Shadow Slave

Most farewells were sad, but some were also bitter.

Rain did not remember parting with people she cared about often, but somehow, the heaviness in her heart felt familiar. She made sure not to show it, though, knowing that today was not about her.

Ash softened the sound of her footsteps as she walked through the darkness. In front of her, Tamar’s black armor seemed to consume the pale radiance of the luminous Memory Telle had summoned. Ray was hidden from sight, scouting the path ahead, while Fleur was walking behind her quietly. Finally, June was defending their small expedition from the rear.

The vast and terrifying Hollows of Godgrave looked different from how they had during the war. They were currently south of the Road of Shadows, close to the great breach created in the ancient bone by the battle between the four Supremes of humanity.

Here, the abominable jungle had been turned to ash and banished into the depths of the Hollows. The war in Godgrave had ended a long time ago, and yet the scarlet infestation failed to reclaim these lands, as if it was reluctant to approach the ground consecrated by the blood of Supremes.

The exiles who dwelled in the Citadel to the south routinely patrolled this area, hunting down stray Nightmare Creatures. So, it was supposedly safe enough for a cohort of Awakened to traverse — at least a cohort like the one Tamar had assembled.

Still, they were all tense and wary.

”I really never thought that I’d come back here one day.”

Fleur’s voice was full of a quiet, dark kind of amusement.

Looking back at her friend, Rain hesitated for a few moments, then smiled.

”I remember you saying something pretty similar the first time you returned to Godgrave after barely escaping it. Fleur... you really never learn your lessons, do you?” Their healer smiled, as well.

Tamar, Ray, and Fleur had been sent to Godgrave by the Nightmare Spell as Sleepers. Later, they came back here as Awakened of the great Song army. The Song Domain was gone, but here they were once again.

This time, they came to conquer the Second Nightmare and Ascend.

Tamar had been preparing to challenge a Seed of Nightmare for a while. There were numerous reasons why she wanted to become a Master, like the smoldering desire to restore the dignity of her fallen Legacy clan. It was also because that was what the Shadow Clan operatives were expected to do.

Tamar and her cohort were just the first ones to actually attempt it.

The world was falling apart around them, and only the strong could avoid being buried under the debris. Wanting to become stronger, Tamar had assembled an exceptional and well-rounded team — some of them were young, but all of them were veterans. Most were armed and armored by the Lord of Shadows himself, while Telle inherited her soul arsenal and skill from the White Feather clan.

They stood a good chance of returning from the Nightmare alive — a better chance than most, at least.

As for Rain... she, obviously, could not accompany her friends into the Nightmare. But she could at least escort them to the Seed and see them off.

She had known that they would leave for a long time, but it still felt sudden. It had caught her by surprise.

There was a reason for that feeling of suddenness, as well.

Rain threw a thoughtful look at her shadow.

Something was strange about the world these days. People went about their lives as usual, but because Rain was innately attuned to the world, she could sense the eerie undercurrents hiding behind its familiar surface.

There was a subtle tension permeating the air, and a subtle strangeness about the people. Her brother was not his usual self, either, having become a little more distant and a little more somber.

That was why Rain had not been too surprised when he suggested moving the day of Tamar’s departure forward.

”There it is.”

Having crested a bone ridge, Tamar stopped and peered ahead. There, a blackened ruin was protruding from the ash, left behind by the extinct civilization of Godgrave.

The angular stone buildings still stood, even if the people who had built them were long gone. Here and there, molten remains of fearsome asuras lay on the ground. Deeper in the ruin, signs of devastation were more severe, as if something terrifying had raged in the heart of the fallen city once, thousands of years ago.

”I guess you really do see in the dark.”

Telle gave them an envious glance.

Despite the close bond between the three young women, Rain and Tamar had not revealed the existence of the Shadow Clan to Telle. All they had told her was that they, as well as the other members of the cohort, were agents of an elite government force that operated in complete secrecy and could not be disclosed.

That explanation was not that far from the truth, anyway, since the Shadow Clan was integrated into the government at some levels.

”Let’s go. Ray should be waiting for us at the boundary of the ruins.”

June, who had been guarding the read, silently moved forward.

”I’ll take point.”

Tamar looked at him for a moment, then fell back without saying anything.

Soon enough, Ray rejoined the cohort, and they entered the ruins together.

It was eerily quiet there, with ancient darkness nestling among the blackened carcasses of crumbling buildings. As they cautiously advanced into the depths of the forgotten city, the shape of a shattered ziggurat that stood at its heart, buried in ash, slowly revealed itself.

The Seed of Nightmare was located on the platform atop the ziggurat, and Rain could already hear its Call.

For the carriers of the Nightmare Spell, it was like a rallying call that mesmerized them into challenging the Seed. But to Rain, the Call of Nightmare was a much more sinister and malevolent force.

After all, she did not belong to the Nightmare Spell and, therefore, could not challenge a Nightmare. So, to her, approaching a Seed only meant becoming corrupted by its darkness and turning into a mindless Nightmare Creature.

The Call was nothing more than a siren’s song that compelled her to dissolve into the Nightmare and become a part of it.

”We should stop here and make the final preparations.”

The ziggurat was already looming in the distance, towering above the rest of the crumbling structures. Tamar and her cohort spent quite a while standing in silence and looking at its peak, knowing that their Nightmare was waiting for them there.

Life and death... that was what they were facing.

Rain could not help but feel alienated. While her friends looked at the ziggurat, she looked at them, sensing a vast divide separating her from all people.

A bitter mixture of emotions flowed through her heart.

Eventually, there were no more preparations to be made. Rain looked at her friends and smiled, pretending to be nonchalant and ignoring the real possibility that this was the last time she saw some of them... or all of them.

”June, take care of them out there”

The tall man looked at her with wry amusement, not a hint of nervousness written on his handsome face.

”I am not a babysitter.”

Rain stared at him for a few moments, then scoffed and looked away.

”Stop trying to be cool, old man.”

Finally, June’s armor of nonchalance cracked.

”Old? Hey. Old? Since when am i old? i’m a young man in my prime!”

Ignoring him, Rain turned to Ray and Fleur.

”You two, don’t you dare hold the wedding in the Nightmare. I demand an invitation. In fact, I demand to be a bridesmaid. So, stay alive.”

Ray coughed, while Fleur chuckled.

”Don’t worry about us. If anything, we are the ones who should be worried. Please make sure that the world is still in one piece when we return.”

Rain nodded with a smile and looked at Telle.

”Come to think of it... our spars won’t be the same when you come back as a Master.” Telle smiled faintly, a hit of wistfulness finding its way into her eyes.

”I guess not.”

Rain nodded.

”I’ll still kick your butt, though.”

Telle scoffed and looked at her with pity. Finally, Rain turned to Tamar.

There was nothing left to say... she had already said everything she could, and then some.

She even Named Tamar’s sword and armor, as well as assigning them Epithets.

So, Rain simply sighed.

”Tamar...”

She lingered for a while, then said with a pale smile:

”Let’s build roads together again, one day. When all this bloodshed is over.”

Tamar gave Rain her patented inexpressive look, then walked over and hugged her.

”Sounds like a plan.”

Letting go, she studied her for a moment. ”Will you get back alright?”

Rain forced out a smile.

Of course. You know I won’t be alone.’

Tamar hesitated for a few moments, then nodded.

”Tell him not to worry. You know he will... we’ll make him proud.”

And before Rain could truly come to terms with the parting, they were gone.

She stood alone in the darkness, listening to the maddening whispers of the Call wash over her mind.

Before too long, however, another figure appeared by her side, having risen from the shadows.

Sunny looked at the looming ziggurat and frowned.

”Worry? Who’s worrying? These kids are way too overqualified for a measly Second Nightmare. Why would I worry, huh?”

He gave Rain a disapproving look and shook his head.

”So you shouldn’t worry, either. You know, I died about a thousand times in my Second Nightmare. And look at me! I’m still alive. Well... one can argue that I’m actually dead, but when has it ever stopped me?”

Rain turned to him and remained silent for a short while.

Eventually, though, she could not help but chuckle.

”Right. It hasn’t stopped you yet.”