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.

was to raise the Chain Breaker into the air and proceed forward, flying above the vast sheet of ice. This, of course,

hard not to notice a ship

would alert the Defiled of their

started. However, it was much easier for

from afar, and come up with the plan of attack later. This was the most passive approach, but not the safest —

hesitated for a while, thinking. "What

cohort, wishing to make use of their experience and intuition. However, the opinions were split. Some were in favor of leaving the ship behind and using stealth to approach Verge, others did not trust the treacherous expanse of the desolate landmass and wanted to keep

was undecided, as

upcoming battle, considering that Verge lay deep inland. However, there were plenty of other shells he could create, by now, including

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

Cassie, who had remained silent

"What do you think?"

was not in a hurry to speak.

the Chain Breaker and scout the approach to the city stealthily, anyway... all that changed 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 place first before

threw a long look at the blind girl,

to explore this place quickly, in your opinion?" Cassie hesitated

to stay with the ship. The rest should split into three teams. One team will proceed straight forward, the other two will move slightly inland

slightly. Nephis,