Shadow Slave

Ananke possessed a curious Aspect that was almost entirely benign and Utility-oriented, but could become incredibly devastating if a certain condition was met.

Her Dormant Ability was quite simple: it allowed her to manifest her soul essence as matter. It was similar to Shadow Manifestation in many ways, with the main difference being that the source of manifested matter was innate to Ananke, not external like the shadows Sunny used. That was where the silver strings had come from — they were Ananke’s soul essence given material form.

As Ananke had told them, the strings of silver silk were the most natural form her essence took and the very first one she learned to use. Later, as her skill as an Awakened improved and her powers grew, she became quite adept at manifesting her essence in all kinds of shapes and forms. From fishing lines to tools and weapons, she could create almost anything.

Most importantly, the matter created from her essence maintained its form permanently — unless she wished otherwise.

So, while she did create essence tools at times, for the sake of convenience, what she mostly used her Dormant Ability for was creating materials for the craftsmen of the River People to use. Metal, stone, silk, and even soil… needless to say, her Aspect had been a blessing to those who lived on the Great River, where all resources were scarce.

That Ability had only become more precious as Ananke rose in Rank, of course, because the innate quality of the matter created from her essence rose too. And that was where her ability differed from Shadow Manifestation — unlike Sunny’s manifested shadows, whose quality degraded when he made the manifestation permanent, things Ananke created always remained the same. Actually, Ananke’s Dormant Ability was difficult to discuss without mentioning her Awakened Ability, because even she was at times unclear about where one ended and the other one began.

Her Awakened Ability allowed Ananke to transform matter — inanimate matter, at least. Like an alchemist capable of turning lead into gold, she could change any element into a different one. She was able to change the material composition of her manifested essence, as well, which was what allowed her to use her Dormant Ability so flexibly.

The combination of these two Abilities made Ananke a perfect mender, as well. She could infuse a broken thing with her essence, fusing the broken parts together while replacing the lost ones with essence manifested to flawlessly match the material of whatever it was she mended.

As Ananke told them, mending things had been one of her main occupations, as well as what she was most known for outside of creating soil for the gardens of Weave to grow upon, stone for the builders to use in construction, and silk for sails and garments to be woven from.

Her Ascended Ability was, in a sense, a continuation of that skill she had developed. It allowed her to infuse both inanimate objects and living beings with her essence, perfecting and improving them — very much like the rebirth Awakened underwent when reaching a new Rank, albeit on a smaller scale.

The soil Ananke infused with her essence was more fertile, the trees she nurtured bore more fruit, and the people she blessed were both stronger and healthier, their minds clearer.

The blessing persisted until the infused essence was exhausted, which took a long while — but even after it was gone, the items and beings who had received it continued to enjoy the benefits of having been transformed into a better version of themselves.

So far, Ananke’s Aspect seemed purely constructive and nurturing in nature — and it was… except for when her Transformation Ability was concerned.

She did not mention how exactly her Transcendent form looked, but the effect of her Transformation was drastic. Because when Ananke used her Transcendent Ability, the effect of the other three Abilities was reversed.

Instead of manifesting her essence into matter, she could disintegrate matter to replenish her essence.

Instead of infusing things with soul essence to enhance them, she could siphon their essence to enhance herself instead.

Instead of changing the material composition of inanimate objects, she could change the material composition of living things — in other words, she could gaze upon someone to turn their flesh to stone, touch them to turn their bodies into gold, or even wound them to turn their blood into acid…

All the while weakening them by draining their souls to heal and empower herself, and replenishing her soul essence by destroying matter around her.

Needless to say, that Transformation Ability seemed quite sinister, which was why Ananke did not use it often.

As for her Supreme Ability… she wasn’t very clear as to what it was capable of, since she had no Domain and no subjects. In theory, gaining access to a vast sea of spirit essence could make her other Aspect Abilities drastically more potent, as well as grant the benefit of her blessing to an entire land she ruled or to an entire people who followed her.

Apart from that…

Looking at the silk thread Ananke offered him, Sunny slid his fingers across its smooth surface.

‘Essence silk…’

The strings of soul essence Ananke wove were very much like the strings of shadow essence Sunny used to create Memories, except they were given a material form. Up to that final step, however, the process of creating them was practically identical to his own, even if it was instinctual for Ananke, while for him it was a learned skill. Ananke was not a weaver, though, because she lacked the ability to perceive spellweaves. And yet Sunny still felt that she had the capacity to become one, as long as someone showed her the way.

He had a tentative hope that the ability to weave was hidden somewhere among the facets of her Aspect, waiting to be discovered — just like he had discovered many applications of his powers outside the strict limits of the Aspect Abilities defined by the Nightmare Spell. If so, Sunny could impart his knowledge of weaving to Ananke. Wouldn’t it be great for other weavers to exist in the world? His own skill as a sorcerer had advanced greatly after studying a spellweave created by just one other master — the spellweave of Ananke’s Mantle. How much would it improve if there were more sorcerers for him to collaborate and share insights with?

All that was a matter for the future, though…

For now, they had a Cursed Terror to slay. Sunny headed toward the cliffs, looking at the spot where the Mad Prince had carved his name into the stone once.

Of course, there was nothing there, since that monster was an apparition of the Nightmare and had never managed to escape into reality — because the Sin of Solace was vanquished by Sunny before turning him into the Mad Prince… right here, on the placid waters of the lake hidden in the heart of the Estuary.

The seven incarnations of Sunny delved into the chaotic labyrinth of jagged rocks.

Just as he had suspected, the stone maze was different from how it had been in the Nightmare. Perhaps the shifting currents and the death of the Great River had changed it, or maybe it was simply never the same — in any case, it took Sunny a long while to find the correct path.

His seven incarnations wandered in the darkness. The silver strings extended endlessly, marking their passage — because of them, Sunny could easily find his way back after encountering a dead end or see if he had already been to a particular passage. So, in the end, he discovered the path to the inner lake relatively quickly.

Sunny returned for Nephis and Ananke and led them through the maze, picking up his incarnations in the process. As they walked, Sunny spoke in a subdued tone:

“Once we leave the maze and enter the inner lake, we will be judged by the Guardian of the Sanctuary — a being Ariel left behind to prevent those who had succumbed to the Corruption from reaching the burial chamber. None of us is a Nightmare Creature, so we should be fine… still, it’s better to prepare ourselves in advance.”

There was the question of how the Thieving Bird had made it past the Guardian, of course. But then again, that thing seemed capable of getting anywhere it wanted to go, and taking anything it wanted to take — so, it was not surprising that the loathsome bird had found its way to Oblivion’s grave without drawing the ire of the Guardian. Finally, the terrifying expanse of the inner lake revealed itself in all its chilling glory. The waters here were littered with floating corpses — too many of them to count — all belonging to powerful abominations. There were husks of the Nightmare Butterflies, carcasses of abhorrent leviathans, and ghastly corpses that Sunny did not even want to look at, let alone describe.

However…

He froze, stunned for a few moments. Sunny did not feel a horrible gaze falling upon him from beneath the mass of water. Instead… among the floating corpses, he saw one that he had not seen before.

It was difficult to miss, considering how colossal it was, towering above the water like a mountain and effortlessly dwarfing every other carcass.

The creature was impossible to define, since it didn’t resemble any living being Sunny had seen before. It had pale grey hide, and its body was mostly formless, resembling a mountain of flesh that gave way to a tangle of enormous, eerie tentacles…

There was a strange quality about it, as well. As if they were looking at a broken construct instead of a dead creature.

The body of the odd being was viciously ravaged and torn open, an avalanche of pale innards and mysterious liquid spilling into the lake from the terrible wound.

It was the Guardian of the Estuary… dead and destroyed.

Sunny studied the colossal corpse for a long while, unable to speak.

Eventually, he shook his head.

“I guess being judged won’t be a problem after all.”

Because the judge was gone.

It did not matter whether the Guardian had been some ancient horror Ariel commanded to watch over the Estuary or a strange kind of artificial construct he left behind to serve the same purpose. Now that the creature was destroyed, Sunny and his companions were about to face the real problem…

The thing that had destroyed the Guardian and left its corpse in such a sorry state.