We left the Castle to discover the cursed city had changed. Or more accurately, disappeared completely. Instead of buildings, we found ourselves stepping out into a hilly wilderness.

“Woah, what happened?” Dignity and I both looked around in amazement.

“I created the city, but it was only there to trap people in. Now that the curse is broken, I’ve no need of it.” He explained simply.

“Wait, you made the city? With magic?”

He raised thin black brow. “Of course.”

I whistled. “That’s amazing.”

“Well, I am a Demon Prince after all. I should be able to do that much.” He didn’t even pretend to be modest.

“Whoever beat and cursed you must have been crazy strong then, huh?”

He looked genuinely upset that I brought the subject of his defeat up. Oops! He clearly didn’t like talking about that.

“Sorry,” I hastily apologized and went back to the original topic. “These trees are crazy tall, I can’t see where the sun is. Which way is south?”

Dignity looked about to say something helpful, but was cut off by Solomon.

“That direction.” The demon pointing where we needed to go.

Solomon gave Dignity a smug look, and the Kobold realized he’d been interrupted on purpose. If looks could have killed, Dignity would have struck the demon down right there.

“Then that’s the direction we go!” I said in cheerful obliviousness. “Do you think you could keep us pointed in the right direction Solomon?”

“Absolutely.” He glanced at Dignity and grinned maliciously. Dignity’s childlike hands bunched into angry fists.

The castle was still on a very tall, steep hill. It reminded me somewhat of those old films showing Dracula’s Castle. Only it was broad daylight and there was nothing particularly ominous about the surrounding area. The biggest danger was slipping on the narrow trails and taking a tumble. This castle was clearly designed to keep people out.

We’d gotten a fair way down when I realized I was overheating despite the cool weather.

Oops. I’d totally forgotten to take off my Quicksilver armor! How embarrassing!

“Ah, give me a minute guys.” I called out, stopping for a moment to look through my pack. It took me almost no time at all to find the old outfit I’d been wearing and change back into it.

Dignity didn’t respond to this change at all, but Solomon was so startled he actually jumped.

“Monster!” He hissed, jumped back an amazing 10 feet.

“How rude.” I put a hand on my hip and pointed a thumb at myself. “I’m not a monster, I’m Angie the Mewnin.”

“Yeah!” Dignity added. “Don’t call Angela a monster, you stupid demon!”

Solomon flinched at my full name.

Eyebrows scrunched together, he walked over and examined me curiously, “I’ve never heard of a Mewnin before…”

I deflated a little. “There… there aren’t Mewnin in this world?”

That was bad. I’d assumed, since I’d been turned into one, that surely they existed here. If they didn’t I’d stand out like a sore thumb!

“Possibly there is, and I just haven’t heard or seen them. I haven’t traveled the whole world or seen all there is to see.” He admitted, apparently trying to cheer me up.

“Are there… humans at least?”

“Hm? Oh yes, most certainly. Those I know all about.” Solomon was still looking over me with intense curiosity. He suddenly reached out and touched my ears, startling me and causing Dignity to protest. Rude again!

I smacked his hand, irritated. “Don’t just go around grabbing people’s ears!”

He stared at his hands and then my face. “You are incredibly soft!”

“What?”

Two red hands shot back out and grabbed my face, squishing cheeks together as he rubbed them.

“Hey—you—!” I sputtered, too surprised to actually move.

“You’re the softest thing I’ve ever felt!” His yellow eyes were large and shining. I suddenly understood how a bunny must feel when handled by a human for the first time.

Dignity ran up and kicked him in the shin. Solomon gave a yelp and hopped on his good leg, rubbing the spot he’d been hit.

“Thanks Dignity.” I said, regaining my composure. I pointed at Solomon. “I don’t care if I’m soft, don’t go touching me without permission! Friendship term number two!”

“That’s terribly unfair!” Solomon complained bitterly at the new restriction. “You are softer than a rabbit! It’s amazing! You shouldn’t keep that to yourself! Selfish! Cruel!”

“…am I really that soft Dignity?” His reaction was so weird I figured I’d ask for a second opinion.

“You are pretty soft.” He admitted, shrugging. “But I’ve spent weeks with you, unlike some people, so I’m use to it.”

He stuck his tongue out at the demon, who gave him a returning glare.

I touched my face, puzzled. I’d handled rabbits before, so I knew how soft they were. Maybe I’d adapted to my furry skin and just couldn’t tell objectively anymore. I don’t know. But it was surprising having a Demon freak out over something so random.

Now that I was out of my armor, we continued walking. Dignity held my hand as we hiked down the hill, and unknown to me, sent smug looks towards a sulking Solomon.

After sometime Solomon asked, “By the way, where did your armor go?”

“Hm? Ah, I just used my pack.”

“Pack?”

“This.” I pointed to it, hanging on the front of my belt.

“But that’s much too small!”

I chuckled. “It’s bigger on the inside than the outside.”

“A magical enchantment?” His eyes widened in amazement. “Did you enchant it?”

“Naw, it was like that when I got it. I did expand how much it could hold though.”

He frowned. “That… it shouldn’t be possible.”

“Really? Is it not something magic can do here?”

“Of course not! Space is space. Why do you think I couldn’t send you home? You can’t go around meddling with it, and even if you could it’s risky!”

“But didn’t you make a whole city from a hill out of magic? How is that not considered risky or meddling?”

“Because I didn’t fundamentally alter anything, I just worked with what already existed. Cities are just bricks and wood, and bricks are just dirt. This hill was filled with all I needed to make a city, so I used magic to make it one. That’s completely different than fundamentally altering space!”

I stared at him, impressed. He can say what he wants, but what he did was pretty amazing. Even if it’s just “dirt and wood”, people got architecture degrees for a reason. Building a city was no simple matter, just from a design standpoint.

“To be honest, I don’t know anything about magic or how it works here so I still don’t get the difference. Can you explain it to me?”

“I’ll tell you if you let me touch your ears.”

“No.” If he could see the face he was making he’d say no too! He was way too eager and greedy!

“What about your face?”

“That’s worse!”

“Your hand then?”

“Well, I guess that’s better—”

“Deal!” He grabbed my hand, interrupting my attempt to tell him no again. “So let me tell you all about magic—”

…this guy…

“—it is the ability to re-arrange Elements within nature to do your bidding. Elements that are easy to master are referred to as “Base Elements” which are: water, earth, energy, and air. Light and shadow are difficult to learn and are called Complex Elements. Lastly is the Element aether, which may not be mastered at all, but is rather something gifted by some… someone else.” He seemed to struggle with this last one but I didn’t have time to ask.

He was squeezing and rubbing my hand in much the same way you might touch a stress ball while he talked. Dignity was watching in disgust..

“In the world, only People may use magic that deals with all the elements. Other creatures, such as wild beasts or monsters, can only use one or two that align with their nature. And using two is reserved for the most powerful. But People can access any and all with enough time and effort.”

“Uh, could you maybe switch hands?” I interjected quickly. I was never going to tell him but his rubbing felt a bit like a message. It actually felt kind of nice. What? Don’t judge me! I’d been in the wilderness for months!

“Why of course!” He practically spun to my left side and immediately began his rub/message of my other hand. “As I was saying, while People may use all the Elements, there are limitations. The first is their own inner energy, which is referred to as a spirit or soul. Your spirit influences how much magic you can use at any given time and what element you are most strongly inclined to. So, for instance, a Demon Prince such as myself has an enormous amount of spiritual energy and my element is shadow. Secondly, a person’s knowledge will influence what elements they can use and how they are combined. This means that even though I’m quite powerful and good with shadow, had I not studied, I wouldn’t have been able to use the other elements effectively.

Lastly, every Person has an element they’re weak against. Humans are strong with energy but weak against shadow. While a mastery of your natural weakness is possible, it takes a great deal of time and effort. In some cases it may even be painful.”

“So did you bother to master light or was it too painful?”

“Ha, light is much too botherso—” He verbally crashed to a halt and he dropped my hand. “How did you know light was the element I was weak against?”

“Isn’t it common knowledge demons are weak against light?” I responded, confused by his astonishment.

“Only dunces would let that be common knowledge.” He was giving me a very serious expression, like I’d acquired Top Secret information.

“But you know what element humans are weak against!”

“Obviously, it’s easy to tell any time we come in contact. Why do you think they hate us so?”

“Because demons are con men out to sow chaos and death where ever they go?”

“And humans aren’t too?!”

“…it’s not a racial trait.”

He laughed sourly. “They pretend to have the moral high ground when it suits them. The vast majority of them are only “good” because the law holds a sword to their neck and demands it. Strip away the law and they become more cruel and murderous than even the most diabolical demon.”

That was some Grade A pessimism there.

“Is that personal experience talking?”

“Yes. Before I was… defeated… I dealt frequently with humans. They liked to summon me, you know. They’d make deals with me in the dark, to get around their laws and “goodness”.” He grinned wickedly. “I made sure it never went as they’d planned.”

“And you gloried in both granting their evil desires and then twisting them to your advantage, I bet.” I wasn’t letting him off the hook for his own evil behavior.

He waved off my objection dismissively.

“And why shouldn’t I? Whatever our reputation may be, we are creatures of the law. We follow it meticulously, ruthlessly, and with great pleasure. Humans only pretend to love the law, you see, when it benefits them. But the moment it gets in the way of their base—dare I say racial—desires, they break the law, and then they beg for mercy to be free of the consequences!” He gave a mocking, malicious laugh. “But I love the law, and all that comes with it. So finding those who would break the law, and hastening their destruction by giving them what they want and more, fills me with delight.”

My eyes grew wide, horrified by his explanation. What he and his kind did was like finding a rotting bridge and—instead of fixing it—put more and more weight on it so that it broke quicker and in a more spectacular fashion. Except the bridges were living people, and when they broke they took a lot of innocents with them. No matter how he rationalized it, that kind of behavior was terribly wicked.

And even outside how morally twisted that whole way of thinking was, it reminded me of something else:

“If that’s how Demons really are then I’ve thought of another friendship term you need to follow.”

He groaned. “How many of those are you going to think up?”

“As many as I need.”

He grumbled, “Fine.”

“Friendship term 3: don’t let me descend into greater evil.”

“Pardon?”

“You said Demons like to watch evil people become even more evil, to hasten their destruction, right?”

“Right.”

“What I’m saying is you mustn’t do that with me. If I’m walking a path towards evil, you need to stop me and put me on the path to good.”

“You’re asking for the impossible!” Solomon’s face broke out into a genuine panicked sweat. “I just explained how Demons work, didn’t I? If you ask the impossible, then I’m bound to break it and that—” He twiddles his fingers nervously, “—would be exceptionally, exceedingly bad for me.”

I sighed. “I’m not trying to put you in an impossible position. Wouldn’t there be some way to at least warn me BEFORE things get out of hand? Like, if you think I might be stepping off in a direction that will stir up your Demon-y sense of justice, couldn’t you let me know?”

Eyebrows screwed up in thought for a moment, before he nodded slowly.

“Then that will satisfy the third term by my account. And that’s all the matters for the wish you’re granting.”

He held a red hand over his heart and sighed in relief. “Very well. You scared me for a moment. It’s difficult to be a “best friend” to someone who makes impossible terms to live up to.”

“…Right.” I guess I couldn’t expect a Demon to go against it’s nature.

“Ah, back to the original point.” He frowned slightly. “How did you know Demons were weak to the light element?”

Oh, right. I’d forgotten how we’d gotten on to this topic.

“Isn’t it just kind of obvious? Light is the opposing element to Shadow, like good and evil, so…”

“No, no, no…!” He cut me off. “You misunderstand the light and shadow elements then. They aren’t moral alignments, they’re actual elements. Light is life and anything that boosts health. Shadow is death and anything that drains life. Shadow elements work when things rot, but rotting isn’t inherently evil. And weeds overgrowing in a garden would be the light element, but wouldn’t be inherently good either. You see what I mean?

And if anything, people assume shadow is stronger than light, because death always follows after life you see. Most people assume Demons are actually strong against light. And we make it a point to keep them thinking so.”

“Oh. I did misunderstand.” In my world light is usually associated with holiness, which demons are traditionally weak against. I guess they don’t have that concept here.

He grimaced. “Still, you know information you shouldn’t know because I was careless…”

“I won’t tell anyone.” I promised earnestly.

Solomon gave me a long searching look before deciding I was speaking truthfully.

“I suppose it’s fine if it’s you. But what about him?” He pointed at Dignity, who’d been walking and listening to our conversation in silence.

“Would you keep this information a secret too Dignity?” I asked him, smiling gently to encourage his cooperation.

“Why should I? He’s not my friend, and Demons are bad. If people knew how to kill them quicker, it’d be easier on everyone.”

Solomom bristled at the Kobold’s threat.

“I’m not your “friend” either, you insignificant twerp, so don’t think you can—”

“Calm down you two!” I ordered, and was mildly surprised when they both shut up. “Look, Dignity, I know demons are bad. Really, I get where you’re coming from. But let’s use this information to do some good rather than promote more destruction.” I glanced over at Solomon, who still looked ready to strike Dignity down at a moment’s notice.

I’d been thinking about this as we’d walked. They didn’t like each other. Since Solomon was so much more powerful, that could be a real issue later. My wish with the Demon didn’t cover other people, at least not to the extent that I could guarantee Dignity’s safety when I wasn’t around. It had been worrying me.

“Solomon, let’s make a deal.”

Both Dignity and Solomon looked surprised.

“Dignity won’t mention the demons weakness if, in return, you don’t put his life in danger or hurt him. What do you think?”

He closed his yellow eyes for a moment, thoughtful. “I suppose... What say you, Kobold?”

Dignity scrunched his nose in distaste but nodded. “I’ll agree to it.”

Solomon snapped his fingers, and once against I heard something like a match being lit.

“The agreement is made and accepted. I won’t hurt the Kobold as long as he holds up his end of the deal.”

“And you won’t send someone else to hurt him for you?” I asked pointedly, covering my bases.

He grumbled, snapping his fingers again. “The agreement has been modified to include that as a sub-clause.” He eyed the Kobold menacingly. “If you break your word, I’ll make sure you die slowly.”

Dignity puffed his chest out, face red with anger, ”Kobold’s don’t break their word, unlike you slither-outers!”

“Tch, we never go back on our word either, you half-baked fairy. It’s not a Demon’s fault people are too stupid to make good agreements with us.” He pointed at me. “Angie here made an excellent agreement with me, even including a clever open-ended clause. Frankly, I would have denied her if I’d had the option but my curse wouldn’t let me.”

“Angela—” Solomon flinched at the name, but Dignity seemed to enjoy watching his reaction so ignored it. “—is smart that way. It’s from being civilized, you know.”

“Civilized? What’s that got to do with being smart?” The Demon looked baffled.

“What, don’t you know about civilization and what it can do for a person?” Dignity asked patronizingly.

Rather than being angry, Solomon just looked more confused. Turning to me he asked, “Do you have any idea what this twerp is talking about?”

“I’m not even sure how he came to the conclusion he did.” I scratched my head. I gave Solomon an over-view of the original conversation that had mislead Dignity. “I’ve tried to re-explain it, but he seems to think I’m just saying the same thing a different way, so I’ve given up.”

“Ah… I see. Well, he’s only a Kobold after all. Fairykin aren’t known for their creative thinking and Kobold’s are even worse: they just mimic whatever they think their master wants.”

“I’m not his master, I’m his friend,” I responded firmly, and then added,”..and what’s a “fairykin”?”

“Fairykin are distantly related to fairies. They’re somewhere between a beast and a person. And you most definitely are his master. You gave him a name and he accepted it. That’s how they set up their master-servant contracts.”

Shocked, I turned to my Kobold buddy and asked, “Dignity is that true?”

“Yes and no?” He looked terribly uncomfortable at me asking.

Solomon gave him a sneer. “Come now, you fairy-runt, don’t lie to your master!”

Even though he was glowering at Solomon, I could see him deflate a little.

“It—it’s like this you see: you are my master and my friend.”

“What, since when have you thought that?”

He flinched, looking guilty. “From the beginning?”

“From the—why didn’t you say something?” I knelt down and grabbed his shoulders. “I’ve never once thought of you as my servant! Have you been following me around for the sake of this contract or whatever, all this time? Is that why you’re still here? You could have been seriously hurt, I could have set you free if I’d known!”

“No!” He grabbed my shirt, pulling hard. “You—you saved me. You’re a good person. You’re kind, even to a Demon who definitely doesn’t deserve it.” Solomon rolled his eyes at this. “I would follow you anywhere, even without the contract. But I can’t follow you without it. I really can’t.”

“It’s true.” The Demon interrupted, even though seemed to be enjoying watching Dignity squirm. “Kobolds depend on their contracts to survive, quite literally. They must have one, otherwise they grow weak and die. If he hadn’t contracted with you, he’d have died. And even if you try to pawn him off to someone else, he’d be forced to follow their will, which would likely change him into an entirely different person.”

I looked down at the miserable Kobold, who was still clinging to me, teary eyed. Did he think I was angry enough I’d send him away? I was only upset because I thought I might have forced him to stay with me, without even realizing it. There’d been some close calls and he’d almost died. If he’d have been safer free, then I’d have let him be free.

“Dignity,” I stroked his hair to comfort him. “I’m not going to send you away, if that’s what you’re thinking. I’m not even that mad, alright? I just wish you’d been a little more honest with me from the beginning.”

Still, I was disheartened. Was there any part of Dignity that was really “him”? Or was every facet of his personality just some reflection of my will—or what he perceived my will to be? If that were the case, Kobolds were strange, sad little creatures indeed.

When he didn’t let go, I picked him up and gave him a hug. “I’m really not upset, alright?”

He gave a big sniffle, smiled, and nodded.

I gave him a pat on the back and then set him back down.

Dignity and Solomon got along a little better after this. And by that I mean Solomon didn’t keep threatening the Kobold’s life. They did bicker in spurts though, and sometimes I had to intervene to get them to stop. I felt like a frazzled parent in the front seat of a car listening to an argument of “STOP TOUCHING ME!” from behind.

It was a three day walk to get outside of Solomon’s land. The trip down the steep rocky hill took more time than I’d wanted, but once we got to the bottom, it was smooth sailing. With the city gone, the road had disappeared too. This annoyed me a little but since the ground wasn’t particularly lumpy or anything I kept quiet about it.

Our first dinner was a fun experience. I guess demons didn’t need to eat, seeing as they weren’t technically “alive”. But when he saw food stuff appearing out of thin air, he volunteered anyway.

He was greatly impressed with my cooking, oohing and ahhing over it for a solid ten minutes. Dignity wouldn’t let that stand, so he tried contributing his own passionate feelings about what I’d made too.

It was a war of compliments.

“Alright, alright! I get it! My cooking is great! So just shut up and eat already.” I practically shouted at them in my embarrassment. I wasn’t use to that much over-the-top-niceness. Honestly, it was a good thing I was covered in fur, it hid my blushing.

We traveled like this for several days. As we went, I learned more about the world I’d landed in from Solomon:

There were several “People of the World”, as he called them: Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Fairies, Mermaids, Angels, and Demons. (Once again, I thought depressed, no Mewnins.) Of them, Angels and Demons were the only ones who could intuitively use Light and Shadow magic without extensive training.

Solomon hated Angels, so everything he said was tainted with either disgust or superiority. Through all his bigoted comments, I gleaned that Angels were creatures that specialized in the light Element, and therefore life. They didn’t interact with the other races much, mostly focusing on stopping Demons from succeeding in their diabolical plans. Solomon accused them of being busy-bodies, but I was grateful. Demons really needed someone to reign in their psychotic sense of justice.

The next two races he hated (and this is actually how he introduced them to me) were Elves and Fairies. Elves had some kind of agreement with the Angels: Basically if an Angel couldn’t get to a Demon in time, an elf would go in their place. And there were more elves than Angels, so elves got tasked with interfering with weaker Demons work. I silently cheered on their efforts as Solomon ripped into them.

Fairies weren’t associated with Angels, which is why they were only third on the list. The problem with fairies is they enjoyed sowing mischief all around and you couldn’t trust them. One day they might help you out, and the next day they might bring an army of Elves down on you. You just had no way of knowing what was going through their “pee-sized heads”, as he put it. It amused me that he saw no irony in hating fairies for the same things demons do.

He had no real opinion or knowledge of either Dwarves or Mermaids, because they weren’t terribly useful. Apparently everyone was divided into “useful” or “hated” in a Solomon’s mind. If you didn’t fall into either camp, then he gave no thought to you. He only knew something about Kobold’s because they were related to fairies (whom he hates).

Humans he had a vested interest in. He knew all about them, or so he claimed.

Apparently Demons lived somewhere deep inside the world, near the core, and could only leave if they were summoned by someone on the surface. (It reminded me a little bit of vampire legends about being invited in.) Some Demons leapt at the chance of going on adventures above world, others bitterly resented it. Depending on the quality of the summon, a Demon may not be able to get back home. I guess even Demons have families and need a steady job, so getting yanked from your dinner table would put anyone in a testy mood.

Anyway, humans were the ones who figured out how to Summon Demons. It started as an accident, and then became a common practice among the seedier cults and the desperate with the know-how. Demons got summoned enough that those who got stuck on the surface ended up making their own families. And of the first to do so was Solomon’s great-great-great-and so on-grand parents. His particular family had the longest to adapt to the surface and learn all the elements. And that’s why he was considered a “Demon Prince” among the surface dwelling demons. (He was quite pleased with himself when he explained this to me.)

Seeing as that’s the relationship Demons have with humans, you can guess that they have both a high and low opinion of them. On the high end, they view them as valuable tools to allow Demons to go on adventures, get what they want, and spread their influence. On the low end, they’re viewed as a insufferably slow and annoying to deal with, and some Demons outright hate them because they ripped them away from their homes.

All the “racial” information about humans I already knew, but I listened quietly with interest anyway. Solomon’s take on it was all incredibly lopsided and warped. But considering he tended to meet the worst humanity had to offer, I guess I couldn’t blame him

That’s why I decided to keep my human past to myself. There’s just no nice way to put it: Solomon had very strong—mostly negative—views on anyone who wasn’t a demon. If he found out I was human before he really got to know me, I was sure he’d just lump me in with all the other humans he’d met. He’d be my “best friend”… but only in as much as he thought a human needed or deserved.

But Mewnin he didn’t know anything about; he had no prejudice to project onto me in this form. To him, I was closer to a demon in terms of respectability than anything else. And until I had totally convinced him I was worthy of respect, I wasn’t going to even hint at my human past.

He might consider that deception, but it’d be no worse than anything demon’s already do. And in my old world, it happened that when two opposing sides became friends, it often fundamentally changed things and erased the underlying conflict. Perhaps I could do that with Solomon.

“I don’t understand though, how is Summoning any different than my pack? They’re both space related aren’t they?” I asked some time after this conversation.

He frowned. “Summoning is simply the use of air and shadow, it’s not breaking any fundamental laws of nature.”

“But demons are summoned through solid rock right?”

“No, no. They’re brought through the tiniest of cracks found in the world’s crust, at incredibly fast speeds. It’s so fast it feels instantaneous.”

“But doesn’t that mean you’ve got to break down the body to—”

“Demon’s don’t have the same kind of bodies as people above do.” He interrupted me, waving his hand to dismiss my objection. “We aren’t quite alive, nor are we quite solid either. We’re just made of different stuff, on a fundamental level. We can survive being summoned for only that reason. We’ve tried sending humans and such down to our homeland, but they get turned into a puddle of blood.”

“Not solid, huh?” I gave him a firm poke in the arm and got a scandalized look in return. “You seem awful solid to me.”

“Of course I’m solid! I haven’t lived on the surface my whole life and not learned how to be mostly solid!”

“Really? So does that mean you can be mostly… not solid? If you want?”

“Yes?” He tilted his head, puzzled at my interest.

“Can you do it now?”

“But why—”

“Pleeeease?” My eyes went as round as I could make them.

“…well.” He looked uncertain before he thought of an idea. “Let me touch your ears.”

Really? This guy never missed a chance! I don’t know what it was about my ears, but that seemed to be the softest part on me, and he’d ask to touch them any time he got the chance.

I sighed. “Fine, but just for, like, 30 seconds!”

He reached out and stroked my ears. I tried to keep a neutral expression my face, but he made it hard when he giggled like a delighted girl.

Finally, the time passed, and he let go mournfully, whispering, “So very soft…”

And then he changed: his body went from a solid red, to a smoky blurry red. His only truly defining features were his eyes, which remained two solid yellow glowing orbs where his face would have been.

“Woah!” I reached out and tried to touch him. I was met by the slightest resistance.

He gave a choking laugh and then scolded me. “Don’t do that!”

“Hm, what? This?” This time I wiggled my fingers as I touched his smoky self.

He burst out in uncontrollable, but strained, laughter.

“Oooooh! You’re ticklish aren’t you?!” I gleefully reached out both hands and wigglingly touched the outlines of his not-quite-solid form.

The blurry red demon doubled over, wheezing with laughter. Ho ho ho, who knew demons could be ticklish?

He somehow managed to solidify himself between my tickle attacks.

He pointed a wobbly finger at me and said between ragged breaths: “That… was… cruel!”

“Now you now how it feels to have people always wanting to touch you!” I wasn’t the least bit remorseful. He had it coming.

Placing two hands on his face, he groaned in annoyance. “Point taken. I will be more considerate in the future if you will too.”

I chuckled and promised I’d do so.

That’s how our days passed as we walked south.

The days got progressively cooler the farther south we went, turning freezing once we left Solomon’s land. One day I had us stop so I could make Dignity thicker clothes. I also decided to give him some accessories against frost. This included a Christmas scarf & mittens (which he loved because of the bright white and red colors) and silver necklace with a blue hanging jewel.

When I fretted over his lack of shoes, Solomon snapped his fingers and two perfectly sized boots appeared in his hands.

He got yelled at by both of us for not mentioned he could do that sooner. Solomon only rolled his eyes at our complaints, explaining that he wasn’t under any obligation to help Dignity. He’d only made the shoes to stop me from worrying so much.

At least Dignity finally had a pair of decent shoes and proper clothing. If it weren’t for his ears and tail, he’d look almost exactly like a regular, adorable, little boy.

We eventually reached a road, a real properly used one. It was mostly dirt lined with rocks. It didn’t look well-kept, but it was clearly heavily used: deep but thin wheel ruts were all over it.

Still, we walked a long time without seeing anyone. It might have just been the time of year we were traveling. The marks on the road looked like the types of thing that happens during the rainy season of spring.

Solomon and Dignity were having another go at each other, when a strong wind blew towards us and I got a whiff of a horrific smell of… something. I covered my nose with two furry hands and let out a loud UGH!, startling my two traveling companions.

“What’s wrong?” Dignity asked, running over to me.

“Something smells horrible.”

The Kobold sniffed the air, his eyebrows bunched together in concentration. He shook his head. “I don’t smell anything.”

“It’s up ahead.” I squinted my eyes and tried to see as far as my improved eyesight would let me: “I think I see something, but I don’t know what it is.”

“A moment.” Solomon jumped straight up and stayed there, slowly rising.

Despite the terrible smell, I yelled out in astonishment: “YOU CAN FLY?!”

He gave a mischievous smile and waved, pretending he couldn’t hear us.

Why that sneaky…! He wasn’t going to tell me anything unless I asked him point blank about it. But that was the nature of demons, I thought grimly as I watched him, no matter how irritating. Even if they counted you a friend, they would always remain secretive.

After he’d gone up high enough and got a good look around, he floated down. Lightly landing on his feet, he commented: “I think what you’re smelling is the village up ahead.”

“Is that normal?” I asked in a muffled voice, my hands still covering my nose.

“I doubt it. I think it’s been raided or something, it was in shambles.”

I was silent for a long moment before asking the question I suddenly didn’t want to know the answer to: “Is the smell… is it… rotting… people?”

“Probably.” He confirmed, unperturbed. “I’m amazed at your ability to smell it from here though. That’s got to be miles away.”

“Did you—did you see any survivors?”

“Oh, was I suppose to be looking for that?” He said blankly. If I hadn’t gotten an earful on demon morality already, I’d have suspected he was being sarcastic. As it was, I knew he really hadn’t bothered to look.

He seemed somewhat aware that I was getting progressively more upset and, trying to be helpful, added: “I didn’t see any people moving when I was up there.”

That didn’t help at all! In fact, that was terrible news: it likely meant there was an entire village filled with nothing but corpses based on what I was smelling.

The wind died down, and by proxy so did the smell. Relieved I lowered my hands from my nose.

“We need to check, just to make sure.” I said with firm conviction.

“Ok!” Dignity nodded, concerned over my reaction.

Solomon, however, disagreed: “But why? If they’re all dead, what would finding that out do? And if any are alive, which I doubt, what are you going to do about it? Heal them? And then what?”

Frustrated, I balled my hands into fists. “I’ll figure it out when I get there! But not at least checking isn’t an option for me!”

He looked about to argue, when I jabbed a finger at his chest. “Are you my best friend or aren’t you? Help me out here!”

My aggression caught him off guard.

“Calm down Angie. You are indeed my friend. I was just being rational about this situation. If it means that much to you, I’ll help you as needed.”

I let the “as needed” quip pass since I was glad he’d agreed. That had been a horribly nausea inducing smell, and it burned into me the horror I was about to see before I’d laid my eyes on it.

I switched outfits to my Quicksilver armor and had Dignity climb on my back and hold on tightly. Looking over to Solomon, I asked, “Are you able to run fast?”

He gave an appropriately devilish smile: “The better question is: are you?”

With that, we both shot off down the road.