Princess of Hell

We left Kyriakos's laboratory with more questions than answers, the journal's revelations weighing heavily on my mind. As we made our way through the winding passages of the Northern Caves, that persistent feeling of being watched intensified. Every shadow seemed to shift when I wasn't looking directly at it, every echo of our footsteps sounded like it carried an extra beat.

"Are you sure no one followed us?" I asked Isabella for the third time, glancing over my shoulder at the empty tunnel behind us.

"I've been checking," she replied, though her voice carried a note of uncertainty. "The caves play tricks on perception. Sound bounces strangely here, and the crystal formations create optical illusions."

But this felt different from mere cave acoustics. This felt deliberate, like someone was deliberately staying just out of sight. My succubus senses, usually so reliable, couldn't pinpoint the source of my unease. Was it Kyriakos, somehow aware we'd discovered his secret? Had he left some kind of magical surveillance in his laboratory?

I didn't have the luxury of finding out. Faith's life hung in the balance, and every moment we spent second-guessing ourselves was another moment Kyriakos could be subjecting her to his twisted experiments.

The drowsy guard at the cave entrance barely acknowledged our departure, too focused on whatever entertainment he'd conjured to pay attention to three succubi leaving the tunnels. Once we were clear of the cave mouth and standing on the rocky outcropping overlooking the volcanic plains of Igneus, I made my decision.

"We're flying to the Eastern Transition Zone," I announced, spreading my wings. The familiar weight of them felt reassuring, a reminder of the power I possessed even when everything else seemed uncertain.

Aria looked up at me with surprise. "You want to talk to Elder Thorne again? But I thought you said he was boring."

"He knew," I said simply, grabbing Aria around the waist and lifting her into the air. "The amulet he gave me revealed Kyriakos's hidden notes. That's not a coincidence."

Isabella spread her own wings and joined us in the crimson sky above Ardorkeep. "You think the elf anticipated this?"

"I think Elder Thorne knows a lot more about what's happening than he let on." The wind rushed past us as we gained altitude, the familiar sensation of flight helping to clear my head. "He specifically gave me something that would help us understand Kyriakos's motivations. Why would he do that unless he knew we'd need it?"

Aria squirmed in my grip, trying to get comfortable. "Maybe he's some kind of prophet? Elves are supposed to be wise and mystical, right?"

"Maybe." But something about Elder Thorne had felt different from mere elderly wisdom. There had been an otherworldly quality to his presence, something that went beyond even the supernatural nature of his displaced village.

As we flew toward the Eastern Transition Zone, I couldn't shake the feeling that we were being drawn into something much larger than a simple rescue mission. Kyriakos's desperation to save his daughter, Faith's transformation, Elder Thorne's mysterious knowledge—all of it felt connected in ways I didn't yet understand.

The landscape below us blurred past as we picked up speed. The sooner we reached the transition zone, the sooner I could get answers from the enigmatic elf.

* * *

The transition zone appeared below us exactly as we'd left it—the massive circular opening in the ground leading down into the spiralling paths between dimensions. My heart lifted slightly when I spotted the lush, impossible jungle still thriving in the cavern where it had no right to exist.

"At least the forest is still there," I muttered, beginning our descent toward the rocky outcropping.

"Did you think it would disappear?" Isabella asked, her wings catching an updraught as we circled lower.

"With everything that's been happening lately, I wouldn't be surprised if the entire transition zone had rearranged itself." I touched down on the familiar stone ledge, setting Aria gently on her feet. "Hopefully the village is there as well."

We made our way down the spiral path with practised ease this time, the journey feeling less treacherous now that we knew what to expect. The temperature shift from Igneus's volcanic heat to the temperate climate of the displaced forest fragment provided welcome relief, and soon we were walking through the bio-luminescent undergrowth toward where we'd found the elven settlement.

But something was wrong.

The village lay before us, but it was completely silent. No smoke rose from chimneys, no voices carried on the air, no movement stirred in the windows of the modest cottages. The entire settlement felt abandoned, as if its inhabitants had simply vanished.

"Where is everyone?" Aria whispered, her usual exuberance dampened by the eerie atmosphere.

"I don't know." I walked through the empty streets, my footsteps echoing strangely in the silence. The cottages stood intact, doors closed, everything appearing normal except for the complete absence of life. "This doesn't feel right."

Isabella examined one of the houses, peering through a window. "No signs of struggle. No indication they left in haste. It's as if they simply… weren't here anymore."

My stomach knotted with unease as we made our way to the centre of the village, toward Elder Thorne's cottage. The small building that had seemed so welcoming before now felt ominous in its stillness. The door stood slightly ajar, just as it had when we'd first arrived, but now it felt like an invitation into something I didn't want to discover.

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I pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The cottage was empty. Not just of people—empty of everything. The furniture, the warm touches that had made it feel lived-in, even the scent of herbs and age that had permeated the space. It was as if the entire interior had been stripped clean, leaving only bare walls and floorboards.

Almost everything.

On the single remaining table in the centre of the room lay a folded piece of parchment. My name was written on it in elegant script that seemed to shimmer slightly in the dim light filtering through the windows.

I approached it cautiously, as if it might explode. When I unfolded the note, the message was brief:

Princess Lily,

We shall meet in due time when circumstances align properly. Until then, know that events unfold as they must.

The coordinates below will serve you when the moment arrives.

R

Below the signature was a series of numbers that I recognized immediately—dimensional gate coordinates, precise enough to open a portal to a specific location across realms.

"What does it say?" Aria asked from behind me.

I crumpled the note in my fist, anger flaring through my chest. "I don't like this. I don't like it at all."

"What's wrong?" Isabella moved closer, concern evident in her voice.

"It feels like someone is manipulating us." I gestured at the empty cottage, at the abandoned village beyond. "Elder Thorne, or whoever he really is, knew we'd come back here. He knew we'd need his help, and he's… he's playing games with us."

The letter 'R' meant nothing to me, but the calculated nature of the message, the way everything had been arranged just so, made my skin crawl. Someone was pulling strings, moving us around like pieces on a game board.

"What are you going to do?" Aria asked quietly.

I stared at the coordinates in my hand, feeling trapped by invisible threads. "That's the problem. Now I feel like whatever I do, I'll be playing right into Thorne's hands. Or whoever he really is."

I stared at the coordinates, my mind racing through the impossible choices before me. Trust Kyriakos to keep his word? I'd already made that mistake once, and now Faith was his prisoner because of it.

That left me with two real options: rush to my parents for help, or follow these coordinates into whatever trap or salvation Thorne had prepared.

The worst part was knowing that Thorne had probably anticipated this exact moment. He'd known I'd come here desperate for answers, known I'd find this note, known I'd stand here paralysed by the weight of choosing between bad options and worse ones. Every path felt like dancing to his tune.

But my parents would help. My father had proven himself more understanding than I'd ever dared hope when I'd confessed the truth about my identity. Lucifer and Lilith commanded resources I couldn't even imagine—they could probably find Kyriakos and drag him back to Hell in chains.

Yet that would take time. Time to explain the situation, time for them to mobilize their forces, time for Kyriakos to notice their interference and potentially do something desperate to Faith in response. Every minute that passed was another minute Faith remained in the hands of a lich who saw her as nothing more than a fascinating research specimen.

What if these coordinates were the answer? What if Thorne genuinely wanted to help, and this cryptic approach was necessary for reasons I didn't understand yet?

"Lily?" Isabella's voice cut through my spiralling thoughts.

I looked up at my friends, seeing my own uncertainty reflected in their faces. Whatever I chose, I'd be gambling with Faith's life—and possibly our own.

"We're going to the coordinates," I decided, crumpling the note tighter in my fist. "But if this is another trap, I'm going to make Thorne regret ever crossing me."

* * *

We flew back toward Ardorkeep with desperate urgency, the crimson sky blurring past us as I pushed my wings harder than I ever had before. The wind whipped through my hair, and I could hear Aria's laboured breathing as Isabella carried her behind me.

The city's obsidian spires came into view faster than expected, and we descended toward the outskirts where fewer demons would notice our arrival. My feet hit the volcanic rock with more force than intended, sending a small tremor through the ground.

"Transport gate," I said tersely, already moving toward the nearest entrance to the city proper.

We walked quickly through the outer districts, past the smaller markets and residential areas where the architecture was less grand but no less striking. The familiar sounds of Hell's daily life—distant laughter, the clink of soul coins, the occasional roar from some unseen creature—felt oddly comforting after the eerie silence of the abandoned village.

As we approached the main thoroughfare, I felt my wings beginning to manifest involuntarily, responding to my agitation. The familiar weight started to press against my shoulder blades.

"Wings," Aria hissed quietly, grabbing my arm.

I caught myself just in time, forcing the transformation to reverse before anyone could notice. "Thank you."

The last thing I needed was to stumble across Valentina or some other Academy classmate while sporting my full demonic form in public.

The transport gate plaza buzzed with its usual activity—demons of various ranks conducting business, travelers preparing for journeys between realms, and the ever-present guards maintaining order. We approached the gate operator, a bored-looking demon with four arms who barely glanced up from his ledger.

"Destination?" he asked in a monotone voice.

"Custom coordinates," I replied, producing the required soul coins from my spatial ring.

He gestured toward the gate controls with one of his secondary hands while continuing to write with another. The crystalline interface hummed to life as I input the numbers from Thorne's note, each digit causing the arcane symbols to shift and realign.

The gate's obsidian frame began to glow with an unfamiliar pattern—not the usual crimson of Hell's transport network, but something colder, more clinical. The portal that formed showed only swirling darkness beyond.

Isabella, Aria, and I exchanged one final look. Whatever lay beyond those coordinates, we were committed now.

We stepped through together.

The sensation of dimensional travel hit differently this time—less like falling through warm honey and more like being dragged through ice water. When the disorientation cleared, I found myself standing in a space that made my skin crawl.

The laboratory around us was a disturbing fusion of arcane knowledge and mechanical precision. Copper pipes snaked along the walls, carrying glowing fluids that pulsed with unnatural rhythms. Glass containers filled with floating specimens lined metal shelves, while runic circles had been etched directly into the floor with mathematical precision. The air itself felt thick and wrong, charged with energies that made my demonic senses recoil.

Crackling Tesla coils rose from various workstations, their electrical discharges illuminating banks of crystalline computers that processed data in languages I couldn't read. The whole place hummed with a low, unsettling frequency that seemed to vibrate in my bones.

"Is this where the lich made his hideout?" Aria asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

I surveyed the alien technology around us, noting how everything seemed designed for purposes I didn't want to contemplate. "Possibly. Or this could be another part of whatever game Thorne is playing with us."

"We should look around," Isabella suggested, though her tone suggested she found the idea as appealing as I did.

The laboratory stretched further than I'd initially realized, with multiple chambers branching off from the main area. Each section seemed dedicated to different research focuses, all equally disturbing in their implications.