Nephis looked in the window and remained silent for a while. Her face was distant and still. After a while, she lightly shook her head.
"No… not yet."
Cassie seemed to be surprised by that answer.
"No? But… why?"
Changing Star sighed.
"The… Fire Keepers. That is what people call the Awakened who follow you, right? They all look up to me, do they not?"
The blind girl silently nodded.
"Of course! We… they have been waiting for your return ever since escaping the Forgotten Shore. Even though the Dreamer Army was an alliance of convenience, the bonds that were forged between its members are real. Their bond to you is real, too."
Sunny sipped his coffee with a strange expression. Neph, meanwhile, lingered for a moment, and then said:
"But they want more than just to welcome me back. They expect me to lead them, like I did on the Forgotten Shore. Am I correct?"
Cassie nodded once again.
Neph looked away.
"How can I lead them when I don't know where I am going? I… I need more time to figure things out before I face them."
The blind girl remained silent for a while, then sighed.
"I… I understand. I think."
did
perfect sense. She was not sure of what she was going to do, so she could not offer the remnants of the Dreamer Army guidance. She could not become their general again until she decided on the direction her soldiers had
to allow her hesitation to slow her down. More than that, she had spent two whole years alone in the Dream Realm… if he knew anything about her, he knew that she must have dedicated a considerable amount of that time to obsessively making plans of how to destroy her enemies
she came back. That had to change her approach a little, but should not have affected the core of it. So why was
was she struggling
he wanted to know… yet. In any
was something else that bothered him,
Nephis and Cassie and
home! We only agreed that Nephis would stay here for a week. Shouldn't you at
not going to let Changing
him with an unreadable expression. After a few moments
I stay for a couple
then glanced away
Glad to have you, and
***
Nephis up to speed about the state of the Fire Keepers and the renovations they were making to the
were
hesitated for a few moments,
I mean… I never really had one, more or less,
glanced at him, then
a lot while I was growing up. Sometimes because our financial situation changed, sometimes due to security issues. That manor is just the last in a long series
a few moments, then
were the people who surrounded me that created the feeling of home. But they are all gone now,
remembering the conversation he once
And who those people were. You
Changing Star nodded.
Legacy clans. You could have called it a great clan, even, although that distinction was not established yet back then. Apart from the immediate family, the clan also encompassed hundreds of other people.
grew silent,
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
The Novel will be updated daily. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!