Shadow Slave

She studied the waters and put her hand on the hilt of her sword.

The enchanted scabbard was the same, but the blade it sheathed was different. The longsword bestowed upon her by the great clan Valor had been destroyed in Twilight, and replaced by the silver blade, which was currently molded to a similar shape.

That weapon was a reward Nephis received for slaying Soul Stealer — a Defiled Saint who had once been a prince of the same clan. Whether there was some symbolism to one replacing the other, Sunny did not know.

Nephis turned slightly, looking at Cassie, and asked:

"How long before we reach Verge?"

The blind girl was the best at steering the Chain Breaker, the most familiar with the slate map created by the sybils, and the one who had spent the most time among the River People. So, she was their navigator.

Cassie lingered for a moment..

"No more than two days, if we sail at moderate speed. More if we want to be truly careful… less if we want to abandon caution."

Noting the answer, Nephis glanced at Mordret:

"Is there danger close to us?"

The Prince of Nothing had been a bit cagey about the particulars of how his Aspect worked, but by now, they knew many things about it.

For example, the distance at which Sunny could control his shadows as an Ascended Terror was somewhere around twenty-four kilometers. His perception was limited to what the shadows perceived, though. Mordret's Dormant Ability, on the contrary, allowed him to perceive the world through any reflection within a similar range — adjusted for the fact that he was merely a Beast at the moment.

allowed him to travel

that the entire Great River was one giant reflective surface, the

what made him so terrifying — the Ability to enter a being's soul through their eyes and possess their body, wearing it as a costume. That Ability,

a few moments, then shook

is a bit strange, though. It's… eerie. We'll see it soon, an area where the water is a little bit darker than usual. I would suggest avoiding that area completely, as well

looked ahead,

moderate pace, then, for one day. Then, we will anchor the Chain Breaker

added in

to be brimming with the Defiled… if we meet one, we can't let it escape alive and alert the others. We can't allow anything to see us before we see it, either. You all know what to

troubled. Since Nephis was addressing a group, and not him personally, her words were not equal

But she was right.

already. The cohort was prepared as well as it

Torment…

Sunny frowned.

here to welcome them to Verge, then? All of them had expected to be ambushed by the Defiled abominations

And yet, nothing happened.

the Last Plague

They were going to sail

impenetrable darkness devoured the sky — now that Sunny knew about the great swarm of monstrous

were monsters hiding

with several Defiled abominations. Each of them was more powerful than the Nightmare Creatures they had usually fought upstream, and far more cunning. ?ìg??օ???w????~?օ?. Thankfully, the might of the seven Masters was more than enough to deal with these solitary

off by Kai, who was the fastest of them all. His arrows could strike true from a startling distance, as well — armed with incredible

hazards. The Chain Breaker