Shadow Slave

Cassie could not escape the building through the door or through the crumbling walls — that would only make her an easy target, allowing the Dreamspawn’s thralls to litter her body with more wounds.

Neither could she escape into the Dream Realm by pulling on her tether, since there was not enough time. Of all the futures she could sense, most ended in a violent sea of pain and agony...

The depths of that savage sea were dark and heinous enough to make her blood run cold.

Still, there was hope.

There always was, after all.

Raising a hand, Cassie grasped the blue gemstone set into one of her earrings.

The earring was a Transcendent Memory she had purchased at a high price once, a long time ago, from the armory of Clan Valor — the other was a mundane item created to match it. That Memory was a consumable charm that could only be used once, transporting its master to a predetermined point in space across a vast distance.

Naturally, a charm like that was a perfect tool for someone wishing to escape danger. However, Cassie had never intended to use it as a means of escape — on the contrary, she had needed it to make sure that she could reach someone as quickly as possible. The anchor of the spatial charm was placed in her childhood bedroom here in NQSC. She had long moved out of her family home, using one of the guest rooms in the Immortal Flame Manor to place her tether instead — Cassie was quite a powerful and esteemed individual now, after all.

People like her had to choose the place where they entered the waking world carefully, since it was a point of vulnerability. If somebody wanted to ambush her, attacking in the brief seconds of disorientation after she passed the realm boundary was a solid choice. So, keeping her tether close to her mundane parents would only put them in danger.

The world was a dangerous place in and of itself, though. Since they were reluctant to abandon their lives in NQSC and move to the Dream Realm, where Cassie could keep them safer, she needed some insurance in case a Nightmare Gate opened near her childhood home.

So, she had commissioned this Memory. Who would have thought that she would have to use it to save herself one day?

All Cassie had to do to activate the enchantment was crush the blue gemstone between her fingers... and yet, she hesitated.

‘Does he know about the earring?’

Asterion seemed to have prepared this ambush quite thoroughly, and considering how well he was informed about the abilities of both Cassie and her allies, he could have stolen the knowledge of this Transcendent charm from her mind as well. Even if he had not known about it before, he knew now.

Suddenly, Cassie was overcome by an overpowering sense of paranoia.

Was it his intention to force her to use it, to begin with?

Or...

She felt creeping terror flood her mind, making even the pain pulsing through her body seem faint.

Or was the paranoia she felt nothing but a thought implanted into her head by Asterion in an attempt to prevent her from slipping out of his trap?

She could not even trust her own thoughts anymore.

Suppressing the fear, Cassie gritted her teeth.

In any case, the blue gemstone was her last resort.

And she was not pushed against the ropes just yet.

Grasping the hilt of the dagger protruding from her abdomen, she pulled it out and spun the bloodied blade, catching it tightly in a proper grip.

Armed with two daggers now, Cassie closed her eyes and accepted the darkness.

She could not see anything, but the darkness was full of sensations. Both the present and the future were brimming with information, readily available for her to peruse. The movements of her enemies, the details of their Aspects, the enchantments of the Memories they wielded to cut her down...

Another Ascended unleashed a powerful and eerily sharpened shockwave, slicing the unfortunate man Cassie had robbed of his Memories in two — she sidestepped both the shockwave and the torrent of blood, then spun to deflect a rapid sword and cut the wrist tendon of the Awakened with her second dagger.

A split second later, she evaded another blow and kicked the attacker in the knee, shattering it completely.

Then, she took a step back.

She was one step closer to the exit now. But that was as far as she managed to go. The man whose wrist she had slashed was incapable of holding the sword now, but he simply threw his body at her like a madman. The woman whose knee she had shattered could not walk anymore, but could crawl and grab her ankle instead.

And there were more coming...

A plume of flame nearly swallowed Cassie, making her grimace from searing heat.

An arrow whistled past, leaving a nick on her neck.

Someone slammed into her, sending her staggering back.

Still in the throes of pain, Cassie stumbled and fell to the ground.

Sharp blades flew toward her body. Cruel hands grabbed her legs, her arms, and her shoulders, pressing her into the ground.

In the darkness...

Cassie opened her eyes.

”Enough!”

She moved, shaking off the people holding her down.

Her two daggers moved, as well.

One sank into a neck, unleashing a flood of blood. The other sank into a heart, making it cease its incessant beating forever.

The Spell whispered tenderly into her ear:

[You have slain an Awakened human...]

[You have slain an Ascended human...]

Not holding back anymore, Cassie answered the deadly malice of Asterion’s thralls with her own. It was a terrible thing, when a Saint let their power loose... bodies fell to the floor, and blood washed over the debris.

She felt guilt and disgust, knowing that the people she was killing were innocent. But their innocence did not make the gruesome wounds they delivered her less real.

She was stabbed again, cut across the back, and struck terribly enough to make her ribs groan. None of the wounds healed, but it did not matter anymore.

Because the exit was already near...

But what met her when she finally reached it was a mocking voice.

“Ah, I see now. It seems you’ve wanted to escape the darkness, too...”

Cassie’s eyes widened.

There was no way out in the countless futures she saw anymore... all of them ended in pain.

She was caged in a prison of futures, just like the Defiled sybil killed by her had been once.

Cassie dropped the daggers and raised her hand.

As the door exploded and a powerful shockwave slammed into her, throwing her body back, she grasped the blue gemstone and crushed it.

A split second later, the thundering roar of the explosion was replaced by dead silence.