Shadow Slave

Before Sunny could come to terms with meeting Ananke — the real Ananke, who had never met the Mad Prince, and therefore never got to travel with Sunny and Nephis — he found himself in the lounge cabin of the mysterious ship, being treated to tea, wine, and delicious food.

Ananke even used the same enchanted lacquered box and dinnerware as she had in the Nightmare. The similarity to how they had met for the first time was simply too peculiar… it made Sunny want to ponder the mechanics of how the Spell brought its phantoms to life, and whether its knowledge of all things having to do with the past was founded on its ability to fathom the Strings of Fate.

However, at the moment, he was not really in the mood for philosophical ponderings. Barely remembering to touch his food, he simply stared at Ananke, feeling both stunned and full of joy.

Ecstatic, almost.

It was just like Nephis said — they had not spent a lot of time with the Ananke in the Nightmare, but the old priestess occupied a special place in Sunny’s heart. Her loss had hit him especially hard, just like it had Nephis.

So, seeing her once again filled him with happiness.

Enough of it to suppress his curiosity for a short while, even, and dissuade him from asking any questions.

Ananke watched them with a hint of reverence and amazement… and curiosity, as well. Sunny and Nephis couldn’t look away from her either.

Eventually, she chuckled.

“Ananke of Weave… no one has called me that in a long, long time. Weave was destroyed centuries ago, after all… thousands of years? I am surprised that you know that ancient name, my lord and lady.”

Her voice was still warm and bright, but betrayed a hint of wistful melancholy for a brief moment, as if she was remembering a deep wound that had long scarred over. Sunny and Nephis glanced at each other.

In the end, it was Sunny who spoke:

“l am Sunless, and this is Nephis. There is no need to use honorifics when talking to us… we are of the same Rank, after all.”

Indeed, it was true. He could see it as clear as day when he gazed into the soul of Ananke — there, a radiant soul core was shining like a summer sun. She was Supreme now, just like the two of them.

Ananke lingered for a few moments, then smiled.

“Oh, I couldn’t. You are the chosen of Weaver, after all… Lord Sunless, Lady Nephis.”

He sighed.

“How does that even work? You were already a carrier of the Nightmare Spell when it was in its infancy… its caretaker, even, or at least a descendant of its caretakers. Now that it has fully matured, you should be no different from Nephis. As much a Child of Weaver as she is, really.”

Ananke glanced at him with a hint of confusion in her azure eyes, then shrugged lightly.

“I wouldn’t know, Lord Sunless. We knew nothing about what happened outside the Tomb of Ariel after entering it… we could only hope that the promise Weaver had given us would be fulfilled, and the Children of Weaver would save everyone from the Doom.”

Weaver’s promise was the Nightmare Spell, and the Doom she mentioned was the spreading Corruption… the Nightmare of the Forgotten God.

Ananke hesitated for a few moments, then asked tentatively:

“So… how is it going, my lord and lady? Saving everyone from the Doom, and the like?”

She had to be very curious about them. In fact, Nephis and Sunny must have seemed like mythical creatures to her — they were people from outside the Tomb of Ariel, after all, which was a mythical place for the River People.

Sunny coughed.

“Well…”

He considered his words for a bit, then shrugged.

“It’s the Age of the Nightmare Spell out there. All the realms are consumed by the Corruption, and only the War Realm still stands. There are several billion humans left alive — most of them are mundane people, some are Awakened warriors. Among those warriors, Nephis and I are two of the strongest… but our strength is woefully not enough to deal with what is coming. So, that is the reason why we came to the Tomb of Ariel. To have a chance of becoming stronger.”

Sunny paused for a second.

“But the Great River is not how we expected to find it.”

Nephis finally spoke then, her voice reserved:

“You did not seem surprised to see us, Ananke. How did you know to come and welcome us? Did Dusk send you a message in a dream?”

In the Nightmare, Ananke had received a dream message — that was how she had been able to meet Sunny and Nephis in her ketch. They assumed that it was Dusk of Fallen Grace, the last sybil of the River People, who had sent the message… but actually, they did not know for sure. It could have been Torment, instead.

It could have even been the Mad Prince himself.

Torment and the Mad Prince did not exist anymore, so…

Ananke glanced at them in surprise.

“Dusk of Fallen Grace? No… she had been long dead by the time Weave was destroyed. Dusk was the last sybil to succumb to the Defilement, so her grand burial was meant to signify the end of the River People. But instead, it paved the way for a new beginning.”

She glanced around the lounge cabin, as if taking in the sight.

The cabin was spacious and cozy, set and decorated in a way that only spaces where somebody lived could be. It was clear that Ananke had made the mysterious ship into her home, having spent numerous years living aboard it.

She smiled.

“No… it was that scoundrel, King Cronos, who promised me that you would come one day. If I only endured long enough.”

Ananke glanced into the distance, her smile turning wistful.

“Cronos was the one who built this ship, as well… the Time Slayer.”

She remained silent for a few moments, then sighed.

“The sybils guided and protected the River People, you see. So when the last of them fell, the River People lost their way. They could have remained lost… or forged a new path. Cronos was a young man when Dusk of Fallen Grace perished, and because of that, he could see more than those who were older and wiser than him. His mind was sharp and flexible, and his Aspect granted him powers over the essence of the Great River… over time. So, he envisioned a path to salvation.”

Sunny blinked a few times.

“Cronos? The brat from Fallen Grace, Cronos?”

Was she talking about the youth who used to follow Sunny around, endlessly asking silly questions and acting comically stunned every time he heard an answer?

Ananke nodded.

“Yes. That brat eventually became King Cronos, the first Supreme born of the River People… arguably, though, he never stopped being a brat. So the description fits.”

She chuckled.

“Before that, however, he built this ship — a ship capable of sailing the Great River, free of the tyranny of time. The ship that allowed the River People to travel the currents as if they were Outsiders.”

She shook her head with a smile.

“Cronos assembled a motley crew of powerful champions from the last human settlements on the Great River. Some of them were from Fallen Grace and other cities built by the sybils, some were descendants of the Outsiders the Serpent King had brought into the Tomb of Ariel … some were even from the last remaining tribes of the River Nomads.”

Ananke’s wistful smile widened a little.

“l sailed on the Timeslayer as well, for a time, even if I was not a member of its crew. It was just that Cronos needed a Shaper, and so, he came to Weave in search of me.”

She fell silent, and her smile slowly disappeared, replaced by a dark expression.

“But all the while, the Defilement was spreading like a plague, encroaching upon the Great River from the distant reaches of the ancient past — from Verge. The First Seeker was becoming stronger, and the Defiled were growing more numerous. The River Nomads were soon to be eradicated. The human cities were going to fall, as well. Even Weave was slowly collapsing under the onslaught of the harrowing horrors of the far future… of your time, possibly.”

Ananke sighed and glanced away.

“Eventually, Cronos of Fallen Grace attained Supremacy and became King Cronos. The humans of the Tomb of Ariel rallied under the banners of two Supremes, then — him and the Serpent King. However, even if the two of them were allies, they did not see eye to eye on all matters. The Serpent King wanted to destroy the First Seeker, while Cronos… Cronos thought that if the First Seeker could be destroyed, the sybils would have destroyed it a long time ago.”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

“What was his plan, then?”

Ananke chuckled.

“Cronos? Why… he wanted to outlast it.”

She remained silent for a moment, then said in a distant tone:

“The greatest obstacle Daeron and Cronos faced was that the River People could not be assembled into an army. Their cities were too far apart by then, after all, and it would have taken innumerable generations to bring them together. The number of Outsiders had dwindled, as well, and even the great power of the Transcendent wanderers from the Twilight Sea was not enough to help Daeron besiege Verge. And even if the Time Slayer was there to sail the Great River, it could only carry so many warriors on its deck.

Nephis frowned.

“So what did Cronos do?”

Ananke glanced at them and smiled faintly. She remained silent for a bit, and then said in a neutral tone:

“What else? He broke the Great River.”