Path of Change

Part 3

PATH OF CHANGE

By Seth Campbell

Part Three

The entire street was coming out of their homes to see what was going on. They weren't disappointed. Standing before them was a cowering woman, a rage-filled man, and a very confused demon.

"This...!" The man bellowed out to the crowd while pointing at me. "This...! He transfigured himself from man to demon!" The crowd gasped. I suddenly started feeling really awkward. All eyes were on me. It was at that point I realized that this wasn't going to just breeze over.

What I didn't realize was how much of an understatement that notion was gonna be.

Overnight, public discussion shifted to just one topic: me. All people were talking about was me and what the hardcore were calling my "demonic lifestyle". With the public outcry, Adrian had recommended that I stay indoors; I said no. He then said that I had to at least have someone with me for saftey since most public controversies tend to get really violent really fast.

Clement accompanied me to the Academy so I could formally withdraw from my classes since I'd achieved my goal. Thankfully nobody tried to kill me. But someone did throw a rotten tomato at me. It was a pain and a half to get the smell out of my fur. Adrian was scolding me too; worst bath ever.

"I told you not to go." He handed me various cleaning utensils from the other side of the curtain. "Now will you listen to me?"

"No." I shampooed my chin for the third time. "I'm not gonna let my life be dictated by these people." I poured a bucket of water over my head and got up. Adrian immediately exited the bathroom after handing me a towl over the curtain.

I started wringing the water out of my fur before I toweled off. "Then how're you gonna deal with these people?" I finished drying myself off and put on a clean pair of pants.

"I was thinkin' of just ignoring them," I exited the bathroom and rejoined Adrian. "Shouldn't be too hard." I put my tunic back on while Adrian pulled a small pamphlet from his coat pocket. "What's that?" I asked him.

"It's probably gonna be harder than you thought." He handed me the pamphlet. I didn't even have to read the title to know I didn't like it. Across the cover was an illustration of my face with an evil fanged toothy grin and evil eyebrows.

"That looks nothing like me." I started reading through it. "Demons in Plain Sight," I couldn't believe what I was reading. "They seriously printed this in just one night?" I flipped through all eight pages. At the end was a little byline stating that it was written, printed, and distributed by the Knights of Othal. It was pretty well laid out, aside from the fact that it painted me as an aspect of Kusma; which I'm not.

"Cecil, these people are dangerous," I nodded in agreement since these people still didn't acknowledge the fact that the Revolution happened. "I don't think Clement can keep you safe. You should probably stay inside."

"This can't be the only opinion, can it?" I tossed the pamphlet aside; I didn't want to keep it. Adrian followed me out to the living room. "I mean, we can't even get people to agree over what day the rubbish should be collected."

"Well," Adrian peeked out the front window before closing the shutters. "I did hear a woman say that she 'respects your life choice;' whatever that means." I slumped down in my chair.

"I'd say that this'd blow over," I sighed. "But, now all I can do is hope that the voices of the rational outweigh the not so rational." I truly hoped that they would.

They didn't.

Before the weekend was over, public discussion had given way to verbal fistfights. (And one actual reported fistfight) Any moderates had all but left the playing field and only the two extremes remained to completely dominate the discourse: Those who saw me as a champion of rights and magical advancement, and those who saw me as the harbinger of the destruction of society.

With the increased heat of the outrage, I finally heeded Adrian's words and remained indoors. I spent most of my time reading. Clement and his friends came often to visit so I could have company. They also brought food often.

"Holdin' up well?" Clement passed a platter of shredded lamb to me and I used the spoon at the end of my skewer to scoop some onto my plate.

"Well, I haven't been able to leave the flat in a week. I only have you and Adrian to keep me company. And I've gone through every book I got twice. So yeah, I'm doin' great. Could you pass the bread?" Clement handed me a basket filled with flatbread. "Thanks," I took one. "When do you think I'll be able to go out in public again?"

"Cecil," Clement sighed and looked down; something he never did. "I don't think you'll be leaving anytime soon; unless it's to move you to some place safer." I didn't understand as he pulled out a flier from his coat. "There's a price on your head."

"What...?" I took the flier and didn't believe what I saw. Across the top in large printed letters proclaimed "Reward". Half of the page was yet another portrait of my face. "Well, at least it actually looks like me this time." Right below my picture was the words: "Dead-100 pounds of silver. Alive-Nothing." My eyebrows hit the ceiling. "That's not good."

"We're thinking of sneaking you to a hut out of town one of my friends has." I put my skewer down; no longer hungry. "We're actually ready to leave tonight if we need to."

"Whoa!" I didn't see that coming. "How long've you been planning this?!" Clement pulls out a map of the town and its outskirts with markups on it.

"Since this morning." He spreads the map out on an empty spot of the table. "Right after we found out about that," Clement took a quick gulp. "And who put it out." I looked down to see "Knights of Othal" printed across the bottom.

"Why am I not surprised?" I slammed the flyer onto the table. "First, I thought people would be accepting." Clement looks up at me. "Then, I thought the outrage would just mull over." I started to look down. "Then, I thought I just had to be patient." My hands clenched into fists. "And now, I gotta skip town before I get killed." I get up; Clement and his friend do too. "Let's get this over with; lemme get my stuff."

I politely left the room and began collecting my clothes, books, and other things from the bedroom. I never thought it would come to me. I stopped myself mid thought. I didn't have time to reminisce. I put a giant wad of clothes and stack of books into a burlap sack.

I went to my lab and grabbed my notebook before reentering the living room. It had all my notes on how I was able to change myself. Clement was standing by the door with a sword drawn; much to my surprise.

"You ready?" He seemed nonchalant.

"That's a sword." I couldn't get past the fact that Clement, the last person I'd expect to have a sword, was packing.

"Yeah," Clement looked at it, than me. "Let's just hope I don't have to use it. You ready?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." I took a last quick look around what had for the last two years been my home. "Let's go."