Princess Of The Skulls - Chapter 72: Chapter 72

The ritual chamber lay deep beneath the ruins of the castle, in crypts so ancient that even Master Dorian's extensive knowledge couldn't determine their original purpose. Stone walls bore carvings that predated both kingdoms, symbols that seemed to shift when viewed directly and made the air itself feel heavy with accumulated power.
I knelt at the center of a complex pattern carved into the floor, surrounded by the thirteen skull relics that had defined my identity for so long. Each one pulsed with contained malevolence, the demons within sensing that their moment of freedom was at hand. They whispered promises and threats in languages that existed before human speech, their words crawling into my mind like invasive creatures.
"The barriers are weakening faster than anticipated," Master Dorian reported, his voice echoing strangely in the chamber. "We have perhaps six hours before complete dimensional collapse."
Six hours to complete a ritual that should take three days. The mathematics of survival was becoming increasingly unfavorable.
"Then we adapt," I said, rising from my position at the pattern's center. "Instead of a gradual binding, we'll attempt a forced subjugation. It's more dangerous, but—"
"More dangerous, how?" Kael interrupted, moving closer despite the waves of otherworldly energy radiating from the skull relics.
"The demons will fight the binding with everything they have," I explained. "If I'm not strong enough to hold them, they'll either destroy me outright or possess me completely. Either outcome ends badly for everyone involved."
"And if you are strong enough?" Aldric asked.
"Then I survive the process and gain command of forces that could level cities," I replied. "The question becomes whether I retain enough humanity to use that power responsibly."
Through the chamber's entrance, I could hear the sounds of preparation echoing from above—soldiers gathering weapons, scouts reporting enemy movements, civilians being evacuated to whatever safety could be found. The weight of their trust pressed down on me like a physical force.
"There's something else," Master Dorian said reluctantly. "The forced binding will require anchors.
People whose life force can help stabilize the connection between realms."
"How many people?" I asked, though I dreaded the answer.
"For thirteen major demons? At least a dozen. And they would need to participate willingly—forced sacrifice corrupts the binding."
I closed my eyes, feeling the last pieces of my innocence crumble away. To save thousands, I would need to ask a dozen people to die for me. The mathematics was simple, but the moral calculus was staggering.
"I'll do it," Kael said immediately.
"As will I," Aldric added.
"No," I said firmly. "I need both of you alive and functional. If this goes wrong, you'll be the only ones capable of stopping what I become."
"Then who?" Dorian asked.
Before I could answer, footsteps echoed in the chamber's entrance. A group of figures emerged from the shadows—soldiers, servants, and nobles who had remained loyal despite everything. At their head walked Captain Marcus, the grizzled veteran who had trained with me since childhood.
"Your Highness," he said with a formal bow that somehow managed to convey both respect and affection. "We volunteer."
"Marcus, you don't understand what you're—"
"We understand perfectly," he interrupted. "You need willing sacrifices to power a ritual that will save both kingdoms. We're offering ourselves for that purpose."
I looked at the faces around him—men and women I had known for years, people who had served faithfully through political upheaval and supernatural crisis. They were afraid, but their determination was absolute.
"This isn't a glorious death in battle," I warned them. "Your life force will be drained slowly, painfully, as the demons are bound. You'll remain conscious until the end, experiencing every moment of the process."
"Will it work?" asked Lady Catherine, one of my mother's former ladies-in-waiting. "Will our sacrifice ensure the kingdom's survival?"
"I believe so," I said honestly. "But I can't guarantee it."
"Then it's a risk worth taking," Captain Marcus declared. "We've all lived longer than many, and we've served the crown faithfully. Let our deaths have meaning."
The simple dignity of their offer nearly broke my composure. These people were prepared to die horribly because they trusted me to use their sacrifice wisely. I wasn't sure I deserved such faith, but I would honor it.
"Very well," I said, my voice steady despite the emotion threatening to overwhelm me. "Take your positions around the pattern's outer circle. When the ritual begins, you'll feel the demons pulling at your life force. Don't fight it—the smoother the transfer, the less pain you'll experience."
As they arranged themselves according to Master Dorian's directions, I turned to Kael and Aldric. Both men watched me with expressions of mingled love and concern, knowing that in a few minutes I would begin a transformation that might leave me unrecognizable.
"Whatever happens," I told them, "remember that every choice I've made has been to protect what matters most. If I become something monstrous, if the demons corrupt me completely, don't hesitate to do what's necessary."
"You won't become a monster," Kael said fiercely. "I've seen your heart, Seraphina. Darkness can't change that."
"Darkness changes everything," I replied. "But perhaps some changes are necessary."
I moved back to the pattern's center, feeling the skull relics respond to my proximity. The demons within began their otherworldly chanting, a sound that made the chamber's stones vibrate and set my teeth on edge.
"Begin the ritual," I commanded.
Master Dorian started the incantation in the old tongue, words of power that had not been spoken in centuries. The skull relics began to glow with sickly light, and cracks appeared in their ancient bone surfaces. The demons were preparing to break free.
I opened my mind to the spiritual realm, feeling my consciousness expand beyond the confines of flesh and blood. The volunteers around the circle gasped as the demons began drawing on their life force, but none of them fled or begged for mercy. Their courage humbled me.
The first demon burst free from its skull prison—a creature of shadow and flame that towered over us with eyes like burning coals. It turned toward me with predatory hunger, then stopped as it recognized what I was becoming.
"You are not mortal," it hissed in a voice like grinding stone. "What are you?"
"Your new master," I replied, and bound it to my will with chains of necromantic power.
The demon fought viciously, testing my strength and resolve. For a moment, I felt my control wavering, felt the creature's malevolence seeping into my thoughts. Then Captain Marcus cried out as his life force was fully drained, and the power of his willing sacrifice flowed through me like liquid fire.
The demon submitted.
One by one, the remaining relics cracked open, releasing entities that had been imprisoned for centuries.
Each binding grew easier as I absorbed the volunteers' life force, but also more disturbing as I felt my humanity slipping away with each act of supernatural dominion.
By the time the thirteenth demon knelt before me in spiritual submission, I could barely remember what it felt like to be entirely human. My consciousness existed partially in the spirit realm now, able to perceive multiple dimensions simultaneously. The physical world had become just one layer of reality, no more significant than any other.
"It is done," Master Dorian whispered, his voice filled with awe and terror.
I opened eyes that now glowed with otherworldly power, looking at Kael and Aldric through a vision that encompassed far more than normal sight. They appeared as complex patterns of life energy and emotional resonance, beautiful and fragile in ways they couldn't comprehend.
"How do you feel?" Aldric asked carefully.
I considered the question, testing my transformed consciousness against the boundaries of my new existence. The demons were bound to my will, their power flowing through me like additional limbs. I could sense every living creature within miles, could manipulate the forces of life and death with casual ease.
"Powerful," I said finally. "And hungry."
The last word carried undertones that made both men step back involuntarily. Good. They should fear what I had become, even as they loved what I had been.
"The army of Lord Cassius approaches," I continued, turning my supernatural senses toward the approaching threat. "Approximately three thousand soldiers, along with several partially controlled demons and whatever otherworldly entities he's managed to bind."
"Can you defeat them?" Kael asked.
I smiled, feeling the expression stretch across my face in ways that no longer felt entirely natural.
"I can do far more than defeat them," I replied. "I can show them what true power looks like."
As we prepared to leave the ritual chamber, I took one last look at the volunteers who had given their lives for this transformation. Their sacrifice had made me something beyond human, beyond mortal limitations. I would honor their memory by using this power to protect everything they had died to save.
Even if that protection came at the cost of my soul.