Shadow Slave

"Hold on for a bit more!"

The archer strained a little, bearing their weight as he darted through the abyss, his flight swift and effortless. Illuminated by the paper lantern, the three of them traveled through the darkness like a small comet, moving faster and faster.

The wind whistled in Sunny's ears.

He remained silent for a bit, dumbfounded, then asked:

"Wait… was it you who brought Saint Tyris here?"

Kai smiled, looking somewhere far away.

"Of course! When you and Cassie didn't return to the real world, we knew that the negotiation with the representatives of clan Valor must have failed. But when you didn't arrive at Shipwreck Island by November, as the plan had been, it was clear that something went wrong. So, Effie and I waited for a bit, then went to the White Feather clan for help."

He paused for a moment, and then added:

"Eventually, we decided to come to the Night Temple ourselves. That was a week ago. We have just arrived yesterday."

'But the Citadel was sealed…'

Sunny frowned, suddenly catching an inconsistency in Kai's words.

"Wait… a week ago? How did you cross the Chained Isles so fast?"

The archer smiled brightly.

"...Look ahead!"

'What does he…'

Sunny glanced forward, and froze.

They were swiftly approaching another source of light, this one much, much larger. Or rather, it was moving in their direction, even faster than Kai was flying.

as though on water. Its sails were pristine white, and around the main mast, a young tree was

succeeded in repairing the ancient vessel after all, it

polished wood, and here and there, the structure of the ship seemed rickety and slapdash — especially near the bow, which had been previously almost destroyed. However, overall, the vessel was a magnificent sight

the tip of

of it. It was hard to believe that this had been the

looked almost the same as on the golden

slowed down, and landed

Sunny swayed a little and

and fell down, instantly losing

day… no, a terrible month he had,

***

his senses. He was laying near the main mast of the ship, under the branches of the young tree, a soft pillow under his head and a warm blanket covering his body. He still felt terrible, but mostly due to

seemed that while Sunny was out of it, the healer of the Fire Keepers, Shim, had treated

actually alive. What

ancient vessel was swiftly flying

had already closed, be it just barely. Now that he was conscious, he would be able to stitch it up, or at least cover the gash with a bandage… as well as properly take

his state, Sunny looked around, noticing Cassie sleeping nearby.

their harrowing adventure seemed to be over. Of course, in the future, he was going to have

were free of the damned Night

'What a fiasco…'

his frustration for long, however, because a delicious smell suddenly reached his nostrils, and a few moments later, Effie appeared nearby, carrying two plates of somewhat that

and his

grinned and handed him

go,

then attacked the food like a ravenous beast. Effie sat down on the

spent in silence, disturbed only by the sound of energetic chewing. At some point, Kai landed nearby and joined them,

was done with his meal

that marriage proposal of yours… I might have

She scoffed.

"Pfft! You wish."

chuckled, then glanced into the darkness that