Shadow Slave

Naeve paled visibly when he heard Nightwalker’s admission. Even Bloodwave, who had maintained a stoic expression, scowled deeply. Jet frowned, as well... but Sunny did not show much of a reaction.

After all, he already suspected that something of the kind had happened. However, behind his mask of nonchalance, he was a little... excited.

Maybe it was a bit callous of him, to feel thrilled about Asterion’s betrayal and subsequent murder of Nightwalker — an act that might have prevented the House of Night from nurturing a Sovereign of their own, eventually — but he was simply glad to finally meet someone who knew about the Dreamspawn’s powers firsthand and was willing to share that knowledge.

Sunny lingered for a moment.

”Mental attacks? What is his Aspect, exactly?”

Nightwalker gave him a look of indignation.

”That is what you chose to ask about? Really?”

Sunny stared at him with a deadpan expression.

”Yes.”

Nightwalker laughed.

”Are all Supremes this... never mind. I’m not one to judge.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow, prompting Bloodwave to speak gruffly:

”You know how no one knows much about Nightwalker? That is not because of his elusive and mysterious nature. He simply used to avoid everyone - his closest allies included — as much as possible... because he hates people. He has always been a reclusive, antisocial bastard.”

Nightwalker grinned. ”True. It’s not my fault that people are so hateful, though, is it?” Shaking his head, he added:

”And considering how I ended up, I’d say that I had not avoided people enough.”

Nightwalker fell silent for a few moments, then sighed.

”Regardless, to answer your question... he’s a mind reader.”

Sunny’s eyebrows flew up.

”A mind reader? What do you mean?”

Nightwalker brushed his face tiredly.

”The Dreamspawn... the last survivor of the Path of Ascension cult. He is a mind reader —although he did not start out as one.”

Sunny and Jet looked at each other.

(Cassie, are you hearing this?)

He only had to wait a few moments before the answer came.

[Yes.]

Nightwalker, meanwhile, continued:

”His Dormant Ability allowed him to sense the emotions of other living beings. He was an... empath, of sorts. His Awakened Ability is a bit sinister — it allows him to feed on the powerful emotions of others, consuming them. It was his Ascended Ability that made me take him to the Eternal City, however. That one allowed him to influence the emotions of others with his own.”

His expression grew somber.

”His Abilities underwent a bit of an evolution when he Ascended, though. The scope of his Dormant Ability increased to include not only emotions, but also the thoughts of others. And his Ascended Ability was the same - it allowed him to put his thoughts into other people’s heads.” Nightwalker grimaced.

”He had always been a creepy kid, and these three powers made being in his company even creepier. Because even with fearsome mental defenses, you never could be quite sure that your thoughts and emotions were your own. Even if they were, you knew that he could read you like an open book. That made being around him uncomfortable... or it would have, if he did not know just the right words to say to put people at ease.”

Nightwalker chuckled bitterly.

”He was capable, effortlessly charming, devilishly smart... and strong. Really strong. But despite all that, you could not help but feel a little uneasy around him, from time to time. Because once in a while, for a brief moment, it felt like there was something deeply wrong about him, hiding in the depths of his eyes. Ah, but of course, that feeling was easy to explain by the prejudice everyone had about him.”

Nightwalker shrugged.

”After all, he was a strantiger. Someone from outside the bounds of the world we were familiar with. Those Path of Ascension zealots had always been a weird bunch, and nobody knew what happened to them in the Dream Realm. So, it was difficult not to feel distrustful of that kid... that’s how others felt, at least. Personally, I didn’t care too much.”

His smile turned a little bitter.

”Perhaps I should have.”

Sunny, meanwhile, was thinking about Asterion’s Aspect.

’Empath, mind reader, mental manipulator... and what does it mean, he consumed other people’s emotions? Was he like an energy vampire?”

He remained silent for a while, then could not help but ask a senseless question: ”What about his Transcendent Ability? What about his Domain?”

Nightwalker gave him a confused look. ”How should I know? He was a... mere... Ascended the last time I saw him.” sunny grimaced.

”Right.”

After pausing for a moment, he asked:

”So what did he want to find here, in the Eternal City? And why did he tum on you?”

Nightwalker scratched the back of his head.

”What he wanted to find here... I am not sure, since everything he had told me turned out to be a lie. No matter what it was, though, he must have failed to find it. You see, we were too weak, he and I. All we knew about this place was what I had seen here as a Sleeper, so we might have overestimated ourselves and underestimated the Eternal City. What could two Masters do here, really? He was already lucky to escape alive.”

Nightwalker looked at Sunny with a dark expression.

”As to why he turned on me - maybe that was his main goal all along. I did not think that it was possible, but he wanted to absorb the lineage of Storm God. Divine lineages can’t coexist with each other, but when it comes to the Dreamspawn, they somehow can... even if I learned it too late.”

His silver eyes glistened dangerously.

”He could have entered the Lighthouse and attempted to receive the lineage like Thad done once, a long time ago, but he chose to stab me in the back instead. To his credit, I don’t think that he was aiming to kill me. But I was too stubbom to surrender, so in the end, he did.”

Nightwalker sighed.

”It was a hollow end... to survive all the horrors of the Nightmare Spell only to die by a human’s hand”

Saying that, he looked away and added in a distant tone:

”And it was a bitter beginning, to come back to life in this cursed city, knowing that I am

destined to die here thousands of times more.”