Shadow Slave

Some time later, Sunny and Jet found themselves standing alone outside Nightwalker’s hideout. They had left him alone with Bloodwave and Naeve out of tact, to let the Saints of Night have a private conversation.

The radiance of the Lighthouse surrounded them like a incandescent veil, and a cool wind caressed their faces.

Somewhere far away, the Shadow Legion was embroiled in a furious battle, besieged from all sides, and slowly gaining the upper hand.

Sunny sighed.

”Nightwalker... I can’t believe he’s still alive.”

Standing by his side, Jet looked at him and nodded.

”Yeah. It’s like meeting one of your childhood heroes, who supposedly died decades ago. Only the hero is perfectly alive and looks younger than you... and you’re the one who’s dead instead.”

Sunny blinked a couple of times.

”That’s... one way to put it.”

He looked at her and frowned.

”So what do you think?”

Jet hesitated for a while.

”I think you are right. Returning from this expedition with Nightwalker will be a great boon - he has become even more outstanding than he used to be, it seems, and he used to be legendary.”

Her expression darkened a little.

”I am not entirely sure that we can trust him, though.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow. ”How soe”

Jet shrugged.

”I’ve hunted down plenty of Awakened who couldn’t handle the weight of the Nightmare Spell and went crazy, you know? We do not know how damaged that man truly is, considering what he went through. Hopefully, he’s fine... or rather, broken in a controllable manner. But we will have to wait and see.”

Her expression turned a little somber.

”There is something odd about his story, as well. Don’t you think? The Dreamspawn supposedly betrayed and killed him... but why would that man go into all the trouble of traveling to the Eternal City just to kill Nightwalker? He could have done that anywhere else and gotten the lineage of Storm God anyway. Additionally, the act of killing Nightwalker itself seems strange. Wouldn’t the Dreamspawn have known that he would come to life?”

Sunny sighed and looked away.

”’Maybe he wanted Nightwalker to rot in the Eternal City forever. But yes, I share these concerns. I really hope they won’t come to pass, though. For what it’s worth, he doesn’t seem crazy... or, at least, he seems like the right kind of crazy. And believe me, I know a lot about crazy.”

He grinned.

A few seconds later, his smile dimmed.

”In any case, for now, the expedition gained another powerful member. One who knows the Eternal City way better than we do, at that.”

Jet nodded.

The two of them remained silent for a while, looking at the wall of the Lighthouse. Eventually, Sunny said:

”I think Naeve is going to go inside. Unlike Aether and Bloodwave — and Nightwalker himself— he inherited the lineage instead of absorbing it. I am not sure what the difference is, but there seems to be one for the members of the House of Night.”

Jet smiled faintly.

”It makes sense, I guess. Storm God is the god of journeys and guidance, so her heirs can’t just receive their inheritance. They have to find their way to it.” Sunny remained silent for a while, then looked at her and asked in a curious tone:

”Are you going to try? Entering the Lighthouse and receiving Storm God’s lineage, I mean?”

Jet hesitated a little, then shook her head.

”No. Why should I?”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

”Because possessing a divine lineage grants you power. Nightwalker, Immortal Flame, Warden of Valor, Ki Song... even the Dreamspawn. All of them had accomplished so much because they possessed one.”

Jet chuckled.

”Or maybe they received those lineages because they were the kind of people to accomplish that much.”

She looked at Sunny and shrugged.

”Naeve mentioned that not just anyone can assimilate a divine lineage, and that it’s a deadly gamble. From what I understand, success does not depend on how powerful or resilient you are — it is more of a question of affinity. And I don’t really have any affinity to Storm God and her various aspects. So, I am not keen on taking the risk.”

Jet looked away and shrugged.

”And to be honest... I have no interest in inheriting the legacy of dead gods. They failed in the end, after all. So it’s a legacy of failure. I don’t need it — instead, I’d rather leave behind a legacy of my own.”

Sunny smiled.

”How arrogant.”

But it was also strangely compelling.

He sighed, thinking about his own quest to assemble the fragments of Weaver’s lineage.

Jet, meanwhile, asked:

”What about you?”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

”Me? Oh... I can’t absorb the lineage of Storm God. I might be able to benefit from being exposed to it, though.”

Blood Weave had swallowed the lineage of Storm God and grown stronger from it. Granted, Sunny had an inherent affinity to shadows, and that lineage had been received from an Aspect Legacy — in other words, it had been presented to him by the Spell.

So, there was a chance that he would be able to swallow the lineage of Storm God, as well.

But Sunny was not sure that the risk was worth it.

After all, if he was incapacitated even for a short while, the Shadow Legion would be decimated, and their expedition would come to an abrupt end.

He sighed.

”I feel like it’s a little irresponsible, for me to enter the Lighthouse now.” Sunny grinned.

”But who am I kidding? Of course, I will enter.”

Jet clicked her tongue.

”And I have just boasted about how reliable you are.”

They both remained silent for a while after that, surrounded by a blinding silver radiance.

Eventually, Jet asked:

”are you really going to try and destroy the Eternal City?”

Sunny smiled.

”Sure. Despite all my accomplishments, I have yet to destroy a single city, you know.

And something like that... will look really good on my resume...””