“Y-Yes. Please. Do go on,” answered June. There was a creepy smile plastered all over her face. Finally realizing what she had done, she backed off, embarrassed. “What else?”
“Well, aside from the blood you left all over her face, she’s… actually quite beautiful.” Bart rested a finger on his chin inquisitively. Seeing his sister grossly play with the body made him feel slightly more at ease. Moreso after seeing the corpse’s pretty face. “Silky brown hair. Her eyes—Well, we should probably close her eyes. But they’re a marvelous shade of gold. And the exquisite emerald scaling of her green elf heritage makes quite a gorgeous pattern along her cheeks. She’s—Or she was wearing a nice white blouse but it’s been torn to shreds as you can probably tell. I really do feel bad that things ended for her this way.”
“An Artemaian elf? Amazing.” June’s fingers fidgeted along the table. “Oh, how I wish I could gaze upon her. Now we really have to give her a proper burial. Bart! Hurry up and find something to close her up with, will you? Her body isn’t getting any fresher. Would be such a shame to leave her fair body to rot down here…”
Bart scoffed and returned to his open boxes. He hadn’t held out much hope in finding something like a staple gun or even a roll of tape, but if he were creative enough, he was sure there would be something of use down there. Eventually, he spotted something large rolled up in the far corner of the room.
“There! I believe all her innards are stuffed back into place!” June cried excitedly. “It’s too bad her torso’s been cut to ribbons. Flipping her over might cause it all to fall out again.”
“Not to worry.” Bart shuffled over, struggling to pull something. “I found a tarp long enough to roll her in. Tie it up with some twine, and we could carry her out of here.”
“I guess it’s better than nothing.”
“Quite right.” Bart had finished unrolling the tarp on the floor. It stretched out quite a bit. “Now come over here and grab her legs. I’ll get her arms. Then when I say so, help me lower her onto the floor here.”
“Her legs are so smooth! That’s elfwin skin for you. So perfect and soft.” June grasped the body’s legs tightly, resisting the urge to rub them incessantly.
“Quit being a creep and get ready. Now, on the count of three. 1… 2… 3!” Bart lifted the woman’s arms and having mustered all his strength, pulled the tattered corpse from the cold slab it was resting on and, with help from his sister, lowered it carefully onto the floor.
“Well, that wasn’t so hard. I say, Bart, you have quite the knack for handling dead bodies! Uh… What now?”
“Now we pull the tarp over her and make sure it’s sticking on to her tightly before we roll her. Just be very, very careful.”
After the most grueling half hour of their lives, the two siblings finally managed to roll the body tightly into the tarp. Along with some twine Bart had found, the two tied up the roll and made sure it wouldn’t be able to fall out of its resting position during movement. The two stood over the wrapped-up corpse, awkwardly attempting to admire their workmanship.
“That should do it,” claimed Bart. He knelt down and grabbed one end of the tarp. “Now let us leave this woe-begotten place before our altruistically gruesome deed is discovered.”
June, grabbing the other end, seemed strangely comfortable for someone in her situation. “Lead the way then, brother. I’ll try to keep in lockstep, but remember, this is going to be far more difficult for me than it is for you.”
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“Let’s just get this over with. I’m still astonished you managed to talk me into this.”
“It had to be done, Bart. Especially now knowing she’s one of my subjects. And an elf to boot!”
The two slowly shuffled out the door, tarp held up between them, and slowly made their way back through the eerie abyss. The corridor was deathly quiet and the two siblings were now too afraid to make any noise as they escaped with the young woman’s body. The faint illumination of the glowing fungi from outside the windows was the only guiding light down the path they had come from. Bart couldn’t help stealing glances back at his sister, trying to focus his gaze at the bellowing darkness over her shoulder, staying alert of even the slightest movement among the shadows. Even though June remained quiet, her mind was racing with unanswered questions. If she hadn’t thought to escape, she could be resting comfortably back home and listening to her favorite elfwin band instead of risking her life for a country she had hoped to abandon. More than anything, the two feared sharing the same fate as the body resting peacefully between them. After what seemed like an endless march, as they finally made their way back to the front chamber where their deathly encounter had taken place, Bart took a moment to stop and look around.
“Hold on a second. We’re back at that small chapel. Which means we don’t have much left to go. But…” Bart cranes his neck over in the direction of the stone pews where that thing they encountered was last seen breathing its last. “Bah. It’s so hard to see anything in this darkness. These rotting, hanging lamps hardly light anything in here. Listen, I just need to make sure that inhuman monster I slayed is still dead.”
“Are you sure?” June’s lips curled into a frown. Her legs were getting antsy, causing her to tap her foot nervously. “Should we not let sleeping perrin lie? What if it’s hiding in wait, ready to ambush you as you get near?”
“That’s exactly why I need to check now. We are going to have to pass by the spot on our way out. It would be much harder to react appropriately with our hands full.”
“Alright, fine. I haven’t had any more of those flashforwards in a while, so I suppose it must be fine. But if I feel even the slightest tingle, I’ll yell and you have to back off immediately. Understand?”
“I’ll be careful, June. Just stay there with our friend and keep quiet.” Bart lowered his half of the tarp, signaling his sister to do the same, then cautiously made his way down the center aisle. As he inched closer to the pew blocking his view of where he’d left the monster, his heart started to race, beating in his chest like crazy. He stopped, growing annoyed that his anxiety had been worse than when he had killed the damn thing. He swallowed the growing saliva in his mouth and finally peered over the looming, stone bench. In the dark of the floor, where the dim light failed to reach, was the barely visible outline of a long, black coat sunken to the floor. The prince reached his hand down slowly, almost imperceptibly, and grazed the very edges of the coat’s threading before pulling away. He thought, perhaps, that maybe his sister was right. He should let things lie as they are. Seemingly satisfied, Bart made his way back over to June.
“The coast is clear?” asked June softly.
“Let us just get out of here already. We can bury this woman right outside, in the graveyard next to the stairs where we first found that symbol.”
“On your mark then.”
The two siblings picked up the wrapped body and resumed their shuffle to the exit. They passed by the fallen monster slowly and deliberately, Bart’s eyes locked onto its silhouette with every step it was visible to him. Finally, as they reached the threshold of the dark cathedral, something once again flashed in June’s mind.
A dark figure approached from the darkness behind them. As June was standing in the back, it was her that the looming shadow brought its wavy blade down onto, plunging itself into her neck. She tried to scream, but all that could exit her mouth were gasps full of blood.
“June!” Bart yelled as he saw the creepy shadow approach his sister. It had already gotten close enough to be able to harm her with no escape.
The princess turned, knowing it was already too late to dodge the blade headed toward her neck. With the body keeping her hands occupied, she could barely find enough time to move at all. She was too terrified to accept the fate that was coming.
There was a whistle in the air followed by a dull thud. It was the sound of something slicing through the air at incredible speed and finding impact at its mark. Almost as soon as Bart blinked, he couldn’t even begin to fathom the bolt now sticking out of the abhorrent shade’s ghastly face.