Will-o'-the-Wisps and the May Queen. Book 4. The Kingdom of the Demons

By Elena Kryuchkova

Eru found herself in the kingdom of Demons, Oscuria. She has to find out the secret of this world, the truth about what happened in the past... What really happened to the world? What do will-o’-the-wisps have to do with this? And how does this relate to the Sky Tower, the secret of which Wanda learned from the Harmonizer?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elena Kryuchkova
• Release date: Jan 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798215878996

Elena Kryuchkova

Elena Kryuchkova started her creative path in 2012. She writes in different genres, such as: esotericism, fantasy, Slavic fantasy, sci-fi, dystopia, post-apocalyptic and others. Has several graphic works. A number of her novels were co-authored with Olga Kryuchkova.She is inspired by various fantasy and science fiction.Loves cats and draws.

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Will-o'-the-Wisps and the May Queen. Book 4. The Kingdom of the Demons

Elena Kryuchkova

Will-o'-the-Wisps and the May Queen. Book 4. The Kingdom of the Demons

Written by Elena Kryuchkova

Copyright © 2023 Elena Kryuchkova

All rights reserved

Cover Design — Cover created from image generated by AI (StarryAi)

Elena Kryuchkova

Will-o'-the-Wisps and the May Queen. Book 4. The Kingdom of the Demons

18+

Chapter 7. The Capital of the Kingdom of Oscuria, the City of Nott. Closed Section of the Royal Library

Chapter 8. The Capital of the Kingdom of Oscuria, the City of Nott. Knowledge of the Ancients

Chapter 9. The Capital of the Kingdom of Oscuria, the City of Nott. The Map

Chapter 10. The Capital of the Kingdom of Oscuria, the City of Nott. The Underground Passage. The Sanctuary.

Epilogue 1

Epilogue 2

Addition. Characters

Short description

Eru found herself in the kingdom of Demons, Oscuria. She has to find out the secret of this world, the truth about what happened in the past... What really happened to the world? What do will-o’-the-wisps have to do with this? And how does this relate to the Sky Tower, the secret of which Wanda learned from the Harmonizer?

This story is fiction and fantasy. And any similarity to real people or events are coincidental.

This story is completely fiction.

Book 4. The Kingdom of the Demons

Chapter 7. The Capital of the Kingdom of Oscuria, the City of Nott. Closed Section of the Royal Library

This is the very library you wanted to visit, Lady Eru, the King’s secretary, Ms. Vanilla, looked very stern as always, but kindly opened the library doors in front of the celestial maiden. Eru herself and King Ephil stood nearby.

Literally three days have passed since Eru left the Kingdom of Fortuna. Her escape was successful: she met the King of Oscuria and his retinue in the Borderland. They welcomed the girl. Eru realized that Demons also worship humans, although without such fanaticism as the Pure Ones. This state of affairs certainly pleased her — she literally sighed with relief that no one was tormenting her with extremely fanatical overprotection anymore. Finally I can be alone in the bathroom and toilet! she was happy. For, in the royal palace of Itela she was not allowed there alone, and she was certainly accompanied by Queen Aurelia, Princess Sabrina or her faithful maids. Although King Ephil still assigned the court lady and maids to her. This lady's name was Mrs. Almond, and she was Ms. Vanilla's cousin. In the past, she served Lady Mint, Ephil's elder sister, until she married the King of Persephone and left her home palace.

Yes, Mrs. Almond was strict, but compared to the indefatigable care for the girl on the part of the Pure Ones, she was almost unobtrusive.

Eru also learned that it turns out that the borders of the Kingdom of Oscuria are carefully guarded. She asked the Demons in surprise: why don’t the Pure Ones from the Kingdom of Fortuna guard their borders just as carefully? After all, she didn’t see a single border patrol on the way here! And when she rode in the carriage from the Borderland to Fortuna for the first time, she also did not see a single patrol... To which the Demons answered her: the Pure Ones from the Kingdom of Fortuna guard their borders no less carefully. It’s just that when she first went to Fortuna in the carriage, the Pure Ones, according to etiquette, asked their border patrols to hide in advance. As for Eru's escape from Fortuna, everything is simple: the mechanical horse followed a previously set route, and used all the blind spots to bypass the border patrols. So Eru realized that Aurelia had thought everything out very carefully in advance...

Eru was also pleased that in the palace of Demons she did not have to touch the glass rose so that all her further movements could be tracked. And most importantly, she no longer saw the sacred marks, and, accordingly, the hidden thoughts of those around her, which she would prefer never to know. And so she felt incredible relief.

Eru also did not see anything terrifying or monstrous in the Demons themselves. They were human in many ways. More precisely, even this way: in character and behavior they were copies of humans. They differed only in appearance — horns and slightly pointed ears. And also, like the Pure Ones, they were all beautiful and revered humans. Although this veneration was more moderate than that of the Pure Ones.

The royal palace of Oscuria itself and its capital, the city of Nott, differed in style from the capital of the Kingdom of Fortuna, Itela, and its royal palace. If the style of architecture of the Pure Ones was more like an antiquity, which acquired its own distinctive features at this time, then the style of the Demons was more like a Gothic style. Of course, it also acquired its own characteristics at this time.

And, as if following the names of their races, the Pure Ones for some reason preferred light and pastel colors in everything, and the Demons preferred bright and dark ones. According to Eru, this indeed looked somewhat stereotypical. After all, in all the classic fantasy stories that she read or watched in her world (more precisely, in her era), Demons preferred approximately this style. And light creatures, like elves or snow fairies, were somewhat similar to the Pure Ones. Although, of course, classic elves and snow fairies did not have squirrel ears, and their interiors and outfits also had more plant or snow themes.

As for the climate, in Oscuria it turned out to be approximately the same as in Fortuna, with the only difference being that it was a little cooler. As Eru heard, in the other kingdoms of the Demons, in Persephone and Plutonica, located on the western side of the continent of Ea, beyond Oscuria, it was even cooler. Accordingly, in other kingdoms of the Pure Ones, in Grace and Parca, located on the eastern side of the mainland of Ea, it is hotter. In the Free Republic of Cinnabar, located to the north above Fortuna and through the Borderland with access to Oscuria, the climate was the same.

As far as Eru understood, the kingdoms of the Pure Ones and Demons on the continent of Ea were located somewhere on the continent of Eurasia, which she knew. But according to the current maps, the girl could not know where exactly. In any case, the only thing Eru was sure of was that the current continent of Ea had lost a fair amount of land in the past due to the fact that the level of the world's seas had risen incredibly. She also realized that in this time period the poles of the earth shifted very much. Instead of north and south, the poles were now in the west and east. And now it has become cold in the west, while it is warmer in the east.

In fact, the west and east have switched places with the north and south compared to her era. Wouldn’t it be more logical to just call them north and south? she didn’t understand. But the Pure Ones and the Demons had a different opinion on this matter. Probably, they simply diligently protected those grains of ancient knowledge left over from the humans of the distant past, their creators.

Eru also eventually recognized other continents. She recognized them and was still mentally horrified: what had to happen in the past for the level of the world's seas to rise SO much, and the continents to lose so much land? The poles of the planet also shifted... And the sea currents changed... And the continents themselves also changed their positions due to movements of the earth's crust, probably caused by some artificial causes or strong cataclysms. Because continents cannot shift like that on their own over several hundred thousand years.

Eru realized that something related to ecology had happened in the past. It is possible that this was related to the Second Moon in the sky, Hathor. It's no secret that the Moon controlled the ebb and flow of the tides. And it is logical to assume that the Second Moon would have an even stronger effect on them.

"But why was it necessary to create something that would obviously bring the planet to such a state?" Eru was perplexed. No, something doesn’t add up here... Could the Second Moon, on the contrary, soften the destructive processes? But how? Although, I’m unlikely to know about it — the technologies of the future were probably very different from those that existed in my time...

This is where her thoughts usually ended. All the same, she understood that she would not know the truth until she gained access to Oscuria's library.

But even when she found herself in the kingdom of Demons, she could not immediately go to the library she so desired. To begin with, it was necessary to settle a number of formalities. Therefore, in fact, for the first two days in Nott’s palace, the King and his entourage introduced her to various aristocrats who arrived specially for this occasion. The Demon aristocracy was delighted that finally, the celestial maiden was with them! Now the course of the war will definitely change (yes, the Demons also intended to preserve Eru’s blood, like the Pure Ones). For the war between Fortuna and Oscuria will certainly continue. Yes, now there was a short break — after all, the celestial