"ATTENTION, ATTENTION! TO ALL CITIZENS OF THE EMPIRE…"
The warning communication about the dimensional shift event was already playing, while on the lands of the Dominion of End-World, an ominous red light fell from above, emanating from the Twin Moons and piercing the miasma that was rapidly corrupting the clouds.
Under the prelude to the Evil Dream, an event unknown to Tristessa but with a name that foretold pain and suffering, the tension that dominated that portion of the plain crushed like the influence of gravity. Tristessa felt Tiara's trembling hand, causing the knife to lose stability and involuntarily widen the cut on her neck. No matter how much cold blood ran through that woman's veins, the fear of Death was something no one could shake off.
Much less in a situation of vast numerical disadvantage. Not even Severus with his thaumaturgy had been able to defy the unforgivable mathematics of the art of war.
The grass moved, dancing in the wind, and the giant trees of the continental forest to the south were a shadowy wall from which all those witches had emerged to commit their vile deeds.
"A fool."
"Yes, very foolish and naive. Fresh meat, nothing more."
"I want to eat her hair. I want to open her belly… Shall we begin?"
"No, no, wait… Who is she coming with? Who is she?"
"A girl… She's injured, she smells of blood. Delicious… I want her all to myself!"
The women whispered to each other, laughing, licking their lips and salivating like the immoral beasts they were.
"Witches of the Coven!" Tiara's scream deafened the girl, who felt her eardrums twist in pain. "I'm bringing one of your own! One overflowing with so much Discord that not even the Shadow Queen could ignore it!"
"Insolence! We should kill her for such disrespect…"
"Do it, do it! I'll go after her man and son!"
"There's someone else there… A thaumaturge… It'll be fun!"
Her words only stirred the hornet's nest. Tiara was on the verge of despair and resorted to the only thing left to do: exploit her hostage.
"Show them your Discord… Do it!"
Before Tristessa could even express her opinion, she felt a sudden heat spike on her right thigh. Looking down and opening her mouth in shock, she saw that Tiara had plunged the knife into her right leg. Fresh blood began to flow and saturate the cloth around the copper sheet, which sank deeper and deeper, piercing the muscle fibers until it punctured the femur.
"Aaaaagh!" the girl cried, her calm, a product of resignation, shattering as she wanted to fall to her knees as she felt her leg lose strength and be replaced by the unbearable heat of pain that coursed through its length and breadth, her brain mistaking the sensation for that of being burned. "Tiara!!"
The witches gasped in surprise and excitement. Many laughed out loud, enjoying the agonizing spectacle, and others, more lucid in their madness, looked at Tristessa with renewed curiosity.
"Do you smell that?"
"Yes! It reeks so much of what lurks beneath the Darkness, I love it!"
"What a soul blessed by Chaos!"
The pregnant woman withdrew the knife tip from her thigh and prevented the exhausted Tristessa from falling, having to bear some of her weight herself. Though, judging by the tired smile she wore, it was more than worth it. All that Discord that sickened her, emanating from Tristessa due to her violent emotions manifested by sorrow, had spread like that dark miasma in the heights that had not yet begun to descend.
"Oh… Oh! What an intoxicating scent!" a voice shrieked from behind the human wall built by the witches. "How did you dare to start the get-together without me?! And on top of that, in the presence of such a blessed dark soul!"
The women of the Coven gave the newcomer their full attention, maintaining respectful silence. Those closest to her, who moved out of the way, bowed their heads and raised both hands in a sign of adoration. Tristessa deduced that the woman to whom the witches owed respect was someone important among their ranks, perhaps the leader of the group.
She wore a full black leather outfit, highlighting her breasts and hip curves with tight belts. It opened further down to reveal a short skirt and her extremely pale legs, with boots of the same material that reached to the cuffs and black lingerie stockings.
It wasn't her fashion style that caught Tristessa's attention about this woman: it was her face, one she'd seen before. But her lack of hair and the incurable amount of dementia that covered her, wrinkled skin from smiling so much and keeping her silver eyes wide and unblinking, made recognition difficult.
But not for Tiara… She recognized her from the moment her minions moved away to let her take the stage.
"YOU!" she spat, angrier than ever, even frightening Tristessa even more than she already was just by being face to face with the infamous Coven. She shakily pointed the knife at the witch, its sharp edge dripping with the black-haired girl's blood. "IT'S YOU!"
The bald woman stopped dead in her tracks and, freezing every drop of blood in Tristessa's body, gave herself the liberty of letting out a wicked little laugh.
"Yes, me! It's been so long, haven't we seen each other for… Five years, maybe? Or was it ten? Or maybe… a few days? Oh m-my, I don't know…?"
The witch looked genuinely confused, and that led her to an exaggerate amount of depression, by the way her eyes started to get watery and her mouth trembled as if she were about to cry. The other witches of the Coven didn't react at all upon that behavior, they just kept respectful silence and utmost deference.
"I don't know, I swear I don't know, and if I don't know, that means maybe I never knew, and that's why I have no way of answering that question because I don't know the answer! Do you understand my dilemma?! Do you?! Ah, such despair, tainting my poor heart…"
She sounded more desperate with each word, to the point where she had to cover her eyes so they wouldn't see her break into tears… Or so she wanted Tiara and Tristessa to believe, as she withdrew her hands and showed them the gaze of a trickster.
"A lie, HA! I'm not crying, I was just pretending to cry! I was also pretending not to remember the past… Or maybe I don't? Who knows…? The mind is a dark, confusing place, after all. BUT!"
Her sudden yell took everyone off guard, even her own minions.
"But... What's certain is that you know who I am, but that girl doesn't seem to."
The witch pointed at Tristessa, and she felt as if a bucket of frozen water had been emptied over her heart.
"I don't know who she is either, and I certainly don't understand what you're trying to bargain with her for… A potential new member for our group, perhaps? Well… Thank you for the suggestion, but for now all vacancies are filled."
The women next to their leader laughed alongside her, mocking Tiara's vain attempt to negotiate their survival.
"But! It never hurts to start new relationships! To commemorate this fortunate encounter, I shall grant her the formality of introducing myself!" The lunatic woman placed her claw-nailed hand on her chest and bowed her head. "I am a humble and devoted Priestess of the Black Eye, servant of the great and blessed Lord of Forbidden Knowledge, Moebius!"
The witch looked up, her wicked smile sending shivers down Tristessa's spine.
"Daiana Mercer-Archeos. A pleasure to make your acquaintance."