Shadow Slave

The ominous words hung in the air, as foreboding as the wall of darkness veiling the sky far in the distance. Sunny and Nephis looked at Ananke, wary because of her somber expression.

This was the first time either of them had seen the young priestess show signs of despondence. The three of them must have made for a funny sight... two battle-hardened warriors staring at a teenage girl, waiting for her guidance.

Sunny frowned.

"A time storm?"

Ananke nodded slowly.

"...Yes, my Lord. I have told you before that time can be unpredictable on the Great River. There are places where it turns stale and unmoving, great whirlpools that nothing can ever escape, clashing currents, and deadly tides of all kinds. A time storm... is one of the most dangerous anomalies one can encounter."

Her youthful face darkened.

"It is a wandering disaster that twists and rips time apart, containing within itself absolute chaos. These storms originate from the span of the Great River that corresponds to the final days of the Doom War, when the last cataclysmic battles between the daemons and the gods were fought, and when both sides perished. They... usually don't reach that far upstream. I am sorry."

Nephis shook her head.

"You don't need to be sorry, Ananke. It is not your fault. However... how do we escape it?"

The young priestess lingered for a few moments, then said quietly:

"I am not sure that we can."

She uttered several words, easily overpowering Neph's Shaping. The wind that had been filling the sails of the ketch disappeared, and a moment later, a powerful gale crushed into the wooden boat, making it creak.

This one was not summoned by anyone. Much worse... it was blowing from downstream, pushing their hair back.

wall devouring the horizon was traveling in their direction. At least a normal

by Ananke's expression, a time storm behaved

a

"Can we outrun it?"

side of the ketch and looked down, at the clear water flowing past the polished wood. A few moments later, she gritted

so, my Lord. We are

Great River seemed to have grown much stronger. It was hard to tell when the ketch was flying forward at full speed, but now that it slowed

their direction, while the current was pulling them into the storm. It was like a

'Damn it...'

we

approaching wall of the storm with a dark expression. A few moments later, she took a deep breath and forced out

will just have to brave it then,

a time storm was a roving mass of chaotic time, wild and distorted enough to be absolutely deadly? The Third

the hell were they supposed to

priestess shook

Transcendent, after all. We, the followers of Weaver, had to pass through the tumultuous region from where these storms originate on our way upstream,

the look in her eyes was

being torn apart.

wall of darkness - that had already drawn closer in the few minutes they were talking - and

from the ketch. This storm front we see is only the aftereffect of the true disaster. The real horror lies beneath the waves, in the depths of water - no one can survive being pulled down by the raging currents of broken

turning into the river serpent had just been crushed. Now, his only choice was to trust Ananke to see them through the

that he didn't trust

the dark sea of the Forgotten Shore on the shoulder of the walking colossus. There

His expression crumbled.

in