Shadow Slave

"...The Well of Wishes."

Sunny stared at Cassie with an incredulous expression, struggling to understand what her words meant.

'What is she talking…'

Then, his face changed slightly, a hint of confusion and ridicule appearing in his eyes.

"The… the children's story? The fairy tale about a magical well that grants the most precious wish of anyone who reaches it? Are you… are you out of your mind?"

Sunny took a step back, barely avoiding falling out of the ketch. His mind was full of bewilderment and disbelief.

"Come… come on! You can't possibly be serious! You don't believe that it's true, do you?!".

That was the fairy tale Ananke had told him, not long before her death. Sunny remembered it well… but he had never expected to hear Cassie, someone so smart and pragmatic, put her hopes in a children's story about a magic well!

The blind seer, however, did not seem affected by his ridiculing tone. She faced Sunny calmly, her face somber.

After a while, Cassie gritted her teeth and said, her voice steady:

"It might not be true for anyone else. But it's true for you, Sunny. If you reach the Estuary… your wish to be free will come true. Free of your bond, free to live your life the way you want. Free of fate itself."

to her feet, too, and walked closer, stopping

but once the Nightmare is over, your chance will be gone. The moment Nephis destroys

the Guiding Light, offering

was what you were truly angry about, wasn't it? That I took the

into his hands and took

way through the mists of the Source, as long as you don't give another True Name to it. Once you reach the Estuary, use

a moment, and then added

not. What is unbearable is not having been given a choice about forming that bond, and now, even though the connection between

her silently, entirely shaken. His mind felt empty, as if all

mean, it's it true for me? I can get rid

little, then shook

true. If you reach the very heart of the Estuary before the Nightmare ends, you will become free from

He frowned.

like what killed Nephis the last time? The

all ended up entering the Source in search of the Estuary. If there was indeed a way to break free from the cruel grasp of fate that had been hidden at the heart

with regaining his freedom as he was, would

performed by all his previous selves only served to give credence to

why Nephis had died in the cycle that birthed the

blind girl, however, shook

Defilement and became Corrupted instead. Thus, the endless cycles continued. This cycle, though, was engineered by Torment and him specifically to make sure that all members of the cohort survive. Whether you find the