Shadow Slave

Cassie emerged from the torrent of memories for a few short moments to take a breath.

She remembered now.

The battle at the Lake of Tears... it had been the breaking point in the invisible war between the Longing Domain and the Hunger Domain. Once the King of Nothing emerged from the mists of the Hollow Mountains and led his forces to conquer the northern reaches of the Dream Realm, the plague of Asterion became truly unstoppable.

Asterion himself changed his strategy then, abandoning his passive approach in favor of a more forceful intervention.

Perhaps it was because he had no need of being cautious anymore, perhaps it was because Mordret’s swift invasion of the Human Domain left him with no other choice but to hurry.

Or perhaps it was because the strange absence of Changing Star and the Lord of Shadows made him nervous.

In any case... that was when the invisible war between the Domains had turned into an open war.

‘But how did it all fall to ruin?’

And where were Sunny and Nephis? Even if Cassie learned that she had been the cause of their absence — or a vision of hers, at least — she couldn’t remember yet what that vision contained.

‘I am still missing something...’

She was missing a key piece of information to make it all make sense.

So, she reached for the shards of memories once more.

She shared the senses of Seishan again... The Lake of Tears was lost.

Neither Mordret nor Asterion had gained control over the Citadel guarding it, but there was no doubt that the forces of the Human Domain were retreating in defeat. In fact, the only reason their defeat had not been crushing was the grace of the Dreamspawn.

The whispers about his benevolence were swiftly spreading among the soldiers and the refugees as they travelled to Ravenheart across the Moonriver Plains.

The terrain here was treacherous, and the deep canyons made it difficult for large groups to move swiftly. So, the refugee train split at some point, each group taking a different route.

Seishan led the largest group north until they reached the road connecting Ravenheart to Godgrave, then turned west. She had once been in charge of constructing this road, so she knew these parts well — under her guidance, the refugees and the contingent of soldiers protecting them had a good chance of reaching their destination unscathed.

The wagons they had commandeered from the local merchants accelerated after their wheels rolled onto a well-maintained road, and Beastmaster’s thralls that were pulling them increased their pace. The mundane people sheltered within the enormous wagons would travel the rest of the way in more comfort, which was a silver lining. Still, they had to be fed and watched over. Moonriver Plains were quite safe these days, but not safe enough to eradicate the possibility of being attacked by Nightmare Creatures — so, the wagons needed to be constantly guarded. Seishan had a lot to take care of, and despite her exhaustion, there was no time to rest.

Eventually, the refugee train had to make a stop to give the tired soldiers time to rest. A camp was hastily set up, and food was distributed. Seishan watched over all of it with a sense of unease in her heart.

Now that the battle was over, she had too much time to think.

What was to become of the Human Domain? Both Asterion and Mordret seemed unstoppable. She had no power to stop them, that was for sure — and neither did any other Saint, or all of them put together. So, the only hope Seishan had was that Nephis and the Lord of Shadows would accomplish whatever it was that they had set out to achieve.

However, nobody knew what their goal was. Relying on them in the utter absence of knowledge was not really hope... it resembled faith far more.

Seishan had never been a believer, so the thought made her smile bitterly.

At that moment, she sensed someone approaching from the south. She tensed, but then relaxed, recognizing the figure of an enormous wolf rushing across the desolate plain.

Soon enough, the daughters of Ki Song gathered a little distance away from the camp.

Lonesome Howl was catching her breath.

“Just a moment... damn, he really forced me to run all the way here. That Nightingale, he’s not as nice as he seems, isn’t he?”

Beastmaster gave her an amused look. ”Actually, he’s exactly as nice as he seems. That’s the entire problem.”

Kai was leading another group of refugees, while Morgan was leading the third. Lonesome Howl had initially been meant to assist Nightingale, but since she was here, he must have sent her over with a message. Lonesome Howl inhaled deeply, and then delivered the message:

“Well, anyway, he went ahead to Ravenheart. He wants us to return as soon as possible, too, to prepare the city for a potential attack and help settle the refugees.”

Saints could naturally move much faster than Masters and Awakened, not to mention mundane people — wagons or not. So, they could reach Ravenheart far ahead of the caravan.

Still, Seishan looked at Lonesome Howl with surprise.

“He wants us to abandon the civilians?”

Her sister frowned.

“What do you mean, abandon? They’ll still be protected by an army of Awakened and Masters. Not to mention the fact that this road is the safest place on Moonriver Plains.”

Seishan lingered for a few moments, then nodded.

”I guess that makes sense. We six will rush to Ravenheart, then... I just need to give a few commands to the soldiers.”

Before too long, they set out west, moving with the speed only Saints were capable of. All six sisters were still low on essence after the long and arduous battle, so they kept their human forms — still, they moved faster than the wind, leaping over the canyons and easily slaughtering whatever Nightmare Creatures dared to stand in their way.

As Ravenheart drew closer, Seishan’s Flaw began to make itself known once again. The unquenchable thirst was returning slowly, making her crave blood.

Her senses were becoming sharper, as well. When they stopped for a short rest, she stared at Lonesome Howl for a long while, her face impassive.

She could smell the tantalizing scent of Transcendent blood.

“You’re bleeding.”

Seishan’s voice was a little stiff.

Lonesome Howl glanced at her and cleared her throat.

“Am I? I guess I got a scratch in the last skirmish.”

But it wasn’t a scratch. The scent of blood was too strong, too overpowering... the wound was hidden by Howl’s armor, but it had to be deep and painful.

Seishan frowned.

”...Why are you bleeding?”

She looked at her sister, who just stood there awkwardly.

’No...’

None of the abominations they had faced on the Moonriver Plain could have wounded Lonesome Howl that severely. Which meant that she had received this deep wound during the battle, days ago. Saints healed at a tremendous speed, so her injury must have been truly grave — otherwise, it would have been gone by now.

But if the wound had been grave...

Why had Changing Star’s flames not healed it?

Lonesome Howl cleared her throat.

”Well... this is awkward. Sorry, Shan.”

She smiled.

Seishan’s eyes widened as she realized what the answer to her question was.

‘It is because she is not a part of the Longing Domain anymore.’