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spinning,
but through its eyes, Ruby could see the tunnel. At its base, a
series of enormous, luminescent mushrooms illuminated the cavern a
soft, yellow-orange color. Their tops were speckled in little,
yellow spots, and their stalks were thin and looked likely to break
in half from their own weight at any moment. From where the imp had
landed, Ruby couldn’t make out much more, and the little thing
seemed incapable of moving around much, having lost most of its
form in the fall.
    While Ruby didn’t see any treasure at the
base of the tunnel, she did concede that it was worth investigating
further. Placing one hand to the side of the tunnel and lifting the
hem of her skirt off the ground with the other, Ruby carefully
chose her footholds, as she began her descent into the darkness of
the cavern. The purple imp at her shoulder tightly gripped the
fabric of her dress in an attempt to prevent it from falling.
Behind her came the obedient but clumsy black imps. The princess
moved at a slow pace, while the poison constructs were less deft in
their steps. One by one, they tumbled past her, giving her pause
each time. She tried to use their mistakes to further illustrate
her mental image of the tunnel downward, but it was difficult
without proper light. The spell that had made her this way had
changed her a great deal, but somehow Ruby still suspected that she
was quite mortal. A misstep or slip could have easily led to her
death in that dark, dreary place.
    Before long, Ruby couldn’t even see the light
from the entrance of the cavern behind her. Looking to where she
had to assume led back to the surface, the princess only saw more
black. Soon afterward, she realized that all of her imps had
already slipped and fallen through the cave system. She had nothing
left to help her except the standoffish purple one, and despite its
rude nature, she realized she had developed a soft spot for it. She
didn’t want to toss it like she would have the mindless ones. Ruby
considered taking a moment to create more of them, but she was too
afraid to remove her hand from the wall, fearing that if she did,
she would lose her place and be lost in the depths. Instead, she
simply carried on, using the wall as guidance and testing her
footholds before putting all her weight down. This made the journey
long and her mind, understandably, began to wander.
    The princess imagined what possible treasure
could be concealed within the depths. She had never had a greed for
possessions of any sort before, but she found herself quite eager
to obtain whatever was hidden down there. Whether it was simply a
valuable item or something that she could wield against the craggy
hand demon to satisfy her wrath, Ruby didn’t care. Her need for it
grew with each step in the darkness.
    The sensation was nearly overwhelming. Ruby
began to realize that there was truth to what Scarlett had told
her. Her hidden desires were being brought to the surface and
changing who she was. Since the spell had been cast, Ruby had
killed four men, lusted after what she could only imagine was a
demon from the nether realm, grown to hate another, and now craved
power and possessions. The princess could hardly recognize what she
was turning into.
    With her mind wandering, Ruby lost track of
time, and she grew more fearful of what she would become if she
didn’t get a handle on her changes. Her breath quickened, as did
her pace. She wanted to be free of the depths, and she became
careless with her steps. The princess chose a loose rock, and her
foot slipped forward. She stumbled but managed to fall backward
rather than forward, thinking that she would be safer that way.
Unfortunately, that was not the case, as Ruby had reached the rocks
that were damp and therefore slippery. Landing hard on her
backside, the princess slid forward, eventually hitting another
crop of craggy and uneven rocks. With the speed at which she found
herself traveling, she was launched into the air, and when she