Shadow Slave

As Nephis steered the ketch toward the wall of darkness, Sunny had some time to prepare himself mentally for the arduous struggle that lay ahead of them. He also had time to observe Ananke closer.

What he saw... did not bode well.

Despite being an adult - and someone hundreds of years old, at that - the priestess had regained the body of a young child. Looking at her youthful appearance, it was hard to remember how ancient, decrepit, and frail she had been once, when they met her in the far future.

But the change was not exactly a benevolent one. Despite being full of vitality, Ananke had obviously grown much weaker. Her immature body was not as strong and physically capable as it had been before... but, worse than that, the differences went deeper than that.

As Sunny observed the child priestess, he slowly realized that her mind had been affected by her turning into a child, as well. It was as though her head could not contain the mature consciousness of an experienced adult anymore. Nor could her heart handle the powerful emotions of one with the same composure.

Ananke had not really turned dull or less intelligent, but... there was a certain infantile straightforwardness to how she spoke and behaved now. Her eyes, which had always been wise, seemed slightly naive, as well.

Her mind slowly regressing.

Sunny felt cold claws grip his heart.

'Curse it...'

He gritted his teeth and looked down, but then forced himself to straighten.

'Fine. It's fine. She has taken care of us enough... we'll take care of her, now.'

Of course, they still needed the child priestess to protect the ketch from the ravages of broken time. Sunny hoped that she would be able to maintain the bubble of stability around the ketch - both for their sake, and her own.

Once they were out of the storm, they would find a way to help her return to Weave, even if it meant turning around and sailing back upstream.

His heavy thoughts were interrupted by a sudden breeze that threw tiny droplets of water into his face. Sunny looked up, sensing the shadows around them shift.

'We're here...'

wall of darkness was already

"Hurry!"

she had summoned and hurried to the middle of the ketch. Together, they swiftly lowered the sails and dismantled the masts, repeating the actions they had performed before entering the storm for

weak, there

the seven suns slowly dimmed, and the winds grew more violent. Sunny grimaced, sensing the bizarre transition from the

'Come on, Ananke...'

before. Submitting to her will, the

feeling of fundamental wrongness in the world was still there,

have not

and faster, the still surface of the water becoming restless. Finally, waves appeared, small and weak at first, then chaotic

Nephis steered it with an iron hand. Sparks

'Here we go...'

silence was torn apart, replaced by the furious howling of the wind. The deck of the ketch jerked, mounting a tall wave. A thunderous thunderclap shook the

is it. The last

pulled her closer to him, so that she wouldn't be

a few moments, and then

into the depths of the ocean

her large

"Yes, my Lord!"

and prepared to scoop up

of the Fallen Grace by luck. And now I need to survive this

indeed a bit

not

on the raging current, dwarfed by towering waves. The swirling