Shadow Slave

The Night Garden slowly sank into a sea of blood.

The deck had been cleared by then, with all the soldiers joining the civilians in the city below. The runic hall was cleared of all non-essential personnel, with only the Saints of Night keeping Jet and Sunny company. The enchanted circle shimmered faintly as Jet deepened her connection to the living ship, drawing more and more water into the vast reservoir at the lowest layer of its vertical structure.

The trees growing in the parks and groves on the main deck of the Night Garden swayed, and the water in the lakes rippled. Far below, the waves foamed as the titanic ship slowly began to submerge.

Sunny observed the process from the great height of the runic hall for a while, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

As the ship submerged, the deep shadows populating its main deck stirred, growing deeper and darker. Then, they started to flow upward all across its outer perimeter, climbing higher and higher into the air. Jet and the Saints of Night observed the process with guarded expressions, their eyes widening slightly.

It was an incredible sight, indeed.

The Night Garden was more than a dozen kilometers in length, and at the moment, darkness rose all across its vast expanse like streams of ink flowing up the surface of an invisible glass dome.

Sunny frowned, concentrating.

Soon enough, the streams of darkness fused and climbed higher than the roof of the towering pagoda where the runic hall, the bridge of the Night Garden, was located. The dome of shadows closed, obscuring the twilight of the outside world — it was as if the living ship was hidden in a great cavern, the warm glow of its lanterns illuminating the echoing darkness. The shadows hardened, turning into black obsidian.

”Ah, I wonder...”

Sunny found himself wondering if, maybe, the Shadow Realm itself had been created in a similar fashion - only on a much, much greater scale.

Jet let out a quiet sigh.

”Damn. No matter how many times I witness a Sovereign unleashing their power, it never gets any less... humbling.”

Sunny looked at her, suddenly curious about what Jet’s own Supreme power would be. He remained silent for a few moments, then turned away.

”We are not called demigods without a reason. Attaining Supremacy means crossing the threshold between what is mundane and what is divine... so while we are not deities yet, we have a foot in the door.”

He lingered a little before adding in a more grim tone:

”it is the next step that is truly vexing. Because to take it, one has to discard what little mundane — and therefore human-is left of them.”

As his words echoed in the darkness, the Night Garden continued to sink. Soon enough, half of its immense mass was already underwater, and the main deck grew much closer to the surface of the sea.

Jet glanced at the Saints of Night, then addressed Naeve in a calm tone: ”Naeve, please check how things are going below deck.”

The citizens of the Night Garden knew what was happening. Some had been apprehensive, but most seemed excited about the thrilling new development. Diving into a bottomless ocean full of eldritch abominations! Wasn’t that an exciting change of scenery?

Perhaps spending time on the indestructible living ship had made them feel too safe, but the denizens of the wandering city were quite a carefree bunch — as far as Sunny was concerned, they rarely showed the level of fear and anxiety one would expect from people living in the perilous waters of the Stormsea. But then again, Sunny could somewhat understand the strangeness of their mentality. After all, most humans were tied to their homes, and therefore to their cities—if danger arrived, they ultimately had no choice but to face it or succumb to it, since escaping was usually not an option.

What would a citizen of NQSC do if some Unholy abomination descended upon the city? Escaping into the wilderness was hardly an option, since it would mean dying of starvation, contaminated water, poisonous air, or simply the elements. Similarly, nothing but death awaited those who would want to flee Bastion or Ravenheart.

But what if their city itself could tum around and flee from danger, taking them with it?

’That, Sunny thought, was a fundamentally less stressful way of life.

So, he mentally patted himself on the shoulder for procuring himself a wonderful moving castle.

’Good job...”

Come to think of it... once Sunny became Sacred, Mimic would probably be able to tum into something of a similar size to Night Garden. And while it did not possess many of the wondrous abilities that the living ship did, it had its own marvelous qualities.

”I should feed it well.’

In any case, many of the passengers of the Night Garden gathered in the sorcerous observation halls below the deck to watch the ship submerge — instead of hiding in their homes and praying to the dead gods. They could not see what was happening on the main deck, and the mist obscured most of the world, but still... once the surface of the sea drew close, they saw red waves breaking against the weathered hull of the living ship.

And then, they were below the water.

’Moment of truth...’

The Night Garden finally submerged enough for the waves to wash over its main deck. Of course, the dome of shadows was protecting it at the moment - but depending on how the situation developed, Sunny would either ride the Night Garden comfortably into the depths or would be forced to dive into the abyssal darkness himself, protected by nothing except the Onyx Serpent Shell.

’It’s a pity I didn’t kill Old Tom.’

Summoning its shade would have been quite useful, considering the circumstances.

While Sunny shivered at the memory of the gargantuan horror of the depths, the Night Garden fell deeper into the water. Finally, the waves closed above the shadow dome, and the tip of the main mast disappeared below the surface of the sea.

For a while, tense silence reigned in the runic hall. Eventually, Jet asked in a hushed tone:

”Well?”

Sunny smiled.

”Bone dry.”

The shadow dome had been built to be just a little bit smaller than the invisible aegis protecting the main deck of the Night Garden. So, if that mysterious barrier was not capable of holding water at bay, the water would have washed over the manifested shadows.

However, not even a single drop touched the surface of the dome. Which meant that Sunny had been right—the Aegis was indeed capable of allowing the Night Garden to dive into the sea.

Jet let out a quiet sigh.

She remained silent for a while, and then said in a neutral tone:

”I guess that means that we are diving into the abyss...”