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.»

with Nephis, come to care for and then lost Ananke, traveled to Fallen Grace and got to know the culture of the River People there, fought against all kinds of underwater horrors on the way to Aletheia's Island, withstood the insidious hell of the time loop, dove into the depths of the Great River and emerged from the other side, battled

he had spent more time in the Tomb of Ariel than

here longer

seven of them had lived through before arriving at this one… hopefully,

the waves, flying

his face and retreated to his cabin. There, he concentrated

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

in meticulous work, then

they reached the duskward edge of the

the dawnward edge, but also different. The enormous, inconceivable waterfall was the same. The powerful current that threatened to destroy anything plunged into

crimson glow, almost like it was on fire. ?ìg??օ???w????~?օ?. The inconceivable waterfall that stretched in both directions as far as the

sea of blood was spilling into a

distant whispers of the falling water

So, they remained silent.

Chain Breaker crested the breaking point of the waterfall and flew

roar of the Edge grew quieter, and then disappeared in the howling of the wind. They had returned to the

they had visited the boundless darkness. That was because, unlike the first time, the Chain Breaker would be crossing the space within the loop of the Great River, as opposed to the empty space

terrifying swarm of the Dark Butterflies becoming aware of their presence — since they would not be coming anywhere near the walls of the

empty space in the middle of the looping river would take. The last time, they had arrived back to

the dawn of time. They were

If nothing unforeseen happened.

wary of the challenge ahead and ready to face