Shadow Slave

Everyone was more than a little stunned by the sight of the massive landmass in front of them. They had seen Verge from far away, while traversing the empty void — however, the ice and the pale soil covering it were indistinguishable from the flowing water at that distance. Nothing in the records left behind by the sybils indicated that the foundation of the city was so monumental, either.

All that was mentioned on the slates, as well as passed by word of mouth between the citizens of Fallen Grace, was that the Seekers of Truth had established a city at the farthest reaches of the past, as close to the inception of time as they could, to serve as a staging ground for their attempts at reaching the Estuary.

So, they had expected something similar to the fleet-cities of the sybils, or perhaps a settlement built on a massive carapace of an enormous abomination, like Twilight. Maybe a levitating island like the one Aletheia had created, or even a network of them.

What they had not expected was an entire land of ice surrounding Verge. Sunny was both troubled and impressed.

There was a whole day of sailing on the Chain Breaker left between them and the Defiled City. That was a vast distance to cover on foot, at least for a mundane human. Which meant that the mass of ice forming the foundation of Verge was truly immense.

...Which posed a problem.

Sunny studied the lifeless landscape of the frozen land in front of them, then glanced at Nephis.

"So, what are we supposed to do?"

Now that they couldn't sail further, there was a decision to be made. Namely, they had three possible paths, each offering its own pitfalls and benefits.

into the air and proceed forward, flying above the vast sheet of ice. This, of course,

be very hard not to notice a ship flying above

alert the Defiled of their approach

become much slower, and much more exposed once the fighting started. However, it was much easier for seven humans to infiltrate the landmass stealthily, remaining hidden until the very

the landmass first, studying it in detail from afar, and come up with the plan of attack later. This was the most passive approach, but not the safest — the longer they spent in these dangerous waters, the higher the chance that Torment would sense their

a while, thinking. "What

ship behind and using stealth to approach Verge, others did not trust the treacherous expanse of the desolate

was undecided, as

upcoming battle, considering that Verge lay deep inland. However, there were plenty of other shells he could create, by now, including the giant version of his human body... and even though most of them were not as detailed and powerful as the great sea serpent yet, the versatility they

of fighting while surrounded by water, away from their natural element. So, perhaps not having the hull of

to Cassie, who had remained

"What do you think?"

in a hurry to speak. After thinking for a

is that we can do it on foot now, instead of swimming and flying. ?ìg??օ???w????~?օ?. So, why don't we explore this desolate

moved slightly when she spoke. He threw a long look at the blind girl, and then

explore this place quickly, in your opinion?" Cassie hesitated for a moment, then said

The rest should split into three teams. One team will proceed straight forward, the other two will move slightly inland and then move along the western and eastern shores of the island. Everyone will regroup

slightly. Nephis,