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 damage to other living beings. That made him

the eyes… which was good, since both Sunny and Cassie could naturally counter it — Sunny by fighting

had clearly died in a ferocious and bloody 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

was Sunny supposed to win against someone like

sighed, then walked past the

and no one except for Saint Cormac would be

to no avail. The heavy doors didn't budge even when Saint joined him. None

primitive weave he had seen in the door of the Ebony

"Curse it."

turned around and walked back to Cassie

aren't getting out of here

would happen in a week, at the

be able to survive that

blind girl frowned, then

"Where to, then?"

thought for a few

this damned place… why not try and accomplish the

go check on the

knife was

the two of them headed deeper into the stone bowels of

***

but the bizarre interior of the cathedral was disorienting and sprawling, resembling a vast,

slowly stretching their already tense nerves. Both Sunny and Cassie had not recovered

inside the cage — rotting corpses of the Lost, signs of bloodshed and destruction, as well as things

was as though they were traveling through the workshop of a

that passed, Sunny grew

started, he actually began to question the moral implications of what his actions had led to. Even if he had been

an unspeakable

on

ahead, made sure that everything was fine, and finally led Cassie into