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…'

glance at the door of

nothing they

into hours. With no windows, it was hard to measure the passage of time. Sunny and Cassie mostly

and his strength slowly diminishing. After a while, he stood up, climbed to the walls of the cage, and studied the runes, then explored

The cage seemed to be built to imprison

while, he had no choice but to slide back to

an opportunity like that in a long while. Actually, doing nothing was sort of relaxing — if

oil lamp were soft and dim, leaving the chamber dark and full of

everything was calm and

on the verge of dozing off

"Someone is coming."

then glanced at the oil lamp with a dark expression. Its dancing flame trembled, and then disappeared for

Five people came inside.

their faces grim and their armor bloodied. One was the same sentinel who had locked them inside, his face ashen and pale, a piece of white cloth wrapped around his head

tunic… Master Welthe. There was a strange amulet in the shape of an

did not manage

a cold glance

You brought that piece of mirror

Sunny shifted slightly.

"I did."

corner of Welthe's mouth

you to do

blinked a couple

I had no idea what that shard was. I just thought that it was curious and picked

at one

the truth. Or at least believes in

who was a man in his thirties, with a gaunt

walking

pierced Sunny with

purpose in

spoke, his voice sounded frightened and a

has to do with the past of the Chained Isles. I am a researcher at the Awakened Academy, you