Shadow Slave

Even after escaping the Dream Realm, Jet was under no illusion that she was safe now.

In fact, she was confident that since Asterion had come to capture her, he would have prepared an ambush in the government stronghold where she kept her tether, as well. He had already proven himself capable of being quite thorough during the attack on Cassie.

That was why she had secretly moved her tether to an undisclosed location weeks ago, with no one being the wiser. Not even the other members of Changing Star’s cohort knew where she was tethered now, so there was little chance of the Dreamspawn tracing her current location quickly.

He would find her eventually, though, so Jet had little time to waste.

Taking a deep breath, she gritted her teeth and sat up.

Her armor had been burned to a crisp and was already collapsing into a rain of dancing sparks. Beneath it, the snow-white smoothness of her skin was interspersed with gruesome burns. A good portion of her body was scorched and blackened, creating a ghastly sight.

Jet exhaled a small cloud of smoke and smiled darkly.

At least she was alive.

Well... maybe not quite alive. But definitely in one piece.

[Close your eyes, Jet.]

Hearing Cassie’s voice in her mind, Jet lingered for a moment and then did as she had been told.

[Why?]

There was a brief silence.

[I cannot be sure that the Dreamspawn has no access to my mind. So, it would be best if you don’t show me where you are. After this conversation is over, I will erase my mark and cut our connection.]

Jet let out a heavy sigh.

She briefly enjoyed the feeling of cold air caressing her burns, and then spoke quietly: “l assume you already know what happened. The Night Garden... is lost. And that Nightmare Creature seemed to have grown strong enough to easily sway Saints. Something changed.”

Dar of the Maharana clan was the first Transcendent to fall under the Dreamspawn’s spell... or so they had thought. However, the plague had swallowed Red Hill too suddenly and too rapidly, leaving them suspicious. It was difficult to investigate what had happened because Mordret left no witnesses, but there were breadcrumbs to be found in the last messages of Saint Dar.

The people of Red Hill had suffered from insomnia caused by a persistent plague of nightmares. This clue led Nephis and her companions to Saint Thane, the Dream Merchant... who had been developing a new version of Dreamspace to serve as a way for distant Citadels of humanity to communicate with each other.

Jet, naturally, was very familiar with the Dream Merchant, who had once been one of the two government Saints alongside Wake of Ruin.

It was unclear when Asterion had enthralled Saint Thane. What was clear, however, was that the unseen damage caused to the Human Domain by the infected dreams was grave. It had accelerated the spread of the plague, making countless people across the Dream Realm far more susceptible to it. Red Hill had been targeted especially severely. Much worse, the Dream Merchant had remained a subject of the Longing Domain until the very end, proving that Asterion was capable of far more than simply making his thralls blindly loyal to his cause.

After that discovery, Nephis and her allies could not even tell how many Saints had already fallen under Asterion’s hex.

But, still...

Enthralling all six Saints aboard the Night Garden — including someone as stalwart as Tyris or as exceptionally predisposed to loathing the Dreamspawn as Nightwalker — was too difficult a feat. It had all happened too fast.

Cassie seemed to agree.

[It is most likely because of what happened at the Lake of Tears. The plague seems to have reached critical mass there. Now, it’s... unstoppable.]

Jet was sitting on the cold concrete with her eyes closed, as if meditating. Her body was like a morbidly beautiful painting, white and black hues accentuated by streaks of vibrant red. Her expression was somber.

She remained silent for a while, then said in an even tone:

”Since the Night Garden has fallen... Bastion and Ravenheart will follow soon.”

Her voice sounded hoarse in the cold darkness.

Cassie’s answer was delayed by a few seconds.

[It seems that way. In fact...]

She paused for a moment, and then added calmly:

[I lost track of the Night Garden. So, an attack on the Ivory Tower seems imminent as well.]

A dark grimace contorted Jet’s face.

“So... what am I supposed to do now? Every countermeasure I can think of is bound to end up being an exercise in futility.”

Cassie remained silent for a while before responding.

[Put your faith in Nephis and Sunny. Hide and survive until they return.]

Jet chuckled.

”I cannot really lie low, Cassie. If I do, my essence will run out, and I’ll die. No matter where I’ll go, there needs to be something for me to kill there.”

Cassie had to know it, as well.

[Escape NQSC for now. It is not safe there anymore... I’ll provide an escape route. Once you are not in immediate danger, you can think of a way to satiate your Flaw.]

Receiving the instructions on where to go, Jet smiled bitterly.

“How ironic. But I like it, actually... that’s the last place they will look, considering the circumstances.”

She fell silent for a moment, then asked: “What about you?”

Cassie’s response sounded confident, but she could sense a hint of tension in it.

[If worst comes to worst... I have a few escape routes prepared, as well. Hopefully, though, I won’t have to use them.]

Jet exhaled slowly.

For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence in her mind.

”I guess you’ll be cutting the connection between us now, then?”

Cassie responded after a short pause:

[Yes. There is nothing left to say.]

Jet sighed again.

”Take care of yourself, Cassie.”

Just before she felt a familiar presence disappear from her mind, she suddenly asked:

“Wait... Nephis and the Lord of Shadows. Where are they, really?”

There was a moment of silence, and then Cassie chuckled.

[I don’t know.]

Jet scoffed.

[I don’t know, because I erased my own memories of having known where they went. So, even if the Dreamspawn captures me, he won’t find out.]

She fell silent for a moment.

[Take care of yourself as well, Jet.]

With that, Cassie was gone.

Jet had never really known when their seer was sharing her senses, but now, she suddenly felt lonely in her own mind.

A moment later, her icy blue eyes gleamed in the darkness.

“Right. Let’s escape NQSC, then...”