Shadow Slave

He sat back down, waited for a while, and then turned to Cassie:

"Did you take a look at her Attributes?"

She sat down, too, and sighed.

"Yes. Her, the four Lost with her. Sir Pierce, too. I also saw the name and Rank of their Aspects."

Sunny frowned.

"What? Since when can you read Aspects, too?"

The blind girl shrugged.

"Since my Awakening."

He stared at her for a bit.

'What a useful Ability…'

In worse news, if she had not known some of his secrets before, she surely knew them now.

'...How infuriating.'

Sunny grimaced, lingered for a bit, and then said:

"Good. Chances are, we'll need that information before all of this is over."

He didn't press her for answers yet, since there was a lot he had to think about.

Some more time passed with both of them remaining silent. After a while, the door of the chamber opened once more, and the familiar four Lost entered. The one with a bandaged head was carrying a tray of food and a waterskin.

He studied them for a few moments, a cold expression on his handsome face, and then threw the food and the waterskin through the iron bars without approaching the cage.

Sunny suppressed his anger and opened his mouth, assuming the persona of a cowardly researcher:

"Hey! Sir… uh… sir Awakened! Can you tell us what is going on? Please, we don't even know what is wrong!"

The sentinel glanced at him darkly and spat in a commanding tone:

"Silence!"

was clear and strong, full of arrogant confidence…

saying another word, the Lost left, once

few moments, then slowly lowered his gaze and glanced at the food that rolled down

suddenly, he threw his head back and laughed

Never thought I'll be eating this crap

him, reflecting the blue glow of the runes, two colorless tubes of synthpaste were lying on the

their shape

***

same. Still, this vile invention was cheap to produce and supposed to contain all the nutrients one needed

missed the damned sludge

tube of synthpaste, a cheap water filter, and several dry, tasteless crackers. This was what he

Such irony...

without the essence sustaining their bodies,

to settle with their backs against each other. With nothing but two layers

cold and chilly, but at least

lay in silence for a

however, Cassie suddenly

"Sunny…"

voice was quiet

how is she doing?

eyes closed and remained silent for a few moments,

great. She is a devil already.

didn't say anything

the night — if it was night outside — he suddenly woke up, disturbed by a sudden change in her breathing. Through the thin fabric of their clothes,

around and

of the runes, her delicate face seemed white and bloodless. It was contorted in a tortured grimace, with beads of sweat appearing on her forehead. Her eyes were moving hectically behind

knowing what to

most of her visions, this one was painful and terrifying. Was

decide, she suddenly sat up with a stifled yelp. Her chest

hands and tried to feel her surroundings, clearly not

caught one of them, making Cassie flinch, and

hold of yourself, damn it. You're in a cage in Night Temple. Stop

to his iron grip. After a while, Cassie took a deep breath and said

"...I'm alright."

picked up the mostly empty

and closed her eyes,