"Ooo, spooky place," Terri burbled, her wide-eyed gaze sweeping the hallway that stretched from the bottom of the narrow stone stairway.

Jason nudged his glasses back up his nose and touched one of the walls. "The bedrock runs close to the surface on this side of town," Jason said, a tone of awe to his voice. "Someone must have had to blast right into it to carve out some of these passages. I'd love to know how they did this without anyone knowing. Or if they even did it themselves. Maybe this predates Victor's cult and--"

"Look, nerd-out on your own time, okay?" Richie said. His hand rested against the round bulge in his pocket. "We gotta find Victor and kick his ass."

"I'm not picking up any more visions," Heather said. "I have no idea what's ahead of us."

"But the main vision hasn't changed?" Jason asked.

Heather shook her head. "Not at all."

Debby peered down the hallway. "Wait, I think I just heard something."

Everyone fell silent. Just as Richie was about to declare his impatience again, they all heard it: faint words of power that hung heavy in the air like thick smoke.

"That sounds like a Book spell," Ned said.

Melinda trembled. "I-It's a chant. It's what they kept saying to me over and over when they had me tied up. Well, almost. The ending is a little different."

"What'd it do ta ya?"

"It made me so horny I couldn't breathe," Melinda said in a tiny voice.

"Is it doing that now?" Debby asked.

Melinda shook her head. "No, it's just ... I didn't need to be reminded of that."

"They started the ceremony," Jason said. "We have to move. Terri should be up front."

"Yay!" Terri cried, clapping her hands. She trotted to the front and turned to face them. "Okay, like, what now?"

"Debby, stay in the back, please," Jason said. "He doesn't know you're part of the group yet, and I want to give him the impression you're not important. Bringing up the rear psychologically reinforces that idea."

"Heh, clever," Ned said. "Never woulda thought of that."

"I want to be near the front," Richie said.

Jason eyed Richie's hand. "Frankly, I don't think that baseball of yours is going to do any good right now."

"You never know, dude. Plus I gotta keep an eye on Terri the Bimbo here."

"But you'll only see my butt," Terri said. She blinked a few times, then giggled. "Ooo, I get it! You, like, wanna look at my butt!" She twisted her torso and glanced behind her. "I got a nice butt, huh?"

Richie smirked and slapped her ass. Terri yelped, then giggled again. "Yeah, all you need is some guy's cock in there."

"Ooo, yeah, you're, like, making my cunnie all wet again!"

Jason stood beside Richie. He gestured to Heather and Melinda, and they fell into place behind him and Richie. Ned drew Diane forward and behind the girls. Debby took position behind them. Richie looked at Terri and spun his finger in a circle. Terri bobbled her head and spun around, thrusting her ass towards Richie.

"All right," Jason said, his voice exhibiting a slight quaver for the first time. "Let's go."

As one, they marched down the hallway, their silence broken only by Terri's occasional soft giggle. As the archway drew closer, and they caught a glimpse of what lay beyond, even Terri subsided, her eyes widening. She knew it should be familiar to her, but her memories of it were part of all that clutter that Richie had so helpfully cleaned out for her. Besides, there were more fun things for her to think about, like her wet and needy pussy.

Melinda drew close behind Jason but resisted clinging to him. The chant was a lead weight settling around her shoulders. She did not believe it was affecting her mind, but the memory of her captivity made her knees weak, as if her body were still conditioned to kneel before a master or mistress. She flinched when Ned's hand touched her shoulder.

"Doin' okay?" Ned asked.

"No," Melinda said. "But I'll deal."

Heather squeezed her other shoulder. Melinda drew in a breath and let it go as a ragged sigh, grasping and squeezing her sister's hand in return.

A metallic sound tinkled in the distance as the entrance loomed. They emerged into the torchlight of the underground church and stopped, held not by fear but by the simple awe of what Victor had wrought. Only Melinda sought to avert her eyes from the macrocosm of her incarceration. She had not glimpsed the figure sprawled over the altar, yet she could guess who it was.

But the others stared in open wonder at the naked girl that now writhed in helpless, growing lust as she trembled until the chains rattled.

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!"

The chant caught most of the Harbingers by surprise, as if they had expected the entire ceremony to come to a screeching halt at their mere presence. Instead, they might not have existed. Gina arched her back and moaned, her nipples hardening and rising to points that the Harbingers could see from across the church.

Only then did they spot Victor. He stood just before the altar, his back to them, watching Gina's growing torment in silence. Two cult members hovered behind the altar. They bowed towards it, then one reached into his robes and withdrew a small flask.

Melinda gasped and retreated into Heather. "Ohmigod, the oil," she moaned, her own nipples and pussy pulsing with the searing memory.

The cultist raised the flask high. He turned one way, then the other, as if presenting it to the congregation for their blessing or approval. He held it out towards Victor, paused, then undid the stopper and bent over Gina's wriggling form.

"Krin'massra," Victor's voice rang out.

The cultist looked up, hesitated, then straightened and stepped back. The others fell silent.

Victor strolled around the end of the altar. Gina whimpered as unrequited desire wracked her body. The two cultists parted for him as he took their position on the other side of the altar and looked towards the Harbingers. He smiled and took the flask from the cultist. "Melinda, you remember this, don't you?"

Melinda shivered and hid behind Jason.

"You remember what it did to you. How your pussy felt like it would melt if you didn't cum."

"I-It's not on me now," Melinda said in a feeble voice that she did not think would carry across the church.

"But once applied, Melinda, it never really quite goes away."

Melinda whimpered and squeezed her legs together.

"It can't be washed off. It can't be rubbed off. It's a part of you, and its power over you will not diminish. You only need to be reminded of that for it to work on you again."

Melinda clutched at Jason. Her nipples tingled and throbbed as they pressed into Jason's back. Her pussy pulsed with her racing heart.

"The oil is nothing," Jason declared, his voice unnaturally loud in the silent hall. "There's nothing to it. It only does what you make people think it will do. There's no magic to it. There never was."

Energy flowed over the link. Melinda's anxiety eased, her sexual heat fading. She let out a relieved sigh.

Victor chuckled. "Oh, very good. I see now. She's your shield against me."

Debby tensed until it was clear that his eyes rested on Terri.

Terri blinked back. She stared at Gina on the altar, the gears of her mind turning only slowly. "Oh, wow, that looks really kewl! Can I, like, be next? Huh? Pwease?"

Victor laughed. "Oh, so befitting an end for my wayward follower! I am tempted to leave her like that as a lesson to her. Alas, I will have to conceive of my own punishment."

He gestured. Four cultists surged towards the Harbingers, two men and two women.

Everyone tensed. Terri blinked and swayed. Through her, Richie felt the mental presence of the other cultists.

"No, you fucking don't," Richie growled under his breath, his teeth clenching as he summoned their pooled power and thrust it into Terri.

The four cultists were upon her, two on each arm, pulling her away from the Harbingers. Terri recovered her wits and giggled. "Oh, kewl! Are we gonna go fuck now? You all wanna, like, fuck me, doncha?"

The cultists faltered. One man stopped and had to be pulled along by the other. The two women exchanged odd looks.

Terri squeezed her legs together. "Unng, I'm, like, sooo hot and squishy in my cunnie. Oh! Oh! And, like, my mouth's all tingly and stuff. Like I gotta suck something."

Richie's lips curled as all four cultists stopped.

Terri looked down, her eyes widening at the tented robe below a male cultist's waist. "Ooo, you're, like, getting all stiffy now!" She pulled an arm free and gripped his cock through the robe, and was rewarded by a low moan from her quarry. Terri gasped as she caught a flash of skin when the edge of the robe flapped open. She pulled it aside and squealed. "Ooo, you're, like, all naked under there!" She pulled her other arm free and dropped to her knees, her hand reaching under his robe, her fingers kneading his thick cock. "Mmm, this looks sooo good!"

Terri devoured his cock, drawing it deep into her mouth, her head bobbing. The cultist gasped and fell to his knees, moaning and trembling. Terri fell with him, her ass thrusting into the air. Her skirt and panties were yanked down her legs, and a moan burbled through her nose as a cock impaled her sopping cunt from behind.

The two women stared, pawing at their breasts and playing with their pussies as Terri's sexual heat boiled over onto them. Two more cultists came forward, a man and a woman. The man tried to pull away the one fucking Terri from behind. One of the women grabbed him and pulled him down to the floor, groping for his cock. When the other tried to pull her off, she was taken down as well, her robe parting as a wet tongue mashed against her pussy and subsumed her into the growing orgy.

Two more men ran into the fray. In less than a minute, their cocks were plunging into wet and willing pussies.

"Enough," Victor declared.

Several more cultists that had separated from the ranks now stopped and returned to their places in the lines. The eight cultists that had been caught by Terri's sexual hyperdrive fucked with abandon, the girls moaning and giggling, the guys thrusting their cocks into whatever willing holes presented themselves.

Victor's eyes slid to one side and then the other. While no one broke ranks further, at least a quarter of them were trembling or squirming. Faint, wet noises rose from between several female cultists' legs. Several men shuffled their feet, their cocks tenting their robes.

A slow, steeled breath emanated from Victor's nose, and some of the cultists' more obvious discomfort eased. He peered at the small orgy and sneered. "Very clever. But there are always the weak-minded in any group. They will be punished later for their lack of will."

"Bullshit," Richie muttered under his breath. He had noticed the reaction of the other cultists just as Victor had. He looked at Ned and saw him smirking.

Debby shared the least in their small moment of triumph. Richie had succeeded in reclaiming control of Terri only by her intervention. His willpower alone, even with the energy from the spell, had not been enough; she had to piggyback her own resistance on his. She was already feeling the strain.

Now Victor turned his attention to her, and she steeled herself against any overt reaction. She wanted to avert her eyes. Looking at him was like staring at a shell of a human being. The bands of his psychic aura that represented basic humanity had gone dark, as if burned out.

Victor's eyes finally slid from Debby. She gazed at the struggling form on the altar, and her heart ached. The bands in Gina's aura representing her sexuality were blinding and chaotic, spreading burning tendrils into the other bands.

"I am very disappointed in you, Jason," said Victor. His eyes flicked to the Book. "Was this show of bravado really necessary? Or was this to ease your conscience by claiming one last act of defiance?"

Jason said nothing. He wanted to keep Victor talking. He thought he had sensed something from Cassie over the link.

"Or perhaps you still wish to bargain with me."

Again, Jason remained silent. The Book quivered at the edge of his perceptions, and the bag twisted in his hand.

Victor smiled. "Renthri'massra."

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!" rose the chant once more.

Melinda gasped, her eyes wide. Heather drew in her breath and trembled. Diane let out a slow, husky sigh, her eyes half-lidded. Debby's eyes widened as she felt the pressure against her mind, just as from Diane earlier, only far stronger. Her mind felt as if it were squeezed in a vise. She sensed what Victor and his cult were trying to do. She pretended to squirm and squeezed her thighs together.

"Jason!" Ned called out, gesturing towards the girls.

"No bargain, Jason," said Victor.

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!"

"Uhngg!" Melinda cried as her pussy ran hot. Heather moaned and hugged Melinda to her. Diane started to masturbate. Debby gave a convincing moan of lust. It was not difficult; she felt the intense arousal in her mind from the other girls.

"But I am a fair man," Victor said. "If you leave the Book and the pendant on the floor before you, right now, I will keep the girls for only a year. They will be released when I return to Haven next Halloween."

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!"

Melinda fell to her knees. "Oh God, not again!"

Heather fell alongside her, her arm around Melinda's waist, her body tingling where it touched her sister. Diane spread her feet apart and plunged her fingers into her soaked pussy.

Debby swallowed. The pressure was intense. She slid her hand under her panties and pretended to masturbate. Both Richie and Ned were staring at her, silently urging her to do something. But she had sensed what Jason had; Cassie was about to ...

Two things happened at once.

In Debby's mind, she could "see" the essence of the other Harbingers as lights or beacons that flickered and pulsed with life energy in patterns similar to their psychic auras. Cassie's essence novaed, power surging into it from the great pool of energy that swirled in a wide vortex around them.

At the same time, Gina's aura shuddered. The tendrils from her sexuality band shimmered and twisted, then whipped back and forth as if suddenly losing direction and focus.

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa or--"

"KRIN'MASSRA!" Victor shouted.

Silence fell like lead plates, save for the wet sounds of sex in the far corner where Victor had abandoned his eight wayward cultists to Terri's insatiable sexual appetite.

Gina uttered a low moan. Her panting eased. Her squirming stilled.

Victor's eyes drilled the Harbingers.

"Where is Cassandra Kendall?"

The transition from the tiny plot of free will that New Gina had carved out for herself was abrupt. The front door of the "house" opened into a dark and dank corridor, where torches flickered on the walls, and the cold from the stones numbed their feet.

"I can't change it," Gina said. "I just tried."

Cassie placed her hand on Gina's shoulder. "It's okay. We'll have to make do. Where do we go?"

"Anywhere. Before you helped me make this safe area, I had to keep running to stop from being caught by the guards."

"Cassie, are you sure you understand what you have to do?" Stephanie said. "How you have to fight Victor's avatar?"

"I've never done something like this before, how could I possibly know?" Cassie retorted. She sighed. "I didn't mean to snap at you like that, I'm sorry. I'm a little on edge. I can see some of what's happening with my friends back in--"

"Shhh!" Gina suddenly hissed.

Cassie quieted, and she heard it as well: heavy, slow footsteps, and the clink of armor. She turned her head and pointed towards a hallway junction behind them. "It's coming from that way," she whispered. Her heart thumped louder than her voice.

Gina backed away, but Stephanie caught her arm. "No, don't run," Cassie said in a normal voice. "You can't run anymore."

Gina tried to squirm out of Stephanie's grip.

"Cassie, help me!" Stephanie said. "This has to be Gina's battle first."

Cassie paled at the fear she saw in Gina's eyes, but stepped forward and grasped Gina's other arm. "But she wanted me to--"

"You can back her up, but she has to take the lead. Please, both of you, just trust me on--"

Gina gasped, her eyes wide and terrified as she stared between Cassie and Stephanie.

A figure stood in the junction, leather and metal wrapped around featureless black. One gauntleted hand held a shield that gleamed silver in the torchlight. Its other hand lay against a scabbard at its waist.

Ice crawled up Cassie's spine. No face lay under its centurion helmet, just more of the same unfathomable black. It had form and substance like darkness crystallized, yet held the essence of nothingness. The more she stared at it, the more she felt herself falling into it like a bottomless pit.

She wrenched her gaze away. "Don't look directly at its face!"

"Is this Victor's avatar?" Gina asked, her voice somewhere between curiosity and fear.

"It is and it isn't," said Stephanie. "It's a piece of it."

The guard gripped the hilt of its sword, and the air trembled at the sound of sliding steel. It leveled its sword at Gina.

"All shall bow to the Master."

The words were not spoken. Instead, reality was warped inside their minds so that the words became part of their perception. The words were always there, and did not need to be spoken. The experience was so disconcerting to Cassie that she uttered a tiny whimper.

The guard stepped forward, pointing his sword at Gina. Stephanie stepped back. "Cassie, come here."

Cassie only clung to Gina tighter.

"You will subsume your will to the Master."

Gina shuddered. "No," she said in a weak voice. She took a deep breath and let it go. "No!" she shouted.

The guard stopped, and his sword dipped.

"Cassie!" Stephanie hissed.

Cassie swallowed hard and started to pull away. Gina grabbed Cassie's hand and would not let go. Cassie bit her lip; this was tearing her up. She extricated herself from Gina's grip and stepped to the side.

Gina's eyes shimmered as they gazed up at the guard. His sword rose again. "You trespass upon the domain of the Master."

"This ... th-this is my mind!" Gina cried. "You have no right to--"

The guard advanced and raised his sword. "All that is here is the domain of the Master. You will subsume yourself to the Master."

Gina whimpered and stumbled back.

"Gina, fight him!" Stephanie shouted. "Cassie, channel something into Gina, give her power to stop him!"

"I-I'll try!" Cassie cried.

Cassie touched the link. For a moment she was overcome by the sensations that flooded over her from the other girls. Victor was attacking them, and Debby had yet to fend him off. Or perhaps she could not resist him after all, and it was all for naught.

No, Cassie thought. Calm down. Just do this.

The energy flowed into her with ease and a sense of delight, pooling inside her own mind as fiery liquid swirling inside a huge cauldron. She imagined herself dipping her cupped hands into the brew and pouring the concoction over Gina.

"All that cannot be subsumed to the Master will be destroyed."

The guard brought his sword down in a single, vicious stroke.

The only thing that stopped Cassie's scream was the ear-splitting clang of metal against metal, and a spark that lighted the walls in blue-white brilliance. The guard withdraw a step.

In Gina's hands was a sword.

Gina appeared as surprised as the guard for a second, then swung her sword as hard as she could. He parried it this time, and then again with increasing ease. Gina's next blow resounded off his shield, her sword shaking like a tuning fork and almost tumbling out of her grip.

The guard's next stroke knocked the sword from Gina's hands. She stumbled back and fell to the floor.

"All that cannot be subsumed to the Master will be destroyed." The guard raised his sword for the killing blow.

Power exploded in Cassie's psyche, and she surged forward before she knew what she was doing. Steel clashed once more against steel. With a grunt, Cassie pushed the guard back, energy pulsing through her as she swung her sword a second time, knocking the shield out of the guard's hand.

The guard parried her next blow, and Cassie reeled. He followed through with his own stroke, but she deflected it and struck once more, his sword clattering against the stone wall as it separated from his grip.

The guard fell back. Panting hard, Cassie stopped and stared, as if only realizing now what she had just done.

"Cassie, your clothes ..." Stephanie murmured, eyes wide.

Cassie looked down at herself. The wench outfit she had on when she had first arrived -- little more than a mental convenience -- had morphed into a sort of chain-mail armor. "Sort of" was the key term, as it covered little more than a bikini would. She recognized it now; it was from a movie that Ned had taken her to see on one of their dates.

"Cassie, don't let it get away!" Stephanie shouted.

The guard started to turn. Before Cassie could react, Gina dashed by, the sword in her hands again. The guard had not taken more than a step when Gina plunged her sword into its back.

Cassie screamed, but the expected blood and gore did not materialize. The guard made a sound like steam escaping and fell towards the floor. He vanished into black smoke before he hit, Gina's sword falling to the stones.

A roar rolled through the corridor. The floor trembled and twisted under her feet. Cassie stumbled and fell back, her sword flying from her hand and plunging into a snowbank.

Snow? Cassie thought just as she landed in several inches of white, fluffy powder.

Cassie looked around in astonishment. Where the walls of the corridor once stood, two lines of bare aspens marched as silent sentinels in a landscape of winter majesty. Snow drifted down in large, pretty flakes through the tranquil air.

Cassie looked at the others. Gina stared, wide-eyed with surprise and wonder. "This ... this is the road outside my house," she breathed. "The one that leads to Old Fairview."

"Yes, it is," Stephanie said, smiling.

"You mean we did it?!" Gina cried. Her exultation faded. "No, we didn't, not yet. I can still sense his control." She looked around and pointed. "Over there, between those trees, I can see a stone doorway and a dungeon passage beyond it."

"We weakened him," Cassie said. "Stephanie, you were right, that guard was just a small piece of his avatar. But we can't keep slogging through all these guards. It will take too long."

"You won't have to," Stephanie said in a somber voice. "Victor has never been seriously contested for control over someone before. He's not going to let you take him out bit by bit. You've got his attention now. He knows Gina has resistance." Her eyes grew dark. "And he knows you're here now, too. He's going to come for both of you."

Cassie stepped over to the snowbank and retrieved her sword. "We can't wait around here. We have to do this on our own terms. If we don't, he'll be able to move against my friends. We have to find him quickly."

Gina ran up to them. "Yes, please, let's go do this. I really feel like we can win now."

"All right, let's go," Cassie said, and marched towards the stone doorway.

At the critical moment, Debby hesitated.

She had gathered the essences of Heather, Melinda, and Diane to herself in her mind, and was ready to push back at Victor's power at the moment Cassie had him distracted. She held back at the last second.

Victor and his cult combined were far more powerful than she could have ever guessed. She required great concentration just to hold out against them. If Richie's gambit had not managed to cut the cult's power by just that small amount, it would have overwhelmed her.

She had only one shot. Once she pushed, she would be spent.

She felt power flow over the link again, and Heather's essence glowed brighter until it enveloped Melinda's essence. Heather was drawing on their shared power to protect Melinda. Slowly, Melinda's brightened as well. Only Diane was quiescent, subsumed to her role as a slave. Debby let some of her resistance trickle into them, as much as she dared to do without attracting Victor's attention.

Victor stared at her. She dropped to her knees, and uttered a quavering moan she prayed sounded convincing.

"I understand now," Victor said in a voice of strained calm. "It was Cassie I had sensed disturbing Gina's thoughts."

On the altar, Gina whimpered. Her eyes flicked from side to side, her body still wracked with unconsummated pleasure that blocked all coherent thought. She trembled as a vague fear rose from deep inside her mind.

Victor smiled. "I must commend you, Jason. A brilliant ploy. Is that why you have the newcomer? Perhaps you thought I might look only at your numbers and not your faces. You even set her in the back hoping I would not notice. Quite the manipulator you are. And yes, I feel the girls pushing back at me. I am not quite sure where you got that power, but I doubt it will last long. You have demonstrated that you understand that your abilities are not on par with mine, or you would not have taken Terri as your pawn against me."

Heather and Melinda rose to their feet. Their bodies still burned with unwanted lust, but they could ignore it for now. Diane still floated in her own personal sea of warm pleasure; she pumped her fingers back and forth inside her cunt.

Victor's eyes alighted on Diane. "But then again, I have my own pawn to put into play." He handed the flask of oil back to one of the cultists and stepped out from behind the altar. "Renthri'massra."

And as one, the cultists rose in chant once more. "Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!"

Gina gasped. Her back arched, and her breath came out as a hot, husky sigh. She squirmed with a greater and more desperate urgency.

Heather and Melinda realized that their costumes had become too confining and hot, their skin burning like a rash against the touch of the fabric. Melinda squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her sister with one hand while the other pawed at her top. Heather pushed her away, her hands shaking. "I-I'm sorry, Melinda, I can't ... I ... unnghh ..."

Heather fell away from her sister, panting hard and pulling the veiled top of her costume over her head. She moaned as her breasts jiggled in the cups of the silvery top, nipples throbbing, as sensitive now as her clit.

"What the fuck?" Richie muttered. He glared at Debby, then grabbed Jason's arm and spun him around. "What gives? Why isn't De--?!"

"Richie, shut up," Jason hissed, but he looked back at Debby as well, who gave him a forlorn look in return. He didn't know how to interpret it. Her energy patterns did not show she was succumbing to Victor's will as the other girls were.

Ned sidled up to Debby wearing a mask of concern on his face. He leaned in close and whispered into her ear, "If ya gonna make with the shielding, now's a great time."

Debby swallowed. She could not bring herself to look at him, let alone explain to any of them that it wasn't time yet.

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!"

Heather shed the last of her costume. She fell to all fours, her pussy dripping between her legs. Melinda's face was screwed up in anguish as she fought, stripped only to the waist. Her fingers curled around the skirt and began to tug it downward.

Without giving Ned another glance, Debby started to unbutton her blouse.

"Aw, crap," Ned muttered. "C'mon, ya can do this, okay? Jus'--"

Victor stepped towards them. "Dissent in the ranks?"

Jason rounded on him and stepped away from the others, his teeth bared. The Book screamed at him in his mind.

"Intending to strike me again?" Victor said.

A slow sigh passed his loosening lips. Calm settled over him like a blanket swaddling his mind.

"No, you don't want to do anything violent. Nothing at all. None of you."

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!"

Richie's fists unclenched. Ned straightened up, his muscles growing slack.

"Unng ... oh God, please, n-no ..." Melinda whimpered as she stepped out of her panties.

Debby dropped her blouse to the floor. She could not shield herself from the feelings of the others and hold off Victor as well. Her pussy was as wet and aching as the other girls; it was to her own relief to remove her bra.

She watched Cassie's essence flare and pulse in her mind. When the other Harbingers faltered, she assumed the role of channeling power to Cassie. Her body trembled with the strain, like holding a live electric wire.

And poor Gina! Whatever gain she had reaped from Cassie's small victory was unraveling. Yet her aura was still chaotic. The orderly transition to full slave that Victor had desired had already been shattered.

Gina's psyche would soon shatter as well if one side or the other did not relent soon.

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!"

From the altar rose a strident, choking cry that made Debby flinch. When she looked up, her breath caught in her throat.

Gina writhed hard, pulling the chains until they dug into her wrists. One of her nipples glistened with oil, droplets flickering with reflected candlelight as they rolled down the sides of her breast, leaving molten trails of sexual heat. The cultist dribbled more over her other nipple. Gina threw her head back and uttered another cry, more shrill, more desperate, and more breathless. Her psychic aura roiled and throbbed, her sexuality washing out everything else as her body became slaved to her need and tried to pull her mind with it.

"Goddess, no," Debby murmured in horror.

Another light flared in her mindscape. Jason was struggling to overcome Victor's control. Richie and Ned were as sheep, turning with a nudge of Victor's will, their gaze now falling on Diane. Jason alone understood what was happening, and only his tiny insight allowed him to resist a little longer.

Diane stopped masturbating and stood up. She began to shed her clothes.

Cassie's essence flared again, and power flowed fast and brilliant into her. Debby dropped her bra and began undoing her jeans. She could not let Gina's plight disturb her. She had to leave that to Cassie. Yet a sense of dread crept over her.

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!"

Gina gasped for air as the oil dripped into her snatch.

Heather and Melinda slipped into slavering, sexual bliss. Their naked bodies writhed on the floor, their pussies pulsing with obscene need that their fingers were incapable of satisfying. Their hands and wrists ached with the effort, pleasure rising and pussies straining with no relief.

"You made a mistake, Jason," Victor said. "You thought I could not concentrate on defending my hold on Gina while dealing with you."

Jason's hands clenched and unclenched. His cock swelled, his feet trying to turn him towards Diane. He tried to speak, but the words would not travel to his mouth. It no longer mattered; Diane was their slave, and they needed to treat her as such.

Richie was fucking her pussy, and Ned lowered his cock into her hungry mouth. They left Jason her wonderful, perky tits, waiting to envelop his stiff, dripping cock.

"As you see," Victor said, "And as I will soon inform your gifted friend Cassie, you only think you are 'better' than me. Given the chance, you will enslave, you will use others to your own advantage."

Jason's mind was subsumed into Diane's reality: the Harbingers had made her their slave by their own choice. Victor was right after all. Little difference existed between them and Victor. It was presumptuous to think otherwise.

Debby's hands shook as her jeans fell to the floor. Her panties were soaked through. She had to resist the urge to rub her pussy. Cassie's essence flared again, and Debby believed it would nova once more.

Debby gathered Diane's essence to herself. She sensed the tendrils of Victor's control, like hundreds of thin tentacles slithering about Diane's psyche.

"Kethr'quixla nox'thrissa orgos ron'yenqua!"

Gina's cries grew more anguished. Her body -- and then her voice -- screamed for sexual relief.

Cassie's essence abruptly dimmed and nearly winked out.

Debby's hands flew to her face, her eyes dark with horror. "Cassie, no ... oh Goddess, no!"

Cassie stepped through the stone doorway and into a single, long corridor that extended into the distance. The labyrinth of intersecting dungeon passages was gone. The silence was absolute and eerie, save for the soft crackle of the torches on the walls and their own labored breathing.

"He's drawn everything into himself," Stephanie said. "He's going to confront us as a single entity."

"Why doesn't he come to us?" Gina asked.

Cassie peered into the distance. The corridor walls converged to a vanishing point. "We have to go to him."

"It looks endless."

"He's stalling. We took him by surprise, and he sort of has to regroup."

"Or your friends managed to distract him," said Stephanie.

Cassie was trying not to dwell on it. She had to block out the rising lust from the other girls and not worry about taking too much power to herself. She gripped the hilt of her sword. "Come on, let's go. He's stalled enough."

She jogged down the hall, and the others fell into step beside her. She was astonished at how confident she felt, as if her change in outfit and the weapon in her hand were enough to make her feel like she knew what she was doing.

The corridor did seem endless. Nothing emerged from the distance except more cold stone floor, arched ceiling, and torch-ridden walls. Cassie broke into a run, Gina and Stephanie following, until all three were panting and out of breath. And still the corridor stretched into infinity.

"Wait," Cassie gasped, leaning against the wall. "This isn't getting us anywhere."

"Maybe if I did something," Gina piped. "I could--"

Her words were snatched from her mouth by a gale that burst through the corridor, roaring in their ears and knocking them to the floor. The roar became a moan, reverberating through the passage like a peal of thunder. The air thickened, flowing over them like honey, and all three descended into a paroxysm of pleasure that left them gasping for breath and their pussies strained at the edge of orgasm.

It stopped as suddenly as it began, the three panting and wanting.

"G-goodness," Cassie breathed as she sat up. "What happened?"

Stephanie helped Gina up. Gina was dazed, her hips spasming as she crested, and she struggled to breathe between moans. "Victor had paused the ceremony when we defeated the guard, but he just started it again," said Stephanie. "That must have been from the chant."

"The what?"

"I don't have time to explain. It's like something said in some foreign language. The words make you real horny real fast."

Cassie nodded. "Yes, I do understand. Gina, are you all right?"

"I-I think so," Gina said, her voice weak. "Oh God, just as I came, I wanted to forget all this and--"

"I know," Stephanie sighed. She turned to Cassie. "That's why he's stalling. He wanted to restart the ceremony. We have to get to him faster somehow. If we don't, he'll use the Oil, and then it will be about ten times harder."

Cassie took Gina's hand and pulled her away from the wall. She stared into Gina's eyes. "Gina, listen to me. We have to get to Victor's avatar. You have to imagine us finding him."

Gina did not hesitate in her reply even as her eyes betrayed uncertainty. "All right. But what should I do?"

"Imagine an entrance. To a chamber or something. A throne room. Anything."

"I am!" Gina stared down the still endless corridor. "But nothing is happening."

Cassie pulled her into the middle of the hallway. "Keep thinking about it." Wisps of electric blue twined around their hands as energy surged into Gina. "Now, let's go!"

They started running again. From ahead another roar bore down on them.

"It's going to happen again!" Stephanie cried.

"Keep moving!" Cassie cried. "Don't st--"

The wind howled and whipped around them, and the moan trembled in their ears. Cassie steeled herself, and when the explosion of pleasure came, she stayed on her feet. Energy flashed around her hand where she still touched Gina. Gina stumbled but did not fall. When the wind died, all three panted, their pussies wet and swollen. "I didn't cum," Gina said in a shaky voice. "I managed to resist it!"

"Keep going," Cassie wheezed. She picked up her leaden feet. "Keep going! Keep imagining that entrance!"

"LOOK OUT!" Stephanie shouted.

Cassie slowed herself enough such that when she did slam into the great, gilded bronze doors, her arms absorbed most of the impact. The clash of metal rang in her head where her sword struck the door and bounced out of her hand.

"You okay?!" Gina cried.

Cassie nodded and held up a hand, winded by the impact. She raised her eyes and stood back.

"I'm sorry," Gina said. "I didn't think they would appear so abruptly!"

Cassie retrieved her sword. "It's okay. Gina, where's your sword?"

Gina gasped. "Oh no, I left it back at ... no, that's stupid, isn't it? Wait." A second later, the sword was in her hand again. She looked down at herself. "I don't think I can do the costume."

"You don't have to." Cassie turned to Stephanie. "What about you? Shouldn't you--?"

Stephanie shook her head. "I can't manifest anything in here. I've tried. I really don't know why all those things from my memory keep popping up in Gina's consciousness, but it's not something I can control, apparently."

"Then maybe you should stay out here."

"No way, Cassie! I want to confront him. No, I want to confront it. I can't even think of it as human anymore. Victor isn't human. He's a monster, and I want to see it slain."

Another roar thickened the air, and the floor heaved. Their senses were smothered by sensual delight once more. Panting from another near-orgasm, Gina held up her sword. "All right. Let's do it."

"Open them, Gina," Stephanie said. "They're your doors, and this is your mind. You have to keep believing that."

Gina stared at the doors. There was a creak, then a groan like a wounded beast as the doors split down the middle and swung inward. Golden light spilled over them, and Gina squinted into the brilliance. Cassie shaded her eyes with her sword, while Stephanie stood resolute, eyes unblinking as she waiting for the chamber to reveal itself.

Gina did not wait. She lifted her sword and ran into the pale amber light. Cassie uttered a small gasp and ran after her, then skidded to a stop right beside her. They raised their eyes.

The chamber was wide and round, the floor stones arranged in concentric circles. Torches blazed gold at five points around the room, their flames roaring inside gleaming metal carapaces that focused some of the light upon the exact center of the room, where a dais rose upon polished marble steps.

Upon the dais was a throne, and within sat...

"Victor?" Gina whispered.

Not Victor, Cassie realized, but merely a shadow of him, an entity that bore his likeness simply because it was an extension of his psyche. It presented the same chiseled features, though more refined to fit their notion of a monarch ruling by charisma and strength of will. His body was ensconced in armor that gleamed despite its charcoal gray shade.

Despite his powerful presence, he radiated a sense of unreality. The edges of his body shimmered black, as if he were surrounded by a thin, tight Dark Aura.

Metal caught the light to one side of the throne. Cassie spotted a large shield leaning against the throne on the left, a massive sword on the right. From the throne, the image of Victor smiled, and he extended his arms as he rose to his full, imposing height.

"Welcome to my ... castle, I suppose?" said the vision with Victor's exact voice. He chuckled, deep and throaty, as he gazed upon Gina. "I suppose I have you to thank for the imagery. Something that makes sense to you, I imagine. I should tell my Master about it; he would be amused."

Cassie had no idea what to say, or if she should say anything. Gina, however, needed no such guidance. She tightened her grip about the hilt of the sword and raised it high, taking a step towards the dais.

The knightly vision smiled. "Ah, yes, you feel you must fight me now." He raised his arms and looked down at himself. "I suppose that is why I am dressed in this manner, and why I have such a formidable ..."

He trailed off as his penetrating eyes narrowed, focusing like lasers on the chamber entrance. Cassie turned her head and saw Stephanie only now stepping into view. The air tingled, as if electrified. Cassie seized the link and drew power into herself.

The avatar pointed. "You. I should know you. You're someone that should not be here. Someone that cannot possibly be here. Perhaps Master would wish to--"

Gina leapt forward.

Cassie clamped her hand over her mouth to stifle a cry. Light glinted from the vision, throwing a cascading spark as metal clashed on metal. Reeling, Gina stumbled back down the dais. Cassie rushed forward and caught her before she could fall.

The avatar stood with his sword in his hand. "Excellent. A perfect distraction ploy. Now, if you are quite done?"

Gina burst out of Cassie's grip, swinging her sword. The avatar parried the first blow before it could slice into his leg, then the second before it could strike his waist. Gina raised the sword over her head and brought it down in a single, wild thrust.

The avatar's sword caught Gina's in mid-stroke, and his teeth clenched as he held back the blow. Cords stood out in Gina's arms, her face twisted in rage and frustration. Suddenly she yelped as his shield struck her side, the edge of her sword scraping against his with a biting screech as she careened away.

Gina fell to the floor, the sword clattering across the stones and out of reach before Cassie could get to her. Stephanie screamed in rage and surged forward.

"Stephanie, no!" Cassie shouted.

Victor's avatar knocked her away with his shield as if swatting a fly. Stephanie tumbled like a bag of wet rags until she came to rest on her back, her bosom heaving as she wrapped her arms around her stomach and wheezed.

"Oh God, Stephanie ..." Cassie cried, her eyes blurring as she helped Gina to sit up.

Stephanie rolled onto her side, her face a mask of pain and anguish, her body limp. She spoke between her rasping breaths. "I don't ... I can't ... barely substantial ... I think Lydia just ... her mind just ..."

Stephanie closed her eyes, unable to complete the thought.

Cassie choked back a sob. She wanted to run to Stephanie and comfort her. Instead, she hauled Gina to her feet. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Gina said. "Where's the sword? I have to go after him again! I ... I ... oh! ..."

"Gina, what's wrong? What ... oh no ... "

The air quaked, then swirled into vortexes of heat that enveloped each of the three girls. Where it touched bare skin, it became raw lust made material, flowing over their bodies like slick, warm syrup, suffusing their bodies with sticky sweet desire.

Gina fell to her knees and let out a keening moan as her orgasm seemed to spread through her entire body. She fell to the floor, gasping and writhing, mind numb with pleasure. Stephanie drew herself into a ball, her hips jerking.

"The ... oil ... used ... it ... on ... Gina ..." Stephanie gasped out, able to speak only in the same convulsing rhythm as her orgasm.

Cassie's pussy strained, and she clenched her thighs. She resisted it for a few more seconds before she dropped to her knees, her pussy spurting into her costume as she throbbed. She gasped for breath, fighting the urge to drop to all fours.

Victor's avatar chuckled and stepped from the dais. "You're all feeling the sweet, wonderful orgasm that is being denied the real Gina."

Cassie swallowed. She tried to stand and failed. She clenched her hands into fists, drawing more power and pushing against her induced desire. She heard the slide of steel once more behind her.

"And now, we take care of the problem." The avatar lifted his sword and approached the fallen Gina. "After all, all that is here is the domain of the Master."

Cassie drew more power through the link, but it was like trying to draw water through a thinning straw. She pushed back at the unwanted emotions, and her orgasm slowed.

The avatar stood over Gina. "You will subsume yourself to the Master."

Cassie rose to her feet.

The avatar lifted his sword high. "And all that cannot be subsumed to the Master will be destroyed."

"NO!" Cassie screamed.

Steel rent the air, and two swords clashed above Gina's prone, throbbing form.

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