Shadow Slave

By the time Effie and Sunny reached the Ivory Tower, the rest were already there. They had seen the unusually lively streets of Bastion on the way. The growing crowd of prominent champions of the Human Domain gathered on the pier of the Castle, waiting for a ferry to come and take them to the Ivory Island... where, without a doubt, representatives of the Immortal Flame clan would shine a light on the preposterous rumors quickly spreading across the world.

The rumors that Asterion, the Dreamspawn, was back from the dead and claiming his place as the third Sovereign of humanity.

’Damn it all.’

Things had gone much more smoothly when Mordret suddenly attained Supremacy. Now, everything was in chaos. The Fire Keepers were supposed to deal with the turmoil, but with one of their leaders gravely wounded and the other busy treating her wounds, they fell into inaction. None of them knew who Asterion was, anyway...

Because simply knowing about his existence had seemed perilous once.

And it was. Everyone either already knew or would soon know about him, though, and therefore everyone was already in danger.

”How is she?”

Cassie was laying on the bed in Neph’s personal quarters on the highest floor of the Ivory Tower, while Nephis herself was kneeling beside her, soft light slowly disappearing from under her skin.

She gave Sunny a somber look.

He could see the answer himself. Some of Cassie’s wounds seemed to have closed, but the gaping hole where her left eye had been remained exactly the same.

The bleeding had stopped, at least.

Her bloodied face looked incredibly pale in the bright sunlight pouring into the windows. As she lay there, vulnerable and unconscious, Cassie seemed younger than usual... no, actually, she finally looked her age. Not that age still held the same meaning for beings like Sunny, Nephis, and her.

Both physically and mentally, they were more or less ageless.

”I managed to heal most of her wounds. But her eye simply refuses to recover... it is as if it was never there. As if missing an eye is the natural state of her body, so restoring it goes beyond the concept of healing.” Casting a gaze at her friend, Nephis gritted her teeth and said, her voice shaking with fury:

”I have no idea how he did that. I do not know how he prevented me from healing her remotely, either. Ah... he really prepared that ambush well.”

Sunny frowned.

”But not well enough. Otherwise, Cassie would be missing both eyes right now.”

Nephis looked at him with a hint of misery in her eyes, which made his heart ache a little, then nodded somberly.

”Yes.”

She remained silent for a moment, then sighed and looked to Kai.

”Kai, can you ask one of the Fire Keepers to bring us water?”

She turned back to Cassie and brushed a few stray strands of bloodied hair away from her face.

”She shouldn’t have to stay that way...”

Kai and Jet were there with them, as well. They had arrived with the second incarnation of Sunny from Ravenheart via the Dream Gate, and were now standing behind Nephis in grim silence.

When Kai left, she turned to Jet.

”What is the situation?”

Jet lingered for a moment.

”The news has already reached the waking world. We are suppressing the spread on the network, but we can’t stop people from talking. The djinn is out of the bottle, Nephis... well, you must already know that. By tomorrow - two days at best, all of humanity will know that the Dreamspawn has returned. So, we can’t cover it up. The best we can do is frame the story in a way that benefits us.”

Nephis looked at her with a dark expression.

”Only we can’t. Because he won’t be sitting idly, either - he’ll make sure to spread his own version of the story to cement his starting position. Then, he will start an information campaign to discredit us.”

Jet pursed her lips.

”He might be a Supreme, but we still control the infrastructure. All the means of directing the flow of information are in our hands.”

Sunny shook his head.

”No. The Dreamspawn himself is a means of controlling the flow of information. The most powerful one there is. He is a Supreme whose Aspect is all about controlling thoughts and emotions. We cannot prevent him from poisoning our people with his ideas.”

He paused somberly.

”All we can do is inoculate them against the poison with ideas of our own.”

’Maybe.’

Effie, who had been silent the entire time, finally spoke:

”This is not our area of expertise, though. Isn’t it too arrogant, to think that we can beat that monster at his own game?” Sunny and Nephis both looked at her. Eventually, it was Nephis who spoke, her voice low:

”Arrogance has nothing to do with it. It’s just that we have no other choice... we have been left with no other choice. So what’s the point of cowering in fear?”

Effie grimaced.

”Can’t we just lure him somewhere and turn him into a puddle of blood? Oh... and then feed that puddle to some Unholy horror. Even if he is immortal, that should keep him occupied for a while.”

Sunny sighed.

”We can’t. He is too cunning to walk into a trap - he is a human, after all, despite all his proclamations. And fighting humans is so much more difficult than fighting Nightmare Creatures. Even if we do manage to lure him away from human cities, though, it’s... unclear whether we can defeat him in battle. Or rather, defeat him before he can escape.”

Effie frowned.

”You killed Anvil and Ki Song alright.”

Sunny shook his head.

”We had been preparing for that battle for years. We had usurped their Citadels, stolen the loyalty of their people, and attacked them unexpectedly when the power of their Domains was lower than ever...”

He paused for a moment, thinking how eerily that described what Asterion must have been planning.

Swallowing his unease, Sunny continued:

”...While they were already exhausted from fighting each other, no less. They had not even entertained the thought that we might attain natural Supremacy, either. But we did - by then, the outcome of the battle was already a moot point.”

Kai had returned with a basin of water and a clean cloth. Nephis wetted the cloth and washed the blood off Cassie’s face, speaking quietly:

”We are strong... much stronger than Asterion, most likely. But strength alone does not decide the outcome of battles. Do not make the mistake of underestimating him - he has been Supreme decades longer than we have, after all. He wields four Divine Lineages, as well: Heart God, War God, Storm God, and Beast God. He inherited the power of all four, no less.”

Maybe that could explain some of his unexplainable powers.

Nephis sighed.

”It would have been good if we could join forces with the King of Nothing. But he made his unwillingness to ally with us clear - in fact, he completely isolated himself in the Hollow Mountains, avoiding all contact with humans.”

A crooked grin twisted her lips.

”He must have known that humans would become a liability once the Dreamspawn returns. At best, they are hostages that he uses to manipulate his enemies. At worst, they are his willing thralls, infecting everyone who comes in contact with them with his disease.”

Mordret had hidden himself in the mist of the Hollow Mountains, eventually cutting all contact with humanity. Of course, Sunny did not think that he was merely planning to hide from Asterion with his tail tucked... the bastard was definitely brewing his own plan.

He had to know how meaningless hiding from Asterion was, at the very least. Sooner or later, the insatiable monster would come for him, as well.

After meeting Asterion, Sunny could suddenly see where many facets of Mordret’s personality had come from - some of his habits and mannerisms, even. One had been raised by the other, after all. It was amazing how Mordret suddenly seemed far less of an unhinged monster when compared to his former captor and guardian.

Who knew that he would seem sensible one day?

In any case, there was no point in expecting assistance from Mordret.

”We still can...”

Before he could finish the sentence, Nephis interrupted him by raising a hand.

In front of her, on the bloodied bed...

Cassie let out a quiet groan and then slowly opened her one remaining eye.