Shadow Slave

Trying to gather his courage, Sunny looked into the distance and said in a raspy voice:

"You've seen the creatures that dwell under these waves. Do you really want to swim across them?"

Changing Star was silent for a few seconds, then sighed.

"We are damned either way, Sunny. What do we have to lose?"

She fell silent for a moment and grimaced, pale flames dancing in her eyes. Then, in a quiet voice, she added:

"We will not light any fires, relying on your eyes to guide us west. We will hope that Cassie's armor will protect us. Maybe it will be enough."

Sunny glanced at Neph and asked:

"What's so special about Cassie's armor?"

She hesitated for a moment, then answered without looking at him:

"It's a tier six awakened Memory. One of its traits is to make the wearer less likely to draw the enemy's attention."

While Sunny was digesting this information, Nephis suddenly trembled. Closing her eyes, she said through gritted teeth:

"I am at my limit. My mind is… fading. If you have any questions left… better… ask them fast."

He blinked, startled. Then, knowing that there was not much time left, Sunny asked the first thing that came to his mind:

"Do you even know how to build a boat?"

Changing Star simply nodded, letting him know that she did. Her expression was slowly turning lost and dull again.

Racing against time, Sunny frantically thought of another question.

leave the island

lucidity. For a moment, her eyes became clear again. White flames ignited in

Say those words to me, and I

thoughts, she turned away and added

Cassie and flee. Don't…

her eyes slowly dimmed, and soon, Changing Star was staring west once again, all memory of their conversation gone from her

time, waiting. After a while, he shifted a

"Hey, Neph."

him, her face bleak and full of

did you get

"A while ago."

he smiled and said in a

something? Do you

***

was very surprised by his question, but eventually agreed to help him. Sunny didn't tell her why exactly he wanted to build a boat, dodging the questions with practiced finesse. His Flaw was not making things easy, but with the state Neph was in, persuading her was

too much time. Not to mention that he wasn't sure that

not much time left. With every hour, their condition

was beginning to slip, he had to inflict pain on himself to get a few moments

possible. Sunny was determined to be ready by

the bitter taste

to prevent himself from being

his bleeding hand behind his back, Sunny turned

going to

about it for some time, then

have to use the materials at hand. For the hull, we will have to use the dead demon's carapace. We can

Sunny raised his eyebrows:

armor? It's made out of some strange

at

you're displacing more water than

He blinked.