Shadow Slave

Sunny remained silent for a long while, a little confused by Naeve’s words. There was something strange about them...

Eventually, he frowned.

“Wait, did you say that it is hidden there? Not that it was hidden?”

Naeve looked at Aether and Bloodwave, then nodded.

“Yes. The lineage of Storm God is not like the rest. The rest of them, as far as we know, came from Lineage Memories that outstanding individuals — or possibly simply lucky ones — earned either in the First Nightmare or while exploring the Dream Realm and conquering the first Citadels of humanity. But the source of the lineage of Storm God is not a Memory. It is a place.”

Sunny just stared at him in surprise.

A faint smile appeared on Naeve’s face. ”After all, the existence of the House of Night is a bit of a contradiction, isn’t it? As you might know, initially, it was an alliance of lesser clans populating the Stormsea — created in large part to answer the rising influence of powerful factions like Valor or Immortal Flame. There was no blood relation between the various families forming the House of Night, so how did we all come to share the lineage of Storm God?” He coughed.

”I know that there are a lot of salacious rumors about Nightwalker, but no, he did not conceive children with women from each of the founding families. Although there have been countless internal marriages between the various branches of the House of Night since then, he only had one child of his own.”

A shadow briefly ran across his face. Naeve paused for a few moments, then sighed. ”However, he did share the lineage of Storm God with the other founding families of the House of Night. To explain how it was possible, I will have to divulge the most guarded secrets of our clan... would have asked you to keep it, but I guess it does not matter anymore, now that the House of Night is no more.”

Bloodwave grimaced at his words, but did not say anything. Aether, meanwhile, looked away with a wistful expression.

Jet shook her head.

”The House of Night might not be an independent force anymore, but it still exists. Don’t sell yourself short.”

Naeve offered her a brief smile.

”Thank you for saying that. In any case... the House of Night and the Eternal City are inseparably intertwined, because that was where our clan was born. Back then, Nightwalker was sent to the Eternal City on his first winter solstice. Other Sleepers were, as well, but he was the only one who survived — and the only reason he survived was because he fled that terrifying place aboard the Night Garden, which had been drifting in the waters nearby.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

”How dangerous is this Eternal City, exactly?”

Naeve hesitated.

“Nobody knows for sure, because Nightwalker rarely spoke about it. He was not a very social person, in general. However, the greatest treasures of the House of Night all came from the Eternal City — the Night Garden, the lineage of Storm God, and the map charting the course back to its shores.”

He paused for a moment, and then looked at the stars beyond the window.

”As far as we know, the Eternal City used to be an immortal abode — a utopia that death could not reach, where enlightened beings lived in peace and prosperity for many years, reborn anew every time their bodies and souls grew frail with age. It was also a place where weary deities came to rest. That was a long time ago, though... nobody really knows what hides in the depths of the Eternal City today. Even Nightwalker himself only saw a few areas on its outer edges — the piers, the wharf... and the lighthouse.”

Sunny studied him with a curious expression.

“What about the lineage of Storm God, then? Where did he find out, and how did he share it with other people?”

Naeve remained silent for a few moments, then looked at Bloodwave.

“I think my uncle will know better, since he was one of those who received the lineage directly.”

Bloodwave frowned, then let out a long sigh.

“Well. As that scoundrel Nightwalker told it, the lighthouse of the Eternal City is also a temple — a temple dedicated to Storm God. It does not shine with ordinary light. Instead, a star is trapped within it... that star is the source of the lineage. Anyone who finds their way to the Eternal City and enters the Lighthouse will be bathed in its silver light. Then, they would be reborn as descendants of Storm God.” RаɴôＢЕṤ

He paused for a moment, and then added somberly:

”.Or die. Many do.”

Naeve nodded.

“Yes. Nightwalker entered the Lighthouse and survived. He also received the lineage of Storm God, which eventually allowed him to escape the Eternal City — before escaping, however, he collected a bit of that starlight into a special Memory. In the end, the Memory made it possible for the founding members of the House of Night to receive the lineage, as well... even if a few of them perished in the process.”

Sunny inhaled deeply. Naeve confirmed something that he suspected all along: that not just anyone was fit to receive the lineage of a god. Sunny had felt it himself, all those years ago, when absorbing Blood Weave — he had just barely survived the process, and that was despite possessing an innate affinity to fate, and therefore sharing some degree of kinship with Weaver.

Not to mention wielding a Divine Aspect. Warden of Valor, Immortal Flame, Nightwalker, Ravenheart, and the unknown Awakened who had inherited the lineage of Heart God to later pass it on to Asterion — each of them had been a special person. It was no coincidence that they had earned Lineage Memories, so it was no surprise that they survived using them.

The founding members of the House of Night were different, though. Unlike those who received a Lineage Memory after being judged worthy of it by the Spell, they — just like the daughters of Ki Song — were exposed to a divine lineage arbitrarily.

To some of them, it had become a fatal gift... and those were already people sent to the Stormsea by the Nightmare Spell, so they had to have possessed some degree of affinity to the various aspects of Storm God.

..What did that make Sunny, though?

‘The Drop of Ichor gave me a lineage that eats other lineages.’

It seemed that, just like in all things, he had been both incredibly lucky and terribly unfortunate when receiving his lineage.

‘Go figure...’