@Anonymous Assuming that is the case, would that be a good or a bad thing? After all, if Eddie did remember Collin, the temptation would be there for him to join his boyfriend in the corruption that had claimed him. Maybe that's not a bad thing? Nevertheless, yours is a very romantic idea. Collin and Eddie had a very loving relationship.

@[Pcm](/user/show/10039396) With how he gain knowledge about Collin's existence, and Frolorn as his new reality, he will think that Collin betrayed his trust since he might think Forlorn is Collin, and is always a demon, tricking him with false love, that the entire time he spent with Collin is fake, and was never true. It will make him decide that he will escort the others to safety, and at the end, confront Forlorn. Forlorn may tell him the truth, even shapeshifted back into his human form, but who would believe the words of a demon, especially when you think he tricks you for so many years? He would not be tempted to join, instead filled by rage in him and use everything he has to kill Forlorn. It will left with Forlorn having to retreated with his family, who may be occupied at transforming humans. Forlorn will be saddened by this, and maybe having a short brief of thinking, why did things turns out like this? Why didn't he accept his love? Why did it feel hurts to hear those harmful words from him? Eventually, he might try to enter Eddie's dream, only to find a barrier is blocking him from access(maybe he knows Forlorn may attempt to enter his dream, thus wearing an artifact to protect himself), thus leaving him no other way to interact with Eddie. It was a bittersweet ending I think of. Forlorn will never understand Eddie's behaviour, and trying to go for another try and ended up failing. Eddie will remember Collin as a fake, a disguise by the prince of nightmare, Forlorn, and trying so hard to forget about him. Forlorn may keep trying, but it's all in vain, thanks to the new reality of the demon overlord.

@Anonymous Realistically, this is how I would see Eddie surviving. Forlorn would face the price of having become a demon- and a realization that he can't have everything. I am of thought that if Eddie fled northward after going with the evacuating folk, and goes so far as potentially deciding to use magic to divorce himself from feeling any sexual desire (or alternatively he is just too traumatized by the invasions to even approach intimacy for a very long time if ever), by the time forlorn comes around to tempt him, it's far too late- forlorn can't do anything, and he can't have the man he loved back. Eddie on the other hand sees nothing but a duplicitous monster in a fair form that he wants nothing to do with, and has contented himself with a solitary-esque life in the north (he still meets up with Jason and the others and is a major figure amongst the refugees- but after everything tends to keep to himself at times- though in populated areas- I think the invasions will make people cluster into cities to avoid being preyed upon. Forlorn will be left to pine mindlessly, and no amount of pleasure from elsewhere will sate him. That would be a fitting consequence. Forlorn may be left bereft of his lover, but Eddie will survive as himself. He will maintain his own identity, and will be able to- or at least have the ability to- heal and move on. All forlorn can do then is accept the consequences. For me, Eddie being demonized would strip him of his self, something his abusive father tried to do. It would give his father victory in a way, and I find that a less than ideal fate for Eddie. Him scarred but still himself and surviving, even if alone in a way- that I think is better. But regardless, I love your idea. If forlorn is to embody despair, he should taste that which he gives to others. Perhaps then he may realize what he has become.

@Anon Thanks, you proven my point exactly. I want to see at the very least, the Forlorn demon, have a realisation that pleasure isn't above all else, and nothing can replace what you truly wants deep down, no matter how many times you try to distract yourself from it

@Anonymous For me, I think that while it's implied the demons are slaves to the machinations of the overlord in regards to how they think, something this traumatic for forlorn might cause that mind control to slacken. Not by a lot, but just a bit. Him not being able to have a pleasure in his state would absolutely consume him. I think at first forlorn may try to distract himself with pleasure but realizes it never will fulfill him. Eventually, he realizes that he cannot have what he wants- and begins to slowly realize that the freedom of the demons is yet another cage. When he begins to grow to consumed over grief regarding Eddie, hes eventually warned continuing to do so will lead to consequences- the overlord wants hedonistic soldiers, not grieving folk unable to fight. By that point, it's possible forlorn might eventually break away altogether by attempting to run off- he still seeks out pleasure as he's hardwired to do so- but there will always be a gnawing sadness to him which might spiral out of control. He might feel self hatred and jealousy for his human self (which in this timeline was literally fake), have a potential identity crisis, and it might wind up interfering so much he can't feel pleasure anymore. He can go through the motions, but nothing works. If this goes too out of control, forlorn might just show up and ask Eddie to kill him. At that point Eddie might oblige, but he might just leave him there as further punishment- not wanting to satisfy forlorn. Or potentially, Eddie decides he'll use forlorn to his own advantage- and forlorn is just so broken he allows it- leading to some very complicated interactions between them filled with anger, confusion, coldness and grief. At that point should Eddie leave him to suffer, forlorn might just go completely despondent and just drift around for many years- unable to come to terms with things. Or he might judge try to deny everything and find pleasures again, but nothing helps enough. Eddie becomes a ghost he cannot shake ever, and haunts him the rest of his days. We know that the northern beastfolk have managed to figure things out and not go crazy, so while it would be very rare, the idea of a demon breaking away from the overlord is a strange possibility to explore. It would only occur if demonization cannot give them what they want- which in forlorn case is Eddie should he refuse and get away from him and any pursuit for him afterwards fails.

@Anon Yes, it may happen like that. The demons may win in the end, but let Forlorn unable to get Eddie, he managed to escaped unharmed. It really doesn't matter either way, whether he remembers Collin or not, for Forlorn, it might be the best he remembers him, it will be easier to corrupt, but as I mentioned earlier, with the reality change, that love becomes false, and Eddie's love for Collin reduced to nothing but a lie now. If he doesn't know him, Eddie still have to confront Forlorn, without emotion between them, Forlorn will fail to corrupt him. It's very unlikely that he got corrupted by Forlorn, and because of this new reality he's in, the demon that tricks people into giving themselves up is right in front of him, so he will be careful and not let Forlorn tempt him into submission.

@Anonymous I agree with you. As it stands, even if Eddie manages remembers Collin which I highly doubt, he would likely believe such was but an act. He would recognize if he had fallen in love with forlorn, it was love in regards to somebody who never existed. Eddie will resist. He has no connection to forlorn at all now, and if he does wind up remembering what forlorn looked like as Collin, he can warn others of how forlorn may disguise himself. I strongly suspect that due to the demonic threat, magical means of suppressing or even eliminating sexual desire will become popular. Trauma and repulsion towards intimacy will likely skyrocket amongst survivors and refugees. Defensive strategies, being less trusting of outsiders that demons could impersonate as (as with forlorns healer disguise), and massive fortification of any borders to the east will be a necessity. The coming generations will likely move far away from any eastern border regions and stay clustered in strongholds for safety. This will be a massive cultural shift and also politically and economically. As it stands, the north and west will likely begin urbanizing and retaining whatever remains of eastern arcane and scientific knowledge, and building their defensive assets. How this affects the demographics, religions and culture of the region are also areas to consider. Syncretism and political fluxes will occur to some degree. Personally, I think the demons hedonism is unsustainable. It will eventually collapse on itself. Because if your entire theme is endlessly lusting for more and more, eventually you might take on more than you can handle. The other gods (especially the primal beast) are going to go all in with combating the demons, and eastern refugees will assist in this. Far off countries will also likely tighten their borders to protect themselves. Ironically, the demons will become a unifying threat that will undercut the ability of them to encroach as badly as they did in the east. On the other hand, until such is earablished well enough, demons like forlorn could travel and start outbreaks. Executions, surveillance states, magic diagnostic tools, increased security measures and an emphasis of security over liberty will likely be expected reactions to combat this, but with the caveat of not being too bad to avoid willful defection to demonhood by people. If possible, if you wish to reply to this, please start another comment thread as a reply. I don't mean to impose, but if they get too long they can clog up the main page. I'll be stopping here for now. I would argue if Eddie manages to escape, he can become a leader amongst the refugees and survivors, and as somebody who resisted forlorn, a capable enemy against him. The only thing that binds them now is hatred. It's tragic, but better that than Eddie being violated and suffering death of his identity.

@Anon To be honest, I really think there's no way Eddie could get transformed here, he is very dutiful and a knight, and with how the demonic forces become stronger, he has to subject himself with magic enhancement that delay the corruption or protect himself from it, making it nigh impossible for any demon to corrupt him. The grandmaster or someone else may have the power to do so, and wants to see the East being saved. It would be idiotic to go unprepared, with him seeing Lys' state and knowing what horrible deeds done by Forlorn, wouldn't you agree?

@[BlackMaple](/user/show/180252) You're very welcome. When I first started writing these stories, I was surprised by how many others shared my kinky fantasies. It really felt great to publish these stories, and get a feedback from the reader. In the process, it really felt like a community coming (or should I say 'cumming') together. Sorry for that pun; I just couldn't help myself. But it really motivated me to keep writing more stories throughout the years. Yes ... I totally flubbed that line. I have since corrected it to "waist". Not bad for someone who English isn't their primary language. I've corrected the typo and it's awaiting approval from the site moderators. Thanks for catching that.

@[Glennyboi](/user/show/917433) Hihiii :grin: the next chapter is about half-done, it's going to be a longer one :stuck_out_tongue:

@[SleepyAsh](/user/show/10046846) So excited 🥵🥵

@[Glennyboi](/user/show/917433) It's almost done now, got just two scenes left. I didn't expect it to end up this long :smiling_face_with_tear:

@[Finchy](/user/show/930308) thanks

@[Anon](/user/show/10049352) Well, I was gonna show how Forlorn corruoted others in this chapter, but that would make it even longer, so I'm saving that for the next chapter. Basically, he is an erotic dream who has domonion over the mid of othersand can manipulate them to an exteng few other demons could. Disguised as a harmless cleric, any human who receives his healing will drow more and more demonic over, it is his way of ensuring his spawn could go undetected and bring as many into the fold as possible before they are found. He can even visit people in dreams and corrupts them in their sleep while they had the most arousing wet dream of their life. Maybe he does all three combined. His powers are twisted attributes of Collin's. Edsie will unfortunately stay and fight to cover others' escape, his duty demands him. Maybe if the evacuation goes, he may join them, but not a moment before. The nature of spul is complicated. Even if Collin has been Forlorn for so long, much longer tgan he has been Collin, would that not say tgat Forlorn is Collin's true self liberated from his moral restraint? Or that the soul itself has innate imprints of personality, which is another point of interest. The Wolfmen will have a hars tims accepting people who maintain the worship of dawn and dusk. Pb is very vocal about Gis enmity.

@[Pcm](/user/show/10039396) Forlorn's methodology reminds me very much of the folklore of incubi and succubi that seduce people in dreams. Him disguising as a cleric and using magic to infuse people with demonic influences is a tragic corruption of who he was, but also fitting narratively. There also a subliminal horror in how a cleric, somebody you can trust, is now you potentially must run away from. Eddie staying until the end also makes sense. He is dutiful in every sense of the word. For me, the enchantments that made Collin Forlorn are ultimately based in a lie. Therefore, at most Forlorn is a twisted bastardization of Collin and his worst aspects brought to light imbalance without any of his positive qualities. For those who are unaware of the old reality, your analysis of Collin is correct- he will be seen as Collin's true self- because Collin no longer really exists and has perished. I do not see him as Collin's true self, but aspects of himself horribly distorted by demonic interference. That isn't really him anymore. When it comes to the soul, growing up I was taught of a concept of the inner soul (the ego) known as the nafs. While it is often seen as something to be controlled as it's the source of one's desires in it's most primal state- it in itself is not evil- but as it's the source of one's desires and wants- it can become bad if one does not control it. The nafs however can be controlled, restrained and eventually made to be a force of good rather than evil however- this is not done by merely suppressing all desire (as the eastern knights did which led to disastrous overcorrections, but by restraining and channeling it appropriately). It is not inherently evil on it's own. The concept has been seen as similar to the Ubermensch of the philsoopher Nietzsche, to the point that the indian philosopher Muhammad Iqbal thought Nitezche plagiarized the concept of the nafs from eastern sources and made it his own. The demons have essentially been degraded to the lowest level of the nafs which is mostly focused on self gratification- and are essentially slaves to the demon overlord. However free they think they are, they fundamentally are chained to him. The wolfmen will have a hard time accepting those of the dawn and dusk as they likely see them as foreign, oppressive deities (but as eddie mentioned, the beastfolk are also mired in sinister dealings), but they will have to come to some sort of accord regarding them. The easterners are not all going to convert wholesale to the primal beast- before the east had the demons to deal with, the west and east were at war with each other. The royalty of the west will likely not be a fan, but will need to probably accomdoate for political expediency. The northern variant of the beastfolk are likely much more moderate regarding this, and personally I find them to be the most well adjusted- unlike the demons and the western beastfolk they have not let their impulses rule over them. In that light, Collin and the others have been altered to have their desires overtake their entire personality in a sense. A person who is enslaved to his own desires is no longer their own man, but merely a puppet for internal and external forces. No matter how alluring their situation is, it still is a cage.