Shadow Slave

Before the gates of the temple, a large hall stood, submerged in darkness. The air was permeated with the smell of rot, and at least a dozen of eviscerated bodies lay on the cold stones, staring into nothingness with their empty eyes.

Sunny had long become accustomed to such sights, so he wasn't too bothered by it. The implication, however, left him feeling cold.

'Damnation…'

He entered the hall, both Saint and the Serpent emerging silently from his shadows. Cassie followed, gripping the hilt of the Quiet Dancer so hard that her fingers turned white.

Sunny walked over to the nearest corpse, held his breath, and knelt beside it, studying its wounds. Then, with a grim expression, he moved over to the next one and did the same.

It took him some time to check on each of the slain Lost, and by the end, his eyes were full of darkness.

The blind girl remained silent for a few moments, then asked, her voice tense and trembling:

"...How did they die?"

He lingered for a second, then shook his head.

"Sword wounds."

Each of the fallen sentinels was killed with one precise, fatal strike. However, most of them were terribly mutilated and covered in multiple wounds — none of them lethal, but all aimed at inflicting the maximum amount of pain.

The killer, whoever it was, wanted his victims to suffer before they died.

Well… Sunny was pretty sure that he knew who the killer was.

Mordret. The man — or thing — that he had set free.

It seemed that the Prince of Nothing had a sadistic streak about him.

…But that wasn't the problem.

a bizarre and powerful Aspect that allowed him to deal either mind or soul damage to other

to be looking the prisoner of the Night Temple in the eyes… which was good, since both Sunny and Cassie could naturally counter

bloody melee. That meant that, on top of everything else, Mordret was a fighter of incredible skill… skilled and powerful enough to not only

how was Sunny supposed to win

sighed, then walked past the

was sealed, and no one except for Saint Cormac

doors didn't budge even when Saint joined

type of primitive weave he had seen in the door of the Ebony Tower. But

"Curse it."

kick, then turned around and

we aren't getting out of here until

happen in a

even be able to survive that

blind girl frowned, then

"Where to, then?"

thought for a

not try and accomplish the task they had

check on the

the ivory knife was

of them headed deeper into the stone bowels of

***

to cross the outward ring and enter the central temple. The distance itself was not that considerable, but the bizarre interior of the cathedral was disorienting and sprawling, resembling a vast, convoluted maze of black stone. They

Cassie had not recovered

they were slowly dying inside the cage — rotting corpses of the Lost, signs of bloodshed and destruction, as well as things that were too strange and vile to be explained

as though they were traveling through the workshop of a mad

Sunny

this whole disaster started, he actually began to question the moral implications of what his actions had

accidentally released an unspeakable

about that. On one hand, he didn't really care about the world… but on the other hand, Sunny didn't

shadow ahead, made sure that everything was