Shadow Slave

Sunny felt that there was a hint about what manner of a creature Mordret was in the fact that only the Lost and human Echoes had been allowed to guard him, but that was too little information to make a guess.

What else did he know about the man who called himself the Prince of Nothing?

He was reasonably sure that Mordret was a human… or at least had been once, at some point. A Nightmare Creature could fake a human voice, but not the knowledge of the waking world that Mordret had shown. Sunny also felt that the mysterious prince had told the truth about conquering the First Nightmare at twelve years of age.

Other than that, all Sunny had was the description of the Cruel Edge, which told of a prince that had been given away to a monstrous Dreamspawn, and later returned only to find out that he wasn't welcome in his father's home anymore. That and the fact that the Mirror Beast had been created by Mordret, much like Saint had been created by him.

That was not much to go off of…

With a sigh, Sunny looked around the cage.

Due to the concave nature of its floor, he and Cassie were forced to stay close to each other. The only surface flat enough to sit comfortably was at the very center of the dome, and not too large in diameter. The cage was utterly empty, with the exception of a rusty bucket that was covered by a wooden lid.

Sunny stared at a bucket for a while, then grimaced.

"How long do you think they'll keep us here?"

Cassie remained silent for a while, then answered evenly:

"That depends on whether they can contain the prisoner."

A deep scowl appeared on his face.

Would a hundred elite Awakened warriors and two Masters, all in service to a Great Clan, be able to handle Mondret? Before today, he would have said yes without a moment of hesitation. No matter how powerful the mysterious prince was, how could he contend against an entire army?

…But after seeing the terror on Sir Pierce's face and how nervous the Lost were, Sunny wasn't so sure anymore.

And what would happen if Mordret somehow prevailed?

Would they be safe?

Or… would they learn that terror themselves?

'Crap…'

dark glance at the door of the chamber and closed

nothing they could do but

the passage of time. Sunny and Cassie mostly remained silent, partially because each was

shuddered several more times, but these tremors weren't as strong as the first two. Sunny silently meditated, feeling the shadow essence dissipate from his muscles and his strength slowly diminishing.

tried to bend and dislodge the iron bars, but it was useless. The cage seemed to be built to imprison Masters or, perhaps, even Saints. Even at his

choice but to slide back to

was sort of relaxing — if he ignored the fact that their lives were hanging by a

orange light of the oil lamp were soft and dim, leaving the chamber dark and full of shadows. Somewhere outside, a

everything was calm and

verge of dozing off when Cassie suddenly

"Someone is coming."

and stood up, then glanced at the oil lamp with a dark expression. Its dancing flame trembled, and then disappeared for a moment when the door opened with a bang and

Five people came inside.

was the same sentinel who had locked them inside, his face ashen and pale, a piece of white cloth wrapped around his head like a makeshift

was a strange amulet in the shape of an anvil hanging on a thin

Mordret did not manage

cold glance

that piece of

Sunny shifted slightly.

"I did."

of Welthe's

you to do

blinked a couple

No one instructed me. I had no idea what that shard was. I

at one of

truth. Or at

Lost, who was a man in his thirties,

Another walking lie

frowned, then pierced Sunny with

was your purpose in

he spoke, his

I am interested in that knife, because it has to do with the past of the Chained Isles. I am a researcher at the Awakened Academy, you see… maybe you've read my previous exploration report? It's,