Jasper moved through the undergrowth, his heavy boots crushing crystalline moss that bled a shimmering silver. The atmosphere shifted abruptly; the air curdled, turning cold enough to crack stone. From the shifting shadows of the ancient, weeping trees, the pack emerged.
They were beautiful, delicate terrors. A dozen Void-Wisps hovered there, their soot-colored fur ruffled by a phantom wind. The adults were barely larger than a pomegranate, their four translucent wings beating with a hum that vibrated deep in Jasper's marrow. Their golden eyes—unblinking and ancient—fixed on him with lethal intent.
The little demons reminded him of Daniela: unexpected terror, a rare beauty.
The pack blurred, folding space to vanish and reappear mere inches from Jasper's throat. They didn't bite; they phased. As they did, their tiny jaws unhinged, revealing throats that were not flesh and bone, but literal bottomless abysses. Each mouth was a miniature black hole, pulsing with a localized suction-like force that tugged at Jasper's very soul.
Along with the vacuum came a heavy, hypnotic presence—a mental static that sought to paralyze his mind and command his body to surrender to the void. To any other man, the sight would have been a death sentence, a siren song leading straight into the dark. But the mental intrusion shattered against Jasper's iron will like glass against stone. He didn't flinch; he simply let his power breathe.
Inky black smoke erupted from his pores, thick and suffocating. With a thought, he fractured his own presence. Three carbon copies of himself, woven from soul magic and shadow, stepped out of his body. They moved with his natural grace, wielding his same devastating intent.
The Void-Wisps were fast, but Jasper's body was not something easily infiltrated. He remained coiled tight, a reservoir of power very few could comprehend. If any of the Wisps made it beneath his skin, they would be corroded by his own essence. As a Wisp dove toward a duplicate, the real Jasper snapped his fingers. The air inside the creature's tiny lungs expanded instantly, shattering its internal structure into dust. It fell—a lifeless puff of ash.
One of his clones raised a hand, casting a casual dome of black smoke over a cluster of the creatures. Within that sphere, he sucked the air out, watching as small tufts of ash slowly drifted to the ground. Jasper moved through the swarm like a man stepping on ants he barely noticed. When three of them tried to phase into his skull, he allowed it. The creatures burst into sparks of golden light as his own corrosive nature liquefied them, illuminating his obsidian orbs with a glint of gold. The void essence flowed into his own body, becoming a part of his power.
The massacre was silent and absolute. Within minutes, the forest floor was littered with the corpses of the pack—motionless balls of soot that no longer hummed. Jasper stood in the clearing, calmly brushing a stray bit of soot from his chest.
A faint, vibrating cello sound caught his ear.
As he turned toward the noise, his clones dissolved into thick smoke that crawled across the forest floor, consuming the bodies of the Wisps before receding back into his skin. Tucked beneath the root of a dead tree sat a single newborn. It was tiny, its wings still damp and crumpled, its golden eyes wide with a hunger it didn't yet understand.
Jasper looked down at the reckless fluff. It had yet to develop its protective ash coating. He reached out, and for a second, the creature bared its throat—that literal hole in the universe—ready to suck the life from his hand. Unlike other species, Void-Wisps lacked teeth; their mouths were literal black holes designed to reach into internal organs and send them into the abyss.
"Hush," Jasper murmured. With two fingers, he pinched the nape of the small beast's neck, holding it securely as he began the ritual.
He bit the tip of his finger, letting a single, dark droplet of blood well up. He held it over the newborn's mouth. Three drops of his demon blood, and the servitude contract was complete. Had he tried such a thing with the mother, it would have been a far greater fight.
The Void-Wisp licked the blood from its lips. Its iridescent wings flared, and it let out a joyous, vibrating trill. It nudged its tiny, fluffy head against his thumb, recognizing his presence. Jasper wasn't its predator anymore; he was its pack. Its god.
The tiny creature rested in the palm of his hand, barely larger than a golf ball, and instantly fell asleep. His lip quirked as he stared down at the small thing.
A pillar of black demon fire spiraled up behind him. His manservant, Hermes, stepped out of the flames as they dissipated into nothing.
"Greetings, Crown Prince!" Hermes said, bowing in prostration.
"Why have you come?" Jasper asked directly, standing to face him.
"His Majesty the King has asked for you to greet some emissaries in the Demon Kingdom."
Jasper was well aware of King Michael's game. The King was trying to ensure he didn't interfere with Daniela's fast-approaching trial. This would, however, give Jasper time to determine if what Michael had told his other self about bonding with Daniela was true. Currently, he found no reason to doubt the King. Here he was, in the forest fighting beasts for his betrothed when she hadn't even asked. Something was obviously wrong with him.
In a flash of dark light, both men vanished, leaving behind the remains of the pack.
Minutes later, the silence was interrupted by the rustling of bushes and the sound of leaves crushing underfoot. Before a single figure emerged, a dozen pairs of glowing red dots ignited in the darkness of the undergrowth. They hovered like embers in the night, cold and predatory.
The figures draped in grey cloaks finally stepped into the light—assassins with blades treated in soul-poison. They stopped dead, their crimson eyes widening as they stared at the carnage.
"Void-Wisps," one whispered, poking a dead creature with his boot. "An entire pack slaughtered. What could have the speed to catch them?"
"Does it matter?" the leader snapped, eyeing the lingering traces of black smoke. "We have a job."
One man stood staring at the lifeless corpses, a shiver of fear shaking his spine. Anything that could do this was something they should all be terrified of. These were Void-Wisps—creatures with hypnotic maws and internal-striking power—and dozens lay dead. His nervous system screamed at him to escape. No amount of riches seemed worth this risk.
Still, they moved on, silent as ghosts, until they reached the jagged edge of a cliff. Below them, tucked into the dark throat of a cavern, a campfire flickered. They had caught up with the traveling princesses. They began to bide their time, waiting for the right moment to eliminate her while she was alone.