Shadow Slave

The stone colossus wandered the Forgotten Shore aimlessly for thousands of years. Cassie did not know what power had brought him to life, nor what he was searching for in the depths of the dark sea.

She had seen a vision of the headless giant passing the ruins of the ancient bridge on a certain day and then traveling south to the very edges of this desolate land. She also knew that the leader of the cohort that had conquered the Bright Castle pursued the seventh statue across the Labyrinth for a long time before leaving on his doomed journey.

His reasons for doing so were, presumably, unknown.

Sunny wasn't sure that the blind girl had told him the whole truth about the wandering colossus. In fact, he was certain that there was a deeper layer of secrets surrounding the seven ancient statues and their importance to the riddle of the Forgotten Shore.

However, he was in no hurry to hunt these secrets down. Sunny knew that all three of them — Nephis, Cassie, and himself — were bound together to this cursed place. The strings of fate were wrapped around them tightly, stretching far into the future, where the final revelations waited. He was going to learn the truth sooner or later.

Until then, Sunny was content knowing no more than he needed to know.

…The stone giant walked across the dark sea, cutting its surface with his wide chest. The six humans were gathered on the circular platform of his severed neck, pressing themselves against the swaying stone. The cold water was spraying into their faces and the furious winds were threatening to throw them off the moving statue into the deadly waves below.

Nephis had long extinguished her flames, so they were surrounded by absolute darkness. Sunny was the only one who could see what was happening around them, so his role was to serve as the eyes of the cohort.

Using the strength of the shadow to hold onto the slippery stones, he looked forward with a grim expression on his face.

Currently, there was only one thought on his mind.

Were they going to make it in time?

The colossus was swiftly approaching the other side of the canyon. Sunny could identify it by the remnants of the ancient bridge that were still above the turbulent black waves. However, the water level was rising much faster.

"Sunny?!"

he lingered for a few moments and

underwater for

chorus of curses served as

anyone, Sunny smiled

dark sea. Wasn't this how Gunlaug had begun his journey to

Sunny would be a king

"...Now!"

rose higher and higher. The shoulders of the giant were already submerged in its lightless depths. The circular platform was going to be

so close to

of the canyon, the platform rose and fell. After another fall,

them and then swallowed the entire world. The members of the cohort desperately held onto the cracks

to save them

through the impenetrable darkness of the cursed sea. Instead,

that the headless giant would reach the

Their physical form was either at the pinnacle of human ability or

the terrible current with all his strength. At some point, he thought that he sensed an unclear shape swim close to the walking

now…

was not coming for far longer than Sunny had expected. Soon, his lungs began to

'Damnation…'

was having trouble, then others must have been in far worse shape. After all, oxygen traveled through human bodies with blood, and their blood had not been altered and comprehensively enhanced by the forbidden legacy of the mysterious

as he thought so, Sunny felt one of the six shadows slipping

It was Kai…

'Crap!'

charming archer had been worried about Cassie and tied himself to her with the help of the golden rope. Surprisingly, the blind girl turned out to be more resilient than him in the end. Now, she was holding both of their weights, desperately grabbing onto a narrow crack in the