From blackness appeared white. So much white.

Blinking furiously to bring things into focus - an oak beam across the ceiling, the fluttering of curtains in the breeze.

Xellie at once discovered that sitting up felt impossible. Was she tied to the bed? Was there a weight on her chest? A spell?

After a few tentative tests, she turned her head toward the window to study her surroundings.

Soft, clean pillows. A table with a glass of water. This quiet room to herself evoked an atmosphere of safety. She could sleep a while longer and closed her eyes in relief.

What a harrowing dream that had been. One of Xellie’s favourite pastimes was exploring the possessed forests in the locality. It was stupid to imagine that the great demon Ashmeviti himself would appear anywhere near this side of the continent. In her opinion, it was that he didn’t exist and was nothing more than a myth passed on to scare travellers and children.

But wait! If that entire encounter was a dream, where was she now? Demon lords were not renowned for their mercy. When they wanted to kill, they killed.

She tried to sit upright, her sudden movement cut short by a pain shooting through her ribs, back and torso. She threw herself back onto the pillow in frustration, which spawned even more pain.

“I can’t deal with this now.” She grumbled, staring up at the whitewashed plaster.

“You should be more careful.” A gentle male voice said to her. “You’ll do yourself more harm like this.”

“Who the hell are you?” She shot back, flipping her head over to look toward the door. “Release me now.”

The young man screwed his face up in confusion.

“You’re not being held here, you’re just too injured to move... My name is Iyan by the way.”

Injured? Xellie had to process the word as if it was a new concept. The demon fight she had been dismissing as a dream a few moments ago?

“Uh... how bad is it?” she asked, feeling ashamed for acting in such a hostile fashion. “Where am I?”

“This is the spiritual hospital of Aldera and, well, it’s pretty... very... Bad. You’ve been here some weeks, I think... I take it you know Priestess Ryvena?”

Her attempts to talk were rapidly becoming exhausting, so Xellie opted to nod gently instead.

“She was on an exorcist training trip in the forest. Apparently, found you wandering around detached from your body. Somehow she and the others did their thing and just ... popped you back in there? I don’t know it’s above my pay grade, I’m just a nurse.”

“Wait. Am I still dead then?”

“Not with the amount of puke I had to clean up from you. You demon hunters are so weird.” Iyan said. “Anyway. You’ll have to ask her because I don’t understand a damn thing about that stuff.”

“It sounds like nonsense anyway, she...” Xellie’s eyes widened as she felt a wave of nausea come over her. Unable to sit up, she rolled her head to the side, hoping to hide her vomiting from Iyan.

Upon seeing this, Iyan grabbed a pan and ran over to hold it in place. He didn’t make it in time and found himself on the receiving end of something Xellie wished she wasn’t distributing.

How embarrassing!

“I am so sorry!” Xellie spluttered, as Iyan wiped his apron clean.

“It’s okay.” He answered, amused at the situation as he wiped her face with a clean cloth. “You got me plenty of times before you woke. This is one of the worst cases of miasma poisoning I’ve ever seen.”

Feeling her face flush red at the prospect of having vomited over this nice guy many times, Xellie grimaced to hide her embarrassment, choosing to switch the topic.

“Miasma poisoning... yeah... There was a lot in the forest that day.”

“Doesn’t explain the strength of it, does it?”

Ryvena’s familiar curt voice from by the door sent a jolt through Xellie’s body. Had Ryvena, her previously assigned priestess partner from the academy, seen the vomit incident moments ago? She hoped not.

“Well, it was As....” No, wait, she couldn’t tell Ryvena any of this. People would assume she was crazy or worse. Many people didn’t believe in the great demon Ashmeviti; but those who did would consider anyone who met him to be cursed. “As... A... A seriously busy day for demons.”

That was a terrible attempt to cover.

“You mean seriously strong demon?” Ryvena tutted and pushed her glasses up her nose, waving Iyan out of the room dismissively before closing the door. “How strong are we talking?” She asked in a whisper, sitting on the bed, giving the door a nervous glance.

“Uh...”

“You think Niko could take it?” Ryvena pressed. “Don’t withhold this, I saw the forest.”

“I think it was Ashmeviti,” Xellie said without hesitation, against her own advice, distracted by the mention of her brother.

“Don’t joke with me.” Ryvena’s face fell as took in Xellie’s worried face. “...you’re serious? Like.... for real, for real?”

“Yea...” Thinking back to the confrontation was filling her with a dread Xellie started to feel spreading through her body. “I can’t... I just knew... it’s...”

“Okay.” Ryvena placed a hand comfortingly on Xellie’s. “The miasma is making you feel this way. It will pass. You know this.”

“I trained myself against it. Had all my wards and amulets in place and it’s done this to me and... and... please don’t let me cry please Ryvvie, please...” Xellie begged, feeling tears forming in her eyes. “I did everything right I swear this isn’t my fault.”

“You know it isn’t. You’re not talking to me. Miasma is.” Ryvena glanced over at the door uneasily. “I will not tell anyone that it was... you know who... But... We’ll attribute the poisoning to you laying in the mist for so long... We’ll get you through this.”

“Thank you.” Xellie mouthed silently at her old friend, closing her eyes and trying to ignore the dizziness, nausea and negative emotions bubbling up inside her.

She heard the door open, then close again quietly. Ryvena was trying to keep her voice low, but Xellie still heard snippets of Ryvena’s conversation with another female voice whom she didn’t recognise.

“...one of the worst... I don’t know..... She might go insane... Stay here but... We cannot handle that...”

“... miasma free... Take days....”

How dare they talk about her as if she wasn’t there? It was to be expected though, as miasma poisoning generated and amplified negative emotions, which could cause the inflicted to become dangerous. Xellie had trained for years to resist the effects of the miasma. Yes, she felt depressed about her current situation, but she wasn’t a threat. Now they were going to discuss keeping her somewhere against her will! She snapped her eyes open and sat bolt upright, anger and adrenaline pushing through the pain. Swinging her legs off the bed, she grabbed the glass from the table and smashed it hard against the edge.

“Get Talynn quick!” Ryvena screamed, pushing the door open and blocking it with her body. “I know you’re in an awful place in your head... but it’s safe, we’re friends. Put that down... please?”

“Just let me leave.” Xellie pointed the broken glass in front of her, taking a step forward. “Don’t make me hurt you, or that idiot Talynn. Or do let me hurt him, I don’t care.”

“I got this!” Talynn pushed Ryvena out of the way, brandishing a ball of red light in one hand. “Stop!”

The ball hit the floor by her feet, which she could then no longer move.

“UNDO THIS!” Xellie screamed, throwing the glass at Talynn, who had been expecting it and ducked in time.

“Mmm no.” He replied, screwing his face up in disdain. “I won’t do that until you calm down. I can’t even tell if this miasma or your usual violent self.”

She inhaled deeply and gritted her teeth, trying to ignore the jab from her former classmate.

“I. Am. Calm.”

Talynn shook his head while she tried to lunge toward him. Her anger quickly turned into despair, as she couldn’t move. Her injured body betrayed her, the pain racing through her torso and into her legs, causing her to collapse backwards, her feet still glued to the floor by Talynn’s spell.

“Why? Why?” She turned her face upward, her eyes pleading with Ryvena. “Make it stop.”

Ryvena crouched on the floor next to Xellie, her voice quivering.

“Listen, you’re a fighter. We’re medics and clerics. Do you think we can have someone trained in tackling demons physically here who can’t control themselves? You know what we have to do. We either sedate you or paralyse your legs temporarily. Which would you prefer?”

Xellie shook her head and wiped the back of her hand across her damp face.

“I say we do both,” Talynn said. “She could stand up in that state. Who knows what she’s resistant to.”

“I know that under all this you understand,” Ryvena said. “And We’ll get you away from here, somewhere you can heal faster.”

Xellie wasn’t even listening, trying to decide what she considered worse, going through uncontrollable anger and sadness, or being restrained and at the mercy of her old teammates from the Demon Hunting Academy.

Sitting on the floor sobbing uncontrollably, worried about being under the influence of the miasma forever, Xellie began to curse herself under her breath.

“So weak... so pathetic...”

The next days were a blur, blending into each other as she flitted in and out of consciousness. Haunted by terrible dreams, where she roamed a city killing defenceless women and children.

Unable to move, nor speak, the desire to scream in despair was overwhelming. What she was aware of was a cart travelling over bumpy terrain, a priest doing invasive checks on her body, days in the scorching sun and freezing cold, starry nights.