Shadow Slave

Sunny slept like a baby. There were no nightmares haunting his dreams, and when he woke up, his heart felt strangely at peace. He remained motionless for a while, feeling the warmth of Neph’s hand resting on the crown of his head. The ketch was moving swiftly across the water, carried by both the wind and the current, and the world around them was dark. It was already night. ’...I overslept.’

Nephis should have woken him up. Had she gotten any rest herself?

Turning his head slightly, Sunny looked up and saw her elegant jawline. She was leaning on the wooden side of the ketch, her eyes closed. Her breathing was slow and deep. She was fast asleep. So… no one was keeping watch.

”Don’t be upset with the Lady, my Lord.”

Sunny flinched slightly and glanced at the stern of the boat, where Ananke was still sitting, holding lightly to the steering oar. Her dark mantle was of the same color as the night sky, making it hard to discern where its folds ended, and the night began. ”You both needed rest.”

Sunny felt very comfortable laying on Neph’s lap, but he had to sit up with a reluctant sigh. Rubbing his eyes, he looked at his shadows, which were all but invisible in the darkness. None of them showed any sign of being concerned, so he judged that the old woman had not tried anything strange while they slept. Even though it would take a few more days for his reserves of essence to be fully replenished, they were not dry anymore. Due to the Shroud of Dusk, he also felt rested and refreshed. However, he was slightly hungry. Sunny hesitated for a few moments, and then asked:

”Say… you wouldn’t happen to have more of those little pies?”

Ananke smiled. ”There should be a few left in the box. Eat well, my Lord. I made them with care.”

Sunny noted that the wooden box was not a Memory that created food, but instead a storage Memory that helped keep supplies fresh. Everything inside must have been prepared by Ananke in anticipation of meeting the Children of Weaver. Opening the lid, he discovered a few leftover pies, as well as more fruit and a couple other simple dishes, all perfectly fresh and preserved. It smelled so wonderful that he remained motionless for a moment, enjoying the fragrance. Misunderstanding his hesitation, the old woman spoke:

”I’m sorry that I can’t offer you more, my Lord. It is… not easy for me to procure fruit and flour, these days. I hope you are not too disappointed.”

Sunny looked at her and smiled. ”What are you talking about, Grandmother? I once ate nothing but rotten devil meat for an entire month. This is nothing short of a feast.”

To illustrate his point, he picked up one of the pies and greedily pushed it into his mouth. Ananke tilted her head a little. ”...Do people still suffer from hunger in the future?”

Sunny chewed for a long time before answering. The old woman clearly believed that the future was some kind of a paradise that she and the other followers of Weaver helped create. He didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

He shrugged. ”Smart people don’t. Ah… but I am not too smart myself, sadly. At least not all the time.”

Then, a sudden thought flashed through his mind. Sunny looked at Ananke carefully, then asked:

”...But what about you, Grandmother? Have you eaten anything?”

She was so thin and frail that he had mistaken her for a corpse not too long ago. However, she had only offered the food to them, not partaking in it herself. Ananke gently shook her head.

”This body of mine does not get hungry often. I’ll just catch some fish later.”

Sunny frowned, then took out the rest of the pies and walked over to the steering oar, offering them to her:

”No, that won’t do. Please eat some, too. Otherwise, my teacher will give me a beating once I come back home…”

Teacher Julius would indeed be beside himself if he learned that Sunny stuffed his belly while an elderly woman starved herself nearby… even if that woman was just a Nightmare inhabitant. More than that, just what kind of fish was she going to catch in the Great River?

Ananke hesitated a little, then took one of the pies with a shaking hand and smiled. ”Thank you, my Lord. That is enough.”

When he went back to the box, Neph stirred slightly and opened her eyes. She stared at her empty lap for a few moments, then looked at Sunny and blinked a couple of times. Finally, she sniffed the air and turned to the wooden box, guided by the enticing fragrance of the freshly cooked food.

Her eyes glistened.

The two of them had a scrumptious meal while Ananke slowly ate her single pie. The atmosphere inside the ketch was strangely peaceful. It was as though they were sailing on a calm lake instead of the deadly expanse of the Great River, where all kinds of terrifying creatures dwelled.

The water was glowing with soft opalescence, while the sky was impenetrably black. The beautiful vista of the world hidden within the Tomb of Ariel was as dreamlike and mystical as ever.

As Sunny looked at the surface of the water, he suddenly saw its light grow dim. There was… a vast, inconceivable shadow moving somewhere unfathomably deep, below them, blocking off the radiance of the drowned suns with its endless expanse.

For a few moments, a bleak darkness enveloped the entire span of the Great River around the ketch, and then indifferently moved on.

He shivered and looked at Ananke, terror hiding in his lightless eyes. The old woman calmly held the steering oar as she smiled. ”Don’t worry, my Lord. They can’t sense us.”

Sunny hesitated for a while, wondering if he should ask who the ”they” she spoke of were. …In the end, he remained silent.

There were things that a person was better off not knowing. Sunny was not sure if he could allow himself the luxury of ignorance… but he decided to enjoy being ignorant still, at least for today.