Shadow Slave

A terrible pain pierced Cassie’s empty eye socket as she aimed her gaze at the Hunger Domain.

The great army of humanity had already become caught in the web of her Aspect — the Awakened, the Masters, the Saints… even their Supreme ruler himself. All of them were marked by her power, with no hope of escape.

And so…

Cassie looked upon the world with a million eyes.

She felt the wind caress her myriad faces.

She heard a myriad of noises and smelled a myriad of scents.

But, above it all…

She sensed a vast galaxy of memories. A whole universe was hidden here, on the Chained Isles, contained within the minds of mortal men and women who had come here to wage war.

These memories were her target.

Cassie reached into the memories of Asterion’s thralls, beginning to erase those of them that contained him or the mention of his name from their contaminated minds — just like she had done to Yutra and other patients of the quarantine facility, only on a much grander scale.

The great army of the Hunger Domain represented the core of his power, and she could reach it due to how close the soldiers were to her. She shared the senses of a soldier, and then marked everyone whom the soldier perceived; then, she marked everyone whom those people perceived, as well.

Just like that, the entire army became entangled in the web of her Aspect at a terrifying speed. The strain on Cassie was tremendous, but well within what her Supreme mind could handle.

She concentrated on the memories of a few key individuals, while at the same time attacking the memories of everyone else. As long as the Mad Prince lasted long enough against Asterion, she was going to cleanse them of all of the insidious hex.

But that alone was not enough.

She needed to erase him from the minds of all people, everywhere — and reaching countless humans all across the vast expanse of the Dream Realm, as well as on the other side of the real boundary in the waking world, was not an easy task even for her.

It was partially possible because Cassie was sharing the senses of Asterion himself, and Asterion was connected to all his thralls — just like Sunny was connected to his shades. Cassie found that she could follow that connection to the enthralled people no matter where or how far they were, but it was a slow and inefficient process.

She had to contend against Asterion’s fearsome mental defenses to access it, after all.

So, she needed something else… something more. She needed someone to serve as a conduit of her Will, helping it spread in places far removed from the Chained Isles. One of these people was Effie, who was currently fighting to retake Bastion — one of the major population centers of humanity, and one connected to most Citadel Cities in the East as well.

With Effie’s help, Cassie’s powers washed over Bastion like a ghostly tide. But she needed more…

She needed Jet and Kai.

‘Where are they?’

Cassie activated the marks she had left on them once, wanting to experience the world from their point of view.

..There was no dungeon full of prisoners in the Jade Palace, so Jet and Kai could not recruit a small army of driven subordinates to take over Ravenheart. However, if anything, their situation was far better than Effie’s.

That was because they were together, and neither of them had been driven to the threshold of death by starvation. Kai was missing his tongue, but he still had both hands — Jet, meanwhile, was at the absolute peak of her strength.

They also had a powerful Supreme Devil keeping them company…

So, their journey to the Gateway of the Jade Palace had gone smoothly.

Until they reached the great hall where the Gateway was located, that was.

There, Jet slowed down, an uneasy expression appearing on her face. Fiend froze in the spot and grew tense, as well — Kai was the last to sense something, frowning with a somber glint in his tired eyes.

In front of them, the gate leading to the great hall was partially open, bright light pouring out of it.

A sense of chilling, oppressive cold permeated the air.

Fiend raised one of his steel hands and looked at it in discomfort. A thin layer of frost was forming on the surface of the black metal, sapping the warmth from it. The infernal flames burning in his eyes seemed to dim.

Jet and Kai glanced at each other, then carefully moved forward.

As they crept closer to the gate, a gust of frigid wind washed over them, making Kai shiver. A deep sound reached them a few moments later…

It was as if something enormous was breathing, there in the Gateway Hall.

Jet, who had just returned from the frozen wastelands west of Ravenheart, looked ahead with a hint of grim wariness in her icy blue eyes.

Eventually, they reached the gate and looked inside.

And then, Jet took an involuntary step back.

“By the dead gods… what did that madman do?”

Her voice was a barely audible whisper. There, in front of them, a vast hall was illuminated by bright light pouring through colossal windows. There was something lying on the stone floor in front of the Gateway…

It was a jade board with black squares carved into its surface and a single white figure resting in the middle of the black field.

It was Ariel’s Game. Only…

The second of the remaining figures was missing.

Instead, an enormous, radiant white dragon was curled around the Gateway, its head resting on the floor. It seemed to be

sleeping — and yet, Jet felt a terror as she had never felt it before after throwing a single glance at the magnificent, abominable beast.

Knowing not to look directly at great and awful beings of the Dream Realm, Jet tore her gaze away and looked at Kai with an odd mix of grim apprehension and dismay in her eyes.

She knew what the creature was, of course… it was one of the two white figures that had remained sealed within Ariel’s Game.

That dragon was a Cursed Devil — a fallen god of the ancient past.

Jet tried to force out a smile.

“Was Sunny right about you? Damn it, Kai… why is there always a dragon anywhere you go?”

He looked at her somberly, unable to respond.

Jet sighed, then shook her head.

“Listen, I have a very high opinion of our abilities. But we are not defeating a Cursed Devil. We won’t even be able to scratch its scales. So…”

She hesitated.

“I don’t even understand why the Dreamspawn did not take this thing with him to the war, considering that he had managed to enthrall it. Then again… perhaps he can’t really control it that well. But he probably really, really wants to eat this dragon after he’s done devouring humanity. This is… his dessert, I think.”

Jet wanted to say something else to Kai, but at that moment, both of them froze. Because Cassie’s voice resounded in their heads.

Jet cursed under her breath.

“It is nice to hear from you, Cassie… but taking the Jade Palace might prove a problem.”

The two of them remained silent, looking at each other with grim expressions.

What Cassie was asking of them was vital — it was the best chance to defeat Asterion they could receive, and most likely would ever be able to receive. And considering that failing to get rid of Asterion meant the end of everything, the stakes were as high as they could get.

However, everything came crashing down in the face of reality.

Neither Jet nor Kai was strong enough to face a Cursed being in battle, and even with their own Supreme Devil, the chances of defeating the loathsome dragon were so slim that they might as well have been zero. That was what Jet thought…

But before she could express her opinion, Kai had already turned away and walked through the gate of the Gateway Hall.

His figure blurred, and a moment later, a magnificent dragon with scales the color of midnight sky stepped onto the stone floor of the vast hall. He was visibly smaller than the ancient creature slumbering in its depths, but still enormous, dwarfing Jet with his size.

The black dragon opened his mouth…

And let out a deafening, defiant, thunderous roar.

“What are you doing?! Damn it!”

Jet turned into mist, hiding behind the wing of the opened gate.

Deep in the brightly lit hall, the Cursed Devil opened one enormous eye, looking at the source of disturbance with an eerie, alien madness burning in the depths of his bestial pupils.

The tyrannical cold suddenly grew a dozen times more oppressive, so much so that even Jet felt it despite her ghostly form. Kai peered down at the dragon calmly… Then opened his wings and soared into the air.

His graceful figure smashed through the enormous round window of the Gateway Hall, rising into the snowy sky in a storm of crystal shards.

A moment later, surrounded by a hurricane of snow and indescribable dread, the White Dragon gave chase.

And a moment after that, Jet and Fiend were left alone in the great hall of the Jade Palace, still shivering from the deadly cold.