A fever dream. That’s what my memories from that time looked like.

I recall being dragged by Sonetszi, distant shouts, frantic limping and wheezing, hiding and resting. Sleep.

Sonetszi was a bit annoying to pronounce, I decided. Sonet would do.

When I finally woke with my mind clearer. I felt like shit. Probably even running a fever.

I rolled my head to see what was of my improvised party.

We were in a small area surrounded by tall bushes and thick trees. A decent cover.

Sonet was sleeping, slumped against a log. She was stronger than what she looked like. But then it was common knowledge that demons are stronger than humans, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise.

Perhaps I had repeated that to myself times enough that my brain would accept it.

Holy shit, I punched some guy’s head off. Another fun thought to accept. Fuck. I brought again my attention outward.

I couldn’t see Skip. He was either hiding somewhere near or scouting around.

I replayed the encounter with the fighter and archer inside my mind. I touched my face, I could still smell the iron of blood.

Damn it, I hadn’t mean to explode his head. How had that even happened? I still had no sense of mana.

A distant bark made me push myself upright, suddenly alert.

I roused Sonet, who gave a start but remained silent as she looked wildly left and right.

Another rustling—very close—made us turn. It was Skip.

He conveyed us the urgency to get moving by his frantic movements. We didn’t waste time.

My steps were unsteady, but I did my best to keep the pace. The demon girl helped me not lose my balance across the wild vegetation, until I managed myself.

I don’t know how long we continued, but at some point the trees ended, revealing a mixture of low bushes and grass with a river in the middle.

Even just by the sound, I knew the river had a moderate current. Worse, it was around 200 meters wide. I had no idea how many feet or paces that was.

「There!」

Shouts echoed behind us.

Right at that moment, my legs cramped, buckling under me. Skip hurried over my face, pointing beyond the river. Urgency. Safety.

I truly wanted to go on, but my body was simply failing me. I rolled forward instead, until Sonet noticed and came back to drag me.

「I see them!」

「Demons!」

The whole ordeal looked hopeless. But life had taught me to be extra spiteful, so I was already massaging my legs while Sonet dragged me onward, trying to ease the cramps.

Our pursuers came into full view. A dozen humans appeared from the trees, a wolf among them. Two archers were already drawing their arrows on us.

One missed.

The other hit me.

… Or would have, had I not snatched it mid-air. A big stroke of luck, maybe. I just swatted by feel.

Still holding the arrow, I flipped a middle finger to the piece of shit that was already running closer.

「Allen: I’m human! You fucking retards!」

I bellowed after them. The fighters didn’t even slow down a beat, their blades set on the prize.

「Allen: Fuck.」

But then something else happened.

I saw one of the archers fly up in the air. Or rather his upper body. Spun like a ballerina, with a bloody gown and unfurling guts.

A bizarre sight.

Screams from behind my assailants gave them temporary pause. As the men turned, Allen temporarily forgotten, they found themselves facing a group of demons. The wolf bolted away, whining.

「Allen: Fuck me.」

I turned my eyes toward the river, ignoring the chaos. We weren’t much farther.

Should I trust Skip, beyond the river would be safety. But I was already deep down in guano and choking to death. Even if I crossed to the other side, the demons would soon catch me.

I stole another glance toward the battle. The humans were getting butchered real quick. I could only count as a blessing that they were too busy killing each other to pay us attention.

Sonet hissed something. We were at the water.

I stood up, slowly. The leg muscles were still close to cramp but manageable.

I’m having so much fun! I thought to myself with fatalistic sarcasm.

As I watched the boiling stream I wondered when are water currents dangerous to cross. I had no frame of reference.

I took two steps into the water. So far so good. Sonet whining behind me made me turn. She was shaking her head, as if she were adverse to water.

Either she was afraid, or she hadn’t learned how to swim.

Behind her, the humans were jobbing hard. They had managed to kill two demons, but the other four demons were finishing the job.

There was no time to waste. I lifted Sonet up, crossed her arms around my neck, and waded into the angry river.

As my knees got wet I started feeling the true power of the current.

The demons shouted and hissed at us. I had merely traded one problem for a worse one.

I was in no position to try and order them around. The attempt might have made me unconscious, and I had no assurance they understood Arstei, so I continued, step after step.

The water current was making me move diagonally, and as soon I realized that I was swept away. Sonet hissed and screeched.

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Not me, I’m immune to panic and I had already imagined this happening even before setting foot into the river.

I started swimming, doing my best to keep Sonet afloat and catching a breath of air every now and then. Swimming was using another set of leg muscles beside the cramped ones so it wasn’t that bad.

What was bad were the bumps against rocks I couldn’t see. I thought I was about to die twice.

The silver lining was that the current was putting some distance between us and the demons. I had long lost track of Skip, but Sonet held on firmly against me.

And then after more endless moments, the other side was in sight. I timed myself to grab a solid-looking emerging rock.

Which turned out not to be so solid. But it slowed me down, and I grabbed at another, and finally found some footing to jump.

The weight of gravity from leaving the water made me stumble. I stopped my fall and noticed the bruises.

I let Sonet down on her feet and took a moment to recover my breath.

Only a moment. Gotta go fast, I reminded myself.

I shambled forward and called out.

「Allen: Skip!」

He was nowhere to be seen.

「Allen: Skiiip!!」

I didn’t want to sound impatient, but I was feeling the dread.

Where were the demons? I glanced around quickly and found them, still on the other side of the river.

They were shouting something, but only Sonet seemed to understand as she briefly turned to face them and shake her head.

I turned again to take off into the forest, when a sharp pain came over my right leg and I buckled down. Something had hit me. Half shocked I looked over my disabled leg. A fucking big nail was dug into it.

Now the demons were shouting even more angrily.

「Allen: Fuck.」

I spotted the one with the nails. He was scowling in my direction, while other two demons were pushing another demon toward the river, but he didn’t seem happy about it.

Why though? I doubted an adult demon would find any challenge in crossing, if even a half dead me had managed so.

I wanted to go on into the forest, but my body just refused to move. Even rolling was out of question. Maybe the nail was enchanted, or posioned, or maybe I was simply dead tired.

In a desperate attempt I tried to get a hold of the Mantle to tell them to go away. But as I focused my senses on my spiritual body, I realized it was not gonna happen.

The Mantle was no longer that squirming thing, it had grown stronger as my spirit had grown weaker. I instinctively understood now what Feras had meant when he said he just had to wait.

The Demon Lord’s curse was going to take over me. And it was a curse, a parasite, not a different spirit simply killing off my own.

I couldn’t think about the implications.

I just sat there. My mind blank.

Sonet broke down in tears at the repeated threats the other demons were uttering.

And then something changed. My skin prickled, the demons twisted. Sonet as well, looking left and right and trembling all over.

From the forest appeared a woman, radiating power and beauty. She was tall.

Her skin was faintly iridescent, like a pearl. Her eyes had a black sclera, like demons, but the pupil was round, not reptilian. Her green hair were like peacock feathers. Graceful limbs.

[https://ashaiel.netlify.app/ch105.jpg]

Around her, lights trailed. Spirits! Of different shape and colors. All tittering, keeping a respectful distance, but crowding the surroundings.

It was as if the forest was coming to life.

More fairies of different make were coming out the woodwork. Some even literally.

It was a “you stepped in the wrong neighborhood” kind of vibe.

The pretty woman, who was smiling as if she hadn’t a care in the world, spared me and Sonet the briefest of glances, only to walk past between us.

As she passed, Sonet cowered, pressing her head against the dirt.

The woman crossed her arms and stared silently at the demons across the river.

After a few moments of silence, one of the demons stepped forward. A brawny one, blue skinned. He hissed and yelled something in demonic tongue.

The fae woman snapped her fingers. From across river a splash rose up, to envelope and swallow the demon who had spoken.

A few seconds later he appeared sputtering on our side.

The pretty woman bent down as if to consider a curious piece of flotsam who had just surfaced. She put her right hand under his chin.

And lifted him up that his feet couldn’t touch the ground.

She spoke loud and clear, both physically and psychically. Even though she was still smiling amiably, what she conveyed was anything but.

『Fae woman: Listen here, you little shit.』

Oh wow, she called him a little shit! Must have been the infamous fairy glamour, but I was in awe. The demon was powerless in her grip, and knew better than to try anything.

『Fae woman: You come in my territory. Kidnap my subjects. Shed blood at my doorstep.』

The language was familiar but also different, I only understood due to the psychic concepts filling the blanks.

She moved his head closer.

『Fae woman: And you dare make demands of me?!』

Then she slammed him onto the ground. And stomped on his legs. The crackle of breaking bones and his scream was music to my ears.

Hopefully she wouldn’t do the same to me.

『Fae woman: Return whence you came. And send someone of authority if you wish to negotiate.』

The burly demon remained frozen for a few moments, staring back in shock. Then he crawled away, almost like a snake, desperate to flee, his broken legs swaying at wrong angles.

The woman stared back at the demons for a few moments more, then she turned.

I felt her heavy gaze set on me, and felt compelled to speak.

「Allen: So… huh… did Skip send you?」

She didn’t answer, instead she gave Sonet another glance. We were both lifted up by an unseen force. Sonet yelped in surprise and flailed her limbs uselessly as she floated in the air like a baloon.

The fae woman walked past us, and we trailed behind.

I sure hope she notices I’m bleeding and dying. No rush, though.

「Allen: You came to save us… right?」

I could swear she smiled even though I couldn’t see her face from where I was.

As we dived deeper into the forest, trees and branches moved to let us through quickly. I had the chance to witness the procession of fairy creatures peeking from the corners or trailing behind us.

I wondered if Skip was among them. There were so many pixies and others that it was hard to tell them apart.

My mind lapsed. Next thing I know we were in a circular clearing.

I was face up.

Sonet, on my right, noticed I was awake and cast me a pitiful look that said “help me”.

Sonet must’ve been blind, because the one needing help the most was me. I hurt all over. I was bleeding from my nailed leg. My spirit was in shambles. And I was definitely feverish.

「Fae woman: How interesting…」

Did I also mention this fae woman had a melodious voice? She was looking down on me as if inspecting a circus freak.

I probably didn’t look good, all dripping wet and ragged for wear. Damn, why do I have to meet a pretty girl at my lowest?

「Fae woman: At first I thought you were a half breed demon, or a renegade fairy, but no! You are a Human... holding onto the the Demon Lord’s Mantle?!」

I blinked, bemused. Why would she think such things?

「Allen: Wha-」

「Fae woman: And it’s a human carrying around a demon girl? So strange. So curious.」

She said that as if it was a funny thing. I realized she was speaking a dialect of Arstei. It was peculiar to hear both the words and the meaning directly inside my mind.

「Fae woman: Please. Who do you think taught you monkeys how to speak?」

She was reading my mind!

「Fae woman: Of course.」

She smiled amiably. But her eyes were different, I could read a familiar sense of eternal weariness. Those were the eyes that stared at me in the mirror. I suddenly wanted to know her name.

「Fae woman: I am Mab. Queen of the Fae.」

Mab! Another intersect with the tales from my world. The Winter Court. Or Unseelie Court. Often depicted with a cold and merciless temperament.

「Allen: I’m… Allen… Smith.」

I introduced myself.

「Mab: The Winter Court? Your knowledge is outdated human.」

I stared. Well it was true, I had skimped on reading up this world’s lore. But this was not the time to speak about Fae lore and compare notes.

I was dying!

「Allen: Would you heal me? Please?」

I pleaded.

「Mab: Should I?」

She said, a devious smile spreading on her lips. It wasn’t fair. I had worked so hard and went so far, finally finding true magic. I hadn’t yet done eno-

「Mab: Ohhh. You’re still a virgin, I see. How tragic.」

I stared at her hopelessly. My mind was an open book to her.

She was gonna kill me, wasn’t she?

「Mab: Oh? And why would I kill you?」

Because I had pissed of her Goddess. Alher, the Goddess of Nature. Even if she didn’t know yet, she soon would find out. And-

Mab dropped the smile.

「Mab: The elven bitch? We allowed her to take control of the Aspect. Not the oth-」

What?!

Mab eyes went round.

「Mab: Wait… Oh my… You’re him!」

The Fae Queen started laughing.

Damn even her laugh was melodious. She waved her hand around to gather attention.

「Mab: Children! He’s the human who told Alher to get fucked in the ass!」

She resumed laughing.

No! That’s not what I said at all!

I stared speechless, still lying half dead on the soft grass. My feverish brain was not up to the task of processing all of this.

Even Sonet couldn’t help but stare with extreme confusion. The whole damn forest was laughing at me.

I closed my eyes.

Mab, I’m dying here…