Shadow Slave

For Nephis, the world was still stark and sharp, devoid of subtlety. Her emotions were still subdued, and mostly missing. It had not been long since the battle with Condemnation - if their desperate escape could even be called a battle - and so, she had not recovered from the annihilating pain of burning her soul to ash yet.

She had been in Godgrave just yesterday. Back then, they had waited on the steps of the Nameless Temple for a long time for its master to come and take them back to the waking world. Nephis could have carried her warriors across the threshold of realms herself, but the tentative agreement with the Lord of Shadows was preventing her from placing a tether in the vicinity of his Citadel.

In the end, the mysterious Saint walked out of the darkness and silently brought the Fire Keepers, the three Sleepers, and herself away from the Dream Realm, one at a time. She suspected that he could carry more than one person across realms - Nephis herself could carry seven other Saints, or more than a hundred mundane people - but Shadow kept his secrets close to his chest, as always.

She had been idly curious where his tether in the waking world would be. Saints usually had an established base there, most within the well-guarded walls of their clan's compound.

Nephts herself, as well as the Fire Keepers, operated from the former manor of the Immortal Flame clan.

It was a bit of a contentious topic, actually, because the elders of Valor wanted them to reside within the great clan's stronghold in NQSC - officially, for safety reasons, but truthfully to control them better.

But the relationship between the Fire Keepers and the rest of Valor forces was generally a bit awkward, not the least because of the sixth month the survivors of the Forgotten Shore had spent hiding in the Dream Realm to avoid the fallout of Cassie's conflict with the great clan. It had only been resolved after Nephis returned and agreed to become Anvil's adopted daughter.

In any case... there were no independent Saints, really. Everyone either had a Legacy clan supporting them or worked for the government. So, Nephis was understandably curious about where the Lord of Shadows tethered himself in the waking world.

Was it a secret compound in NQSC? An unassuming residential building? A stronghold of a minor Legacy clan in one of the other Quadrants? The remains of an abandoned government facility, perhaps?

idly imagined all kinds of places, thinking that they

the Lord of Shadows was carelessly placed in the middle of an empty street in the outskirts of NQSC. The outskirts were much more desolate now than they had been before, with many people having left for the Dream Realm. There

dictated by nothing except for pure convenience, which had not told her

did not waste any time on saying goodbyes, nodding at her curtly before

her expedition to Godgrave

said her goodbyes to the three Sleepers and sent them off to the Academy - since they had never managed to anchor

have offered her help, but considering Tamar's allegiance to the Song Domain, having her anchor

or went straight back to the Ivory Tower, They needed some

As for Nephis herself…

her way to the compound of Clan Valor. Then, it was a whirlwind of briefings and reports, as well

the morning of the next day that Nephis had a chance to rest and recover.

do

she ended up making an appointment

had been assigned a psychological counsellor after returning from her Second

a bit of a farcical

- gods knew, her mental state was far from untroubled. It had been especially bad after the Second Nightmare, and would turn cold and emotionless every time she overused her Aspect.

hard to guess that her assigned therapist was making regular reports about everything she said during their sessions, At first, the reports had

to a colleague. The new counsellor was