Shadow Slave

The outer wall of the mundane district was thick and tall. Rain passed through the gateway, still thinking about what her teacher had said...

'Pretty? I'm pretty? He was teasing me, right? That scoundrel! Maybe if he allowed me to have a mirror at home, I wouldn't have had to ask!’

Her thoughts were interrupted by an Awakened warrior who suddenly appeared in her way. His equipment was visibly more potent than that of the young men and women whom she had met outside, and his face was much more mature.

Unlike those inexperienced greenhorns, he was a true warrior of Song.

"This way, please."

Rain obediently followed the Awakened to the side, where a cohort of veterans like him was keeping a watchful eye on everyone entering the city. They were led by a stunningly beautiful woman wearing an enchanted robe of fine wine-colored silk.

A Master.

There was no sign of Rain's teacher, as if he had dove deeper into the shadows. She approached the beautiful woman and bowed respectfully.

The Ascended smiled.

"Oh, it's you, little sister, Rain, was it? Please don't move”

A torrent of ethereal sparks swirled around her hand, and a red flower appeared on her palm. Its dark petals seemed to be glistening with dew, and it emanated a pleasant fragrance.

The woman raised her hand, as if offering the flower to Rain. Of course, Rain did not take it. Instead, she froze and looked at the crimson blossom solemnly. A few moments passed in tense silence, then a few more.

She glanced at the beautiful Master. The woman was still smiling, but her eyes were cold and full of dark... something.

'Murder math.’

well, because he often lamented the fact that she seemed to lack that

calmly calculating how to kill her, should the need arise. It was more than a

seconds later, the Ascended's smile finally reached her eyes. Moving her hand, she dismissed the red flower and gestured for Rain

back. Have a

more time

Internally, she sighed.

any other Citadel in the Song Domain, she would imagine - had to go through. The Sword Domain had their own version of the ritual,

prevent the dreadful bane, Skinwalker, from infiltrating

Skinwalker was different. It had entered the siege capitals by pretending to be human before the Dream Gates were even opened. Once there, Skinwalker

Rain heard that the government forces led by Wake of Ruin and the great clans had joined forces to eradicate the creature. The Sovereigns emerged, and Lady Nephis returned from the Third Nightmare with five other Saints just in time. Eventually, they managed to prevent Skinwalker from spreading to

they had not managed

the vast reaches of the Dream Realm or in the poisonous wilds of the waking world. Worst of all, the creature had learned and adapted, its act becoming

after being infiltrated by Skinwalker, and if rumors were true, a several cities in the Eastern Quadrant

Dream Gates and the great wave of colonization that followed, the existence of Skinwalker had caused the single most significant

had indeed been taken by the harrowing fiend, the

thing she did not quite understand,

enough from the

I ask you

answer came

"You sure can."

for

they have done if I was truly a vessel of Skinwalker? A cohort of Awakened and a single Master... no matter

was a longer pause before her teacher

bronze mirror installed on the wall behind

Rain nodded.

are mirrors like that everywhere in

He sighed.