The Demon Lord And His Hero

As much as he wanted to keep it from spreading, the news about Rowan's transformation had exploded. Every noble worth their salt had heard about the strange case of Rowan Windwalker. There were crowds of noblemen sauntering in and out of the HQ. Every single one of them was there to see the beauty whose face was declared to be as exquisite as a rose.

Rowan was annoyed by the attention he was receiving but he wore a neutral expression and carried on with his day.

"Give them a day to gawk. Denying them entry would just lead them straight to his house. We'll restrict entry from tomorrow," had been the words to Artemus when he had appealed for Rowan.

Rowan had no idea what Syryn had intended from the fertility idol. But somewhere out there, a monkey's paw had lowered a finger and fulfilled the purpose of the idol. Rowan now had a woman's reproductive organs. He was good at rolling with unexpected happenings but this was turning into a bigger problem than he had anticipated.

"Rowan, are you stuck like this forever?" It was asked in a refined accent, like the type spoken by the royal family.

The blond raised his head and saw it was the second prince, Eivern. Dark hair and blue eyes, like his father.

"Your highness," Rowan said to the handsome prince who had given in to the temptation to see the kingdom's newest beauty. "I certainly hope not. I prefer my manhood over this."

"You were the bachelor desired by every noble daughter, and now you don't even spare the men. Rowan, if this remains your permanent form, I'd thank Eos all day. And then I'd marry you."

Were the men praying that Rowan stayed this way? He hoped not. The quill that he had been holding abruptly snapped. He hadn't realised how hard he had squeezed the shaft.

The second prince was amused by Rowan's violent reaction to his teasing. "Calm down Rowan, it'll get sorted out soon enough. Father sent me to enquire how this came about. You know you can rely on us, Windwalker."

"Please send my gratitude to his majesty. I will certainly ask for help if I require it."

Eivern was unwilling to leave. He wanted to stay a while longer and appreciate what nobody could have. Nonetheless, he was a prince and it was unbecoming of someone of his station to gawk at a friend who had just possibly turned into every man's wet dream.

"I'll say a prayer for your manhood Rowan," Eivern informed the blond.

______

Only two days later, Artemus wordlessly handed a note to Rowan. The dark-eyed anti mage then left without any explanations.

The blond unfolded the paper and saw an address written in a neat script that could only belong to Artemus.

One of these days, Rowan would have to find a way to thank the older anti mage. But only after solving his immediate problems.

______

Rowan skipped work the next day. Syryn cast an illusion on himself but discovered that it didn't work on Rowan.

"This damn idol," he grit his teeth and stared at the monkey. Syryn had the thought that if he could cast an illusion on Rowan - a high level one because anti mages were immune to lower level spells- then he could at least visually transform Rowan into his male self. He had hoped that it could revive his wilting libido. The mage had asked Salem for a strong spell to counter the anti mage's natural immunity but none of the spells had any effect on Rowan.

"Dont antagonise the idol, Ryn."

Syryn swallowed down the words that were growing in his mouth.

"Let's go find the boy. I don't need an illusion when it's no longer a secret what I've turned into."

-----

Surprisingly, the teenager lived not too far from Silent. He lived in a small town located almost an hours walk away from the beach.

Arriving at the town caused people to gawk at the rare beauty that had come to visit.

Syryn knocked on the door of a stone house and a familiar teenager opened the door.

"Yes?" The teenager asked them cautiously. Syryn was under an illusion and Rowan had transformed. There was no recognition on the teen's face.

"We bought a fertility idol from you last week and now my boyfriend has turned into a girlfriend," Syryn said as he pointed to Rowan. "Help us fix it."

Confusion was etched across the teen's face, but a moment later, his eyes lit up and he turned to stare at Rowan.

"Mister anti mage?" He asked in disbelief.

Syryn did not like that. Why was he surprised? Did this not happen often with fertility idols?

"Let us in," Syryn said to the man while standing protectively over his man. There were people on the streets starting at Rowan. Could Syryn chase them off? Was that acceptable behaviour?

The teenager allowed them to enter his home. Syryn slammed the door shut as fast as he could. He had been getting goosebumps from the leers that were directed Rowan's way.

"How did this happen?" The teenager looked at Rowan up and down, aghast, like something terrible had happened.

Syryn was liking his reaction less and less.

"What do you mean what happened? You sold us the idol, shouldn't you know about the risks it poses?" He asked with a calmness that he wasn't feeling.

"I've sold a few idols like the one you bought but this has never happened before."

Syryn's heart sank. He was an idiot and this was his fault. Calm down! He said to himself. Calm down. He looked to Rowan but the anti mage was silent. Syryn wanted to know what Rowan was thinking.

"Who makes these idols?" He asked the teenager.

"The gold monkey came from a merchant ship that I got a few of my commodities from. They'll be here again next month so you can ask them about it."

"So there's nothing you can do?" Rowan finally broke his silence.

"I'm sorry mister anti mage..."