Shadow Slave

The Eastern Quadrant had been ravaged by war. The peculiar thing about the Skinwalker, however, was that the Great Terror did not discriminate between people and nightmare creatures — it took every vessel it could find, striving to grow and spread as much as possible, no matter whom it consumed.

And while humans were still resisting the dreadful fiend, the Nightmare Creatures populating the wilderness of the Eastern Quadrant had all been wiped out and absorbed by the Skinwalker some time ago. Their bodies were then inherited by Mordret, who took them into his Mirror Realm.

So, at the moment, the Eastern Quadrant was the only place in either of the worlds that was completely void of abominations. There were still Nightmare Gates here, of course, which meant that new monsters would wander through them sooner or later. But, for now, this continent was completely safe and cleansed of Corruption.

Like all continents used to be.

Nephis remained silent for a while, then sighed.

”Indeed. It is quite ironic, isn’t it? Although his motivation was entirely selfish, Mordret had done a great service for humanity. He saved an entire Quadrant... and maybe much more, considering that the Skinwalker was on the verge of evolving.”

Sunny let out a bitter laugh.

”You are right. He did something that neither of us had managed to do... Mordret, of all people!”

Nephis possessed great power, but that power was largely straightforward. Sunny wielded a subtler Aspect, but he still could not have eradicated the Skinwalker without shattering the entire continent — even then, a few vessels would have survived and hidden themselves somewhere else, so that plague would have began spreading in a different corner of the world before too long.

But Mordret possessed a power that was uniquely suited to destroying creatures of exactly that kind. By challenging the Skinwalker to a soul duel, he had destroyed the very root of the Great Terror without the need to annihilate each and every one of its vessels.

And now...

A sudden realization hit Sunny.

”The war is over.”

A lion’s share of humanity’s forces were currently concentrated in the Eastem Quadrant — mundane soldiers and Awakened alike. The same went for Saints. Even Jet was here, as well as the Night Garden... now, all these people had nothing to do.

The military forces would have to be relocated to other flashpoints — some here on Earth, some in the Dream Realm. All of this had happened so unexpectedly that there was no plan in place... many strategic meetings would have to happen to adjust the resources of humanity according to the new reality.

There was the question of the evacuation, as well. The population of the Eastern Quadrant was currently being evacuated to other Quadrants and the Dream Realm — now, the primary reason for that exodus was gone.

Were they going to stop the evacuation and abandon plans of leaving the Eastern Quadrant, or continue to ferry people away? The Dream Realm was waiting, after all, and everyone would have to abandon the waking world sooner or later. There were many things to decide.

Sunny could already feel his head hurting.

Nephis gave him a guarded look, and then suddenly asked:

”Do you think that we really are no match for the Dreamspawn2”

She seemed to be displeased and somewhat uneasy because of what Mordret had said.

Aster, Song, Vale...

These were the three names that had defined her childhood. Song and Vale were dead now, but Aster remained — more than that, Nephis now knew that, in large part, she survived because Asterion had held the other two Sovereigns back and prevented them from trying to dispose of her too openly.

Not out of concern for her or some twisted shape of sentimentality, but simply because he had needed her to Awaken to harvest the lineage of Sun God.

Sunny pursed his lips and considered his words for a while.

Eventually, he sighed.

”The Dreamspawn seems to possess powers that have to do with mind manipulation. Among all the Nightmare Creatures that I’ve faced, those that mess with your mind were absolutely the worst. So... I do believe that dealing with him will be a troublesome affair.” 𝙍аƝỌ₿ΕⱾ

Sunny’s expression darkened.

”I guess what I am trying to say is that we should not be expecting a clean victory. This one... we will have to bleed for this one, I think.”

He paused, then looked at Nephis and asked:

”What do you think?” She studied the desolate landscape around them for a while, then shrugged. ”It is as you said. It will be a tough fight, and we will not win it without paying a price. But... we will win it. I believe it.”

Sunny nodded.

”So do I. I don’t think it’s going to be very pleasant, though.”

He shook his head dejectedly.

What was it with Supremes and fighting each other instead of focusing their ire on the Nightmare Creatures?

Out of the seven Sovereigns born from humanity up to this point, three had already perished — and all three of them had been killed by other Supremes, not by powerful abominations.

Broken Sword, Ki Song, and Anvil...

Asterion would join them eventually, and by then, not just some, but most human Supremes would have fallen to a human’s blade.

‘Children of War, indeed.’

Perhaps Eurys had a point in disliking Sunny and his kind.

Looking at the oddly tranquil landscape of the Eastern Quadrant, Nephis inhaled deeply. Perhaps she was thinking about how this was her eventual goal — a world free of the Nightmares...

Perhaps she was simply thinking about the mountain of decisions she would have to make regarding the relocation of her armies.

Turning to the radiant Dream Gate, Nephis looked at her shadow — where a different incarnation of Sunny was hiding — and then back at him.

”We should return to Bastion. Are you coming?”

Sunny hesitated for a little while, then smiled.

”No. I think I am going to catch a ride with Jet. She is going to take the Night Garden back to Stormsea soon, isn’t she?”

Nephis studied him for a moment, then nodded and headed toward the Gate. ”Don’t fall into a coma this time, please! If you don’t mind.”

Sunny smiled as he turned the other way.

”I can’t say that I won’t, but I will definitely try...”