Shadow Slave

By the time Sunny reached the other side of the blossoming berth, Jet was already there, clad in her fitting black armor and leaning on her scythe. Her icy cold eyes peered at the long bridge connecting the wharf to the Eternal City, radiating a sense of deadly cold.

Sunny appeared out of the shadows next to her, looking in the same direction. ”Where are Naeve, Aether, and Bloodwave?”

She glanced at him briefly.

”Guarding the ship. We stationed all available Awakened throughout the interior, with Masters spread out to defend the key areas. The Saints are protecting the surface decks — Aether is on the bridge, Naeve is

at the bow, while Bloodwave is on the stern. The three of them should be able to contend against anything that might get past us... or at least stall it long enough for you to arrive.”

Sunny nodded, burning a bit of his essence to substitute the lacking oxygen with it.

”How is their breathing?”

Jet smiled faintly.

”They are fine while aboard the Night Garden. Beyond its aegis... they’ll probably suffocate. However, these are Saints of Night we are talking about — they have Memories to deal with the lack of breathing air in spades. So you don’t have to worry about them.”

Sunny studied her for a moment.

”What about you2”

Jet gave him a stare.

”I am dead. What do I need air for?” Sunny coughed.

Jet usually breathed like any normal human — when she was not low on essence, at least - and her body metabolized oxygen like any other body would. However, it seemed that her special constitution gave her an alternative, just like Sunny’s Supreme Rank did.

There was enough oxygen in the air around them to speak normally, at least. ’That was a pleasant surprise.

She raised an eyebrow.

”So, what’s the plan?”

Sunny studied the bridge for a while, then pointed to a barely visible area of rippling air on the other side of it.

”Do you see that? Let’s take a look first, then decide what our next steps will be.”

Summoning the Jade Mantle, he reached into the shadows and pulled a black odachi out of it. Then, placing its blade on his shoulder, Sunny walked toward the Eternal City with confident steps.

Jet followed.

As they walked across the long bridge, black water reeled and raged below them, glistening with the reflections of the silver light.

It was still eerily quiet and peaceful around them, though, with no movement whatsoever. Sunny had expected to be carving a path through a sea of abominations by now, but surprisingly enough, nothing had attacked them yet. His shadow sense also had no trouble enveloping everything around him... up to the end of the bridge, that was. There, his perception grew vague and muddied, as if something was suppressing it.

’Strange...’

Sunny frowned.

”What is that?” At some point, the smooth stone surface beneath their feet became uneven. Crouching, he wiped away droplets of water and studied it closely.

Thin lines were carved into the bridge, following a strange pattern. After inspecting them for a while, Sunny raised an eyebrow.

”A... runic array?”

Indeed, there were countless runes carved into the stone bridge, forming a complicated enchantment. Sunny was not as knowledgeable about runic sorcery as Cassie was, but he did know the basics. There was no need to test his modest mastery, though, since he could simply ask the master.

[Cassie?]

They continued on their way, observing the endless weave of mysterious runes. Eventually, Cassie saw enough to offer her opinion:

[This is an auxiliary enchantment... way beyond what I could accomplish, but still only a small part of a larger array.]

Sunny tilted his head a little.

[What does it do?]

There was a long pause, and then Cassie’s voice resounded in his mind. It was quiet and distorted, as if reaching him from a great distance, but still discernible.

[It maintains the existence of these runes, as well as of the main enchantment that is situated somewhere else. Well... rather, it prevents the innate sorcery of the Eternal City from erasing the runes by restoring the surfaces they are carved into to a pristine condition.]

Sunny narrowed his eyes.

[What does the main enchantment do, then?]

Cassie’s quiet, melodious laughter resounded in his head.

[That I do not know. I would have to read it first, wouldn’t I?]

Sunny sighed.

By then, they had almost reached the end of the bridge. Stopping, he remained motionless for a bit and then raised his head to study the anomaly they had noticed from the walls of the wharf.

Jet let out a whistle.

”I’ll be damned.”

Sunny tended to agree.

There, in front of them, a subtle rippling of the air betrayed the existence of an invisible barrier...

’There was another dome inside the aegis protecting the Eternal City, covering most of the city. It was very much like the shadow dome he had created to see if the Night Garden could submerge into the water - almost as vast as the primary one, but not quite, acting as a second layer of protection.

Here, the foundation of the Eternal City was exposed, towering above the restless waters as dark cliffs. And on those cliffs... enormous runes were carved into the stone, extending in both directions as far as the eye could see.

Almost as if they encircled the entire city.

There was something quite familiar about how those runes were carved into the base of the Eternal City, as well...

’The way they looked was almost exactly the same as Daeron’s message on the great stele looked, only on a much larger scale.

[This is the main enchantment. I think I know what its purpose is...]

Sunny remained silent for a long while, looking at the rippling barrier of the secondary dome.

He smiled darkly.

”I think I know, as well.”

Jet gave him a questioning look.

Looking up at the endless mass of water looming over their heads, Sunny said: ”The first barrier is created by innate sorcery of the Eternal City... divine sorcery of the Demon of Repose. Its purpose is to keep things out.”

Then, he looked down at the great runes carved into the ancient stone.

”The second barrier is a complicated runic array — much like the runic array that protected Twilight. It was created by the Serpent King.”

His expression darkened. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ novel{f}ire.net

”And its purpose... is to keep things in.”