Shadow Slave

Nephis studied the immaculately white bone plain in front of her for a few moments, then turned around and looked at the Fire Keepers. They were gracelessly sprawled on the ground, with pained expressions on their faces. Even with their powerful Ascended bodies, it had not been easy to remain completely still for three long days.

If there was one consolation, it was that Nightmare Creatures they had been fighting when the merciless skies revealed themselves were nothing but ash now. The Fire Keepers, meanwhile, had all survived.

There was a reason why she had chosen this particular cohort to follow her into the Godgrave.

The Fire Keepers were a fearsome force even now, when the number of Awakened, Masters, and Saints had vastly increased. That was because each of them was an Ascended, and a cohesive battle unit consisting of close to fifty seasoned Masters could not be ignored by anyone.

Not to mention that the Fire Keepers were the survivors of the Forgotten Shore, and as such, could be easily called the most talented Awakened warriors of their generation… all generations, perhaps.

These warriors were her personal army, and under her leadership, their brilliant glory and fame had grown explosively in the past four years. The Ivory Tower, the Chain Breaker, the crest of the Fire Keepers, and her own name, Changing Star, had all become symbols of unrivaled virtue, valor, and excellence.

Their names were known far and wide, all according to her conscious will and intent.

The Fire Keepers were her heralds and emissaries, but each was also a heroic figure in their own right… still, some of them had more renown than others. The seven Masters in front of her had once been Cassie's own cohort, and therefore, they were a cut above the rest.

That was not the reason why Nephis had chosen them for this mission, though. The real reason was that one of the members of the cohort, Erlas, possessed an Aspect that could augment the endurance and stamina of his allies. Knowing what waited for them in Godgrave, she wanted to have his powers at hand for when the white void of the sky above the ancient corpse was revealed.

turned out, her consideration had not been in vain. If not for his support, the last three days would have been

had felt the strain. Nevertheless, there was no time to waste. Looking at the Fire Keepers, she

to drink water and

bodies, but it was better to relieve the fatigue on the move. The sky was not the only danger in

«Yes, Lady Nephis.»

started to move. Storage Memories were summoned, water and field rations were hastily consumed. Shim, the leader of the cohort, used his healing powers to help the less resilient members recover faster. They were seasoned veterans

to quench her thirst,

time the ten minutes she had given her subordinates ran out, the bone plain

«Ready your weapons! Forward!»

she started to walk,

the sun-bleached bones of the dead god — or whatever the ancient skeleton had been, once — seemed like a continuous surface of solid white, in truth, they were littered with cracks and fissures. The deepest of those cracks led to the great

spread from them, devouring the flawlessly white surface of the ancient bones. Swarms of tiny

only the

the white sky was instantly incinerated, the abominable life thriving in Godgrave had adapted to its whims. There was no way to predict when the veil of clouds would be torn, and how

hurry to be born, grow, consume, and propagate before turning to ash. The white plain

escaped the great hollows. By then, the

and the Fire Keepers were already