Shadow Slave

Sunny felt that there was a hint about what manner of a creature Mordret was in the fact that only the Lost and human Echoes had been allowed to guard him, but that was too little information to make a guess.

What else did he know about the man who called himself the Prince of Nothing?

He was reasonably sure that Mordret was a human… or at least had been once, at some point. A Nightmare Creature could fake a human voice, but not the knowledge of the waking world that Mordret had shown. Sunny also felt that the mysterious prince had told the truth about conquering the First Nightmare at twelve years of age.

Other than that, all Sunny had was the description of the Cruel Edge, which told of a prince that had been given away to a monstrous Dreamspawn, and later returned only to find out that he wasnʼt welcome in his fatherʼs home anymore. That and the fact that the Mirror Beast had been created by Mordret, much like Saint had been created by him.

That was not much to go off of…

With a sigh, Sunny looked around the cage.

Due to the concave nature of its floor, he and Cassie were forced to stay close to each other. The only surface flat enough to sit comfortably was at the very center of the dome, and not too large in diameter. The cage was utterly empty, with the exception of a rusty bucket that was covered by a wooden lid.

Sunny stared at a bucket for a while, then grimaced.

”How long do you think theyʼll keep us here?”

Cassie remained silent for a while, then answered evenly:

”That depends on whether they can contain the prisoner.”

A deep scowl appeared on his face.

Would a hundred elite Awakened warriors and two Masters, all in service to a Great Clan, be able to handle Mondret? Before today, he would have said yes without a moment of hesitation. No matter how powerful the mysterious prince was, how could he contend against an entire army?

…But after seeing the terror on Sir Pierceʼs face and how nervous the Lost were, Sunny wasnʼt so sure anymore.

And what would happen if Mordret somehow prevailed?

Would they be safe?

Or… would they learn that terror themselves?

ʼCrap…ʼ

Sunny threw a dark glance at the door of the chamber and closed his eyes.

For now, there was nothing they could do but wait.

Minutes passed, slowly converging into hours. With no windows, it was hard to measure the passage of time. Sunny and Cassie mostly remained silent, partially because each was preoccupied with their own thoughts, and partially because there was nothing useful they could say.

The Night Temple shuddered several more times, but these tremors werenʼt as strong as the first two. Sunny silently meditated, feeling the shadow essence dissipate from his muscles and his strength slowly diminishing. After a while, he stood up, climbed to the walls of the cage, and studied the runes, then explored every centimeter of the cell.

He even tried to bend and dislodge the iron bars, but it was useless. The cage seemed to be built to imprison Masters or, perhaps, even Saints. Even at his full power, Sunny wouldnʼt have been able to break free with brute force.

After a while, he had no choice but to slide back to the center of the dome and resume doing nothing.

…He hadnʼt had an opportunity like that in a long while. Actually, doing nothing was sort of relaxing — if he ignored the fact that their lives were hanging by a thread, of course.

The blue glow of the runes and the orange light of the oil lamp were soft and dim, leaving the chamber dark and full of shadows. Somewhere outside, a gruesome massacre was perhaps taking place.

But here, everything was calm and silent.

Sunny was on the verge of dozing off when Cassie suddenly turned to face the door.

”Someone is coming.”

He opened his eyes and stood up, then glanced at the oil lamp with a dark expression. Its dancing flame trembled, and then disappeared for a moment when the door opened with a bang and a gust of wind entered the cell.

Five people came inside.

Four of them were Lost warriors, their faces grim and their armor bloodied. One was the same sentinel who had locked them inside, his face ashen and pale, a piece of white cloth wrapped around his head like a makeshift bandage.

The fifth was a woman with beautiful red hair, wearing a black tunic… Master Welthe. There was a strange amulet in the shape of an anvil hanging on a thin chain around her neck, and murder in her eyes. The aura she emanated was truly frightening.

ʼSo, Mordret did not manage to escape, after all…ʼ

The Master threw a cold glance at Cassie, then turned to Sunny.

”You! You brought that piece of mirror into the Citadel, correct?”

Sunny shifted slightly.

”I did.”

The corner of Weltheʼs mouth twitched.

”Who instructed you to do so?!”

He blinked a couple of times.

”What? No one instructed me. I had no idea what that shard was. I just thought that it was curious and picked it up…”

The beautiful woman glanced at one of the Lost, who nodded.

”He is telling the truth. Or at least believes in what he says.”

Sunny studied the Lost, who was a man in his thirties, with a gaunt face and clear, grey eyes.

ʼGreat. Another walking lie detector…ʼ

Welthe frowned, then pierced Sunny with a heavy gaze.

”What was your purpose in coming to Night Temple?”

Sunny hesitated for a few moments. When he spoke, his voice sounded frightened and a little shaky:

”Iʼve been told that there is... there is a special knife here, on the altar. I am interested in that knife, because it has to do with the past of the Chained Isles. I am a researcher at the Awakened Academy, you see… maybe youʼve read my previous exploration report? Itʼs, uh… quite famous.”

The Master stared at him for some time, then glanced at the Lost with clear eyes, and shook her head dejectedly.

”All this… because of one clueless fool…”

ʼYes, yes... I am a pathetic, useless fool. Believe it!ʼ

Sunny cleared his throat.

”Master Welthe? I am very sorry for the trouble Iʼve caused, but… uh… what is going on? And when are you going to release us?”

She suddenly let out a stifled laugh, then looked at him with a dark, furious expression:

”Release you? If you knew what your actions have caused, you would have begged me to keep you in this cell. At least that fiend canʼt get to you here… no, the two of you will remain locked up until we deal with the mess youʼve made. And we will deal with it, believe me.”

That was not exactly the answer Sunny wanted to hear, but at least it gave him some information.

Mordret wasnʼt contained yet... rather, he and the Valor forces seemed to be in some sort of a stalemate.

Master Welthe gritted her teeth, then turned away.

However, before leaving, she stopped for a moment and then said, her voice grim:

”Now that the temple is sealed, no one but Lord Cormac can unseal it, anyway. With the Gateway destroyed, thereʼs no escape. Where would you even go?”

With that, she clenched her fists and left the chamber. The four Lost followed, closing the door behind them.

Sunny stared at it for a while, a bleak expression on his face.

ʼNo one but Lord Cormac can unseal it…ʼ

”Crap!”

The Saint was not supposed to return until a month from now!

He looked at Cassie, then at their cage, and lastly at the glowing runes.

This was going to be a long and terrible month…

😉