Shadow Slave

Sunny was instantly wide awake. Sitting up, he hurriedly rubbed his eyes and then glanced at the blind girl, ready to listen.

Nephis approached them and sat down, her face barely visible in the dim light of the early dawn.

"Past or future?"

Sunny blinked.

'Right. I should have asked myself.'

Cassie thought for a bit and then hesitantly answered:

"Past… I think."

After a short pause, her expression changed to that of certainty.

"No, I'm sure of it."

Changing Star slightly tilted her head.

"That's good. So… what did you see?"

Cassie deeply inhaled and fell silent for several seconds, remembering. Her face paled a little, but this time, she was ready to face her fear.

"I saw the Ashen Barrow deep at night, enveloped in a raging storm. The winds were bending the branches of the great tree, as if desperate to break them. The island was illuminated by the constant barrage of thundering lightning bolts, with rain falling from the skies like a flood."

She paused, catching her breath, and continued:

"The Carapace Demon was there, standing in the middle of the storm like an unshakable fortress made of polished steel. Arcs of electricity were dancing between the spikes on his armor, but the demon did not pay it any attention. He was just as Sunny described… prideful, sinister and terrifying."

Cassie closed her eyes.

"When I looked into his eyes, I felt… a sense of emptiness and corruption. He observed the storm until it began to dissipate. The winds weakened, the rain stopped. The great tree stood unbroken, just as magnificent as it was before. But then, the last bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the ground beside it."

Sunny was listening to her tale with great attention, hopeful to hear a piece of useful information.

'So, that monstrosity is not afraid of lightning. Shame. With its metal carapace, I was almost tempted to try and lure it from under the tree during a storm.'

Apparently, that wouldn't work.

was ready to

that cover the Ashen Barrow's surface. Soon, a large part of the island was

adventure through the Dream Realm, the girls mentioned that the light he had seen from the

turned out to be a big mistake. At night, any source of light was like a lure for the monsters of the Forgotten Shore… including the terrifying creatures that lurked in the depths of the dark sea. That's why, ever since, they were careful to never light a fire after sunset, preferring to endure the darkness instead of attracting unknown horrors from beneath the

he waited

like a… like a mass of bones and rotten flesh connected by black seaweed,

remembering the abomination made Cassie feel nauseated, but she gritted her teeth

Carapace Demon did not hesitate to lunge at the creature, completely ignoring the fact that it was at least ten times his size. It was like… like he completely lost his mind, enraged by

Nephis suddenly spoke:

the

The blind girl hesitated.

see the battle itself, only its beginning and its end. At the break of dawn, the Carapace Demon crawled back into the shade of the great tee. He was severely wounded, with several of

paused for a moment and then said

chest. The steel armor of the demon was fractured and split apart, revealing the beating heart inside. Rivers of azure blood were flowing from the wound, mixing with the ashen sand. The demon crawled to the base of the tree and laid his broken body between its

Cassie sighed.

recover from his wounds. His scythes restored themselves, his legs grew back. The fracture on his chest was the last

silent for a long time,

the first to

it's not impenetrable

she looked at

plan

blinked, extricating himself from the swarm of thoughts. Glancing at

inkling of how we should proceed, but Cassie's vision gave

Nephis raised an eyebrow.

"Is that so?"

gave her a

but it might just work. Well… maybe. In any case, it's going to be risky. And we'll have to make

Cassie and Nephis looked at him expectantly. The blind girl

your plan? How are we going to

Sunny crossed his arms.

complicated. Actually, I got the idea from that

a dramatic pause, and then said with a mysterious

"... a trojan ass."

stared at him with complicated expressions. Well, Cassie did not stare, since she was blind, but