Shadow Slave

Instead of simply hiding in Rain’s shadow, Sunny wrapped himself around her body to augment her. Godgrave might have been somewhat safer now, but it was still more or less a Death Zone — with other people around, he could not use his powers freely, which meant that his sister could use an additional layer of protection.

Letting out a sigh, she summoned her bow and a quiver. Then, she began walking east. Before too long, the mighty merchant caravan had caught up with her. Enormous Echoes were pulling rolling fortresses across the Road of Shadows, each of the scarred wagons protected by several cohorts of seasoned Awakened warriors. The procession looked fearsome, and the head Echo especially so — the Master in charge of the caravan was riding on its head, and was now looking at Rain.

She walked to the side of the road and waved at him.

”Greetings!”

The Master gave her a suspicious look. ”Greetings. You startled me, girl... what is a young Awakened like you doing in Godgrave alone? Walking through the darkness with no lantern to light the way, on top of that.” Skinwalker was gone, but people were still wary of strangers met on the road. This Master, too, was on edge.

Rain simply grinned.

”My cohort decided to challenge a Nightmare, but I chose to stay back. So, I am walking to Red Hill by my lonesome now. And I can see in the dark, so I don’t need a lantern... plus, I can take care of myself. I know these parts well.”

He looked her up and down, his gaze lingering on her powerful Memories.

”You’re a veteran?”

Rain nodded.

”Seventh Royal Legion, from start to finish. Oh, and then I stayed back to build this road.”

She gave the Road of Shadows another satisfied stomp.

The Caravan Master whistled.

”A royal legionnaire, huh?”

He hesitated for a moment, then asked: ”Are you any good with that bow?”

Rain gave the Beast of Prey a little shake. ”Would I still be alive if I weren’t?”

He laughed.

”True, true. Well, if you’re not in the mood to walk all the way to Red Hill, hop aboard. I’d be crazy to refuse the company of one more experienced Awakened. A caravan can never have enough defenders, you know.” Rain gave him an exaggerated bow.

”Much obliged!”

Soon enough, she was climbing over the battlements of the head wagon. There, a group of grimy Awakened welcomed her with tense greetings.

Introductions were short.

Rain stared at one of the guards intently, then said in a tone of disbelief:

”Holy hell. Pill, is that you?”

Out there among the merchant guards, a bearded man with harsh eyes was leaning on an enchanted spear. He gave Rain a confused look, then did a double take. ”Huh... Rani?”

She stared at him with wide eyes.

”Since when are you Awakened?”

The rest of the guards seemed amused. ”Pill, do you know this girl?”

He suddenly seemed excited.

”Of course! We were on a survey team of a road crew together, back in the Song Domain. We were both mundane people back then. Gods, I never expected to see you again... I thought you were dead!”

Indeed, he was one of the laborers Rain had shared the woes of surveying the Moonriver Plains under Tamar’s command with during the construction of the road to Godgrave.

She smiled.

”Well, as you can see, I am very much alive. It’s good to see you, too... but weren’t you going to open a family shop in some nice city south of Ravenheart? What happened? How did you end up guarding a merchant caravan?”

The conversation flowed naturally from there, and soon, Rain was accepted by the grumpy caravan guards as one of their own. Some time later, she asked:

”Judging by the scars on the armour of your wagons, it’s a bumpy ride. I have to admit, I’ve never traveled with a caravan before... how dangerous is it, exactly?”

The guards looked at each other, then sighed.

Pill offered somberly:

”As perilous as you can imagine. The Dream Realm is not what it used to be, but it’s by no means tamed. Sometimes, we get a few whole days of peace and quiet, but usually, there’s at least several skirmishes with Nightmare Creatures each day... some worse than others.”

Another guard looked into the distance wistfully.

”Still, by Immortal Flame’s mercy, all of us will reach the destination alive.”

A third one chuckled.

”The Ivory Island is far away, so Changing Star’s grace is unlikely to reach us all the way here, in this cursed place.”

He surreptitiously looked north, where the Hollow Mountains were hidden beyond the darkness.

”The King of Nothing is much closer. Although that one is a madman who likes to kidnap people... so, I wouldn’t be hoping for his help, either.”

It was then that one of the guards — an older man with greying hair and a wry squint to his eyes — spoke from his station at the battlements.

”There is a third Sovereign now, haven’t you heard? And he is partial to wanderers like us. A vagabond priest of the Moon Church told me all about him.”

Rain shifted slightly, sparing him an evaluating look.

The man smiled.

”His name is Asterion.”

Rain frowned.

At the same time, her brother’s voice whispered into her ear:

[Be wary of that one.]

Rain moved her hand to shape a subtle sign. [Why?]

He lingered for a few moments before answering.

[Whether these people set out from Ravenheart or from the Weeping Goddess, they would have been on the road for weeks. But that bastard only revealed himself today. The news travels fast... but not that fast. I don’t like it.]

Rain’s frown deepened.

‘Asterion...’

She had heard that name before. In fact, she had heard it too often, in recent months. And every time she had, the circumstances were a little odd.

Perhaps because Rain was both a Shaper and a giver of Names, she was very sensitive to them.

And that name, Asterion, made her skin crawl.

More than anything, it made her feel like she should never speak it aloud, and most of all, should never allow it to take root in her mind.

She looked at the older guard somberly.

He was smiling happily.

”Changing Star and the King of Nothing might not help us. But Lord Asterion will.”

An uncomfortable silence settled between the guards.

Eventually, they laughed.

”A third Sovereign? Did you hit your head, fool?”

”Even if there is a third Sovereign, he is probably a rotten bastard. All of them are — except for Lady Changing Star, of course.”

”No wonder you’ve been borrowing money recently. Did you donate your pay to that Moon Church crook?”

Pill shook his head and gave the man a derisive smile.

”Stop embarrassing me in front of Rani, will you? Goodness, she’ll think that we wanderers are all weak in the head department.”

But the older guard just continued to smile.

”You’ll see.”