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 such design, nor had he known of any ship builder who could have created it. The lines of the ghostly ship were elegant but unfamiliar. The small details of its construction

and mysterious, like all

Cronos felt joyous

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

just beside it, its bow softly touching the mooring berth. As the humans of Fallen Grace

were two humans in front... if

suddenly found it

were like two pools of unfathomable darkness, cold and piercing. There was a crown of black metal resting

like that of a statue, beautiful and distant. She wore a crown, too, this one bright and adorned with a single radiant

felt something move in his heart, and for a moment, his soul was grasped by a deep and unexplainable

two were like night and day, mysterious and

other two

seemed to have been carved from onyx, her graceful armor both intricate and fearsome. The other was like an ogre forged from black steel, with hungry flames burning in the depths of

was something hiding in the shadows, too. A

the strangers, feeling dread, awe,

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

the far reaches of the future in search of Fallen Grace, the last bastion of the River People. We mean no harm... unless you

moment, Cronos became

They

beating wildly, he stepped forward

you

A hint