Shadow Slave

‘The Tower of Hope is lost.’

So was the entirety of the Human Domain. Cassie acknowledged the fact calmly and pulled her blindfold back up, enduring the terrifying pain that ravaged her mind as best she could. She spent a heartbeat assessing the situation, then activated the unfinished runic array she and Sunny had been creating to serve as an additional layer of protection for the Ivory Island.

She needed more time.

Nightwalker was circumventing the defenses of the flying island by twisting space, and Cassie was limited in how she could form and unleash the Crushing due to the risk of destroying the Night Garden and killing all its inhabitants. So, she had to resort to unconventional means of stalling for time.

The array ignited as it drew essence from the Divine core of the Tower of Hope, postponing the arrival of the boarding party. Sadly, its effect was not flawless. A few cannonballs still penetrated the aegis, making the great pagoda quake. An acrid smell permeated the air, and smoke drifted through the door of Rain’s quarters from somewhere below.

Ignoring it, Cassie knelt near the dazed young woman and shook her gently.

“Rain. Rain! Stand up. We need to move, now.’

Rain slowly regained her senses. Her eyes focused, which allowed Cassie to see her own bloodied face clearly. Then, however, Rain seemed to fall into confusion once again… it was no surprise. After all, most of the memories she had made after coming to the Ivory Island were gone.

They had no time for this.

“Stand up, Rain!”

Cassie forcefully pulled the young woman to her feet and supported her for a moment. Rain’s eyes widened when she saw the gargantuan silhouette of the Night Garden looming in the sky outside the window, and her body quaked.

“Why is…”

She felt quiet, prompting Cassie to call out to snap the young woman from her daze. Luckily, Rain seemed to finally compose herself after that. She turned away from the window, her gaze drifting to the hilt of a serpentine dagger sticking from between Cassie’s ribs.

That was when Cassie remembered that she had been stabbed, as well.

Unperturbed, she grasped the hilt and pulled the dagger out of her chest.

“L—lady Cassia?”

Cassie was still weak, distracted, and suffering from a traumatic pain. It was quite inconvenient to be that way when they needed to move fast.

“Release your Epithets, Rain.”

The young woman stared at her dazedly for a moment, then blinked. In the next moment, the pain ravaging Cassie finally subsided, leaving only the pulsing ball of agony in her empty eye socket and the mundane pain of the stab wound in her chest behind. Her limbs regained their strength, and her mind snapped into focus.

‘Much better.’

Cassie could finally think straight again. “Good. Now, let’s go.”

She pushed the bloodied dagger into Rain’s hands and pulled the young woman out of the room.

The corridor was filled with smoke, and the Ivory Tower continued to tremble as devastating cannonballs impacted the island, blooming into incandescent explosions of charged essence. Cassie navigated the corridor by memory, observing her surroundings through Rain’s eyes.

Suddenly, there was a hint of movement in the smoke, and in the next moment, Cassie lost all feeling in her body as the world seemed to spin. At the same time, she watched in horror as her head separated from her neck and spun in the air, splattering the pristine white walls of the Ivory Tower with scarlet blood.

Her headless body fell to its knees, and then toppled to the floor. The world collapsed into darkness.

..Several seconds in the past, Cassie calmly sidestepped the flashing sword and grasped the wrist holding it. It belonged to Sid, the Fire Keeper who usually acted as her personal attendant.

Sid possessed a powerful combat Aspect, so Cassie had to deal with her fast.

One strike threw the swift Fire Keeper against the wall, the second slammed her head into hard stone. Cassie measured her strength precisely, aiming to knock her out without killing her.

Sid’s limp body slid to the floor, her blood marring the pristine walls of the Ivory Tower instead of Cassie’s.

Cassie regarded her unconscious body for a brief second.

‘Sid…’

Sid had been by her side since the Dark City. She had been one of those bold, desperate few in the outer settlement who dared to go out into the city and hunt… when Nephis began to amass influence among the Sleepers of the Forgotten Shore, the hunters were one of the first to support her. Later, Sid became a member of Cassie’s own cohort and followed her to the Chained Isles.

And now, she was bleeding at her feet, having failed to ambush and kill her.

Cassie did not let any emotion show on her bloodied face.

“Come!”

Since Sid had already reached this floor, the others would not be far behind.

And attack from outside, an attack from within… and an assassin planted in the very heart of the Ivory Tower. Asterion was really rolling out the red carpet for Cassie.

‘Jet escaped. Can I escape?’

Cassie and Rain made their way to the chamber on the opposite side of the great pagoda, where the remnant of Smile of Heaven was being kept and taken care of. Retrieving the Hollow woman, they rushed down the stairs.

In the process, Neph’s miraculous flames washed away Cassie’s wound, leaving her feeling slightly uplifted. Even though they were separated by a vast distance and dire circumstances, it still felt like she was in her friend’s embrace. It still felt like Nephis was by her side.

The hint of joy Cassie felt swiftly evaporated, though, when she was forced to crush the Fire Keepers who followed the command of their new master and attempted to cut her down.

She just barely managed to keep them alive, but that did not mean that her former companions escaped unscathed. Cassie had to be swift and cynical when dealing with these Ascended elites, especially because time was of the essence — so, she delivered the most amount of damage she could without actually killing them with precise, surgical strikes.

By the time they reached the ground floor of the Ivory Tower, it was not only her blood that soaked her tunic and marred her skin. They passed through the jaws of a dead dragon and escaped onto the emerald grass beyond. Rain could not help but look at the titanic form of the Night Garden that blotted out the sun above them — that allowed Cassie to see that winged Echoes and Awakened warriors were still being held back by the shield of the Crushing and the runic array protecting the Ivory Island. However, the runic array was yet unfinished, so it wasn’t going to hold them back for long, especially because Tyris of White Feather was somewhere out there, among the warriors of the Night Garden.

“Hurry.”

Cassie rushed Rain to follow her around the Tower of Hope, toward the grove of ancient trees that swayed restlessly behind it.

They were almost there…

Then, however, the entire island shook, and the runic array was extinguished in a flood of silver light. Facing the sky, Cassie sensed something vast and immensely powerful approaching them from above.

Her expression hardened.

“Nightwalker.”