Shadow Slave

The journey back was, sadly, uneventful. Sunny had hoped that they would stumble upon a few Nightmare Creatures, but this close to the Sanctuary, there weren't many — except for those too powerful for the cohort to attack without a serious reason and thorough preparations.

Come to think, these powerful abominations were probably the reason why the weaker ones kept away. Perhaps that was why Noctis had not eradicated them.

Well… that, or he was simply too lazy.

They returned to the sorcerer's stronghold at dawn, and went to find him without wasting any time. However, Noctis was not at his residence, and the wooden door remained shut. Eventually, they located him at the far side of the island, where the immortal was… making a statue.

There were several giant slabs of marble laying on the ground, and a dozen or so chisels hacking at them without anyone's help. The sorcerer stood some distance away, his luscious black hair powdered by marble dust, and watched it all with a satisfied expression on his face while sipping from a glass of wine.

The first of the statues seemed to be close to completion, and resembled… something. It might have been a human, or a horse. Sunny found it hard to tell.

Noticing them, Noctis grinned.

"Oh, you're back!"

Then, he looked at the hideous stone abomination and raised his chin proudly.

"What do you think? Majestic, right?"

Sunny hesitated for a few moments, and then said cautiously:

"Uh… that is one word to describe it, without a doubt. But… what is it?"

The sorcerer frowned with confusion.

me, that is. I have decided to grace the generations to come with a vision of my matchless beauty. They deserve the privilege of witnessing it, as well! Who am I to devoid people

marble monster, scratched

grasp a couple of nuances of the sculpting art, just yet. This one is really not too bad, but it is just the first attempt. Luckily, I have plenty of these slabs to practice. Hmm… seven should be enough to reach perfection. Well... maybe fourteen…

that it looked more like a monstrous gargoyle than Noctis. Then, he

retrieved the Ruby Knife. So…

sorcerer remained silent for a while, then

time to take a break. Come, let's have something to eat… and drink, of course… and discuss

***

the ancient tree that grew in the heart of the Sanctuary.

must be curious

each other, then

death of the One in the North would have distracted them for a bit, but at the same time, it would have made my actions look much more suspicious. So, they will hold

took a sip of wine and

and Sevras into one room is not an easy task. It will take them some time to come together. After that, predictably, they will send a herald to give me some sort of an ultimatum. And only then, after their polite request is denied, will they act, joining forces to invade

his

other hand, shivered and asked, his voice full

are we going to repel an attack of three

silent, then shook

well. Simple,

looked up, at the

we will attack them first. We will lay siege to the

their stunned gazes, Noctis

children… you are so fun to talk to! These expressions are priceless. However, even younglings like you should have learned by now that having

then looked at them, his eyes