Shadow Slave

In just a few short days, Cassie saw that even her worst expectations were proven wrong.

Red Hill was lost. The Sanctuary of Noctis was lost. The Lake of Tears was lost — not simply conquered, but erased from the map, forever changing the face of the Weeping Goddess.

And these were only the Citadels that had fallen to Mordret. In truth, there was no saying how many Saints had already been enthralled by Asterion, thus making their Citadels beholden to the Hunger Domain. The Longing Domain was crumbling. Which meant that somewhere out there, Nephis was growing weaker.

Cassie would have liked to worry about Nephis, but the truth of the matter was that she had no such luxury. She did not have time to worry even about herself.

The decision Kai had made during the battle for the Lake of Tears turned the already terrible situation simply untenable. His intentions had been good, but the consequences of providing a glorious stage for Asterion were dire.

Mordret had conquered Godgrave and fashioned a personal hunting ground out of the Hollows. Now, his forces were advancing south both in the basin of the River of Tears and in the heartland of the Dream Realm. The battle for the Black Mountains had begun, and Cassie was struggling to keep sending fresh troops there.

In the south, meanwhile, the plague of Asterion was entering the final stage. It was slowly consuming all of humanity, making no distinction between mundane people and Awakened. In the cities where those loyal to the Longing Domain still remained, intense clashes between the faithful and the apostates were threatening to escalate into civil war.

There were one or two cities that enjoyed perfect harmony and peace, though. Those were the cities where the plague had already swallowed everyone, making all citizens thralls of Asterion.

And throughout all that, the waking world was continuing to come undone.

Cassie felt suffocated.

At the same time, she felt paranoid, unable to rely even on those people who had held her absolute trust in the past.

But most of all, she had no time to consider the large picture. Her mind was completely preoccupied with the titanic undertaking of administering the boundless expanse of the Human Domain.

As night descended upon Bastion, embracing the heavenly island drifting in the clouds above it first, she walked across the empty corridors of the Ivory Tower and knocked on a door. Coming inside, she found Rain meditating.

Cassie could not see the young woman, but she could feel the torrents of essence flowing furiously through her, their raging current guided by the coils of the serpent etched into her skin.

The clouds outside the window were restless, swirling in tune with the revolving whirlpool of Rain’s soul essence.

Sensing her presence, the young woman seemed to smile.

“Lady Cassia?”

Cassie hesitated for a moment.

“l am just checking on you. Do you need anything?”

Rain shook her head.

“No, thank you. Oh… I’ll be sure to make breakfast tomorrow. Please come eat once the sun rises.”

Cassie nodded.

There were very few people on the Ivory Island at the moment, and making the blind woman cook was not the best of ideas. As a Saint, Cassie herself did not need a lot of food — but Rain was different. So, she insisted on cooking for both of them when nobody else was available.

“I’ll leave you to it, then.”

Not wanting to disturb Rain, Cassie quietly retreated.

While she was talking to Rain, the forces of the Human Domain were pushed back from the northernmost peak in the Black Mountains.

At the same time, a potent Nightmare Gate opened in the middle of a populous city in the Western Quadrant. The Obel Scale had done its job and warned of its imminent descent well in advance, but with how many soldiers were engaged in the battle against Mordret, it was difficult to send a large force to contain it.

At the same time, a strange peace settled on the streets of a Citadel City that stood on the shores of the River of Tears far downstream of the Weeping Goddess. The citizens, who had been at each other’s throats just a day ago, were now going about their business with happy smiles. The Saint ruling the Citadel was still sending mental messages to Cassie, his tone urgent.

He seemed to still be loyal, at least.

[Lady Cassia, we have settled the refugees from the Lake of Tears, but our food stores will not last long with the additional population. I know that navigating the River of Tears is dangerous at the moment, but can’t you resupply us by sending a few ships upstream from the Stormsea? I will dispatch my best warriors to escort them!]

Walking to her quarters, Cassie traced the wall with her fingers.

[It is possible, but the situation is changing swiftly. I will send supplies as soon as possible. Keep your warriors inside the city — we do not know when the next raid might happen.]

She was sharing the Saint’s senses, so she could feel his fatigue and anxiety.

He let out a heavy sigh.

[I see.]

The Saint remained silent for a few moments, and then asked aloud:

“But, Lady Cassia, can I ask you a question?” He leaned back and inhaled deeply, relaxing his body.

“What do you think would have happened to the great palace of Crete if the Minotaur broke free of his prison?”

Cassie halted for a moment, then continued walking.

The Saint smiled.

“Would he have spared Ariadne, his sister? Or tore her limb from limb and devoured her?”

He chuckled.

“You have such pretty eyes, Lady Cassia…”

She erased her mark, cutting the connection between them.

‘Another one…’

Knowing that Asterion could exploit her web of telepathic connections, Cassie gritted her teeth and erased every mark in that city, as well.

A black spot appeared on her mental map of the Dream Realm. There were already a few of these spots on it, already — particularly so in the north.

From a distance, it looked like a vast darkness was encroaching upon the world, devouring it slowly.

At that moment, for the first time since Asterion had revealed himself, Cassie could not help but ask herself a frightening question.

What was she going to do if Nephis and Sunny failed to achieve their mysterious goal in time?

What was she going to do if they failed?