Shadow Slave

The radiant vapor made it hard to see. It was bright enough to be blinding, and without shadows, discerning the shape and size of objects was surprisingly difficult. Jade and the Saints of Night seemed to be doing fine, but Sunny had to summon a small shadow out of the Shadow Lantern and manifest it into a mesh blindfold.

After tying it around his eyes, he finally felt better. Being unable to sense his surroundings still made him uneasy, but at least his vision was not severely impaired.

’It’s better than true darkness, at least.’

If it had been elemental darkness, he would not have even been able to summon the shadows to help him in a second of need.

Sunny, Jet, and the Saints of Night cautiously advanced forward. The island supporting the Lighthouse was not very big, but there was still some distance they had to traverse to reach the base of the tower. The ground gently sloped upward, and there was a set of wide steps they followed... soon enough, however, Sunny gestured for everyone to stop.

”What’s wrong?”

He remained motionless for a few minutes, then hissed and took a step back. A strand of his wet hair fell to the ground, cut cleanly by something incredibly sharp.

’There was also a deep cut on his forehead, just above his brow. Anybody else would have already been bleeding profusely, but of course, Sunny did not bleed... if he had been a bit taller, though, he would have lost an eye.

”There’s something here.”

Reaching forward, he felt the air carefully and then grasped an incredibly thin, razor- sharp wire strewn across the road. The wire was so fine that it would have been hard to notice even in normal circumstances, but in the blinding radiance that surrounded them, it was practically invisible.

When Sunny pulled on the wire, it glistened subtly, allowing his companions to see — they tensed a little and looked around, searching for other unseen threats.

”Proceed with caution.”

There was another wire there, at the level of Sunny’s knee. Bending a little, he stepped over it and continued forward with careful steps.

Their progress inevitably slowed.

There were more wires awaiting them ahead. The density increased gradually, until there was an entire razor-sharp, invisible fence blocking the road. There were also other traps hidden in the blinding radiance — sharp spikes that protruded from the ground, thin blades embedded into the stone, nets that glistened subtly in the air...

Sunny and his companions avoided them without much trouble, but anything larger than a human would have had trouble ascending the slopes of the island toward the Lighthouse — not that it mattered much, considering that the horrors of the Eternal City were immortal.

The wires and traps forced Sunny to search for alternative paths, though. He could have destroyed them, of course, but there was no telling what that would cause. Traps were often triggered by such actions, after all, not to mention primitive alarm systems.

In the end, they had to circle almost the entire island before finding a way up. The Lighthouse island was eerily quiet and empty, and they did not meet a single adversary while exploring its mysterious shores - however, Sunny stopped once again only a few hundred meters later. They were still surrounded from all sides by hazy radiance, the vapor feeling refreshingly cool on their faces. He peered into the silver light somberly. ”Can you hear it?”

They did. A strange, quiet, eerie sound was resounding from the radiant haze ahead, as if something was scraping against the stone.

Sunny and his companions advanced cautiously, preparing themselves for battle.

’They were not prepared for what they found ahead, though.

”What... the hell?”

Out there, in front of them, a gruesome body was impaled by six short, sharp steel spikes. The person had their limbs and head severed, and then arranged on the ground like a macabre display. The torso, the arms, the legs, and the head were each pierced by a spike and held in place by them.

The worst part of it all...

Was that the body was still alive.

It moved weakly, trying to free itself of the spikes, and thin tendrils of flesh were reaching toward the severed parts, as if wanting to reunite with them. It was the struggles of the severed body that produced the scraping noise.

The face was covered by a bloody cloth, but they could see its lips moving under the fabric.

Sunny shuddered in revolution.

”What is this?”

Naeve’s voice trembled.

Sunny remained silent for a few long moments, then said in a subdued tone: ”This... is the danger of immortality.”

Indeed, the grotesque body laying on the ground in front of them belonged to one of the fallen immortals of the Eternal City. Someone had left the nightmare creature here, severed and immobilized — maybe to restrain them, perhaps as a punishment.

In any case, Sunny had no desire to free that monstrosity from the spikes.

After studying the impaled immortal for a bit, they carefully moved around the ghastly body and continued forward.

As Sunny and his companions ascended higher, they witnessed a few more similar scenes. Here and there, the fallen immortals were displayed like trophies, weakly trying to set themselves free. Some were nailed to the ground like the first one, some were impaled on tall spikes, some crucified or suspended in nets of razor-sharp wide...

Some still looked like humans, while some were no more than abhorrent masses of slithering flesh. There was even a head of a giant bull that was held in place by thick silver chains, its enormous glassy eyes staring at them with hunger and fury. The tongue of the ghastly creature was moving, but its body was nowhere to be seen.

The further Sunny went, the darker his mood became.

’...Just what has happened on this island?”

After circling the Lighthouse a few more times and discovering half a dozen cruelly restrained immortals, they approached the great tower.

And there, on its steps...

They finally found an immortal who was not restrained.