Free Demon Singer II by Benjamin Nichols Page A

in the ranks."  Cadence added. “Was anyone in the Guild not a traitor?”
                  " Had a traitor," Lyric gestured to the crater.
                  "I doubt whoever did this was foolish enough to be caught in the fallout." Cadence noted. "I'm confident whoever did this is still alive."
                  Nit handed an envelope to Lyric.  The Singer frowned at it.  It was sealed with a big dollop of wax that had an elegantly carved letter E in the center.  
                  "It was given to me years ago by Ervin, shortly before he threw down with Trytohn himself. He said I was to deliver it to the first Singer I saw in the event something catastrophic happened to the Guild and no one contacted me within twenty four hours. You're it, brother."
                  Lyric put the envelope in his pocket.
                  "You're not going to read it?" Nit tried and failed to conceal the agitation in his voice.
                  "I will," Lyric looked steadily into Nit's eyes. "And I'll discuss with you my misgivings about this entire situation if you like, but not now."  He turned his attention back to the giant hole in the ground.  "I need to see to this first."
                  Nit’s frown softened and he nodded his understanding.
                  "I will stay with you, my friend."
                  Acheron turned to leave, apparently her soft spot for Lyric only went so far.
    *   *   *   *   *
                  Varia Tur stood atop the hill watching his army move across the plain below. Two hundred and fifty thousand supernatural monsters from mankind's blackest nightmares, battle tested and hungry for murder, and they all answered to him.
                  Officially it was Lisian's army, the same one that had attacked Markhato recently, minus the weak and cowardly.
                  He smiled to himself.  
                  The attack on Markhato had been brilliant if he did say so himself.  On its face it had been a pointless war for a stupid cause against the Unbeaten Legion.
                  ‘The veil will fall.’
                  What an idiotic rally cry.
                  Varia had no desire to tear down the second veil, the one that allowed the supernatural to hide from the natural. He could not care less about a city so bloated and arrogant it required four kings to rule it. Lisian had agreed. Destroying Markhato would have been pleasant, but in the grand scheme of things it didn't matter. The true point of the war was to distract the city from what was happening inside the mountain where the Light of Markhato dwelt. While the Milleytes Lux,  Markhato's famous unbeaten Legion, had their hands full with Lisian's pet, the wannabe goddess Melody, Varia's Verger, Blink, was able to sneak into the dwarf warrens at the base of the mountain.  
                  Very few people knew that fifteen hundred years ago, the same time the Light of Markhato appeared, a door was opened to the Verge in a huge cavern deep inside the Mountain of Light.  One that was unguarded by anything other than complacent dwarves and a giant beam of light.
                  Varia had visited the Light of Markhato before. It had the feeling of enormous power about it, but it didn't do anything other than shine. He was unimpressed.
                  The dwarves discovered it when they were crafting the machinery used to power Markhato.  They were extremely careful to keep their secret.  They planted devious traps, fake stories and various magical wards to protect it.  Varia was patient though, and without remorse.  It was only a matter of time and slaughtered families before he secured the information he needed.
                  All that was left then was to send Blink in to see the door.  That was one