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.

you mean? It's me! A monument to 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 of

glanced at the terrifying marble monster, scratched the back of his head,

just yet. This one is really not too bad, but it is just

stared at the hideous statue for a bit, quite sure that it looked more

have retrieved

for a

let's have something to eat… and drink, of course… and discuss the future. Now that the knives are in our possession, the future will surely

***

breakfast in the shade of the ancient tree that grew

must be curious about

four of them glanced at each other,

know that I am collecting the knives. The death of the One in the North would have distracted them for a

a sip of

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 my lands, capture me, and make me bitterly

his head,

and asked,

are we going to repel an attack of

sorcerer grew silent, then shook his

well. Simple, really. We

sip of wine and looked up, at

will attack them first. We

their stunned gazes, Noctis laughed

even younglings like you should have learned by now that having more power doesn't always mean achieving victory. The three Lords that oppose us are

his