Shadow Slave

The feeling of bliss Sunny had felt while traversing the safety of the Eastern Quadrant evaporated as soon as he saw the ocean.

The sun was setting, painting the vast expanse of undulating water into a million fiery shades. It was as if both the heavens and the ocean were aflame, enveloped by a breathtaking crimson blaze — a sight no less breathtaking than the nightmarish vistas of the Dream Realm.

This dying world had its own beauty to offer, as well, made only more poignant by its looming end.

Beauty and danger often went hand in hand, though, and the oceans of Earth had long become home to unfathomable horrors. Sunny had braved the dark expanse of the Indian Ocean a few times, including all by himself soon after becoming a Saint. He had survived back then, but the memories of the frenzied voyage never failed to make him shiver.

Now, too, a cold chill ran down his spine. ”I wonder how bad the ocean really is.”

By all accounts, it could not be as harrowing as the Death Zones of the Dream Realm. Most of the Nightmare Creatures populating the infested waters could not be of a Rank higher than Corrupted, after all — even if a few Great Ones did reside in the depths of the ocean, they would not pose a serious threat to Sunny.

If not for the gnawing suppression of the War Realm, he could have cleansed the entire ocean of Nightmare Creatures, making sailing across it as safe as traversing the Eastern Quadrant had been.

Of course, there was little point in doing so — all of Earth was going to become part of the Dream Realm soon.

Before that happened, however, the Dream Realm seemed to have already invaded Earth in a way it was not supposed to.

Out there, in the distance, something that had never been meant to grace the verdant reaches of Earth was resting on the waves, bathed in the crimson light of the setting sun.

”So this is the Night Garden.”

Sunny gazed at the wandering Great Citadel that had ostensibly become the headquarters of the government, his face full of wonder.

The gigantic ship was truly titanic, spanning more than a kilometer from port to starboard and a dozen times that from bow to stern. Its ancient hull was made of wood but had no seams, resembling a hollowed out branch of an unfathomably large tree — its hull rose from the waves like a dark wall, the immense silhouette of the huge vessel appearing too enormous to exist on Earth.

Sunny had thought that the alloy behemoths which had carried the First Evacuation Army to Antarctica were unreasonably giant, but the Night Garden made them look like toy ships.

Despite that, it did not seem heavy and hulking like those massive battleships did. Instead, the Night Garden seemed graceful in its elegant immensity, the flowing lines of its hull emanating a feeling of dark harmony. It rested easily on the water, resembling an ancient city rising from the waves.

The ship was indeed like a city in and of itself, with dozens of decks, stunning palaces, and tall pagodas built on its surface, as well as hidden from view on its vast holds. It had wild groves, rushing streams, and deep lakes. Masts that were as tall as mountains rose into the blazing sky like trees, their beams spreading far and wide like branches...

With the arrival of settlers in the wake of the Godgrave War, the palaces of Night Garden became homes to countless people. Its groves became cultivated fruit gardens, and its meadows became fertile fields. People strolled along bustling promenades, children played on lake shores, and myriad colorful lanterns illuminated the great ship, making it glow like a jewel against the backdrop of encroaching night. The Night Garden was not as populous as Bastion or Ravenheart, but it was still home to millions of people now — most of them were government workers and warriors or their dependents, with some refugees mixed in.

The wandering citadel of the Demon of Repose was vast, but it was not vast compared to cities like NQSC. However, unlike ordinary cities, the Night Garden was layered, with many decks stacked on top of each other — that was how all these people managed to settle on it, making the Great Citadel their home.

Safely hidden in the shadows, Sunny enjoyed the dreamlike view of the titanic ship for a long while.

It was a bit funny, but in all these years, this was the first time he saw the Night Garden. He had seen its likeness as a picture or on the screen, of course, but never with his own two eyes. The great vessel looked much more striking in real life, emanating a mystical feeling... it was almost as if the Night Garden possessed its own presence. It was not what Sunny saw that affected him the most, though — it was what he sensed. ”How strange.”

His shadow sense washed over the titanic ship, trying to penetrate its hull. Just like in the Jade Palace and the Great Castle, it failed — his senses were dampened by the ancient wood, making it impossible to perceive what was happening in the great vessel’s cavernous holds.

The daemons had liked their privacy, it seemed.

Sunny did sense the shadow cast by the Night Garden on the water, though.

And that shadow was not like the shadows that inanimate objects cast. Instead, it was more akin to the shadow of a living thing, and so, Sunny had no choice but to assume that the Night Garden... was alive.

Perhaps not in the way that Sunny was alive — well, he was a bad example, really — but alive nonetheless.

In any case, the task of finding Jet among the millions of people had become difficult because of the titanic ship interfering with his shadow sense.

It was only when the sun drowned in the ocean and the night embraced the world that Sunny finally felt a familiar shadow.

He smiled faintly.

”Time to knock on Reaper’s door…”