It wasn't long before the way north and down to meet up with Prince Relastin became clogged with Koronai. They were of the Greater and Lesser varieties mostly, but Bone were also to be found. And it was the first time Kaden had encountered one.

The Bone Koronai were about the same size as Greater Koronai. And they were so named because their heads resembled fleshless human skulls. Their gurgling cries gave the distinct impression of a man choking on his own blood after his throat had been slit. Kaden ducked the putrid stream of black ichor-like liquid one of the horrific creatures who looked like death spewed at him. He'd already seen the venom dissolve a warrior down into a pile of fleshy goo and melt his armor into nothingness.

Three of his men pounced on the creature, dismembering it with practiced and coordinated strikes. While it tried to fight back, its attempts were unsuccessful.

"Forward!" he called to his men, while fighting at the fore once the Bone Koronai was down and no longer a threat.

Kaden continued hacking his way through the hordes, not bothering to keep a formal count of the death he was dealing. He'd ceased being surprised by his effectiveness in a real battle fairly quickly, accepting that he knew how to act, even if he didn't know how he knew how.

The Rohs Fang he wielded proved formidable against the foes flooding against him. The demons seemed unfamiliar with it, and the multiple styles he could use with it from slashing to stabbing and both one-handed and dual-wielding kept the demons off balance.

Two more of his men fell. But his troop of soldiers had taken many more Koronai than the demons had of their ranks. Still, progress was slow.

They'd a reached a fork in the tunnels leading onward. Kord, Son of Yavin, had been by Kaden's side, but a succubus jumped them had now split their troop in half. The female demon was pushing Kord and the other group of his men down the second passage, preventing the two groups from rejoining.

The half snake, half-woman demon was larger than the one Kaden had previously encountered along with Princess Lyla, and its back was to him. She'd brought a veritable army of other demons with her, reinforcing the Koronai's numbers.

"Go!" Kord bellowed and pointed, all while he struggled to fight the demon and while not looking directly at her. "Down that passage!" He tried to impart directions to Kaden, but they were drowned out by the battle.

Some of the other soldiers were not as lucky to avoid her gaze. They fell under her spell, seeking to mount her. They would draw up their urks, then fight among themselves climb upon her and to insert themselves into her menacing hole of foaming white liquid and tentacles. Each ultimately died even as she and the thongs with her fought against the proud warriors of Ison.

The tide of the battle overwhelmed Kaden, and the men separated with him, pushing them off in the direction Kord had indicated. Despite wanting desperately to assist their fellow soldiers, they could not. In time, they were far enough away that none would know for certain the fate of those left behind. But their demise was all but certain.

The men with Kaden began to dwindle, even as the hordes of demons continued to shrink as well. He watched as some among his soldiers consumed a second dose of both rage and courage. A dangerous gambit to do so so soon after the first.

The battle coursed and soon it was Kaden standing alone versus three remaining demons. Two Lesser Koronai, and one Greater.

The Karo Shar split his weapon into its two halves and struck a defiant stance, fighting the enemies off while slowly whittling them down. The Greater Koronai with its four arms fought like two enemies by itself.

Blades sliced, forked tines pierced, ichor splattered, and soon there was nothing left except the corpses of the demons.

Kaden stood over the piled bodies of the dead, uncertain what to do next. Once he realized the foes had been defeated, he came to his Rage and Courage enhanced senses and bounded back towards where the succubus and the rest of his men had been. Hurdling bodies of Ison's fallen and demons alike, the Karo Shar arrived back at the junction.

But there were live no men or demons, and no battle. One thing was for certain, however, something was going on down the other tunnel. The fight had moved and raged in that direction, and the succubus was nowhere to be found.

"What are you doing?" The sound of Princess Lyla speaking to him caused Kaden to start.

He turned, not expecting her. "What are you doing down here?" he answered the question with one of his own.

The princess was dressed in her Sava Warrioress's armor, swords undrawn and hair perfectly braided. Her armor was unstained by battle. She hadn't engaged in any fighting as of yet. "I'm here to help you. Looks like you can use it. Only you remain?"

"In my group, yes. And whoever is still alive down there?" Kaden smoothly reassembled his weapon into a single unit as though he'd trained with it his entire life and pointed with the blade. "Half my troop, including Kord, was separated from me by a succubus. Bigger than the one we fought."

The princess cocked an eyebrow. "Than who fought? Did you say we? I thought it was me."

"Look, I'm not here to quibble over semantics. I'm going down there to find out who is left alive." Kaden estimated, based on the number of human bodies amongst the demons that not more than half of those men separated from him remained alive past the initial encounter.

The princess drew her swords. "How many men do you think are left?"

"I'd assume no more than ten." He summed up the carnage with a quick calculation. "I don't see Kord, Son of Yavin, among the dead here."

"He'll probably be the last one standing," the princess said. "If I had to bet on it. He's as good of a warrior as Sahkar Bul. And if any man other than my brother could take a succubus alone, it would be him."

Princess Lyla was down the tunnel without any further ado, forcing Kaden to follow. He weaved along, dodging slick spots on the stone from spilled demon ichor and human blood. All while counting up the bodies as they went.

It was not long before the only corpse he hadn't found was Kord's. But further down the tunnel there was still a war going on, judging from the ring of steel and demon roars.

"Don't you think you should not go any further?" Kaden called to the princess ahead of him. "If the men see you—"

"Kord knows what I am," Lyla barked back at the Karo Shar. He believed she'd leave it at that, then she surprised him and added, "And you'll need all the help you can get against a succubus."

Kaden's pride was slightly damaged with the intended insult. Possibly fueled by the Rage/Courage mix within him, he dared a reply. "I think I've done pretty well for myself down here."

"Don't get cocky." his soon to be wife warned. And that is where their exchange was left.

When they arrived at the last remnants of the battle, Kord was fending off the succubus alone, along with two remaining Greater Koronai. How, Kaden didn't know. The man was destroyed, his body sliced in so many places and so deeply, that it was a wonder he could still stand as blood coursed from him. Even his head covering had been torn away, revealing his face and an extent of skin flayed from the left side of his face and the muscles beneath.

The princess wasted no time. She leaped into battle and onto the back of the she-demon. It slithered and growled as Lyla tore into it with twin swords flashing.

Kaden hurried to assist Kord, who fell to a knee. The Karo Shar quickly drew the attention of the remaining two demons and their four arms each from their intended prey just before they could strike a final and deadly blow. The battle progressed the same as before for him — Kaden allowing his mind to treat the fight as though it were an easy to understand formula for distilling essence.

Every stroke of his weapon was precise. And soon, his demon enemies laid dead.

The succubus toppled and flopped to cavern floor, looking more gruesome in death than in life. The princess rode the beast to the ground and jumped off at the last minute with a tumbling dismount that was clearly for show.

The Karo Shar and the Princess rushed to Kord as the last of his life was seeping out of him. He struggled to breathe as he bled. But he did not say a word. He only stared back at the princess.

"There will be a life for you beyond this," she said to him, shocking Kaden. "Rest peacefully Kord, Son of Yavin, and Sword of Ieron."

And, as though waiting for those words, the warrior passed. Even as more blood spat from him.

"Why did you say that to him?" Kaden asked. "There are no gods, and no afterlife."

Closing the warrior's eyes, Princess Lyla rose before answering. "In the Old Times, our people believed there was a deity from the Heavens that countered Corus from the Abyss below. His name was Ieron. It is said we are his children, and that when we die, if we do so honorably, he prepares a place for us in his castle for all eternity."

"I—have never heard these stories."

"They are forbidden stories," the princess said. "Punishable by death for even thinking of telling them. That is why few know them. The great demon we now call Corus, was once known to our ancestors as Corvina, the wife of Ieron."

"His wife?"

"She tried to unseat him and take over his rule of the world. But that did not work out for her. Ieron cast her into the depths of the world and there she has remained, plotting her revenge. First on the children of Ieron, and then on Ieron himself."

Kaden blinked, the pause in the war he'd been fighting allowing him time to think of things other than his next attack. "Is it true?"

The princess shrugged. "I am not dead, so I cannot confirm what gods or demons exist to greet us upon our death. Nor have I made the gates and transcended the Sins to confirm the sex of that evil which resides deep under Imeron. It's merely what our ancestors believed. My mother swore it all to be true."

"But—"

The princess cut him off. "There will be time to discuss theology later. Right now, you have to get deeper into the Abyss. My brother will be waiting for you."

"Kord was my guide," Kaden admitted. "He tried to tell me how to get down there, but I couldn't hear him."

"I know the way. I will take you as far as I can. But you will likely have to go some of the way yourself. Do you think you can without dying on me?"

Kaden nodded. He had no intention of drawing his last breath down here in the Abyss. And the Karo Shar deeply felt the Rage/Courage mixture within him would not allow him to.

"You arriving as the lone survivor of your troops will impress the men, and my brother," the princess said. "I assume you'll be smart enough to avoid mentioning my presence down here?"

"I'm no fool."

"No, you are not. But you can be foolish, my future husband."

"I will come back to you, my princess."

The princess thrust herself towards Kaden and engaged the Karo Shar in a passionate kiss that included a lot of tongue movement within his mouth. She made sure not to release him until she had imprinted upon him clearly how desperately she wanted him to return to her.

Their lips lingered a moment after she had finished, the princess looking as though she was containing an orgasm. She pulled away and licked her lips. "I'd take you now if I thought we had the time. But we don't."

"I'm sure we could find the time for a brief romp." Kaden, aroused, thought maybe he could use words to persuade her otherwise. He tried to reach for her.

"I'll say to you again, Kaden, don't get cocky." She pushed him away without succumbing and then led the way deeper into the Abyss. And leaving Kaden no choice but to accept there would be no sexual sidebar and to follow.