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.

had learned before, he assumed that Mordret possessed a bizarre and powerful Aspect that allowed him to deal either mind or soul

for this Ability seemed to be looking the prisoner of the Night Temple in the eyes… which was good, since both Sunny and Cassie could naturally counter it —

melee. That meant that, on top of everything else, Mordret was a fighter of incredible skill… skilled and powerful enough to not only kill a dozen experiences Awakened with a sword,

was Sunny supposed to win against

then walked past the corpses

and no one except for

avail. The heavy doors didn't budge even when Saint joined him. None of the keys their jailers had carried were of any use,

hoping to see the same type of primitive weave he had seen

"Curse it."

gates a good kick, then turned around

guess we aren't getting out of here

a

they even be able to survive that

girl frowned, then asked

"Where to, then?"

thought for a few

this damned place… why not try and accomplish the task

go check

ivory knife was still

the scene of the cruel massacre behind, the two of them headed

***

the bizarre interior of the cathedral was disorienting and sprawling, resembling

and Cassie had not recovered from their ordeal completely, so they

Temple while 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 by any kind

they were traveling

each minute that passed, Sunny grew more and more

the moral implications of what his actions

an unspeakable evil upon

one hand, he didn't really care about the world… but on the other hand, Sunny didn't like to leave behind a mess without cleaning it

bit conflicted, he sent the shadow ahead, made sure that everything was fine, and finally led Cassie