Shadow Slave

1542: Last Journey.

And there it was.

They had left on the last journey of this tumultuous, dreadful Nightmare.

For Sunny and Nephis, it was especially poignant, because they had come from the far reaches of the future — and were now on their way to the furthest reaches of the past, where Verge stood.

It must have been especially emotional for Cassie, as well, because she was leaving the city she had spent a whole year ruling and trying to preserve. Now, its fate depended on whether they would be successful in their battle against the First Seeker.

In any case, she would never see Fallen Grace again.

None of them knew if it would even exist, in any kind of way, should they prevail. However, it was inevitable for Fallen Grace to be destroyed should they fail.

The blind girl did not look back. Instead, she stood at the bow of the flying ship, facing the setting suns. The others gave her some space, knowing that there had to be a storm of complicated emotions weighing on her heart.

Only Sunny could see her face, visible to the shadow that was hiding close by.

Cassie's face was not wistful or sad. Instead, it was full of resolve and determination… impatience, even. It was as though she had been waiting for this moment for a long, long time.

Which was true, of course. Apart from Mordret, she had spent by far the longest in this Nightmare. Sunny knew that he was sick and tired of the Tomb of Ariel. The blind girl had to be feeling the same, but much more intensely.

«We've been here for so long.»

for and then lost Ananke, traveled to Fallen Grace and got to know the culture of the River People there, fought against

was hard to believe, but he had spent more time in the Tomb

she had been here longer

was without even counting the unknown number of cycles the seven

above the waves,

blazing river, then rubbed his face and retreated to his cabin. There, he

en route to Verge, he felt a sense of urgency and wanted to finish with

day passed in

day, they reached the duskward edge of the Great

was the same. The powerful current that threatened to

here was entirely different from the soft lilac glow of dawn. Instead of the tender radiance, the water here was burning with an intense crimson glow, almost like it was on fire.

as if a sea of blood was spilling into a

gathered on the deck. The distant whispers of the falling water had grown into a deafening roar, making

So, they remained silent.

and flew into the

of the wind. They had returned

was because, unlike the first time, the Chain Breaker would be crossing the space within the loop of the Great River, as

there, but at least there was no threat of the terrifying swarm of the Dark Butterflies becoming aware of their presence — since they would not be coming

take. The last time, they had arrived back to the surface of the Great River rather quickly — but that was because space

simply sailing all the way to the dawn of time. They were going to

If nothing unforeseen happened.

darkness for some time, feeling both wary of the challenge ahead and ready