"I... I, Immortal... Immortal Demon?"
The left guard shouted, stumbling back, his heel scraping the steel gate. The bolts trembled beneath him as he brandished his spear.
"What? You dare proclaim yourself a demon in front of Everdream?"
The right guard glared at Oren. He stood as still as a statue, tall and muscular, confident against anyone.
Anyone but an enlightened being, anything but a self-proclaimed demon.
They were two of Everdream's guards, warriors standing just below the peak of the mundane. Still, the right guard's legs trembled.
All his life, even as a child, he had heard vile tales of the Immortal Demon.
Before they could raise their spears, Oren moved. Then he whispered coldly, "Lower your weapons."
Swift and unhindered, he took a few steps. A dark smile traced his lips as he stopped a few paces from the guards.
"Do you truly believe those spears can protect you from my wrath? From an immortal?"
He tapped the arrow lodged in his neck, then traced the scars on his face.
Only then did Selvar grasp the twisted cunning behind the Immortal Demon's calm face. He had left the wound, letting it fester like a statement.
...It was proof of his immortality.
Selvar's eyes flickered with awe.
A wry chuckle slipped from Oren's lips as he glared at their sharpened spears.
"I bear no ill will. I want Everdream to thrive. I want the great Unison Mountains to flourish because of me."
He grinned and added, pointing at Selvar, "The people of Everdream are not at war, yet I know the aid of an enlightened slave will help, and so will an immortal."
His gaze swept to the guards, lingering on their trembling hands, then returned to Selvar. Slowly and deliberately he chuckled, then bowed.
Selvar looked away in distaste.
"I come in peace, honestly. So go. Spread the fortunate news to the outer settlements. The Immortal Demon has arrived."
The guards dropped their spears upon hearing his calm words. Yet somehow, to Oren they looked oddly compelled to pick them back up and strike him down.
There was a slight delay to their movement.
Eventually a loud, frightened shriek escaped their mouths.
That was because Oren was approaching them. This time he was leaving.
Selvar was just as surprised by this conclusion as Oren was.
The intimidation worked, though it seemed the rumours did most of the work.
He then asked, "What valuables did you find in the Wall of Fog?"
Selvar had gathered what seemed to be three fog erols and a golden bracelet stained with an unknown crimson substance.
Staring at Selvar with a question in his eyes, Oren commanded, "Give them a fog erol as compensation for their compliance."
Selvar did not argue, though a trace of perplexity lingered in his eyes.
The guards froze, then trembled in confusion. They did not expect the cunning one to be benevolent.
After a moment, Selvar walked over calmly and placed a fog erol into the left guard's hands, almost regretfully.
After doing so, the guards opened the gate willingly and even smiled.
They passed the border and entered the greater outer settlements of Everdream.
The border itself was gargantuan, yet its size did not compare even to the smallest cliff faces of the Unison Mountains.
Forged from stone, brick, and wood, it looked delicate yet protective, allowing the people within to feel at ease.
The defenses of Everdream were supreme upon the mountains.
Enlightened warriors stood along the peak of the border, bows drawn and arrows in hand.
Their eyes were as cunning as Selvar's.
It was the same gaze he had felt while approaching the guards.
Yet they did not shoot the self-proclaimed demon.
The grey wall stretched like a holy veil, its peak far beyond the reaches of Everdream's titanic border.
Passing through the steel gate, Oren and Selvar's steps hummed against the ground, then halted.
On the other side, the first thing they saw was a narrow stone path descending between terraced homes.
Buildings of timber and stone rose along the mountainside in layered rows, their wooden rooftops still catching the pale light of dawn.
Narrow walkways connected the terraces like veins, winding between homes and small courtyards.
From here the outer settlements felt even larger than they had from afar, stretching along the mountain in quiet order.
Smoke drifted lazily from a few chimneys, and the faint murmur of people waking for the day echoed softly through the terraces.
They had just entered.
So why did he feel a bad premonition?
Is it just me...? Am I a bad omen?
Oren smiled darkly.
His voice broke the comfortable silence between them.
"You see how fast they changed after you gave them the fog erol? That is how fast mortals can change."
He glanced at Selvar, then continued.
"Do not be persuaded by their little act, though. Just because they allowed us entry does not mean we belong here, and it certainly means they will not want us here."
Oren chuckled bitterly and looked at the various people, pale and stricken with holy awe.
It was as if they had met an angel. But an angel he was not.
Selvar nodded calmly, then chuckled.
"Yes, I know. It was quite strange. They changed so suddenly. Sadly, we do not have the fortune to sway each and every one of the people of Everdream with charms."
Selvar snarled, surprising Oren slightly.
"This is their home, and even if their job is not that of protecting it, they do not regard treacherous miscreants and vile people like you and me kindly."
As he said that, Oren heard a cry, then a shout from strangers. It started with a few wary glares, escalating into an outward display of hate and torment.
"Is that thing really the Immortal Demon?" a woman asked from across the street.
"The demon is going to attack us, isn't he? We are doomed. Everyone run!" an older man screamed from afar.
With his words, people ran as fast as they could, tripping over their own feet.
But amid their hurried cries there was also a group of concerned and curious people who felt entitled to know who this Immortal Demon was.
He could not complain. Who would not question a human with an arrow pierced through their neck?
Reminiscing about his old beauty, he thought, I am not quite the looker anymore, am I?
The shouts grew into a small crowd of curious bystanders.
They surrounded them like an unknown threat as the two walked silently.
The people of the outer settlements thought the cruel man would switch at any moment.
As they feared, with time he did.
Oren's face was at first an empty smile, then sincere, and finally a dark grimace as he realised the attention they drew was truly boundless.
And that because of this there would be many problems in the future.
Unlike the older men and women, the children behind the grey wall were oblivious to such morals and understanding.
Their opinions were mostly ethical, yet built from the twisted and possibly sincere views of the adults around them.
Oren and Selvar walked through unbothered by the crowd.
Their only drew more attention.
"Hello, sir... are you the Immortal Demon?"
The voice came from nowhere, making Selvar's eyes widen.
When Oren saw the small child standing within the small space in the crowd, wearing a hesitant, uncertain smile, his facade faded faintly.
The young boy had been pushed towards the centre of the crowd. His fragile body was small, too small.
His hair was thinning despite his young age, and his skin was unhealthily pale.
"Yes, that is who I am," Oren said calmly, making the people in the crowd gasp in fright.
"My home is scared of you."
The boy frowned, then continued confidently.
"They say an undying demon goes to everyone's homes and destroys them. If that isn't naughty…"
The boy glanced at Oren, then at the arrow lodged in his neck before continuing.
"He destroys everything in every way. And he also sins."
The boy stepped forward, his gaze resolute.
"Are you going to destroy my home too?"
A person from the crowd opened their mouth, but before a sound could escape, Oren flashed them a dark glare.
The crowd froze, silent.
Then he looked back at the small boy and smiled.
"No. I come to your home with great things in mind," Oren said, pointing in the direction of the fog.
"With me here, young one, you can reach beyond the fog."
The crowd's movements stilled for a moment. A whisper slipped through them.
"Lies."
The boy frowned at the sudden silence, his small hands clenching slightly.
He blinked… then asked, "Is that really true?"
The child's eyes glistened for a moment, then froze in delayed realization. He swallowed hard, his voice barely above a whisper.
"But… Immortal Demon, sir… do you actually hurt people?"
Oren laughed softly, then nodded sincerely.
Gathering his thoughts, he grinned and shifted the subject.
"The people of Everdream are well-informed, aren't they?"
He glanced at Selvar for support, but all Selvar did was shrug and give him a look of pity.
"I shall give you a trinket of honor for your confidence."
After he said that Oren heard a few envious shouts from the crowd.
Jealous of a child, Oren laughed in his mind.
The boy looked up at him.
"A trin... trinket?"
"Yes, a trinket," Oren chuckled, gesturing for Selvar to pass him the golden bracelet.
But before Oren could give the child the gift, the boy asked softly, a hint of fear in his voice.
"You look hurt. Do you feel hurt?"
The boy's eyes widened as he asked Oren the question everyone in the crowd wanted to know.
"Your name is immortal demon? So does that mean you are really immortal… mister?"
The child raised his arms in confusion.
"Do you live forever…? Is that why you are not hurt?"
Oren glared at the people of Everdream with a daring smile. Raising his cold voice deliberately, the people could not help but shiver.
His smile returned.
"Pain... everyone feels pain, i can feel pain just as much as you, and everyone in your home."
Oren laughed bitterly, then stopped, his celestial golden eyes glimmered with a restless emotion.
"But it is not that simple. Perhaps it is. I cannot die easily, that much is true. But there is always a way to end anything, even me.
...They call me the Immortal Demon, yet everything meets its end."
Oren gestured to the birds in the sky, then to the ground, and eventually to the fog erols in Selvar's hands.
"The flocks of birds will one day fall. The countless insects beneath our feet will return to the soil. And the creatures in the mountains will grow old and fade."
"Even the mountains will break apart slowly, and from what is broken a river may one day form, and with it new life."
That was the beauty of this peculiar world. Oren thought as he continued.
"I have seen it myself. It is quite magnificent and sorrowful. But you must understand. Without an ending, nothing can be fulfilled."
Oren frowned as he studied the childs confused expression, then laughed.
"It seems I went off track, but to answer your question, yes... I cannot die."