Hell’s Consort

  Luna's heart froze.

  Hundreds of dark apparitions attacked the spring faeries whose only mistake was to hang in the air, raining spring blossoms above the guests.

Total darkness shrouded the bright atmosphere of Ostara with only the silver full moon as their guiding light as the aerial faerie dancers, the flag bearers and the musicians fell to the ground one by one with their eyes and wings closed--similar to what Prince Aelfric and Prince had described.

The smell of decay from the demonic apparitions permeated the air.

Their skins were peeled off their gnarled bony hands, showing the salmon-pink of their muscles as if they were burned alive or all of them were submerged into a gigantic pot of boiling water.

Some of the spring faeries couldn't stand the stench and covered their nose.

The spring faeries who performed earlier had replaced the white flowers free-falling with their bodies. 

They were unconscious and unmoving like large moths as their wings fluttered closer to the flames before they dropped dead.

Then, it abruptly hit them.

Winter had fallen in the Spring Courts, or…so she thought.

As the dark, shape-shifting demons moved closer, surrounding the spring faeries in every direction, trapping them inside the faerie circles, Luna felt like the environment was ice cold—as cold as wintry as the second circle of Hell, Luxen's Kingdom.

Even as a vampire, the cold was too intense for her—a Vampire Archdemon--to handle.

How much more if she was a mere spring faerie? 

It felt like all of them were being dragged into the ice-cold depths of the Second Circle of Hell.

Tiny hairs of Luna's skin stood on its end as she shivered in fear, so afraid that this was Luxen's legion that had come to take her and claim his demon heir. 

The cold reached into the canals of her ears as it seeped deeper into her pores, creeping its way into the bloodstreams until it reached the heart.

From afar, Luna could have sworn that they were King Zephyr and his Shadow Masters, deciding to visit the Ostara to join the celebration so that they could satisfy their curiosity and pay respects to the King and Queen of the Spring Courts.

Upon a closer look, Luna realized those gliding dark creatures with towering heights weren't shadows.

Luna had ruled out that it was King Zephyr's doing because she couldn't find any valid reasons why the Shadow Kingdom would attack the Spring Courts out-of-the-blue.

If King Zephyr had resentment with the Spring Monarchs, he should have done this a long time ago, leaving Luna—who just came back from Hell—and Apollyon out of this.

Luna had this inkling that these demons were the souls of the faeries who almost turned into demons before her husband killed them.

Was this the demonic faerie soul's revenge for torturing them with cast iron and burning their tainted, evil forms?

The demons' sharp claws wrapped around the spring faerie's neck, pulling their victims' faces towards them.

They opened their mouths without holding back, almost ripping their jaws until the bloody gash reached the victim's ears.

The ghastly shadow demons were successful in possessing the bodies of the spring faeries.

Luna's eyes widened as she covered her mouth in shock. 

All of the guests gathered on the ground glanced up, gasping at the strange sight. 

A hand gripped her arm, and she glanced sideways, only to meet his sapphire gaze. 

It was her husband.

Relieved, Luna's fear dissipated in an instant. Apollyon promised to keep her safe no matter what. 

'I'll protect you.' Apollyon's promise rang in her ears over and over, and she trusted that line, enforcing her iron grip on her primal fear so that she could remain logical and properly analyze the situation.

The Spring Monarchs remained calm as if waiting for these dark apparitions' next move as the rest of the spring faeries tried to catch the ones who fell like birds who had been shot on air.

Every guest in Ostara released blood-curdling screams.

All creatures were in hysterics, fear coming off their aura like a tsunami, washing away their bodies into oblivion.

The legion operated like they were shadows… shadow-like shapeshifters, to be exact, forming into a colossal black gauntlet as it smashed the wooden docks into smithereens, leaving a half-circle.

The loud explosive sound made it sound like a leviathan had fallen from the heavens.

In that split second before the shadow gauntlet hit them and strike them dead, Apollyon teleported Luna in a safe space, closer to the Spring Monarch and disappeared afterwards, leaving her with Prince Aspen, who was protecting Lady Clarence, the King and Queen of the Spring Courts, Princess Alisabethe and Prince Aelfric.

"I'll be back for a while. Stick with the King and the Queen." Apollyon said urgently as he hugged her and squeezed her tight, followed with a kiss. "I have to do something to save us."

He released her and turned his back.

In a snap of a finger, her husband, who swore he would protect her, disappeared.

"Apollyon!" She called out around her, looking for Apollyon, but he was gone.

She had lost her husband amidst the disruption, and Prince Aelfric held her hand and brought her behind him in a protective gesture.

"Where is Apollyon?" She screamed to herself as she searched for her husband in the anxious crowd, not expecting an answer.

If Luna saw the docks of Krinoniapolis in a bird's eye view, it would appear like a god had eaten the landmark like a cookie.

"You're Highness." Prince Aelfric replied, breathless with exertion.

It appeared like he had run a distance to stick with the rest of the monarchs just in case they needed to initiate high-level magic together, keeping each other in the family safe as well.

He glanced at Luna, clenching her fists in reassurance. "I think the Vampire King wanted to do something about the bonfire before it gets worse."

"I apologize, Prince Aelfric." Luna gripped her supposed lover's hand on her wrist and pushed them away. "You might think me vulnerable at this time of crisis… but please don't hold my hand."