Shadow Slave

Left on the top of the tall mound of crimson coral, Cassie stood alone in the darkness.

Now that the Quiet Dancer had left her side, she was back to her previous self.

Lost.

Weak.

Frightened.

Utterly helpless.

The oppressive nothingness surrounded her from all sides.

But that nothingness was full of sound.

It swelled with the deafening cacophony of the nightmare horde's onslaught. Cassie heard howls, growling, inhuman screams, shrieks, and the scraping of chitin.

She heard the clangor of steel and the sound of flesh being ripped apart.

She also heard countless human voices calling out to any kind of deity that could save them. Full of fury, agony, bravery, fear, resolve, sorrow, strength, helplessness, hope, faith, despair, disbelief.

She heard them dying.

Standing above it all, Cassie shivered. She wanted to press her hands against her ears, but didn't.

…Her terrible vision was coming true.

And she was back to being lost in the darkness.

Just like before. Worse than before. Almost like on that first day in this cursed, forsaken, lightless land.

In this forgotten hell.

Back then, she had found herself stranded on a similar mound of coral. Only what surrounded her was the dark sea and not a horde of Nightmare Creatures.

But Cassie didn't know that. She didn't know where she was, and what was hiding in the boundless darkness. She only knew that she was alone, and helpless.

That she was going to die in that lonesome, cold nothingness.

on the hard coral, she hugged her knees and tried not to cry. Abandoned and forgotten, she waited for

and indifferent voice came out of the

"...What are you doing?"

ever since. Without even asking anything in return, not before, and

she

prison

to be callous and cruel, but was

had to

now, she had to live

Or die with it...

to the sounds of slaughter, a sudden gust of wind rustled her beautiful

turned to face

later, her face paled, and her lips

'No!'

who could have heard her, Cassie closed

storm… there is

***

became much smaller, but still held on. In fact, it was slowly pushing

line of archers ran out of arrows and ammunition, those who had no suitable Memories to replace them summoned their melee weapons and joined the vanguard, reinforcing its

no more abominations crossing the bridges of crimson coral and lunging forward to join the massacre, its mass

the entire horde to give the rest of the humans time to mend the breaches

forces seemed to finally be

turn

"Come on! Hold strong!"

"Lit yourself on fire!"

"Follow the Immortal Flame!"

the fate of this battle was about to be decided, a gust of wind suddenly blew

The light dimmed slightly.

a few moments. Their faces became

the world. It was approaching the battlefield with terrifying speed, numerous bolts of lightning illuminating its furious

A storm was coming.

closer and closer, the surface of the black water that swirled around the island of the

then, it began to crawl

swelled and moved forward, swallowing the crimson coral meter after a meter,

was coming to

did not react

away to find shelter, they howled and shrieked in eerie triumph,