Shadow Slave

They spent the day resting.

Nephis meditated with her eyes closed, her face pale. Seeing her like this, Sunny was reminded of their times on the Forgotten Shore — the early days spent in the Crimson Labyrinth, searching for the city from Cassie’s vision.

Nephis used to meditate often back then, as well, learning how to cope with the pain of her Flaw. She was not in pain at the moment, but being defeated and losing most of her Domain must have hurt just as much, if not more.

But he knew that she would be… if not alright, then at least the same. That was Nephis, after all — she did not know how to stop. No matter how hurt she got, she continued to push forward with the same blind determination, utterly devoted to her seemingly unreasonable goal.

If he asked, she would say that it was just pain.

She had grown used to pain even before they met, and that was why no amount of anguish could faze her.

That said, her stubbornness did not mean that she was inflexible. On the contrary, Nephis could adapt to almost anything, becoming whatever she needed to become in order to overcome the obstacles facing her. At the moment, that meant that their present strategy had to change.

Sunny fought on the ground, surrounded by his shades and protected by his Shadows. As of late, there was also Azarax and his Deathless army to support the Shadow Legion in case an especially tough enemy revealed itself. Nephis was alone in the sky, though.

Dodging the arrows and javelins of the cursed prisoners of Ariel’s Hell was already difficult enough, but there were also beings capable of flight among the Deathless. It did not really make sense, since nothing supported the weight of their skeletal bodies in the air, and yet it was true.

With her power severely diminished, Nephis could not stay alone in the sky anymore. So, they decided that from tonight forward, her role was going to change.

Instead of attacking the Deathless from above to make the passage of the Shadow Legion easier, she was going to be among the shades on the ground tonight. Neph’s role would be to heal the shades as they were being damaged, which would allow the Shadow Legion to move much faster and face far greater threats.

And if her help was needed, she would always be able to aim the Blessing at their enemies and join the fight.

Which meant that Sunny would be the tip of the spear today. He was glad to be, but the tactics he used would need to be shifted to a more aggressive approach.

‘Despite his irritating personality, Azarax is quite useful.’

It was not just that the ancient tyrant was powerful or that his thralls were strong. The most beneficial thing about him was that his Deathless warriors could move ahead of the Shadow Legion, serving as a robust meat shield.

Well… perhaps a bone shield, in this case. The point was that their presence on the battlefield diminished the rate of attrition among Sunny’s shades and allowed the Shadow Legion to be more effective.

“What do you think we will find there?”

Neph’s voice distracted Sunny from his thoughts. At some point, she had opened her eyes and looked at the distant silhouette of the Tomb of Ariel. Her voice sounded even, but there was a dark undertone to it. Sunny hesitated.

Eventually, he shrugged.

“There is no way to tell.”

The real Great River was bound to be entirely different from the one they had encountered in the Nightmare. That was because there would not have been a Twilight in the true Tomb of Ariel — Daeron’s people had only entered the Seed of Nightmare, after all, not the actual pyramid.

It was only the Serpent King himself and a small number of his champions who had. So, there would be no city of the Outsiders on the Great River. There would be no army to lay siege to Verge, even if it had ultimately failed. This absence would affect the cities of the River People, as well, changing everything Sunny and Nephis knew about their civilization.

However… there would be no Plagues, either. Because the members of the cohort, too, had only entered the Nightmare version of the Tomb of Ariel, not the real thing. The forces of the Defilement would not have been led on a terrifying conquest of the Great River by the six Heralds of the Estuary, and so, the cities of the River People could still be intact.

Sunny did not believe that they were, though.

He sighed.

“But I am certain that it will be bad.”

His opinion was based on one simple fact… it was that he had encountered many Nightmare Creatures from the Tomb of Ariel during the Chain of Nightmares. The fact that they had been able to escape the Dream Realm in great numbers hinted at the fact that the civilization of the River People had fallen, after all, and that there was nothing but Corruption in the great pyramid anymore.

And there was something else, as well…

It was the Vile Thieving Bird.

If it had really made a nest at the heart of the Tomb of Ariel after escaping the Nightmare and returning to life once more, then there was no telling how its presence affected the Great River.

That loathsome bird was a unique existence that had been hated both by the gods and by the Void Beings, which meant that it did not really belong to either side. That made it highly unpredictable… from what Sunny knew, the Vile Thieving Bird was only interested in shiny things and anything that had to do with Weaver, so there was no telling what it would do.

There was a high chance that it had left the Tomb of Ariel already, even if Sunny believed that it hadn’t. There was also a chance that it simply waited in the Estuary… alternatively, it could have already destroyed Verge and eaten the First Seeker. It could have stolen the eyes of every human in Fallen Grace or Weave.

It could have even stolen all seven suns from the skies above the Great River, just to add them to its collection of shiny things.

So, Sunny did not know.

Nephis smiled faintly.

“Worse than this?”

He chuckled.

“Listen… I might be a bit oblivious at times, but even I am not foolish enough to say something like no, things just can’t get any worse aloud. Things can definitely get way worse.”

He looked up.

“Do you hear that, universe? I’ve learned.”

The sun was already setting, so Azarax emerged from the deep shadows at the base of the rock formation and put his fearsome axe on his shoulder.

Deep in the shining carapace of his glass armor, the black skeleton seemed to be absorbing the scarlet radiance of the sunset.

“Prepare yourselves, waifs. The night is coming.”

Sunny sighed and rose to his feet. Nephis followed his example, her simple white tunic fluttering in the rising wind.

All around them, the sand rippled.

The Deathless warriors subjugated by Azarax rose from beneath the dunes, forming a crescent formation in front of the three Supremes. Then, an army of shades rose from Sunny’s shadows to stand behind them.

The Wolf and his pack, the Obsidian Wasps, the Great Beasts of Godgrave and the Asuras of Condemnation, the Immortals of the Eternal City… and more.

Saint and Slayer moved forward to lead them.

Serpent slithered across the dunes like an onyx river, his chilling hiss reverberating under the dark sky.

Sunny inhaled deeply, feeling his strength grow as deep shadows shrouded the world. He divided himself into seven avatars and reached into the shadows, preparing to encase each in a fearsome Shell.

Azarax was already walking forward to stand at the forefront of the joined formation of the Deathless and the shades.

“Tonight is going to be different. Tonight, we will taste the true meaning of dread… the true horror of Ariel’s Hell.”

His grin seemed to grow wider and more vicious.

“That is because we are close to the inner expanse of the desert. Here, only the most elite armies of the Demon Legion and the Divine Host clashed for the right to rule hell. So, tonight, we will probably face the worst fiends who dwell in this godforsaken land… the blessed land. Supreme, Sacred… have you ever faced Sacred beings in battle, Shadow?”

Sunny shook his head.

“No.”

Azarax scoffed.

“Unsurprising. You wouldn’t know the dread and horror of earning a deity’s wrath…”

Sunny interrupted him in a calm tone:

“I did kill a few Cursed beings, though. Including a Cursed Tyrant… no, wait. Two Cursed Tyrants? One was alive, while the other was already dead. But I still killed both.”

Azarax stared at him silently for a few moments, then turned his skull to Nephis. She shrugged.

“I did fight a few Cursed Ones, but I only ever killed one. A Demon.”

She paused for a moment, and then added in a calm tone:

“What about you?”

The ancient tyrant remained silent for a while. Eventually, he just looked away and stared at the desert.

“Well, anyway, you’re out of luck. Because if we do encounter one of the Sacred Beasts of the high commanders tonight…”

The darkness nestling in his eyes seemed to grow deeper.

“You’ll get a chance to face a Sacred being who cannot be killed. Let’s see how strong you are then.”

Sunny — all seven of his incarnations — looked at Azarax at the same time.

He lingered for a moment and then sighed.

“If we do encounter something like that, it won’t matter how strong we are.”

He smiled.

“What will matter is how swift we can run. And we can both run faster than you, so… who is really out of luck here, huh?”

With that, he commanded the Shadow Legion to march forward.

Another night in hell had begun.