Eüreuse had been walking in the World Below for an hour now. She made her way through a forest along an old path carved by Men years before her birth. Over time, this dirt trail had inevitably deteriorated.
Perhaps due to the lack of travelers: the region having once been dominated by humanity, other races, like Dwarves or Elves, now favored the major trade routes. Or perhaps the true reason was far darker: demons had exterminated a large part, if not the entirety, of the human race.
The forest lining the path was gloomy. The air resonated with the repeated cracking of dead wood, the sinister cawing of crows, and the continuous whistling of the wind that chilled her skin.
Yet, she could walk peacefully, without fearing any lurking danger. In reality, no danger could reach her. She was born with an absolute gift: the Prohibition of Malice. This power prevented any living being from harming her. The very concept of "harm" directed at Eüreuse simply did not exist in this world. The only person capable of hurting her was herself.
Two hours passed. Eüreuse was still walking. The vegetation was so dense one could easily get lost, but it was the safest route to avoid demons, and above all, the Corrupted.
A feeling of emptiness gripped her. She had wanted so much to make this journey with her adoptive father, but he had stayed above. Besides, Eüreuse still didn't understand the true reasons for his refusal. Walking alone in these woods, the solitude weighed heavily upon her. She didn't even know the concept of friendship.
She had never seen other humans in her life; her only company had always been the demon who raised her. And, ironically, the other demons coveted her.
"The other demons... they all want to take me with them. They consider me their daughter," she murmured.
Why had Nigin ordered her to be wary of his kind? She possessed the Prohibition of Malice, and Nigin knew perfectly well that none of them could harm her. So why forbid her from approaching them?
"I don't understand you, Nigin. Why can't I associate with demons other than you? If I had the right, I could have gone to the colonial cities, slept in a real bed, and eaten my fill. But you strictly forbade it."
Was Nigin selfish to the point of wanting to keep the last human exclusively for himself? Or was there something that only Eüreuse could accomplish in this vast world? As the ultimate survivor of her race, perhaps the demons coveted her to fulfill one of their dark prophecies.
She caught herself daydreaming, imagining she was the hidden daughter of a powerful god, waiting for a prince to rescue her on a bed of flowers to tear her from the clutches of a dragon.
Lost in her thoughts, she hadn't noticed the forest was changing. The trees became sparser, and some were completely charred. Beneath her boots, the ground was a deep black, covered in a layer of ash, as if the entire area had been ravaged by flames.
When Eüreuse finally emerged from the undergrowth, a primal fear overwhelmed her. A fear justified by the nightmarish creature standing before her. At the edge of the forest stood an immense, bluish-grey dragon. Its eyes were a milky grey, signs of an obvious blindness. Yet, the beast seemed to stare Eüreuse right in the eyes, paralyzing her with dread.
"Are you the one I have been waiting for?" the dragon asked in a deep voice.
Eüreuse wanted to answer, but terror knotted her throat. Although the monster could not physically harm her, it emanated a crushing aura that petrified anyone who met its blind gaze.
"Are you... my dear daughter?" the creature continued.
"N-no," Eüreuse stammered, still frozen.
Despite the terror, she felt compelled to answer him.
"And yet..."
The dragon lowered its gigantic snout until it brushed against her.
"You have her scent. A strange scent of roses."
Eüreuse discreetly sniffed her own clothes. It was true, she gave off a faint perfume of roses. But she was nothing like a dragon! She was born to two human parents, before being taken on the very day of her birth by Nigin. The demon had confessed this truth to her, without ever revealing the identity of her birth parents.
"I... I am not your daughter..." she babbled.
She had to stick to the truth.
"Hmmmm..."
Thick smoke escaped from the giant reptile's nostrils and licked Eüreuse's face. Strangely, this mist was freezing cold.
"Fourteen years ago, I saw the light for the first time," the dragon declared. "I was born in a nest ravaged by flames. A devastating fire. The fire of War."
"The fire... of war?" Eüreuse repeated, her paralysis beginning to fade.
"I could hear the howls of women weeping for their husbands gone to battle. The sobs of children whose parents had just been crushed by the debris of their homes. The cries of despair from mothers watching their little ones consumed by the flames... I also heard the terrifying clash of swords, axes, and clubs striking against each other in an endless massacre."
"Why are you telling me all this?" she dared to ask.
"I couldn't see anything. I was born blind. But..."
Suddenly, the dragon unfurled its immense wings and took off brutally, as if propelled by an invisible force.
"I have always loved you!"
The beast's roar was almost drowned out by the powerful blast of wind and the altitude. Yet, Eüreuse had very clearly made out that last word: "Loved."
Why would the word "loved" come from the maw of a colossal creature capable of reducing villages to ashes?