Princess Of The Skulls - Chapter 97: Chapter 97

The final dimensional tear opened above the ruins of the ancient battlefield where I had first faced the evil that now haunted the continent's dreams. The irony was perfect and terrible—our ultimate confrontation would take place where everything had begun, in the shadow of the same stone circles that had witnessed my transformation from princess to queen.
I stood at the head of the largest magical army ever assembled, representatives from every kingdom I had aided over the past months. Prince Erik commanded the Northern Reach contingent, their ice-born battle mages crackling with frost magic. Prince Marcus led the Westmarch forces, their war-wizards armored in enchanted steel. Even the southern kingdoms had sent their most powerful sorcerers, creating a coalition that would have been politically impossible under normal circumstances.
"The dimensional readings are off every scale we have," Master Dorian reported, his voice tight with barely controlled fear. "This isn't just a tear in reality—it's a deliberate gateway. Something is trying to force its way through from the other side."
"Not something," I corrected, feeling the familiar malevolent presence pressing against the boundaries of physical reality. "Someone. The ancient evil has gathered enough of its scattered consciousness to make one final attempt at manifestation."
Kael moved to my side, the corruption in his arm now glowing so brightly it was visible through his armor. "The otherworldly taint is resonating with whatever's on the other side of that tear. I can feel its thoughts, its intentions."
"And?"
"It's not trying to escape imprisonment," he said grimly. "It's trying to drag our entire reality into the dimensional void where it's been trapped. If it can't be free, it wants to ensure nothing else can be either."
The revelation sent a chill through the assembled forces. We weren't facing resurrection—we were facing mutual annihilation. The ancient evil had decided that if it couldn't rule the world, it would simply destroy everything in a final act of cosmic spite.
"How long do we have?" I asked, studying the expanding tear that hovered above the battlefield like a wound in the sky itself.
"Hours, maybe less," Master Dorian replied. "The dimensional fabric is collapsing inward. Once it reaches critical instability, the gravitational effects alone will start pulling physical matter into the void."
I felt the skull relics around my neck pulse with desperate energy as the dimensional tear above us began to widen, reality itself groaning under the strain of cosmic forces beyond mortal comprehension. The ancient evil's malevolent presence pressed against the boundaries of existence, seeking to drag our world into the void where it had been imprisoned.
"Form defensive positions!" I commanded, my voice carrying across the battlefield with supernatural authority. "Mages to the inner circle, warriors on the perimeter. This is not a battle we can win through conventional means."
The assembled forces moved with practiced efficiency, months of joint operations having forged them into a unified army despite their diverse origins. Prince Erik's ice-mages began weaving protective barriers while Prince Marcus's war-wizards charged their weapons with elemental fury. But I could see the fear in their eyes—this was beyond anything they had faced before.
"The corruption is spreading," Kael reported, his transformed arm now glowing like a beacon in the growing darkness. "I can feel the ancient evil's consciousness seeping through the dimensional fracture.
It's not just trying to escape—it's trying to infect our reality with its essence."
"Then we stop it here," I said with cold determination. "Master Dorian, how much time before the dimensional collapse becomes irreversible?"
"Minutes, Your Majesty. The gravitational distortions are already affecting the outer defensive lines."
I looked around at the faces of the people who had followed me across the continent, who had trusted me to lead them against an enemy that defied understanding. They deserved better than to die in a doomed final battle, but they also deserved the truth about what we faced.
"Listen to me," I called out, my voice carrying to every corner of the assembled army. "The thing we face is not just an ancient evil—it is entropy itself, the force that seeks to return all creation to primordial chaos. It cannot be reasoned with, negotiated with, or defeated through conventional warfare."
The skull relics around my neck began to whisper in harmony, their voices joining with the spirits of every person who had died fighting this battle across the ages. I felt their strength flowing into me, preparing me for what I knew would be the most dangerous working of my life.
"But it can be contained," I continued, beginning to remove the most powerful relics from around my neck. "The dimensional tears were never wounds to be healed—they were pieces of a prison that we've been building across the continent. Today, we complete that prison, no matter the cost."
Kael stepped forward, understanding what I was preparing to do. "Seraphina, if you attempt to seal a tear this size, it will kill you. The amount of energy required—"
"Will be provided by every person on this battlefield," I interrupted, handing him the master relic that had been my greatest source of power. "I'm not doing this alone. I'm anchoring a work that draws on the life force of every volunteer here."
"You're asking us to sacrifice ourselves for the working?" Prince Erik asked, his voice steady despite the magnitude of what I was proposing.
"I'm asking you to trust me with a portion of your life energy, knowing that failure means we all die anyway." I looked around at the assembled forces, seeing understanding dawn in their eyes. "The ancient evil feeds on death and despair. We're going to starve it by giving it life and hope instead."
The dimensional tear above us pulsed with malevolent energy, and I could feel the ancient evil's consciousness pressing against reality like a cancer seeking to metastasize. But I could also feel something else—the collective will of hundreds of people who had chosen to stand against entropy itself.
"Form the circle," I commanded. "Magicians in the inner ring, warriors in the outer. Link your power to mine through the skull relics. When I begin working, hold nothing back."
As the army arranged itself in concentric circles around the stone altar where everything had begun, I felt the weight of history settling over me like a shroud. Every choice I had made, every battle I had fought, every person I had loved or lost—it had all led to this moment.
"My Queen," Kael said softly, taking his place beside me at the center of the formation. "Whatever happens, know that you have been the greatest honor of my life."
"This isn't goodbye," I replied, though I could feel the truth in my bones. "This is just the beginning of something larger than either of us."
The working began with a whisper of power that grew to a roar as hundreds of voices joined in the ancient incantation. I felt the life force of every person in the circle flowing into me, their combined will focused on a single, impossible goal—to complete the prison that would contain chaos itself.
Above us, the dimensional tear began to collapse inward, reality reasserting itself against the void. But I could feel the ancient evil fighting back, pouring everything it had into one final attempt at freedom.
The real battle was just beginning.