Shadow Slave

Armed with the understanding of just how dangerous the beautiful mountains towering above them were, the cohort set out deeper into the foothills. Because they didn't know much about the area and what type of creatures populated it, they decided to stay together.

While it would have been much easier to send Kai to take a look around from above, no one wanted to take this risk. As the result, the six humans moved in a tight group, much like they had on the narrow streets of the Dark City and in the Labyrinth.

…However, the landscape around them was vastly different. There were no growths of crimson coral covering the ground, just grass and outcroppings of grey rock. It almost felt like they were back on Earth.

Strangely, that made Sunny feel uncomfortable. Looking around, he could see far in every direction, with no walls of coral or ancient, ruined buildings obscuring his view. That made it harder for the Nightmare Creatures to ambush the cohort, but also impossible for the cohort to hide from anything that could have been watching.

'That is true, but… where are all the monsters?'

Indeed, no matter how hard Sunny looked, he couldn't see any movement whatsoever. It was as if the entire area was completely dead. They were surrounded by complete silence, which was broken only when a member of the cohort made a sound.

The picturesque scenery could have been peaceful, but felt eerie instead. Even Sunny's shadow seemed uncharacteristically listless.

Full of unease, they continued to move forward.

The plan was very simple. Because of Cassie's vision, they knew that the First Lord and his companions had traveled to the mountains the same way that they did, or at least followed the same route. That meant that both cohorts entered the foothills at approximately the same spot.

The other thing Cassie had told them was that they were searching for a vast pit in the stone. It was hard to miss something like that, so all they had to do was to move deeper into the foothills and look around.

gently sloped upward. As time passed, it grew more and more rocky, and the incline became rather steep. Soon, they were surrounded by tall boulders

and was surprised to realize how high above the labyrinth they had climbed. By

bit of introspection, Sunny realized that it was something he had lost a long time

feeling of being connected to the rest

was an impossible task, simply knowing where they were in relation to the rest of the Awakened made

might have been just as stranded as they had been before… but

nice, but

and hurried to catch

pit Cassie had described. It was situated in a valley just at the point where the foothills

In any other circumstances, Sunny would have been glad

the edge of it, he looked down with a feeling of

humans. A road clinging to the slope of the circular pit led to the bottom of it, wide enough

that resembled either colossal steps or seats of an amphitheater built for giants. Here and there, massive blocks of stone stood, as though ready to be transported back to the ancient

then the size

where the materials for the mighty wall of the Dark City

the Forgotten Shore had transported all that stone

at something with a tense look on her face. Suddenly. she pointed to the center

"Over there, look."

strained his eyes. For a couple of moments, he couldn't understand what the huntress