Greyskin

Chapter 17. Free of thy burden.

Within the darkness, there stirs something even blacker. The inner sanctum within Sel is breached with him nearing death, his fire fluttering wildly, trying to survive. The blackness approaches, wishing to gluttonously consume the flame, to destroy it. The flame however fights back, trying to illuminate the darkness.

In the vast, endless void there is the fire and the shade, striving for survival, wishing to stay alive. The shade doesn't realize that it will turn into nothing without fire, only wishing to turn the entire world into darkness. The fire emits light, trying to push it back, but there is nothing to illuminate, the fire being the only thing within the vast empty space.

With darkness creeping closer, the fire flutters strongly, writhing in pain, struggling against the dark. It needs light, it needs fuel to survive.

It searches within the darkness, wishing to find something to help itself. Some fuel, some memory, something.

Out there is nothing, just more of the same dark emptiness. The fire is weakening, running out of power. The light shines weaker, being devoured by the vast nothingness, slowly disappearing without trace.

Having nothing else to do, it turns on itself, trying to devour itself to light up the darkness. Inside, there must be something to use as power, some image that can be used. It flashes a number of times, trying to find something useful. The memories are not destroyed, just repressed, their energy consumed for fuel as they are not powerful enough to sustain the fire.

The image of the girl trying to kill him, the image of him killing the woman by eating her heart, the images of him fighting in the arena, the image of him turning the horned woman, the images of him marking multiple women, images of him in the elven city...

Many images are consumed, until a special image is seen. It is the image of the Girl, the same girl that made the fire subside, bringing it peace, it now fueled it, giving it power. The peace that once was brought with the image now made it burn brighter. Taking every bit of power the image holds, the fire turns still, slowly burning out the image, consuming it. The fire thoroughly consumed this one image in order to strengthen itself.

After an eternity or a mere moment, the fire turns into a candle light, no longer having chaotic, ravenous flames reaching out to consume, instead having a single oval flame of perfect shape. The flame couldn't be really described as a real one, more like a soul made up of two opposing elements. The soul of a Demon and Highobrne hybrid, it consumed the memories of its origin, taking the power of the light that image held for itself.

Unfortunately, the fire destroyed the image, all the images of the woman who gave life to it. The fire knew what it was, or at least had the memories of that intact, although powerless and faded. It however no longer knew the happy days it spent with the Girl, forfeiting them for its life. The memories no longer had any power, no longer had hold over the man, now the fire was free.

New, transformed and reformed, the fire was strong, unyielding to the darkness around it, instead making it retreat and bend to the will of the fire. Wishing for more light, the fire parts the darkness above, letting in a single ray of light, the light from the patron goddess. This allows the kink between the two to be established, the goddess being able to take power from the fire and fire now having light within the darkness. This is yet meaningless, but it is a step towards a possibility in the future.

–

This was what happened within the body of a greyskin, an elven-looking demon who became the champion in the event for the demon lord's daughter's hand. After the victory, he collapsed and was brought in to be treated. His body mended on its own, consuming the scourge around it. The fel energy seeped into the wounds and remade the flesh anew, better and stronger than it was previously.