Shadow Slave

Four figures were making their way up a steep, dark slope, surrounded by billowing clouds of eerie white mists. They were the King of Nothing, the Lord of Shadows, Nephis of Immortal Flame, and a tall, graceful knight wearing a suit of stone like armor — the Jade Saint.

The mist parted before them, pushed away by the Will of the King of Nothing, then flowed to swallow the emptiness behind them moments after they passed.

Their steps echoed in the eerie silence, and although nothing seemed to threaten them in the desolate expanse of swirling fog, all four seemed ready for battle.

Half of Sunny’s mind was preoccupied with observing his surroundings, searching for signs of trouble. The other was remembering the terrifying time he had spent traversing the Hollow Mountains as a Saint, half-crazed and barely able to maintain his existence in the annihilating tides of nothingness.

“You don’t have to worry.”

Mordret’s voice sounded dispassionate.

Sparing him a glance, Sunny raised an eyebrow.

“Really? I’d say there are plenty of reasons to worry. I saw all kinds of horrors the last time I was in these parts.”

Mordret nodded silently.

“Indeed, the Hollow Mountains hide many perils. But we are on the very outskirts of the range — the true horrors all dwell deeper.”

That was somewhat reassuring to hear.

They were indeed on the outer edges of the Hollow Mountains. As for why they were climbing higher instead of trying to find a way down… There was a reason for that, as well.

The news spreading among the subjects of the Human Domain implied that Nephis had gone to a previously unexplored Death Zone, but that wasn’t entirely true. Somebody had, in fact, explored the Underworld in the past — Broken Sword and his cohort, for one.

More importantly, Nephis herself had already been to the Underworld, even if it was in a Nightmare as opposed to reality. The kingdom of the Demon of Destiny had, no doubt, changed a lot in the thousands of years since. But some of her knowledge still applied, which influenced their decision of where to enter.

Most of those who knew about the existence of the Underworld imagined it as a single space buried deep underground, in the bones of the earth, but they were not technically correct. In fact, the Underworld consisted of roughly three layers, each more dangerous than the previous one. Additionally, it was not one titanic cavern, but rather an interconnected system of many enormous hollows.

The uppermost and the safest stratum of the Underworld was hidden inside the mountains themselves — after all, the Hollow Mountains had not received that name randomly. They were actually hollow inside, each peak forming an enormous vertical cavern that widened from top to bottom.

There had been settlements of the Stone Saints inside the hollow peaks once, and it had been here that the Underworld connected to the outside world — or rather, to the outside realms. At the peak of the Stone Saint civilization, the upper stratum of the Hollow Mountains was a commercial hub, with many outsiders coming here to trade or to find passage to other realms through the Underworld.

Many had come to perform burial rites and sacral vigils, believing that doing so would ensure a safe journey for the shadows of their dead.

However, the settlements in the hollow peaks of the towering mountains were merely the periphery of the Stone Saint civilization. Its true heart lay at the middle stratum of the Underworld, which was below the mountains, submerged in ancient darkness.

It was there that Nether’s throne and the city surrounding it were located. Most of the Stone Saints had lived in that city, close to the stronghold of their creator.

And finally, there was the lower stratum — the deepest part of the Underworld, hidden in lightless depths, too dreadful and hazardous to be inhabited even by the Stone Saints. This was where the chasm leading to the Abyss was located, and where unfathomable horrors born of the true darkness dwelled.

Coincidentally, it was also the only part of the Underworld Nephis had visited personally. In her Second Nightmare, she had inhabited the broken body of one of Nether’s failed creations, and tried to build a community for other creatures that dwelled in the darkness, rejected by the world — only for that community to be wiped out by a horror that rose from the Abyss.

So, she did not really have any personal knowledge of the higher strata of the Underworld — only tales and stories the other outcasts had shared with her. These stories still contained plenty of information, though, which allowed Sunny to infer a few things.

He knew that while Nightmare Gates could appear anywhere, they were drawn to places with a large population of sentient beings. Similarly, Seeds of Nightmare did not just grow randomly — they usually appeared in places where horrific events had happened in the past.

There had to be someone who had experienced that horror, which meant that Seeds, too, mostly grew in places where sentient beings had once lived.

The goal of this expedition was to find the place where Broken Sword perished, and that place was most likely somewhere between the location of the Seed of Nightmare he and his cohort had conquered and the spot where the Sovereigns turned on him. Since the Stone Saints had dwelled in the upper and middle strata of the Underworld, the Seed had to have been there, as well.

So, Sunny and Nephis did not have to start their search from the most dangerous part of the Underworld. On the contrary, going to its least harrowing part would serve them better.

And that was why they had convinced Mordret to guide them to the entrance to one of the hollow peaks, and were climbing the mountain now.

Soon enough, they found something that Sunny had never expected to see in the Hollow Mountains — the remains of an ancient, dilapidated road. The road circled the mountains, climbing higher and higher, and there were towering black pillars flanking it, rising above the road on both sides at long intervals.

Some of the pillars were shattered, while some had been toppled and were now lying on the cold rock, surrounded by mist. Those that still stood, however, gave Sunny a strange feeling. Following a hunch, he peered into their depths and noticed a familiar sight.

There were diamond strings embedded into the pillars, forming complicated patterns. It was the same sorcery Nether had used to animate the Stone Saints, a primitive version of spellweave he had developed to replicate the sorcery of the eldest daemon. The ancient weave was dead now, devoid of sorcery, but once upon a time, these pillars must have served an important purpose.

‘Were they meant to keep the mist at bay?’

There was no answer now, and no one to ask.

They moved faster after discovering the ancient road.

Soon, the entrance to the Underworld was revealed to them.