Shadow Slave

The Outsiders and the Riverborn... the revelation of the difference between them was enough to boggle Sunny's mind. He had already been prepared to encounter all kinds of bizarre situations inside the Tomb of Ariel, but what Ananke told them sent him for a loop.

It was because Sunny had only considered the odd perils of the Great River in relation to himself, not in relation to a whole civilization. The way the River People lived was fundamentally different from anything he had ever known... because the most fundamental truth of the world - time - worked differently for them.

The first settlers of the Tomb of Ariel had all been Outsiders, so how great must their shock have been when their children were born so different from them? How much pain did that division bring, how much sorrow? How much effort did it take for them to create an entirely new kind of society?

With time, the number of Riverborn grew, while the number of Outsiders dwindled. However, the civilization that Ananke had described could not function without the Outsiders, who could travel the Great River and served as the connective tissue between various cities established on it.

What was it like for them, to see their children remain forever young? What was it like for the Riverborn, to watch their parents age when they never did? To see them leave when they couldn't?

...How did Riverborn children even become adults?

Suddenly, the story of the followers of Weaver being chased far upstream gained a much darker undertone.

Sunny shivered.

The civilization of the Great River turned out to be much stranger than he had thought. It was so strange, in fact, that he struggled to imagine it.

And that was not even mentioning the fact that Old Ananke had turned out to not be old at all... while also being ten times his age.

'Ah, I can't think anymore...'

It was too much to digest... especially this early in the morning.

Sunny summoned the Endless Spring and washed his face, then opened Ananke's wooden box. There was not much food left inside, which made him sigh.

Taking out a teapot and a plate brimming with juicy braised meat, rolled in seaweed leaves, he sat down and stared at the seven suns for a few moments.

'...Dusk of Fallen Grace is one of the original sybils. If Ananke, who was born long after they had entered the Tomb of Ariel, is two hundred years old, then what about Dusk?'

fought against

how long had the enemy been growing stronger, while their potential

the tea into two

need to grow stronger, too, and

few more days passed. Nephis had spent them diligently learning how to control the ketch with the Names, while Sunny mostly sat at the bow,

distracted and either think about the Tomb of Ariel or study the Estuary Key. Almost all his time, however, was

an epiphany, Sunny even abandoned sleep. The seven suns rose and

then, finally, in the twilight of

suddenly straightened and opened

'This is it...'

to manifest himself into a tangible form... the memories of the Red Colosseum, where he slowly learned to fight in the unfamiliar body of the shadowspawn...

of it came

his body to be supremely adaptable and flexible. Breaking the rigid constraints of his mind to make it formless and shapeless, akin to a shadow. Those were all necessary steps, without which this evolution would not

all for this

all... to

'I see now.'

gazed into the twilight, the encroaching darkness around

familiar

the right to claim a Legacy

out a

long, he

summoning the runes immediately, he closed his eyes

the enemy to absorb their battle style and anticipate their moves. It was not even about peering into their essence

becoming the enemy, both in thought

had done with Daeron of

through practicing Shadow Dance had all grown stronger. His ability to shadow his enemies had been elevated

for his own - that of the

wouldn't be able to do it instantaneously, either - but the amount of time was drastically reduced. Sunny felt that he would have been able to become a river serpent in a week if he