Chapter 196: A Song of Mourning

"What is this?" I whispered as I looked down to the forest stretching beneath my feet. After resting for a bit, Fetheion had brought me here – a patch of the forest an hour's flight to the north. 

"The land itself became cursed." The Divine explained. Unlike me, he didn't need wings to fly, he simply floated as his dark power whirled around him. "Any creature stepping inside there has a good chance of becoming cursed as well. 

The trees below had changed colour – the deep, dark green leaves had left their places to a mix of gold and purple. A miasma had covered the ground and I could see how even the earth was affected as brown and black liquid oozed out from the earth.

"Disgusting," I said with a low voice. "How did this even happen?" I couldn't imagine the amount of magic it would take to corrupt such a large area.

Fetheion sighed. "I don't know." I glanced at him with surprise as he continued. "Here is what I do know; this is the result of a clash between demonic and divine magic. It appeared two days ago, but it has already gotten this bad." He looked around. "No demons or Ereth even came close to this place in the last few weeks, save for those couple of demon scouts who fly over the forest every once in a while."

He slowly descended, taking care to remain outside the cursed area. "Look," He pointed towards the ground. "If it were a demon, they'd say the world was bleeding."

I glanced at the black and brown liquid. "I think that's a bit too disgusting to be the world's blood." I hesitated. "I hope." A question appeared in my mind. The world wasn't alive, right? 

"Well, they love saying things like that, but they rarely are right." Fetheion chuckled. "I'd like to believe they never really tried to uncover the mysteries of the world and now they're suffering for it."

I raised my brows. "What do you mean?"

Fetheion shook his head. "It's not important right now." He glanced further ahead. "We need to find the source of the curse and remove it."

I wanted to dig deeper – what did he mean by those words? "Come on," He said as he floated ahead. 

I followed him, though my progress immediately came to a halt as soon as I entered the cursed area. The air became unbearably hot as I felt like I was breathing fire.

"Use your magic to repel it." Fetheion floated before me. His dark magic had created a semi see-through barrier around him. "Look at mine and try to replicate it."

It took a couple of tries before I could release my magic without it bursting into flames. The rest was easy. Protected by a black and purple shroud, I could finally breathe again.

"You're too used to summoning your magic in the form of flames." Fetheion said as we slowly flew further into the cursed area. "Your predecessor never used his magic like that – he used the wind."

"How?" I asked after a moment's hesitation. It was the first time Fetheion seemed to be eager to talk about his long dead friend. 

"He had fine enough control over his power that he could from invisible blades from the wind. Most would die without ever realising they were being attacked." A weird smile appeared on his lips. "Even I had a lot of trouble surviving when we first met."

"You two fought?" I asked in surprise. For some reason I had trouble imagining that, though it did make sense. One was a demon and the other an Ereth Divine. It wasn't all that surprising that they had started as enemies.

"Many times," He said with a chuckle. "But that's a story for another time." He glanced ahead. "Can you feel it? The magic and the curse are growing stronger as we speak."

I hesitated. I couldn't really tell. "How do we lift the curse?" I asked instead. 

Fetheion pondered a moment. "Depends on what the source is." He finally spoke. "If it's something like a vessel – a crystal to hold the magic or an ancient artifact, then it's fairly simple. We seal it away until the Demon Lord comes and gets rid of it."

I flinched. "Whoa, hang on." I stopped. "What do you mean the Demon Lord?" I glanced around in a panic. Nothing in this world or in the real one could convince me to meet the Demon Lord. That guy terrified me even more than Aelith did.

"He tends to get rid of the cursed areas deeper inside demon territory." Fetheion explained. "We… don't get along though, so don't worry. I'd be in more danger than you if we stumbled across him."

This was the first time ever I heard a sliver of fear in Fetheion's voice. Weirdly enough, it reminded me of the time my uncle was avoiding Mother. He was speaking in a similar tone back then.

"What's wrong?" Fetheion asked after a moment's hesitation. I shook my head and pushed the fond memories aside.

"Nothing." I said, then asked something else. "How much stronger than you is he?" It was something I was curious about. I was sure Fetheion still hadn't shown me his real power and I didn't know the extent of the Demon Lord's power either.

Fetheion laughed at my question. "I'm pretty sure if we ever met, I would be dead before I could lift a finger." He smiled when he noticed my face go pale. "Don't worry – he has no reason to come after me and I have every reason to avoid him. Unless something changes, we simply won't meet each other. Ever."

I sighed a breath of relief, then questioned why exactly I had felt so relieved about this. Sure, Fetheion was an ally but…

"It's here." Fetheion's voice interrupted my thoughts. I glanced at him, them followed his gaze.

"Oh." I whispered as I looked on the lifeless body of an Ereth. 

"So, she failed." Fetheion mumbled. "To be expected."

I glanced at him. "What do you mean?"

He shook his head and approached the body. "Look at her. Her clothes, her accessories…" 

He was right – she was wearing much fancier clothes than most Ereth. White and golden robes, plenty of golden accessories… Even a crown on her head.

"Why is she dressed like that and hang on – why is she even here? I thought you said no Ereth came to this place in a while?" 

Fetheion shook his head. "She must have been teleported here why Aelith. She's dressed like that because she was taking the… 'test' to become a Divine." He sighed. "Aelith is scrambling to replace the divines she is losing." He clenched his fists. "Such arrogance, such rush, such stupidity." 

"What should we do then?" I asked after a while. What the hell were we supposed to do about this Ereth's body?

Fetheion hesitated for a while, then slowly landed by her. "We will lift the curse and lay her to rest." He said with a bitter expression. "Come, I will need your help with this."

I landed by them. "What do I do?" I asked.

"I will need you to channel your magic. Demonic magic." He added after a moment of hesitation. My eyes widened. "I thought you didn't want me to use it." I spoke.

He sighed. "This is demonic magic, mixed with divine. Both are needed to lift the curse."

He took a glowing, golden crystal from his pocket. "The last piece of divine magic I have saved." He said with a bitter smile. "I should find more." He mumbled before turning his gaze on me.

"Now, channel your power the same way you did a few hours ago. I'll guide you, so all you need to do is make sure you don't blow us up." While his words were supposed to give me confidence, they did quite the opposite.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked after a moment. "What if something goes wrong?"

Fetheion chuckled. "It'll be fine." He said as he released the divine magic in the crystal. I heard a faint ringing from it as he dropped it on the ground. "Hurry up now."

With hesitation, I did as he asked. 

Now that I wasn't being pushed back by Asher's lightning, I could be somewhat more careful. I slowly released the dark, demonic power dwelling within me.

It felt weird. The dark miasma from before slowly spread from me as my eyes let out a purple glow. 

I felt Fetheion's power envelop mine and guide it towards the Ereth's body. Fetheion carefully reached and gently closed the fallen Ereth's eyelids. I could see the sadness in his eyes as his divine light, and my purple tinted darkness enveloped the body.

As I watched him, Fetheion's voice echoed in my mind.

Return home after such a long fight,

May your soul find respite in the golden light.