A Tune of Demons Box Set: The Complete Fantasy Series

by J E Mueller

  “I hope we can find a book on whatever they are,” I finally said as I thought about my brief trip to the library. Had it been that short or had I slept longer than I thought in that chair?

  “I really do too,” Mare agreed.

  “I need to know they can be stopped, even if it’s not in my ability,” I admitted. I really did need to know that. The closure would help me more than anything else.

  “As far as I’m aware, the general rule is that everything can die. How, I don’t know. There is always a way though.” Mare gave me a reassuring hug.

  I was surprised by how much I needed that. For a moment I accepted the hug before I returned the gesture. “Yeah, we’ll figure this out,” I agreed.

  “I’ll let the others know,” Mare said after a moment.

  Nodding, I watched her carry out the grim task.

  I didn’t remember falling asleep, but I heard Clove getting loud and angry. Waking up on one of the sofas, I tried to take in the words and figure out what was going on.

  “-blubbering idiots. Now that leaves us with extra work and less gain,” Clove finished yelling.

  I pulled myself up and stared at the small group gathered around, heads hanging down, no one saying anything. Mare caught me looking and shrugged which led to Clove following her gaze to me.

  Awkwardly, I joined in. “Sorry, I was sleeping. What happened?”

  Clove sighed. “Nothing you can help with. At least in the time you’ve been here you’ve actually been trying to actively participate in things unlike half this lot.” She motioned vaguely to the rest of the room.

  “I don’t know what’s going on, or much about this group.” I glanced around while I stood up. “But a lot of it was thanks to Mare actually helping me. Maybe they need more of a guide to ease them into things and less shove and demand?”

  Several people stared at me with surprised looks and I swore I heard one gasp.

  Cloves face turned red at the thought but I interrupted. “Everyone learns and reacts differently to things. You’re like me, and do things more head on, hands on. Some might need instruction and not just to be thrown off the bow of the ship to see if they sink or swim.”

  Clove looked angry still but nodded as she crossed her arms. “Maybe. I don’t have time for all of that.”

  “I’m sure some of us do. Maybe we should set something productive up? I’m sure they’d love you to lend a hand with the occasional butt kicking class though. That’s way beyond me.”

  Clove seemed to be settling down, her temper cooling enough for her to smirk. “That is beyond you, isn’t it?”

  I gave a small laugh. “It really is. I could probably use some real lessons instead of trying to make things up on the fly. I bet I’d hit my target always then instead of just most of the time.”

  Clove gave a laugh at the thought. “I like the idea. I’ll think on it. For now, I think I need some sleep.”

  “Already beat you to that. What a weird day.”

  “Tell me about it.” Clove gave a half hearted wave and left for bed.

  The room seemed to still be tense with Clove gone, but I was surprised to see several nods of approval before everyone went about their business. The sounds of soft conversation slowly filled the room as things gradually turned back to normal.

  I sat back down, feeling slightly confused. I remembered Clove always being intense, but she was more… An array of words crossed my mind. Clove was so much more aggressive, and willing to put down those around her. I had heard several times she only used those around her that she believed was strongest. Clove built those people up… What had happened to my friend?

  Mare sat down next to me. “Usually those conversations end in a physical fight. Which is why everyone looked like they were about to birth a cow. Way to go.”

  I blinked in surprise. “I wasn’t expecting her to get so mad, so I kept going and the suggestion seemed to work out.” I really had no idea what to do but continue that conversation. I wasn’t trying to be brave or prove my point. I was just floundering.

  “It did.” Mare nodded her approval. “So, now people will need to figure out instructors and what not.”

  “Maybe some instruction books? I’ve seen a bunch of those everywhere,” I suggested.

  “Another great idea. Physical and visual instruction. I bet if phrased the right way Clove wouldn’t mind.”

  I didn’t see how Clove could stop that but whatever. I nodded. “Maybe if we did a huge group to gather materials? Even the ones who think they can’t do much. If there’s enough of us, we’ve got this.”

  Mare’s eyes widened. “I have just the idea. Clove will love it!” With that she sprinted off to the rooms.

  Not sure what else to do I glanced around the room for a moment. It didn’t look like anything different was going on here. Everyone seemed to be back to their normal conversations now.

  Seeing it as the perfect opportunity to sneak off uninterrupted, I decided to head off and find Marella.

  I wondered what Lydia thought about today's events. I knew she was in my thoughts enough to know what was going on but just how actively?

  I literally have zero else to do. Sorry. It’s harder to stay out of your thoughts than not. It’s like thunder in my world of silence.

  I guess that made sense.

  To answer your question though, I’m not surprised things are going weird or that things are getting into the house. What was it?

  That was an easy question to answer. I could visualize it easily. Seeing it even in my head still gave me goosebumps.

  That is a Dilus. They are rather creepy creatures that I for one wouldn’t be sad to see go.

  Why are they even here? How do you even kill them?

  Lydia chuckled. How to kill them is easy. There are two simple ways. An arrow or sword through the good eye will do it. The other way being a straight shot up through the groin area. They are nasty creatures that can endure much too much pain.

  Then why have them? Why all the nightmare fuel?

  This realm was dying off, which is why it was chosen. Tella wanted to rebuild it and let the creatures, in a way, continue to live.

  Some things are better off dead.

  While I agree, her heart is much more pure. Nothing deserves death just for looking abysmal. It lives how it lives due to instincts. You live how you live due to a combination of upbringing and instincts. Just because your way is different, how is theirs wrong? Remember, humans were not originally on this planet.

  What could naturally even be on this planet for this thing?

  Now I hope you never see that answer, but since Marella seems to be stuck outside, you may find out.

  Please, tell me there is a way to prepare for these things before stepping foot outside.

  When you are ready, we can show you where those answers are.

  Wait, what does that mean?

  It means, you are not ready yet.

  How in the heck can one be ready for that? Isn’t everyone ready not to die?

  Lydia gave a sad chuckle. If only things were that simple.

  I reached the door to the weird puddle room and opened it. I wanted to demand a better answer from Lydia but as I opened the door I saw a long trail of blood leading to one of the back puddles.

  “What in the world?” I whispered, frozen in the doorway. I let the scene fill my mind, not even sure what to ask Lydia now.

  Lydia gave a laugh. That is likely thanks to a Polycoy.

  A what?

  You’ll see eventually.

  The name sounded familiar. Didn’t someone get bit by one? Yes! Leta did, and that was what forced us outside in the first place. I realized I still didn’t even know who Leta was.

  Marella appeared in her watery form in the same spot as before. Or at least I thought it was the same spot. A lot of this room looked too much the same.

  “You’re back,” Marella stated the obvious. “Come in.”

  I glanced from her to the blood and back t
o her. “Hopefully you can understand my hesitation.”

  Marella gave a hearty laugh that turned slightly sinister. “Oh sweet child, you have nothing to fear here. That much I know you remember.”

  I shut the door behind me, but didn’t walk much further.

  “What happened?” I needed at least some answer in order to feel any level of comfort again.

  “There are things here that need protecting. Most people fear this room. Some do not.” Marella casually walked about the room, hovering just an inch over everything. “The ones who do not fear this room aren’t problematic unless they try and explore. Some things they cannot explore and for that, the Polycoy guard the tunnels when I cannot.”

  “The tunnels?” I asked as the answer was already coming to me. Not all, but several of the puddles were attached through a sequence of tunnels. If you followed the maze correctly it led to something… the answer was just on the tip of my tongue.

  Marella nodded as I thought. “When the answer comes, let me know. It seems you are progressing well in remembering things now. Hopefully soon it’ll come and we can move on.

  I sighed, rather annoyed with her and Lydia. “Why not just give me the answers so we can set things straight again? I’m sure things will start to get harder and worse if that stupid fog cannot have its way.”

  Marella frowned. “Because, there are parts to this puzzle only you know, but forcing the information on you or anyone else that could help would only turn you toward them. They know you can reach out to them just as easily as we can block them.”

  I stifled a frustrated sigh. “Fine. What can I do to help myself?” I started to casually pace the entrance area. I didn’t want to get too close to the puddles until I remembered more.

  Marella gave a coy smile. “Experiencing things that lead to memories. Running into those you used to know and interacting with them will help. Seeing creatures you had no issues fending off will help. Maybe even once more playing with a Polycoy.”

  “Why would I play with a creature known for biting and poisoning people?” I thought back to several people that collected snakes and shrugged. I supposed it wasn’t that far fetched. “Maybe?”

  I heard the doorknob turn behind me, and turned to see Mare peaking in. Seeing me she looked relieved, but only for a moment as her eyes caught sight of Marella.

  “Good evening.” Marella smiled wickedly as she called casually to Mare.

  Mare stared at her for a beat before looking at me with frantic eyes. “You need to leave here.”

  I sighed. “Things are a bit more complicated than that.”

  Marella laughed as Mare fumbled over words to say.

  “Go on, there’s work to do.” Marella waved me off before nonchalantly vanishing into a puddle.

  “What in the nine hells just freaking happened?” Mare asked.

  I motioned for her to take a step in but she shook her head. “Get in here already so the whole house doesn’t hear.”

  Hesitantly, Mare took a step in and shut the door, but her hand never left the handle. “Do you mind explaining things now? And quickly. This room is lethal.”

  “This room is only somewhat lethal, and only if you’re not meant to be in here.” A thought came to mind of how easy it was to distract the Polycoys and explore.

  “Whatever, please just tell me what just happened here?”

  I couldn’t help but laugh. “Just happened? Nothing actually. Last night though is where the details are.”

  Feeling on the whole it was fine to tell her, I explained my dreams and how they lead to me exploring at night. I explained how I ended up here and what happened.

  “So, in the end, you’ve been on the right track with trying to help the Creators, but it seems to be more complicated than we first thought.”

  “Not that it wasn’t already complicated,” Mare agreed, nodding slowly. “Let’s get out of here, I need to think, and I can’t think here while every fiber of my being is screaming to run.”

  “That’s fair.” I motioned for her to lead the way. “What are you doing here anyway?”

  “You vanished and after how worried you were yesterday about something happening, I was worried something may have happened, so I followed your trail,” Mare admitted giving me a backwards glance as she left the room.

  Oh how easy it was for a Tracker. “I appreciate it. Thankfully, it wasn’t anything like that.”

  “This time.” Mare glanced back with a look that screamed be more careful. “Some things today have just been off. Hopefully it’s nothing, but still. I can’t shake the feeling that things are about to go down.”

  I could not help but laugh. “Things were going down before I got here. It’s just a matter of time before they get worse, and Marella can only do so much.”

  I still didn’t fully grasp how she could bypass some things the others couldn’t. Then again, Lydia also could communicate with me before I had the bracelet. Maybe they all could do something to varying useful degrees.

  When we finally reached the common room, everyone had already gone to bed. I shrugged at Mare.

  “Who had you wanted me to meet with earlier?” I asked softly. “I did venture to the library, but it was pretty quiet there.”

  Mare gave a shrug. “It’ll come up again. Until then, I’d rather wait. It’s too complicated to explain unless we’re all in person.”

  “Because that’s not weird at all.”

  Mare smirked. “What here has been normal?”

  “The constant need for sleep.”

  “Praise be. That is the truth!” Mare gave a tired laugh. “Shall we get to bed then?”

  “I’ve only slept on and off all day, so why not?” I replied as I followed her back to the room. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved the day was over or disappointed it had happened at all. This place knew how to wear you down a bit too well.

  The morning started with Mare’s overly chipper voice and her throwing a mound of pillows at me relentlessly until I awoke. If she woke me up another morning in a row I would have to officially make her part of my family since that seemed to be everyone’s favorite way to annoy me.

  Still, I forced myself up and followed her out into the common room as she cheerfully mentioned, maybe even explained that yesterday's talk seemed to have gotten through to Clove. I was hardly listening so I was fairly surprised to see everyone, that being about twenty something odd people.

  “What did you say?” I asked quietly as we joined the group.

  “You really suck at being a morning person.” Mare chuckled as she crossed her arms. “Clove decided she thinks we should do a library crawl and gather all the useful books possible. It’ll be an all day event, but with all of us, really it shouldn’t be a problem until the third floor library.”

  “Why would it be a problem if there’s all of us?” I was kind of confused since I thought that by numbers alone we’d be able to overpower anything here.

  “A few creatures like to cause problems.” Mare shook her head as she considered them. “A set of annoying ones called Nipem tend to turn invisible. They aren’t too terrible to defeat, though I can’t exactly track them normally. If they are visible we can fight them, but I can’t sense them.”

  That was weird but something about her earlier phrasing worried me. “There’s something terrible to defeat?” The Agmon came to mind and I cringed, maybe too visibly since Mare fought back a laugh.

  “There’s a creature that is attracted to movement, but instead of fighting it, the way to make it leave is to close your eyes and not make any gestures. You can breathe fine, but lifting your arm or even walking will get you killed. It’s a waiting game.”

  I frowned. “There has got to be a way to kill it. Even you said everything has a way to die.”

  “True, but no one knows the way. It is basically incorporeal until it strikes you, but it moves faster than even Clove or Benz. No one fights it.” Mare shook her head.

  At least just waiting for it to leave
wasn’t bad. Wait. “So, can other things attack you when it’s around then or do they avoid it too? Does it take long to go away?”

  “Now you’re asking the good, problematic questions.” Mare glanced around, acknowledging the eavesdroppers. “Most things avoid it, since yes, it will kill anything that looks upon it. If it catches you looking, you are dead. Some creatures, like the Agmon that want your magical essence will give it a go, but most of the time they die before they reach you since the other creature sees them. As for time… well, it can be minutes or hours before it gets bored. Trying to be motionless for a long period is really rough.”

  It sounded like she knew from experience but before I could ask, Clove started to speak above everyone.

  “Since it looks like everyone is here, are there any questions before we take off? I assume word has spread enough that we all know we’re going from library to library grabbing important information? Only important information.” She repeated the last part firmly.

  This was certainly going to be an adventure worth checking out.

  15

  The first floor library was too small for everyone, and with so many of us just hanging out around the door, it seemed to attract every creature on the floor. I got to see first hand just how many people were hesitant about facing creatures, even if they were just squeaking pokey hedgeish. After observing for several moments I found myself offering tips and tricks I remembered from being a Dreamer previously. It was like opening a can of worms. Suddenly more people had better comments, more useful tips and tricks.

  The conversation continued on to the second floor where the creatures were bigger and the stakes a little higher. Clove watched here and there and nodded approvingly at some strikes and people quickly learning to dodge.

  The third floor was more intense, and Clove wasn’t afraid to make rules for it. As we stood at the stairs leading up to the third floor, Clove made her announcement. “Once we’ve done a check of the library, and rid it of any creatures, we’ll have Mare and Remi here be the ones closest to the doors along with myself and Cane. We’ll likely not need help fighting anything. If you’d like to join, great. If you rather not, that’s fine. You can learn and join, but nothing is expected. We don’t need twenty deaths to prove a point. Now let's get that material!”