Shadow Slave

After the island broke apart, it did not take a lot of time for the debris to disappear into the depths of the Great River. Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie stood on the deck of the Chain Breaker, observing the death throes of this lost part of Fallen Grace in somber silence.

The flowing water seethed and boiled, turning into white foam. The ashen remains of the dark garden were pulled down by the current and swallowed by the depths. In something that felt like too short of a time, though, the surface of the river became calm and clear once again, with not a sign of the massive island-vessel left in sight.

Sunny sighed softly.

The destruction of the artificial island had been too depressing of a scene. It was like a metaphor of the futility of human existence... countless River People had worked hard to create and maintain it, and even more spent their lives walking upon its ground. But now, it was gone, swallowed by the elements in mere minutes. With every trace of it erased from existence.

Weave was going to be erased the same way before too long. The cities of the sybils had already disappeared... only Fallen Grace remained, its fate all but decided. The Tomb of Ariel had been home to a thriving civilization once...

But now, it was nothing but a Nightmare.

Sunny shook his head, suddenly grim. Would the cities of the waking world be gone one day, too? He had not even known that there was a world outside the endless sprawl of NQSC once. It was hard to imagine that a place so populous and boundless could cease to exist.

...But then again, the waking world was already a world of ruins. Plenty of thriving cities had been erased from its maps - most of them, even. Entire continents stood desolate, devoid of life, and uninhabited. He even witnessed the extinction of one of these empty continents himself.

'My mood is all over the place today.'

What was there to feel sad about? That island had been nothing by the lair of a dangerous abomination. They had come to its shore, killed the abomination, and absconded with precious loot. Cassie even received a pretty stick as a bonus.

If anything, he should be feeling utterly delighted.

However, Sunny felt mostly tired and sore all over. The battle against the Drowned was a short one, but nevertheless very intense. He was battered and bruised, albeit not injured too badly.

"Gone! Gone!"

hopping excitedly on the railing and staring at the empty space where the island had been with a curious expression.

it was

the island was destroyed, though, that Echo had a

black bird and gently took it into her hands. Saying something, the blind girl opened her palms and let

they heard before Jet's Echo disappeared

"Stuck! Stuck!"

of Fallen Grace about the death of the Defiled sybil, and then find its way back to the ship. The three Masters did not know how long it would take them to rescue Effie and Jet, so they wanted to make sure that the last city would migrate downstream in

they returned, the frail Riverborn would be doing much

'That's done, then.'

at the sails of the Chain Breaker. He hesitated for a

"Should we set sail?"

of silence, Nephis shook

drift with the current until

was happy to

mess deck at the stern of the ship. All its compartments had been cleared of debris and repaired by the inhabitants of Fallen Grace, but the three Masters did not visit most of them often, since there

its lid open, its teeth gleaming in

their mysteries. He just wanted to fill

pulled his plate closer. Swallowing the first mouthful of a fragrant meat porridge, Sunny closed his eyes in

preoccupied with eating, as well. Cassie, though, seemed to have forgotten about it - she was playing with her new shiny toy instead. The soul shard at the tip of the holy staff was emanating light, its intensity changing from time to

at her for

"What are you doing?"

took a sip of