Shadow Slave

There was a squad of soldiers on the pier, as well, all wearing white armor tied at the waist with red sashes. Unlike the last time Sunny had seen them, the warriors filled their armor well, brimming with vigor and vitality.

Their captain was a tall, beautiful woman with fiery red hair. Sunny only recognized her because of an open helmet with a scarlet plume she was holding on the bend of her right arm... she was the captain that had escorted him and Nephis to the temple the last time around.

She had seemed ancient then. Now, she looked not much older than they were. Everyone here did, really, or even younger. The startling change was still making him feel a little dizzy.

Sunny had known, of course, that killing the Defiled sybil would allow Fallen Grace to migrate downstream and return these people their youth. Knowing and seeing were two different things, however.

Seeing them like this was a bit... bittersweet. Sweet because it was nice to witness his actions doing some good, bitter because it reminded him of Ananke.

As Sunny was pondering the strange reality of living on the Great River, the soldiers created a passage through the crowd and surrounded the members of the cohort, helping them leave the pier.

They were escorted along the familiar streets once again, moving toward the temple of Dusk. There had been a lot of people on the pier, but there were even more here, crowding the sidewalks and the roofs of the buildings, all staring at the returned Outsiders with excitement and awe.

The crowd followed the small procession, constantly growing. Some people were calling out to Cassie, some simply cheered from a distance. After the relative tranquility of months spent at sea, Sunny was having trouble adjusting to the boisterous atmosphere of Falling Grace.

«Lord Sunless! Lord Sunless!»

He turned his head, hearing his own name.

The voice was unfamiliar, and the face of the scrawny teenager calling out to him was unfamiliar, too. But Sunny recognized those curious, intelligent eyes almost immediately.

He frowned slightly, but was actually amused.

that

who had been kept away by

Lord Sunless, welcome

approach. A few moments later, Cronos joined the procession and looked at the other members of the cohort

Sunless... are these

Sunny nodded.

That one is a freeloader who likes to invite herself into other people's houses. That one is in the habit of giving young men like us weighty slaps, so be on guard around her. Oh, and that one is a monster wearing human skin... don't trust anything he says, and never look him in the eyes. 𝓵𝒾gh𝑡𝔫𝓸𝑣𝔢𝐥wօr𝓁𝒹~𝒸ℴm They are

descriptions, the members of the cohort gave him

introductions

at her belly with a curious gaze. Noticing it, she

give another talk... no, wait. You can be a

The teenager chuckled awkwardly.

Sorry, I didn't

«Eighteen...»

less than he feared, at least. It had

teenager, meanwhile, blushed in

and I, we were thinking of going to the House of Youth ourselves... since it

Sunny

wait... since when do you

Cronos laughed again.

we knew each other for a while. But since we were both old and decrepit, there was no point in anything except

the back