The crack of a whip echoed loudly as it shot out to wrap around the neck of a stranger. One of the cloaked figures had been standing guard, facing away from the shadows where the priestess had sunk into. She had learned a hard lesson the first time during her scouting of the area. She would not make that mistake again.

  The figure struggled to cry out as the priestess tightened her grip. Strained inhuman sounds gurgling from its throat as it attempted to pry the taut whip off with odd, gangly fingers.

  The knife it pulled from its pocket fell from its hand and was quickly snatched up by the blind woman that had followed. Without almost inhuman precision, she raked it across the choking monster's neck.

  As the whip came loose, blood gushed forth and the strange figure dropped to its knees.

  “I heard you following me, girl.” Tamsin #2 called to the princess. “Yet I still don’t understand why.”

  “What do you mean? We’re here to stop a dangerous organization, right?” June tossed the knife away and raised her fists, mimicking a one-two punch to the air. “We can definitely pull it off with you here!”

  “You really believe so?” asked Tammy, eyebrow raised. She sighed. “I am loath to admit that your brother might be correct, but this might just be a revenge-fueled suicide run.”

  “What…? But you guys seemed so sure of yourself. To fight against an enemy of the Church. I thought maybe you had a plan since you so willingly agreed to follow us down here. …”

  “Because of your little performance?”

  “You knew…? But then why—?”

  “Sure, I believed you at first. She certainly did. But when my sister and I are split, certain levels of our intellect become affected, as such, things like our perspicacity tends to take a plunge, for example. But once we reform, the bigger picture becomes a whole lot clearer to us. I believe she only really wanted the excuse to come exact her revenge as soon as possible. And as you can surmise by now, the id that is my sister becomes very adamant and impulsive about certain things. Such as my temporary death at the hands of these fanatics. She is my complete opposite and it’s a very frustrating thing to deal with. In truth, I sometimes wish we wouldn’t split at all.”

  “Why are you telling me all this?”

  “Well excuse me for believing we were having a moment.

  “No! No, no, no! Of course we were! I mean, I thought you disliked humans. I didn’t think I was worth your time, honestly. Your feelings are completely valid to me.”

  “Now you’re just making it awkward.” Tammy walked off in a huff, her long braided ponytail dangling in the wind. “At least you managed to dispatch this piece of garbage.”

  If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  “I-I’m sorry! Wait!” June ran after her but quickly crashed into the woman’s back. She thought the priestess had walked off, but it appeared she didn’t make it very far before stopping.

  “What are you doing, you fool? We’ve finally arrived at the chamber. Why do you think that sentinel was posted here? We’ll have to be extremely cautious from here on out.”

  “Wait, we have? But I don’t hear any chanting.”

  “You’re right. It seems their little ritual is coming to its climax. We need to hurry.” The mirror priestess carefully snuck into the room, keeping to the shadows as best she could. She hoped these things couldn’t see in the dark. “Stick close. I wouldn’t want your blood-curdling screams as you’re getting stabbed to give me away.”

  “R-Right.” June pressed herself painfully hard against the wall next to the other Tamsin. She listened carefully for her breathing, taking note of any kinds of changes. She was impressed with how easily she was able to maintain it so steadily. It was the kind of small detail that proved to her just how brave—or crazy—this priestess was. But as she listened, she could hear the breath catch in her throat.

  “Dear Goddess,” mumbled the mirror Tamsin, watching in horror at the display happening before her.

  In the center of the chamber, floating in the center, was a large void blacker than night. It seemed to darken the room around it—almost the opposite of a source of light, it would be more accurate to say it was a source of darkness. Like a hole in reality, even straining one’s eyes never seemed to help in focusing on its presence. It was simply a void, cruelly sucking in anything that got too close to its edge. And more frightening than that, the priestess realized that the void was gradually expanding in size.

  June wanted to ask what was going on, but was afraid of making too much noise and giving away their position. Quietly, she listened for any kind of peculiar sound. In the absence of chanting, the room had gone unnaturally silent. In fact, it felt more like any sort of noise was soundlessly absorbed into the dark and eliminated.

  The second Scarlet Sister continued to observe the otherworldly spectacle, wondering to herself what sickeningly eldritch rite they had stumbled into. Circling the room were ancient, stone stands that rose dizzyingly high and were lined with millennia old cracks. Seats that seemed impossible to reach, and yet there were perched all the cloaked figures who were now flapping their arms in a disjointed act of celebration. Bulging from the pitch-black walls above, faint forms could be barely seen of what appeared to be stone carvings shaped from inhuman, cyclopean faces that overhung the entire chamber, as if observing silently the all-too-real nightmares brought upon by these savage cloaked cultists. One by one, the cloaked figures shed their coats and leapt from their seats, diving head first into the abyssal portal growing in size in the center of the room—their inhuman forms blending into the tenebrous darkness of the lightless room and making it impossible to see what they truly looked like. Whether they somehow flew or gravity simply pulled them in, Tammy could not confirm. As they sunk into its event horizon, their bodies slowly melted away into the shadows. It almost seemed like some ritual act of suicide. But could the strange vacuum have actually been an entryway into an unfathomable place much darker than the reality she knew?

  June grew frightened. And in her fear, the princess held her breath. Held it until the dizzying lightheadedness forced her to relent. As the air escaped her lungs, so too did the sound fill the now empty room. The large hole that had slowly been expanding and eating away at the space of the chamber suddenly collapsed in on itself and sunk into the hole of its body. In its place was the untouched remains of the area, as if nothing had happened at all.

  alternate scenes. If you're interested in seeing some kissing between a certain soldier and a certain witch, some pics are up on the Patreon for tier 3's. I've even added a free trial for those curious.