Shadow Slave

Returning to the Shipwreck Island felt strange. It was almost exactly the same, but also different.

They followed the remains of the ancient road and crested the hill to see the desolate valley below. The wreck of the once graceful ship was at its center, the dead tree wrapped around its mast. Thick vines were growing out of the breaches in its hull and spreading outward, some laying on the ground, some buried beneath it.

Here and there, piles of wooden debris could be seen — those were the Sailor Dolls, which had yet to assume their humanoid form after shapeshifting to withstand the Crushing.

What had changed, however, was that there was no chain on the other side of the valley anymore. The Twisted Rock had been destroyed and crumbled into the Sky Below, and now, the Shipwreck Island directly bordered the Tear.

Sunny felt as if the air itself was slightly different as the result.

He gestured at the wooden debris and said:

"Those are the Sailor Dolls. In a few minutes, they will assume their usual form, and after one notices us, the others will know of our presence, too. They'll swarm you pretty fast."

The Fire Keepers had already summoned their weapons and were prepared for a fight. The faces were calm, cold concentration burning in their eyes.

Cassie nodded.

"This is it, then. We will see you on the other side."

Sunny hesitated for a moment, then glanced at the members of the cohort. Out of habit, he had wanted to tell her to be careful, but then remembered who she was, and who he was, what they had been through together, and how it all ended.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

"...Give them hell."

smiled. One

enough of a hell… you stay safe too,

disappeared into the shadows. Safely hidden in their dark embrace, Sunny observed as the Fire Keepers moved forward in a flexible battle formation.

debris shuddered and started assembling into tall, menacing wooden humanoids,

did not wait for the first one to lunge at

an Aspect revolving around plants, drew a heavy bow, and sent an arrow flying. It hit the nearest

swayed, then turned to face them, one side of its body in shambled. As it moved toward the humans, a thin crust of ice formed on its limbs, slowing the

axe on its shoulder, severing one of the abomination's arms completely. Another appeared

Doll was dead, hacked into pieces

'Not a bad start…'

was just

determination. Things were about to turn bad for the Fire Keepers, but at that moment, Kaor — the Artisan

sluggish and slow. That made it possible for the members of the cohort to hold against the onslaught of

was not easy,

the heavy axe was now using his Aspect Ability, which made the blade of his

heavy shield, lashing out from behind it with a short spear from time to time to keep the enemies from simply overwhelming him with their size and mass. This was the healer of the cohort, so his

hair and an Aspect that allowed her to exert vicious strength with each strike of her sword. She fought in tandem with a young man who wielded two great swords… in his four hands. The second pair appeared when he activated his own Aspect Ability. These two were quite devastating

Kaor. Her bow was powerful enough, and her aim precise enough, to deal heavy damage to the advancing Sailor Dolls. The carpenter himself was sustaining the strange hex he put on the abominations and covering her

and endurance, as well as making one of them much more resilient. He wielded a curved

Who had turned out to be perhaps the most deadly

Quiet Dancer in one hand and a long dagger in the other, using it to deflect blows and launch an unexpected, quick attack from time to time. The delicate girl wasn't the strongest, nor was she the fastest of the Fire Keepers. However, she fought with confident grace and deadly insight resembling that of a true

was anybody else, Sunny would have assumed that they had long reached the pinnacle of skill and were now able to not only flawlessly follow, but also control the flow of battle… it reminded

was that while Changing Star was able to predict and manipulate the cadence of battle due

her a frightening presence on the

on the blind girl, aiming to cut her body in half. However, Cassie simply moved slightly to the side a split second before the blade would have sliced her apart, and lashed out with her dagger. At the same time,