Shadow Slave

With its tattered sails lowered, the ominous vessel slowed down, eventually coming to a semblance of a halt. It drifted on the waves a few hundred meters away from the pier, carried by nothing except the current. Cronos had managed to regain some composure by then. He briefly thought about running away but decided against it.

His body was too old to run with any kind of significant speed, anyway. The watchers guarding the city must have noticed the ghostly ship and the terrifying onyx serpent, too - if the Lady had truly not known about their arrival, warriors would already be on their way.

For a few moments, everyone remained motionless - the old men and women gathered on the pier, and the dark figure standing on the bow of the graceful vessel, as well.

The current was slowly pulling the ship closer. It was only a matter of minutes before it reached the pier.

'This is... strangely exciting?'

Cronos should have been terrified, but he found himself awed and curious instead. All of them here in Fallen Grace lived with the knowledge that their lives would soon come to an end - death was like an old friend, not an odious enemy. The arrival of a mysterious ship, however, was a novelty.

How often did he get to experience something entirely unexpected?

He had never seen anything like it, and would most likely never get a chance to witness something as wondrous again. So, he waited for the moment when the hull of the ship touched the pier with bated breath.

...Eventually, the graceful vessel drew close enough for them to see every terrible scar and every burn mark covering its battered hull. It seemed like the battered ship had escaped the depths of hell and survived all kinds of untold disasters... what terrible battles had it endured? What harrowing creatures had clawed its hull, unable to break through?

...What kind of beings dwelled within it, who had been able to survive all these ordeals? Were they, perhaps, more harrowing than the creatures that had left their marks on the ancient hull?

Cronos and his fellows saw the deck of the ship, as well, stunned by the sight of a beautiful tree growing around the ship's main mast. That tree was vibrant and full of life, not at all like the grim vessel below it. It was much taller and robust than any tree growing in Fallen Grace.

'What is this craftsmanship...'

of the ghostly ship were elegant but unfamiliar. The small details of its construction were unlike anything that the River People would have built... they were also entirely different from how the Twilight People had

ancient and mysterious, like all things passed down

Cronos felt joyous

'Are... are these people...'

As the humans of Fallen Grace watched in stunned silence, four figures

humans in front... if they

suddenly found it hard

the shadows. His lightless eyes were like two pools of

like that of a statue, beautiful and distant. She

a little brighter. Cronos felt something move in his

night and day, mysterious

other two were

intricate and fearsome. The other was like an ogre forged from black steel, with hungry flames

something hiding in the shadows, too. A

strangers,

silence, the young man wearing the serpent crown took a step forward and spoke in a familiar language, his voice resounding across the

have come from the far reaches of the future in search of Fallen Grace, the last bastion of the River People. We

Cronos became sure

They

his heart beating wildly, he stepped forward and asked in a trembling

are you the

him, making Cronos shiver under that piercing gaze of his. A hint of surprise appeared in the lightless eyes,