kegan demanded.

  “We’ve decided to change the plan and thought you’d like to be part of the new world,” Marella replied simply, flashing a sweet smile.

  “What did you do with Mist?” Kegan snapped at her.

  “She’s still as dead as ever.” Marella clicked her tongue. “It’s not very fair of her to have gone and wiped the memory of one of your own, and yet you’re still defending her?”

  Kegan sighed, letting up on her defense. “A different plan gone wrong. In a few lifetimes, things would have righted themselves.”

  “But the balance is too off for that. We can’t stay here without destroying this world. Certainly, you can feel it?” Marella stated.

  Kegan closed her eyes and nodded. “Ah, that I can. I thought we had longer.”

  “What’s going on?” Key asked Kegan.

  “Too much, child,” Kegan replied before turning to Danni. “What are we missing?”

  “Nothing. We just need Tella to remember,” Danni said, staring at me.

  I took a step back in surprise. “Remember what?”

  “You’re one of us,” Kegan replied. “You were in charge of the balance, but things went wrong and it was too hard to bring you back as normal, so we put you into Mist’s care.”

  “Only things went even more wrong and most of your memories were lost. Even seeing past lives you could only go back so far. Which is why Mist never worried about what you would see. You can help recreate things,” Danni added.

  I glanced over at Lee, not sure what to think.

  Lee shook his head before replying, “I suppose if my father can be one of these angels, then really anything is possible.”

  I glanced over at Key and she just laughed. “My dad came back as a demon and tried to kill me twice. While this isn’t the future you are expecting, what do you want to make of it?”

  “I want to get rid of them all,” I stated. Whatever my heritage actually was, my thoughts remained the same. I could figure out the past later. “They need to leave this realm. That goal hasn’t changed.”

  “We’ll need you to come with…” Danni said softly. “We need you to help with the balance. There will be a lot more work to do this time around. They can’t have so much room to move and corrupt.”

  I glanced at my cousin once more. He didn’t seem to be sure as to what to say. Key stepped in. “We’re here for you.”

  Danni stood up and approached me on shaky legs. “It’ll be a bit of a headache, but some memories should help.” She pressed her thumb to my forehead. Marella and Kegan did the same. A rush of thoughts came to me, but no headache came. As they stepped back, the answers looked so much clearer.

  “A moment,” I told them and looked to Lydia.

  “I need your help with something. Care for another big adventure?” I asked her.

  “Please don’t say it involves any more demons,” Lydia grumbled.

  “Of course it does, but I think we’ll be able to handle them much better this time around.” I promised her.

  “If you insist.” She sighed. “What’s the plan?”

  “A world with balance.” I smirked, and dived into the details.

  Epilogue

  The world needn’t be built from scratch. With my memories once more intact I saw all I needed to select a previous world for this plan. It would be wrong to cull an entire species of creatures. The angels and demons had a right to live, even if how they lived was less than ideal. The new system was simple. In theory at least.

  Normal lives would not be affected at all.

  It was imperative to keep these beings away from mortals. They wanted to sink into and manipulate everyday lives far too much. That wasn’t acceptable, but for them to live… a compromise had to be made.

  Restless spirits who needed to achieve closure and those with a wandering soul were welcomed to our world. These restless spirits would once more have a human form, fight for the side of their choosing, and once their end was finally met, they would be able to move on and rest. Of course, spirits who were ready to cross needn’t bother with this new world. It was a more lively place compared to the old spirit realm. The idea didn’t require forcing children to grow into strange gifts and seeing spirits either. It was nearly perfect.

  Nearly. Plans aren’t without their mistakes, but it was a harmless enough one. Those souls, still attached to mortal beings… those daydreamers and deep dreamers alike managed to find their way into this world. They would appear at random and travel until they were awoken in the world they belonged to. Unless they met an end within this world, in which case it would startle them awake.

  Time after time, I found myself traveling back to the normal, mortal realm to make sure this was the case. Every time it was so. There were strange dreams and adventures for these souls, but there was no harm in it, so we left them be. Maybe all the extra traveling would let their souls rest in peace. Only time would prove if this was most often the case.

  It was strange thinking back on how I even ended up here. I had missed much of the battle. Yet, this new world had been just the inspiration I needed.

  And so began a new age where angels and demons couldn’t control any mortal realm.

  The story continues with

  Dreamer’s Melody

  A Tune of Demons Book Three

  Dreamer’s Melody

  This novel is dedicated to Sean. Thank you for inspiring the original Fire’s Song ages ago. Your memory lives on through this series.

  Thank you to Elly who gave me the inspiration and drive to see this series done.

  And to the amazing alpha and beta team I had. Thank you Aud and Geetha for helping me refine this book, and rereading the end at least a dozen times. This novel wouldn’t be the same without you.

  1

  The thunder was loud enough to shake me from my slumber. I shot upright as a bolt of lightning raced across the sky allowing me to see a bit of my room. Grumbling, I fell back onto my pillows. Exhaustion had seeped into my soul two days ago and hadn’t let go. No amount of sleep nor rest seemed to be enough. Nothing was ever enough anymore, but I shoved those thoughts aside. It would be okay, it had to be.

  As the storm continued on, the thunder made it impossible to stay asleep. I sat back up and looked across the room to see my sister sleeping soundly. She could sleep through anything, and I envied her for that.

  With no reason to be concerned about waking her, I lit the candle at my bedside table and pulled out my journal. I had had that dream again. An estate of proportions I couldn’t realistically fathom. Magic, and swords. Beasts, and mysteries. People calling me by a nickname that only those closest to me knew.

  At first, I thought I was reading too much silly rubbish.
Fantasy tales were just for silly headed girls stepfather had said. I did adore reading those, though. It was nice to be drawn away from this drab world without magic. I suppose I should be grateful for what reality did have for me, but I longed for more. I felt I was meant for so much more…

  I rolled my eyes at my own thoughts and started to write about the dream. I had started in a room that appeared to be a library. The only way out of the room though was to jump into this puddle, barely bigger than a man, and swim through a long tunnel up into another room. That room had a much bigger pond, with murky water and a demon creature that took a woman's form.

  She loved to drown those who came too close.

  For whatever reason, she never actually bothered me. Every time I encountered her in the dream we would actually talk, though every time we did talk she sounded sad. She would introduce herself as Marella and say we had met before. Marella claimed I never remembered her anymore, and as I flipped through past entries, I saw this was true.

  What an odd dream…

  I continued on. After talking with her for a bit I left this odd room with a pond and saw it led into a bigger house. Every twist and turn either revealed human or creature. The creatures I first came upon were small but fierce. My brain seemed to remember them for some reason…

  That was weird. Why would I remember facts about creatures but not any person there?

  I flipped back through my journal and saw similar notes and annoyances. There were stronger creatures on the higher floors of the estate but everyone who knew me had to reintroduce themselves. One entry stated this had been going on for several years. What a weird fact since I had only started dreaming of this place recently.

  Annoyed with that past entry, I shut the journal and noticed the storm was starting to die down. With a sigh, maybe a bit too dramatic of one, I blew out the candle and snuggled back into bed. Tomorrow we had too much work to do and there was no way I’d be allowed out of it just because a storm kept me up. We were seafaring people. A little rain should be nothing. The gods of old had sent us worse things to endure than that.

  I pushed the thoughts from my mind. No need to remember the storm that swallowed up Father and many other sailors. We had all suffered then and those nightmares were better off buried.

  The morning was a dark gray that made it hard to get up. My muscles felt stiff and my lower back ached from the tossing and turning I did. Melody, darling sister that she was, seemed to be as bright as the sun despite the weather. She sang loudly as she made her bed and washed her face.

  “Melly, can’t I get another ten minutes of sleep?” I grumbled as I pulled myself from the bed.

  “No,” she sang happily to me.

  I threw my pillow at her, missing by a mile. Snickering, she nabbed it off the floor a foot away from her as I started to sloppily fix up my bed.

  “Rough night Rem-Rem?” Melly asked as she dropped the pillow onto my bed.

  “Storm woke me up,” I grumbled, part at the fact, part at the annoying nickname.

  “Oh, gray skies and a bitter night. That’s bad luck.” she stated matter-of-factly.

  Everything was bad luck when the sea was involved. “If you say so.” I started to get ready for my day.

  “But it is!” Melly mused. “Seafarers beware when your sister is a grouch.”

  I threw my pillow at her, smacking her in the face as she laughed at her own joke. “Thanks.”

  As we headed outside, I could already smell the rain in the air. We wouldn’t have much time to get outdoor chores done before the storm set in. As we walked to the barn, I saw stepfather arguing with Rusty and Grant from down the road. I was surprised to see they weren’t out on the boats trying to get some fishing in before the storm.

  Once we were nearly in earshot we were waved over by stepfather. “We need to check the crab pots,” He declared as we were nearly to them. “Benson broke his arm, darn drunkards can’t be trusted.”

  Rusty and Grant murmured agreements about their idiot of a crewmate adding in Kale’s injury from two weeks ago.

  Melly frowned. “Water is getting choppy, best wait until the storm is over.”

  I nodded but before I could get a word in stepfather was already nearly yelling, his face red. “Ungrateful gits,” He started to ramble, his sentences falling apart as the anger built. “Never not need food, but never want to work!”

  Mother married the fool seven years ago. It took a while to get used to his anger storms, and even longer to understand what he meant in those heated moments.

  “If you want us all to break bones and die, then let’s get moving,” I said, walking by the group and down toward the shore where the boats rocked steadily at the dock.

  The stormy sea didn’t scare me. It took Mother, but only because she had tried to save a fool. The lad survived the wreck, though barely. Her sacrifice set him on the path straight to farming, taking the fishing from his hands and his soul.

  Stepfather had only been married to Mother for a few months then. Mother always said she loved his smile and his humor. We never saw it, but if she was happy again, we wanted it for her. Now she was gone and we were left with the most vile of parental figures.

  Soon it wouldn’t matter. I nearly had enough for my own fishing boat. I knew the waves and sails better than him, and with Melly by my side, I was sure we would do well enough in no time. I knew it would be rocky to start. Stepfather wouldn’t let us stay in our childhood home unless we worked for him. Luckily for me, I had a plan.

  Several years ago, really longer than that, maybe when I was four, a new inn was built in town. The owner had lived for years in a bustling landlocked city and wanted to open a place away from where she grew up. Sometimes I didn’t think her story lined up, but I loved visiting Kegan. She knew just what to do to set one on their course. As long as I was willing to work, she’d see that I had a room, and Melly would be more than welcome too.

  I almost felt bad for Melly. She didn’t know the full scope of my plan just yet, but she did have enough pieces to put it all together. Soon we’d be free from his temper tantrums. Until then, I had a date with the sea.

  The spray of salt water caressed my face as I started to ready the boat. If we moved quickly, we would easily beat the storm. Melly was quickly at my side and wordlessly began to work around me. Having done this since we were little girls, there was no need for words.

  The men took their time catching up, and I caught fragments of what they were saying. It seemed my words did strike them and they were concerned about the weather. Too late to back out now; men did not back down from work and leave it all to the women.

  Fools and cowards. The three hadn’t actually grown up here, though Rusty and Grant both had been here at least a decade. Long enough to know better. If you were going to tackle waves, you needed to respect the water and go in without fear.

  Once on the boat and out in the salty water, I felt free. We quickly made our way to the lines and pulled the pots out, dumping everything into the tub in the center of where we worked. Melly would toss back any crabs clearly with eggs and any unwanted fish as I did my part to reset the pots.

  We were nearly back when the boat started to hit the waves hard. Stepfather, the fool of a man, tried to call out orders and the men looked to me for nods before moving. Ah, there would be yelling about that later, but first we had to get back. This was hardly a storm to worry about as long as the fool didn’t try and force bad calls.

  My thoughts were too soon.

  The wind started to blow harder, bringing in the storm faster, and with it, Melly’s false warning came to mind. She should have let me sleep so we’d be late. Maybe the fools would have second guessed their work before I accidentally challenged them to the task.

  The waves rose and broke harshly around us and I watched as Melly held on tightly to the side, the sea slowly trying to pry her grip. I could see the sea winning and I grabbed a hold of her just as she lost her grip. A wave sent us crashing against the s
ide of the boat and another set us over the edge.

  Nearly to shore, I saw the rocks in time to push Melly away from crashing into them, but left no time for myself. Cursing, I felt a sharp impact along my side and felt the sharp sting of salt seep into cuts as I was tossed onto another rock. After one more wave, one more sharp pain, all went black.

  My head was throbbing when I finally started to come to. The ground under me was flat and cold and I wondered where I could possibly be. Slowly, I allowed my eyes to open and take in the immediate area around me. There was some form of smooth stone flooring under me. It was gray, reminding me of the rocks along the pier near my home.

  Carefully, I pushed myself up, my head protesting mildly as I sat upright. I appeared to be in a kitchen of sorts. It reminded me of the one at the inn, only a bit larger. As I slowly looked around the room I noticed two doorways, one on either side of me. Through the one to the right I could see a long wooden dining table. While the table itself wasn’t special, I could see cups, plates, and food scattered everywhere, some even on the chairs and floor. Whatever caused everyone to flee in such a manner must have been terrible.

  I eyed it for a moment longer before looking the other way. It appeared to lead to a hallway and I couldn’t see anything significant from my position.

  Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to my feet. My head throbbed, but I didn’t seem any worse for wear, which truly surprised me. For the first time I realized I wasn’t dressed the same way I had been when I left the house this morning. Instead of my skirts, I wore well fitted leather pants and a simple tunic.

  Was this a dream? I did hit my head pretty hard—and my legs! I moved my hands along my body where I knew I hit the rocks hardest, but there was no additional pain. It was as if the only injury my body kept was to the head…

  But there was no pain in dreams.