CHAPTER 123: FAE SOLUTIONS

Prince Ash POV

The dimensional tear I’d been following for days suddenly exploded with chaotic energy, sending shockwaves through the Fae realm that knocked me off my feet. I cursed in the old language as I scrambled up from the crystal ground, my pointed ears ringing from the magical feedback.

"That’s not possible," I muttered, looking at the readings on my scrying mirror. The dimensional instability wasn’t coming from our realm - it was bleeding through from the human world, and it was getting stronger by the second.

Without hesitation, I tore open a portal and stepped through into the human world. What I found made my immortal blood run cold.

Lily Carter was flickering between worlds like a broken light bulb, her body phasing in and out of existence. Shadow creatures circled her like vultures, feeding off the dimensional chaos she was causing. And standing over her was Dmitri, the vampire, with teeth extended and murder in his eyes.

"Stop!" I shouted, power sparking around me as I landed in the clearing. "You’ll kill her!"

The vampire spun toward me, his face twisted with desperate purpose. "It’s the only way to save her!"

"No, it’s not," I said strongly, pushing past the werewolf who was growling at me. "Vampire transformation won’t fix dimensional displacement. It’ll make it worse."

Lily’s eyes suddenly focused on me, and I saw recognition flicker across her face. We’d met before, briefly, when she was still learning about her Triple Moon skills. She’d been so young then, so full of hope.

"Prince Ash?" she whispered, her voice breaking between three different tones. "Why are you here?"

"Because half the Fae realm just felt you tearing holes in reality," I said, kneeling beside her flickering form. "You’re not just moved, Lily. You’re becoming a living link."

Caleb, still in wolf form, changed back to human. "Can you help her?"

I studied Lily carefully, using my Fae sight to see the magical threads connecting her to different worlds. What I saw made my heart sink. She wasn’t just stuck between worlds - she was becoming the bridge between them.

"There is a way," I said slowly. "But it requires a choice that can never be undone."

"Tell us," Elder Iris demanded, struggling to keep a protection spell around the group.

"The Fae realm exists between all realities," I explained, watching more shadow creatures emerge from the dimensional cracks. "Time moves differently there. Dimensional instability can be controlled, managed, even stopped."

Hope burned in Caleb’s eyes. "Then take her there!"

"It’s not that simple," I said, hating what I had to tell them. "If Lily comes to the Fae world to stabilize her condition, she can never leave. The moment she returns to this world, the shift will start again, but ten times worse."

The words hit them like physical blows. Lily’s face sagged with understanding.

"I’d have to leave everyone forever," she whispered.

"Yes," I said softly. "But you’d live. And more importantly, the physical bridges would close. The Void creatures would be trapped in their own worlds again."

Caleb made a sound like a hurt animal. "There has to be another way."

"I’ve been studying dimensional magic for three thousand years," I told him. "This is the only solution that doesn’t end with her death or the destruction of multiple realities."

That’s when the biggest shadow creature stepped forward. Unlike the others, this one looked almost human, except for eyes that held the nothingness of space.

"How touching," it said, its voice like the sound of dying stars. "The Fae prince offers false hope while worlds burn."

I stood, power flowing around me like silver fire. "I know what you are, Void Lieutenant. Your words carry no weight here."

"Don’t they?" The thing smiled, showing teeth made of collapsed light. "Tell them the rest, Prince of Lies. Tell them what accepting your offer will cost."

My stomach dropped. I’d hoped they wouldn’t realize the full price.

"What is it talking about?" Lily asked, her form becoming more rigid as fear focused her attention.

I closed my eyes, hating myself for what I had to say. "Fae magic always needs balance. If you come to our world, someone else must take your place in the dimensional void."

"What does that mean?" Caleb demanded.

"It means someone who loves you must willingly sacrifice themselves to anchor your soul to the Fae realm," I admitted. "They’ll be lost between dimensions forever, conscious but unable to exist in any world."

The clearing fell silent except for the whisper of coming shadow creatures.

"No," Lily said instantly. "I won’t let anyone else suffer for my mistakes."

"It wouldn’t be suffering," Caleb said quietly, and I could see the choice forming in his eyes. "It would be love."

"Caleb, no!" Lily tried to reach for him, but her hand passed through his face. "I won’t let you destroy yourself for me!"

"And I won’t let you fade away when there’s a chance to save you," he answered, his voice steady despite the tears in his eyes.

The Void Lieutenant laughed, a sound like reality ripping. "How perfect. The wolf will doom himself, the girl will be stuck forever, and we’ll still have the dimensional bridges to use."

That’s when I realized the horrible truth. "The offer isn’t real," I breathed, looking at the creature in shock. "You’re not a Lieutenant at all."

The thing’s form began to shift, becoming bigger, more terrible. When it spoke again, its voice shook the very roots of reality.

"No, little prince. I am the Void King himself, and I have been playing you all like pieces on a board."

The shadow around us thickened, and I felt the crushing weight of true cosmic evil pressing down on the clearing.

"You see," the Void King continued, his form still changing, "I needed Lily to become unstable enough to build permanent bridges between worlds. Every answer you’ve offered has only made her more desperate, more willing to risk everything."

Horror rushed through me as I understood. "You’ve been manipulating us from the beginning."

"Of course," he said, now showing his true form - a being of such darkness that looking at him directly caused physical pain. "And now, with Lily’s dimensional instability at its peak and all of you gathered in one place, I can complete my true plan."

The air around us began to crack like broken glass, and I realized we were all about to be pulled into the void between worlds.

"The question is," the Void King said, his smile obvious even in the consuming darkness, "which of you will I devour first?"

Lily’s scream of pure fear was the last thing I heard before reality shattered around us, and we all started falling into the endless space between dimensions.

But as we fell, I felt something impossible - Lily’s hand, solid and real, grabbing mine in the darkness.

And her voice, clear and strong: "Ash, I know how to beat him. But you have to trust me fully."