“If you don’t like it, I can always get rid of you too. I have space for allies, but I can’t afford to have enemies. Are you my enemy, Helena?”


    Helena looked down at the two homeless in shock. “I…”


    I genuinely had no intention of killing or hurting Helena. This was just a test of her loyalty. People will always die; it doesn’t matter what does them in. That old lady was as good as dead anyway, and the guy didn’t seem like a worthwhile contribution to the human gene pool anyway.


    Helena seemed to gather her thoughts before looking directly into my eyes. She seemed to be trying to look through the veil, and into my thoughts.


    She seemed to reach a conclusion and opened her mouth to speak. “You wouldn’t have done this if it wasn’t necessary.”


    I nodded. “That’s true.”


    Helena seemed to be at a loss for words and stuttered. “I don’t think I’ll look at you the same way ever again. With that said, even though this is grisly, it’s still better than the hell I-”


    Helena stopped herself mid-sentence and looked down toward the floor and away from me. “Never mind. Let’s just do what you were planning to do. These people should not have died for nothing.”


    So, she isn’t comfortable with telling me. A shame, but I suppose we haven’t really had time to get to know each other yet. Maybe if we spend some more time together, develop a bond and some trust, maybe she will tell me then.


    “Okay.”


    I stretched my arms out, prepared to cast Summon Dorm. But as I did the incantation... nothing happened.


    I was left somewhat speechless. I thought this spell would work for sure...


    Helena looked up at me with a speechless face. “Are you joking with me? You killed these people and now you’re standing here, waving your hands?!”


    I was speechless. “I... The spell has never failed before. It must be related to this second island that Bill mentioned, for some reason My incantations won’t work here... How?!? Hell should be a world-reaching dimension!”


    Then it hit me. The reason I never saw mention of any second Island in my book is because the people here go... nowhere when they die. Maybe they all went to Heaven before the war, but now, all these souls are going straight to purgatory.


    When I get back to hell, I have to fix this immediately. So many souls, lost to the Aether to suffer forever... Poor humans.


    Helena looked at me with eyes giving me a glare that would certainly put me in the grave if looks could kill. I couldn’t do anything but drop my arms back down to my sides and sigh. “I suppose those two died for nothing then. I’m sorry but that’s how it is sometimes...”


    Helena’s lips quivered with anger. She was at the cusp of saying something, but right before she did, she let out a pained “ugh” and turned away from me. I could only lower my head in regret, sorry for what I had done.


    “Is there any way I could make it up to you...?”


    Helena refused to speak to me. She was just glaring out into the open, hands crossed over her chest. God knows what she’s thinking of right now.


    “Look. If you have anything to say, say it. As I already said, I have time and space for my allies, but not for my enemies. You’ll have to decide which you want to be right quick young lady, before I decide that for you.”


    Helena finally turned around to face me, tears flowing down her face. “You have to promise me that you didn’t know that the spell wouldn’t work.”


    I sighed. “I promise. Now, please step back from the ledge before you hurt yourself.”


    Our legs were still covered in blood. The shallow pool which had drained from the bodies of the homeless I had killed had not yet started to flake, and my steps made soft pitter-patter sounds as I walked toward the shaking woman. I landed my palm on her shoulder, reassuring her. I started moving her away from the ledge, toward the center of the mountain. Helena didn’t fight against my movements and silently shook.


    “Sorry. I wouldn’t have done that if I knew.”


    I brought the woman into an embrace, hugging her. She started sobbing and wrapped her hands around my back. I closed my eyes, only muttering small sentences. “It’s okay. Let it out.”


    Helena eventually calmed down, and the blood finally flaked and flied away in the wind. I had sat down on the ledge of the mountain, putting a hand on my chin.


    “What are you thinking about?”


    “Just where we’re going from here. There’s still someone I need to see, and I thought that going to hell would help me find him. Now, that’s not an option.”


    Helena put a hand on my shoulder. As my host, she can’t be hurt by my hellfire, so this didn’t hurt her.


    “I’m sure we can find him, wherever he is. Who is he to you? A friend? A… Lover?”


    I laughed. “The only love I’ve ever felt was that of desperate men taking advantage of me when I was weaker. This… body, well, it seems like males are especially attracted to it.”


    I turned my head to the side. “But that was their love for me. It didn’t go both ways.”


    Helena’s hand on my shoulder squeezed harder, as if to reassure me. “It’s okay. Those people can’t get to you now.”


    I snarled. “Damn right they can’t. They were my prime motivation to become stronger. To be able to protect myself.” This memory stung deep, and I took a deep breath before continuing. “I memorized their faces. Their colors. As soon as I was strong enough, I killed them. One after the other.”


    If I could cry, I would probably shed a tear right now.


    “So, if you ask me if he is my lover, the answer is no.”


    I removed my mouth which I’d had on display up until now. “To be honest, I’m not even sure I’m attracted to men. They are so filthy.”


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Helena looked a bit taken aback by this comment and looked to be struggling with finding the right words. “A-Actually, me too.”


    I turned toward Helena. Would this finally be the time she tells me a bit about herself?


    She turned for a moment, looking out at nothing in particular. “I’ve also experienced what you say. Minus the killing…” She smiled a bit and turned to face me again. “We’re not so different, I guess.”


    I smiled back, putting a hand on her shoulder as she had done with me. “Thank you.”


    Her smile widened and she pulled me closer to her and before I knew it, we shared a hug. “It’s okay to be vulnerable. The important part is moving forward, and not letting the world keep you down.”


    We hugged for a good minute before we finally parted again. “So, what do you say we find this demon pal of yours?”


    I snickered. “Yeah. Let’s go find him.”


    I had gone back inside Helenas’ body. She was looking out at the horizon, to nowhere in particular.


    ‘So, any leads on where this gray demon could be?’


    The best lead we have is still to get to Valentine. If Andras is still alive, the people at Valentine are bound to know where he is.


    ‘Sounds like a plan.’


    Helena looked toward where Bill had said the docks were. ‘Let’s go, then.’


    She kicked us off the floor and started flying.


    I felt now was as good a time as any and interrupted the silence. By the way Helena, did you mean… you’re also not interested in men, when we talked earlier? Or was it just the rape part?


    I could feel Helena racking her brain. She’s probably debating whether she trusts me enough to admit this yet, or not.


    ‘Yeah... Well, I''m more bisexual, I think.’


    Wow. I didn’t expect her to be so honest with me.


    Thank you for sharing.


    ‘Yeah, same to you.’


    We eventually reached the water’s edge. It took about 20 minutes to fly there, mostly because Helena was unwilling to go full speed which I totally understood. It must be rather painful to break the sound barrier when you have a body filled with nerves and pain receptors.


    We landed a fair way outside the city, just like we had done with the drifter town earlier. Helena dusted herself off after landing and chimed in to my thoughts.


    ‘So, what’s the plan? Just take a ship and see what happens, or?’


    I didn’t really have a plan. What’s sure is that I don’t know which direction or even the path to take to get back to what was apparently my island, so I guess our best bet is to take a boat there. Yeah, we’ll have to take a ship.


    Helena simply nodded and we walked to the city gates. There were guards here too, but there wasn’t a constant flow of people like it had been at the drifter town. The guards meticulously inspected every carriage before opening the doors for one after the other, letting one carriage roll out while another rolled in.


    We’ll certainly need papers to get into this town.


    Helena rummaged through a satchel she had on her waist, and eventually found a scroll. It looked to be some kind of identification paper, confirming that she was herself. ‘I think it’s outdated. Can you maybe do some demon woo-woo to change the date there?’


    She pointed at some numbers. ‘I think it’s the… 3’rd of may today. The year’s…’


    Helena took a moment to do some math before she continued. ‘1023.’


    Okay, so… wait, what? I’ve been dead for 122 years?!


    No wonder things are so much different now.


    I extended my finger outside Helenas’ and swiped over the date to display the correct date. There we are. I’ll put its expiration date to a year from now, just to be safe.


    Helena nodded and continued walking toward the city gates. One of the guards stopped us with a hand outstretched, wielding a spear in the other. “Halt.”


    Heltana did as instructed and handed the guard the scroll. “Here you go, officer.”


    The guard read through the document lazily before giving it back to Helena ten seconds later. “Have a nice trip.”


    The guard opened a smaller wood door in the city walls, allowing us to step through. On the other side we were met with a small rope fence, which was also accompanied by a guard.


    I guess they don’t want people to go out the same door we entered through.


    ‘Strict security. What could be so special about a harbor?’


    Helena looked up and I finally noticed that the entire city had a huge dome of radiant energy closing it off completely.


    Damn. Glad we didn’t try to fly in here.


    Helena walked over to one of the stalls at the harbor edge, and politely greeted the clerk. “We – I would like to get a spot on the boats leaving here, if that’s possible.”


    The lady behind the counter looked to be an older woman, kindly smiling at Helena and I. “Of course! That’ll be 4 gold.”


    Helena quickly talked to me. ‘I only have 2 gold.’


    Put your hand behind your back and pretend like you’re looking for your money.


    Helena did as I said and as her hand left the ladies’ line of sight, I simply manifested 6 gold pieces in Helenas’ palm.


    ‘Well, that’s useful.’


    She paid the old lady, which gave us a small paper in return. It was a ticket.


    “Just go to the guard over there, and he will stamp it for you.”


    The old lady pointed toward a guard standing right beside the ramp going up toward one of the ships. “Safe travels, young lady!”


    Helena smiled goodbye and she walked onto the ship after having the ticket stamped.


    “It’s a lovely view, isn’t it?”


    The boat had left the harbor. As the day neared night, eventually the deck was cleared of passengers who would rather spend the night inside their cabins as the outside air on the ocean was rather cold. I’m warm enough to heat an army though, so I simply shared some of my heat with Helena by sticking close to her.


    The boat was driven by wind, so it glided almost silently across the mirror-like surface of the water. This far out from shore you would have thought there would be more waves, but I guess not.


    Nobody was still on-deck to witness that a demon was on the boat, so I took the liberty to exit Helenas’ body again. “It is.”


    I turned toward Helena and smiled. “You know, I never imagined I would become so attached to a human. Sure, I’ve had other hosts, but I feel you and I share something more than that.”


    Helena turned her head from the silent water drifting by and looked at me inquisitively. “How so?”


    “Well for one, you’re my host. That in and of itself brings two souls closer, I think.” I smiled and looked toward the water. “But… you’ve shown me what it means to be a human. Sure, I’m not a human and never will be, but I would like to understand you better, regardless.”


    Helena smiled. “Yeah, I guess I have. You’ve also taught me some valuable lessons, like accepting death.” She let her smile fade slightly and turned back toward the black water. “It’s always been a fact, of course. But getting to hear your opinion on how much a mortal is worth, how we should cherish our lives, well, it’s gotten me to realize that I want to do more with the time I have here.”


    I could see a slight blush form on Helenas’ cheeks and she turned back toward me. “And I would like to spend that time with you.”


    I returned her smile and chuckled slightly. “I’m glad. I thought I was the only one who thought so.”


    Helena chuckled and her blush broadened slightly. “Do you…”


    I put a finger on her lips and formed my mouth. “Shh. Use those lips for something other than talking for once.”


    Helena giggled and pulled my hand out of the way. “Come here you long-tongued demon.”


    I wrapped my hands around Helenas back, and she did the same. We brought our faces together, until we connected. It was no demon bind, but rather our lips.


    “I love you.”