Shadow Slave

Sunny waited for a moment, then slowly straightened and looked around.

The Chain Breaker was laying on white sand, tilted awkwardly. It had shattered the side of a black cliff and was now leaning on it, which prevented the ship from turning over. They had gotten lucky despite the blind landing.

The fog was still there, obscuring the world, but it had become less thick. Sunny could make out the figure of Saint standing still on the bow of the beached vessel, as well as more cliffs rising high above them. It seemed that Nephis had guided the Chain Breaker to a small strip of sand at the very edge of the island.

Changing Star herself was leaning heavily on the steering oars. Her face was paler than usual, and the white flames were gone from her eyes - she had completely exhausted her essence to carry the ship across the dark abyss.

Sunny grimaced. It was very unfortunate to have one of them utterly drained of essence right now. No one knew what dangers were waiting for them on the misty shore... these first minutes could very well prove to be of vital importance.

Not that there had been a choice.

"I'm fine."

Noticing his gaze, Nephis forced out a faint smile and put a hand on the hilt of her sword.

"I can still put up a fight."

Sunny nodded, having no doubt in her ability to do just that, despite this weakened state. She was a seasoned slayer. Nevertheless, they had to be careful not to allow themselves to be wounded - it would be quite a while before Nephis could heal them again.

Cassie used the Guiding Light to pick herself off the deck and shivered slightly as the mist caressed her skin. Her expression was troubled. Noticing it, Sunny tensed as well.

"What is it?"

The blind girl had an intuition that was far superior to even his. It had saved their lives numerous times, so seeing her this nervous was not a good sight.

She lingered for a while, then shook her head with a frown.

just have a very ominous feeling. This place, Wind Flower... every

around them. All his instincts were telling him one thing - that there

Sunny scowled.

always

his Shadows.

fog, her expression impassive. After a few

"Do it."

after landing, was to make use of the Guiding Light. None of them really understood how the divine relic worked, but they had established that it could point them in the direction of not only Wind Flower, but also Effie... or, at least, its tip

same way to Jet. That fact... had been a source of many

Crow landed on his shoulder, Cassie gripped the wooden staff

"Huh... that's strange."

Light, which was still pointing

It seems to be working

girl

not asked it to find Effie yet. The light should still

enchanted crystal changed subtly. It was still pointing deeper inland, but at

truly pointed to Effie, her lifeless body, or something else entirely. And yet, seeing it shine was a

better be alive. Or else... or else I'll be

scowled, then took a step

"Let's go, then."

and landed on the sand. A moment later, Nephis was by his side. Saint and Fiend landed with a bit more

remained motionless for a few moments,

cliffs faintly visible in the fog. A piece of rock fell from the

was his shadow sense. It was not entirely gone, but the range was limited to about as far as he could see. Beyond that, the shadows

being that vulnerable