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...'

created it. The lines of the ghostly ship were elegant but unfamiliar. The small details of

and mysterious, like

felt

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

it, its bow softly touching the mooring berth. As the humans of Fallen Grace watched in stunned silence,

two humans in front... if they were really humans, and not

suddenly found it hard

was the slender young man wearing a dark mantle, his porcelain face drowning in the shadows. His lightless eyes were like two pools of

hair and calm grey eyes, wearing a white tunic. Her face was like that of a statue, beautiful and distant. She wore a crown, too,

as though the light of the seven suns had grown a little brighter. Cronos felt something move in his heart, and for a

like night and

two were

that 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 shadows, too. A dreadful presence that felt both elusive

strangers, feeling dread,

serpent crown took a step forward and spoke in a familiar language, his

in search of Fallen Grace, the last bastion of the River People.

became sure of his

They must

he stepped forward and asked in a

you... are you the Children of

him, making Cronos shiver under that piercing gaze of his. A hint of surprise appeared in the lightless eyes, but then disappeared, replaced by something that resembled...