Shadow Slave

The embrace of impenetrable darkness was broken by the furious white light of Changing Star's incandescent sword. Illuminated by it, six people were standing on the shore of a raging river. Their faces were pale and grim.

The canyon had disappeared, consumed by the rising surge of the black water. Now, the cursed sea was flowing over its edges, ready to swell and flood the narrow passages of the great Labyrinth in an unstoppable wave.

Sunny felt cold water wash over his feet and shivered. The rest of the cohort reacted exactly the same — even Kai, who could escape into the lightless skies at any moment, seemed to be deeply unnerved by the closeness of the encroaching sea.

Among the six of them, only three had truly experienced the perils of this dark abyss. They knew that the real dread came not from the sea itself, but from the terrors that hid in its cursed depths.

Like the host of the of whispering voices that they had heard beneath the branches of the Soul Tree.

Or the gargantuan creature that had almost cost Nephis her life.

However, Sunny was not going to make a remark to educate the rest of the cohort. After all, what they were trying to do right now was to summon one of these terrors from below.

One that was different from all the others.

"Sunny?"

Peering into the darkness, he lingered.

"I don't see anything… yet."

The water was already to his shins and rising swiftly. Sunny grimaced and struggled with the desire to turn around and run away without looking back.

If he was fast enough… if he was lucky enough… he could still make it to the giant statue before the torrent of darkness drowned him under its crushing weight.

glanced at

had glimpsed this secret of the Forgotten Shore in her visions and shared it with Changing Star. Changing Star had devised a

that they were going to succeed. So,

didn't fully trust either of his former companions, not anymore.

in his mind, there was a subtle movement at the edges of

"...It's here."

there in the distance, a massive shape was moving through the waves, attracted by the light of Changing Star's incandescent blade. The sea seethed and swirled

and somehow made her flames burn even brighter, forcing the darkness to retreat another

"Get ready!"

moments later, the furious sounds of a massive body moving through the dark water reached their ears. The creature

…Well, no surprise.

thing they were waiting for came closer. Soon, he could discern the

rose above water were its shoulders. And right between them, where the

nothing but

the map created by Nephis. Not because she had failed to learn of the seventh

never stayed in one place for

through the flooded canyon, his shoulder scraping against one of its walls. The wide chest of

remnants of the ancient bridge that got in its way. The debris

fast and safe — comparatively — method of traveling

the

ironic. The next day after he had decided to return to

as though the

Sunny turned to the cohort

"He's coming!"

The members of the cohort tensed and