Shadow Slave

Mordret’s laughter echoed above the wasteland.

Then, it suddenly turned into a haunting, deafening roar — that was because the millions of vessels behind him all laughed, as well. That scene was so otherworldly eerie that Sunny could not help but grimace.

”Cut the theatrics, will you?”

Mordret chuckled once more, then looked at them with a faint smile. The sea of motionless figures behind him grew still, as well.

Nephis shook her head.

”Saying that you don’t need anything from us is a bit of an exaggeration, isn’t it?”

She looked behind him, at the horde of vessels — some of them human, some of them monstrous. Among the humans, there were a number Awakened, but most of them were mundane: they were the ordinary citizens of the Eastem Quadrant taken by the Skinwalker in the past, only for their bodies to be stolen by Mordret in the end.

”If nothing else, you will need a place to settle. Now that these vessels belong to you, they will be banished from the waking world before too long... and every area of the Dream Realm that is not a Death Zone currently belongs to us. So, unless you want this sea of vessels to tum into a shallow pond, you will have to find a place for them to live.”

Mordret let out a wistful sigh.

”A place to call home, is it? What a wonderful sentiment. Why, this is indeed something I would not refuse... so, how about you give me the Stormsea?” Nephis tilted her head a little.

”Out of the question.”

It was indeed impossible for them to surrender the Stormsea to Mordret. Not only because there were two dozen Citadels there... almost half of them conquered by Mordret while impersonating the elders of the House of Night... but it was also the connective tissue between the former territories of the Song and Sword Domains.

Except for the Road of Shadow far north, in Godgrave, it was the only way to travel between the two parts of the Human Domain — unless one made use of a Dream Gate opened by a Supreme who ruled Night Garden.

Mordret sighed.

”How disappointing... and after I spent so much effort conquering those Citadels, no less.”

He shook his head, then smiled.

”You seem to think that you have the upper hand in these negotiations, Changing Star, but let me remind you of something. In truth, I don’t really need a region of the Dream Realm to settle my vessels. So, you have nothing to offer me. Your hand is empty.”

Nephis frowned and studied him for a few moments.

”The Mirror Realm.”

Mordret chuckled.

”Indeed. You do remember, after all.”

In fact, Sunny remembered too. It was just that neither Mordret nor Nephis remembered that he had been there with them, as well.

It had happened back in Twilight, when Mordret pulled them into Soul Stealer’s Mirror Realm. His own only encompassed the reflection of his Soul Sea at the time, but the minor Mirror Domain of Soul Stealer encompassed the reflection of the entire city.

Now that Mordret was Supreme and his Domain had fully manifested, there was no telling how vast and lifelike his Mirror Realm was.

Vast enough for millions of vessels to inhabit, perhaps.

’I’ll be damned.”

Mordret was not just a one-man nation. He seemed to be carrying an entire kingdom within himself, as well.

And every mirror could become a door to that kingdom — a door that only he could open.

Nephis shook her head.

”Most of your vessels are fragile and mundane. They will need to be fed, sheltered, clothed, and cared for. Even if you have a space to store them, you won’t have the resources to keep them alive... not without vast hunting grounds and trade routes. Not to mention that you will want to expand your Domain by usurping more bodies.” ṝ₳ΝȮ𝖇ΕŠ

She smiled faintly.

”You are not reckless enough to plunder my people, so you will have to hunt down Nightmare Creatures. Therefore... you will still need a territory to call your own.”

Mordret sighed.

”Goodness. Fine, I will admit it... I do indeed want to control a territory in the Dream Realm. But not just any territory will do.”

Something was telling Sunny that Mordret would not demand to receive Bastion.

‘What piece of land does he have his eyes on?”

Mordret believed that Asterion was coming, and that the Human Domain — as well as the Shadow Domain — would eventually fall into his hands. He was also prepared to wage a war against Asterion and destroy him.

So, in other words...

Mordret was preparing to wage war on the Human Domain. Just not yet — not while it still belonged to Nephis.

‘This... insane bastard.”

In that light, it made a lot of sense why his first choice was the Storm sea. If one wanted to launch a military campaign against all of humanity, there was no better option.

Not only did the Stormsea wash over the southern shores of both human enclaves in the Dream Realm, it was also nebulous and difficult to navigate. With his knowledge and experience of sailing its misty waters, Mordret would be able to launch unexpected attacks all along the coast, as well as use the estuary of the River of Tears to advance north rapidly, almost all the way to Ravenheart. He would also be able to storm Rivergate for the second time and reach Bastion in a matter of days, if not hours.

Best of all, he would be able to retreat into the mists of the Stormsea after each raid, saving himself from Asterion’s retaliation. The House of Night had existed for so long without being protected by a Sovereign in large part because invading the Stormsea was an inherently dangerous endeavor — it was almost impossible to conquer it unless you felt at home in its deadly, nebulous waters.

It was a perfect fit. So perfect, in fact, that Sunny could not help but suspect that Mordret had always kept the eventual return of the Dreamspawn in mind, and aimed his sights on the House of Night in large part for that very reason.

However, it was for that reason as well that Nephis and Sunny would never let the newly risen Supreme usurp the Stormsea.

What other region of the Dream Realm could compare, though? What other place could serve Mordret’s goals? He smiled. ”Give me the Hollow Mountains, then.”