Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings

The world had descended into absolute hell.

Lilith stood in the center of the battlefield with white light blazing from her hands and watched people die.

Pack warriors torn apart by demons. Witches overwhelmed by dark creatures. Blood soaking into the ground. Screams cutting through the night. And everywhere.....everywhere....the stench of death and corrupted magic.

This was her fault.

She had lost control. Had let her power spiral out. Had hit one of their own warriors with a blast meant for demons.

She could still see him lying motionless on the ground twenty feet away. Could still feel the echo of her magic slamming into his chest. Could still hear her own scream of horror as she realized what she had done.

Focus, she told herself desperately. Focus or more people die.

But focusing was impossible when the demon lord was advancing toward the estate with steps that shook the earth.

It was massive, fifteen feet of volcanic rock and hellfire, with power radiating off it in waves that made Lilith’s knees weak. Behind it, Thalia’s army surged forward, demons and dark creatures and rogue wolves all attacking in coordinated waves.

They were going to lose.

Even with the reinforcements that had just arrived, even with allied packs and Victoria’s witch contacts and the Moon Temple Guardians joining the fight, they were still outnumbered.

Still outmatched.

Still dying.

”LILITH!” Victoria’s voice cut through the chaos. ”THE DEMON LORD! YOU NEED TO HIT IT WITH EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!”

Lilith looked at her aunt fighting three demons simultaneously, her green magic blazing, her face streaked with blood and ash.

”I CAN’T CONTROL IT!” Lilith screamed back. ”I’LL HIT OUR PEOPLE AGAIN!”

”THEN AIM BETTER!” Victoria blasted two of the demons to ash and turned to face the third. ”YOU’RE A MORVAINE WITCH! START ACTING LIKE ONE!”

Lilith felt tears streaming down her face. She did not know how to be a Morvaine witch. Did not know how to control power this massive. Did not know how to fight a demon lord when she could barely keep her magic from killing her own allies.

But she had to try.

Lilith raised her hands toward the demon lord and gathered every ounce of power she could access. The curse responded immediately, feeding her magic, amplifying it, making it grow exponentially until she felt like she might explode from the sheer force of it.

Please, she thought desperately. Please let this work.

She released everything.

White light erupted from her hands in a concentrated beam, pure ancestral Morvaine magic focused into a single devastating attack. It slammed into the demon lord’s chest with enough force to level buildings.

The demon lord staggered.

Then it looked directly at Lilith.

And smiled.

”PATHETIC,” it said, its voice like grinding stone. ”YOUR POWER IS IMPRESSIVE FOR A CHILD. BUT YOU ARE STILL JUST A CHILD.”

It raised one massive hand and dark energy gathered around its claws.

”NO!” Nicholas’s voice roared from somewhere to Lilith’s left.

Kael charged the demon lord from the side. He hit it with enough force to knock it off balance, his blessed silver claws tearing into volcanic rock.

The demon lord roared and backhanded Kael away like he weighed nothing.

Nicholas hit the ground hard and didn’t get up immediately.

”NICHOLAS!” Lilith screamed.

Through the bond she felt his pain...ribs cracked, shoulder dislocated, but alive. Alive and already forcing himself back to his feet.

Stay down, Lilith sent through the bond desperately. Please stay down.

Not a chance, Nicholas sent back, and she felt Kael’s absolute refusal to retreat even when facing something that could kill him with a single blow.

The demon lord turned its attention back to Lilith.

”YOU ARE THE ONE SHE WANTS,” it said. ”THE LAST MORVAINE. THE VESSEL.”

It started walking toward her.

Lilith threw another blast of power at it. The demon lord walked through it like it was nothing.

She threw another. And another. Each one more desperate than the last.

The demon lord kept coming.

”LILITH, RUN!” Sebastian’s voice cut through her panic.

She looked toward him and saw Rhen fighting through a wave of dark creatures, trying to reach her, golden eyes blazing with fear and determination.

But he was too far away.

They were all too far away.

And the demon lord was right there.

Its massive hand reached for her....

And stopped.

A blade made of pure light materialized between Lilith and the demon, blocking the demon lord’s hand before it could touch her.

Lilith looked up and saw one of the Moon Temple Guardians standing in front of her, a woman in silver armor with eyes that glowed like moonlight, holding a sword that burned with divine power.

”YOU SHALL NOT TOUCH HER,” the Guardian said, her voice resonating with authority that came from something older than mortal magic.

The demon lord snarled. ”THE MOON TEMPLE HAS NO JURISDICTION HERE.”

”WE HAVE JURISDICTION WHEREVER DEMONS WALK THE MORTAL REALM,” the Guardian said. ”YOU WERE SUMMONED ILLEGALLY. YOUR PRESENCE HERE IS A VIOLATION OF THE DIVINE COMPACT. RETURN TO YOUR REALM OR FACE DESTRUCTION.”

The demon lord laughed. ”I AM BOUND TO MY SUMMONER UNTIL SHE RELEASES ME. I CANNOT RETURN.”

”THEN YOU WILL BE DESTROYED.”

The Guardian raised her sword and light blazed from it, not white like Lilith’s magic, but silver and cold and absolutely merciless. It slammed into the demon lord and this time, the creature screamed.

”ALL GUARDIANS!” the woman commanded. ”FORM THE BANISHING CIRCLE!”

Six more Guardians appeared from various points on the battlefield, all of them in silver armor, all of them carrying weapons that burned with divine light. They surrounded the demon lord and began chanting in a language Lilith did not recognize.

The demon lord thrashed and roared, trying to break free.

The Guardians’ circle held.

Silver light built around them, growing brighter and brighter until Lilith had to look away.

When the light faded, the demon lord was gone.

Banished back to whatever hell it had been summoned from.

The battlefield went silent for three full seconds as everyone processed what had just happened.

Then Thalia’s voice screamed across the grounds.

”NO! YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!”