Shadow Slave

'Damned sword...'

Making his way into the ruined interior of the temple, Sunny was seething with dark emotions.

What did the Sin of Solace even want? One moment, he was fanning the flames of guilt Sunny might have felt about how he treated Cassie in the past. The next moment, the wraith was reminding him of what had happened, and of how cruelly she had betrayed his trust...

Well, it was perfectly clear what the apparition wanted. The bastard wanted to drive him mad.

And he was... Sunny was mad.

No matter how much he understood why Cassie had done what she did, and no matter how many times he told himself that her actions had ended up saving Rain from being killed by Nightmare Creatures, and him from dying in the Nightmare Desert or becoming Mordret's slave... no matter how many things they had gone through together after the Forgotten Shore and how much their relationship had improved and deepened...

At the bottom of it all, Sunny was still hurt, resentful, and angry at Cassie. While at the same time caring deeply about her.

It was a proper mess...

'What else is new?'

It had been for a while.

"This place... is not creepy at all."

Jumping down from a pile of rubble, Sunny landed in shallow water.

The interior of the lost temple was drowned both by stale water and darkness. Since the island-ship was tilted and partially submerged beneath the waves, the long corridors with high ceilings were tilted as well. The three of them had to walk awkwardly, stepping on the walls with one foot and the cracked floor with the other.

them to jump or climb over

that none of them was oppressed by the darkness. Sunny could see in it perfectly fine, Cassie did not need sight at all, while Nephis was

say that this place is really

looked at him and smiled with satisfaction, proud to have

at her

she look so smug? It's really not that hard

was such a weirdo

away and continued to make his way deeper into the temple. Cassie was walking at the front, protected by her Echoes. Nephis and

of the temple seemed different from the one the blind girl had lived in, but she seemed to know the

labyrinth of half-collapsed corridors. Sunny felt that they had descended far enough to be underwater by now...

surroundings, however, were rather

because of the darkness, the stale water sloshing at their knees, and the eerie feeling of something influencing the future. It was because this place had served as

on the cracked walls, as if someone had clawed at them in fury. Other times, there was dried blood smeared

course, Sunny was not afraid of ghosts. He had slain enough ghosts to treat them

he was afraid

Were the sybils.

though Sunny did not want to admit it to himself, he still shuddered when remembering the cold despair of LO49, and the horror of facing its butcher in

with Naeve and Bloodwave back then. Today, he was with Nephis and

of them were weaker than the champions of the House of Night on paper, Sunny somehow felt more reassured in the company of

them had survived far worse odds

to

was sure that he'll feel better after putting down another one of these Defiled

"We are getting closer."

Cassie's words were sobering.