Shadow Slave

“So, where are you off to now, Rani?”

Chief Bethany raised her glass, discovered that it was empty, and reached for a pack of chips instead. One of her subordinates instantly popped a can of synthbeer open and filled her glass to the brim.

Taking a big gulp, she let out a satisfied sigh and leaned back.

“Ah! That awful taste! The indescribable blandness! The subtle scent of industrial recyclers! That is what I’ve been missing!”

Rain smiled, taking a sip of her own beer. She had come to Bastion wanting to focus on pushing toward Ascension — but before that, she had to quit her current job and say goodbye to her teammates. Luckily, Chief Bethany had just returned from Rivergate to Bastion after dealing with the recent crisis there.

Usually, it would have been hard to gather the entire core team for something unrelated to work, but Rain had loaded the Bag of Withholding with a small feast of drinks and snacks from Earth before passing through the Dream Gate. So, she had been able to lure her colleagues to a modest farewell party with the promise of contraband.

Chief Bethany looked at her with curiosity.

”You helped build the Dark Road, and then worked on the launch of Rivergate Hydro. So, what’s next for our industrious Awakened intern? No, don’t tell me! Let me guess.”

She nursed her glass and smiled.

“Marine architecture? The Citadels in the Stormsea are grossly overpopulated, so expanding the settlements around them into floating cities is now a big priority for the Human Domain. The construction of the port at the estuary of the River of Tears should start soon, too. Or are you off to Ravenheart? Our eastern colleagues are keeping quiet about it, but I know that they have not abandoned their geothermal dreams yet.”

Rain just smiled and shook her head slightly.

Chief Bethany raised an eyebrow.

“No? Where the hell are you going, then? No, I must know! Which bastard poached you from my team?”

Master Quentin looked at her curiously, too. “Yeah. I’d like to know as well.”

Rain hesitated for a few moments, then pointed up without saying anything.

Chief Bethany frowned.

”Up? What are you...”

Then, her eyes widened.

“The Ivory Island? The bastard who poached you... is Changing Star?!”

Rain chuckled.

“Of course not. I just received a job offer from the Fire Keepers, to be a member of the Ivory Tower custodial staff. Even if that tower had belonged to a deity once, its floors still won’t clean themselves, you know.”

Chief Bethany raised an eyebrow.

”Custodial staff? Won’t that be a waste of your talent?”

Rain laughed.

“Thank you for thinking so highly of me. It might be, true... but when else will I get the chance to study the Tower of Hope up close? I am quite interested in what we, people of Earth, are building here in Dream Realm — and how. But I am also interested in the ancient wonders that have withstood the test of time without falling into ruin. Ideally, I want to marry the two.”

There were a few moments of silence, and then her colleagues raised their glasses.

”Hear, hear!”

Rain smiled.

She was lying, of course. She was indeed interested in the Tower of Hope, but that was not the reason for her departure for the Ivory Island. In truth, that was simply the best place for her to concentrate on becoming a Master, away from all distractions and as safe as she could be. Plus, her teacher of Shaping was there.

“You should be careful, though.”

Rain turned to one of the engineers, frowning in confusion. He lingered for a second or two, then added somberly:

“That Changing Star... she’s a bit eerie, isn’t she? Who knows what she’ll do? Considering the rumors.”

Rain’s frown deepened. She looked away and said in a neutral tone:

“You should not believe random rumors.”

The man bristled.

“l am not some naive fool, alright? But facts are facts. She was prepared to kill an incalculable number of innocent people, and now, she rules all of us. That is not something you can ignore... that is something that will keep you up at night. Ah, damn it. Just thinking about it makes my skin crawl.

Rain remained silent. However, Chief Bethany spoke at that second instead.

“Russel, don’t spoil the mood. What’s gotten into you?”

He looked at her with a complicated expression.

”Am I wrong, though? What do you think, Chief?”

Chief Bethany remained silent for a while, then shrugged and took a sip of beer.

“I think that everyone is overreacting. People put Lady Nephis on the pedestal without being asked, and now, they are appalled to see she doesn’t fit the pretty picture they painted in their minds. But they are all forgetting one thing. She is not really a goddess... and she is not a queen, either. She is a military commander.”

Rain looked at her with curiosity.

“A military commander?”

Chief Bethany nodded, then took another sip.

“Of course. Humanity is at war, with our survival as a species at stake, so every single one of us has been conscripted to fight in the war — whether we like it or not. Lady Nephis is our commander, and commanders cannot follow the same logic ordinary people do. Sometimes, winning a war means making sacrifices.”

Her expression turned a little distant.

”I was in the Antarctic Centre when the Chain of Nightmare started, you know? I ended up having to cross it from one end to another with a refugee caravan to get to Falcon Scott, and we only reached safety alive because of a Master from the Evacuation Army who practically dragged us there on his back, refusing to give up.”

A faint smile graced her lips, but then vanished.

Instead, Chief Bethany sighed heavily.

“Most of the refugees who had reached Falcon Scott were evacuated across the strait, but millions ended up being left behind to die. Actually, I more or less left on the last ship... and I only made it on that ship because someone else chose to stay behind. So, I am alive today because someone else was sacrificed. It would be hypocritical of me to condemn Changing Star for making difficult choices — not that I want to.”

She fell silent for a while, and then added in a wistful tone:

”Still. Most of those who had been evacuated from Falcon Scott were still in East Antarctica when the Sovereigns opened the Dream Gates. Therefore, they ended up coming here, to the Dream Realm... if they all died after having survived the Chain of Nightmares despite everything, I would have been really pissed at Changing Star. Well, I’d be dead, but I would have died very angry.”

Chief Bethany smiled.

”So, let’s raise a toast to Lady Nephis and to being alive. I won’t hear any of your fools defaming her, either... bottoms up!”

After they finished drinking, the man who had spoken about the rumors frowned.

“Still, we can’t just pretend that Lord Asterion...”

A packet of chips hit him in the face.

Chief Bethany scowled.

”I said cut it out, Russel. Are you already drunk? That’s great, then! There’ll be more for me...”

Rain diligently refilled her glass.

She felt cozy and happy in the company of these people, her former colleagues. It was a bit sad to have to say goodbye to them, especially immediately after she had said goodbye to her cohort.

But, at the same time...

Rain couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

Because Pill had been reasonable and friendly as well, at the start.

‘I think I’m ready to go to the Ivory Tower.’

She felt an urgent need to become stronger. To become a Master.

If that was how she felt, then how much pressure did her brother feel at the moment?