Shadow Slave

The last memory Cassie saw was of the mad Saint climbing the statue of the Knight. She knew that he could have reached the top in one step, or turned into a crow to fly there — but, for some reason, the Lord of Shadow chose to climb the great height of the beheaded colossus like a mundane human, one handhold at a time.

In the end, he sprawled on the severed neck of the statue and stared at the black sky with a detached expression on his pale, handsome face.

…That was where the memory ended, this time.

It was… almost too much for her to handle, making Cassie feel dizzy.

Reading someone's memories wasn't like reading a book or watching a video. She perceived things the way people remembered them — a chaotic mixture of images, sounds, smells, sensations, thoughts, and emotions. More than that, memories were often unreliable, and tended to twist the truth a lot.

There was no solid concept of time in the memories of most people, either. It was warped and twisted in accordance with how significant the event had been for them… or sometimes for no reason at all. A single minute could span an eternity, while entire years could leave close to no trace in a person's memory.

Usually, if Cassie wanted to uncover the truth, she had to gently… or not so gently… lead the man or woman looking into her eyes toward it. Very few people were truly in control of their memories, after all, so she had to guide them patiently. Often, they themselves were surprised to remember the details of certain events in their lives.

It had taken her a long time to teach herself how to navigate human memories. Eventually, though, Cassie had become a master of perceiving them.

But her hands were tied with the Lord of Shadows, because he was the one choosing what to show her.

His memory was incredibly sharp, but the way he perceived the world and remembered things was entirely too strange. On top of that, Cassie's own memory was incapable of retaining many of the things he remembered feeling, witnessing, or thinking about.

It was a proper mess.

But, still…

She managed to learn a lot from what he had shown her today.

Cassie looked at the Lord of Shadow with a complicated expression.

At first, he had shown her the Ivory Island. Knowing that he had been anchored there as a Master was already a precious piece of knowledge. She knew that he had not been a Fire Keeper from his service in the First Evacuation Army, so combining these two facts sent Cassie's mind into overdrive, countless theories spawning at it each moment.

What had been his connection to her and Nephis?

Soon, however, she couldn't help but pause as a cold shiver ran down her spine.

That was because she saw herself in his memories. The mysterious man had been so close… he could have reached out of the shadows and put his hand on her shoulder.

…Or drive a knife through her heart. And she had not sensed anything.

That was both an eerie and frightening thing to learn.

right there, in my

She paled.

the runes left

knowing the truth of what was written on the walls of the Ebony Tower — few

of Mysteries as well, after all. So, in a sense, it was only

taught him the truth?

the one who had been taught

power. The long months the Lord of Shadow had spent challenging the impregnable mountain

by the priests of the Nightmare Spell was summoned, Cassie could not see

that there was something strange about the Lord of Shadows. The inconsistencies

not a carrier of the Nightmare

She was rattled.

be? Something like that was impossible… for a human

yet, she couldn't deny

and Echoes. There were other clues, as well, but the most undeniable of them was the fact that he had spent close to a year learning how to

Spell could do it from before becoming an Awakened. And yet, one of

widened when the realization hit

then looked at the

because he has been forgotten

it be, to be erased

guess. After all… she could experience his anguish personally, by looking

Cassie's lips quivered.

wonder he had been in such

was distracted from her

suddenly turned

a shallow

«The… the Forgotten Shore…»

Hollow Mountains — something that most humans considered utterly

side, a forlorn land

would hold the key to the secret of

maybe even

tensely, fighting against the inescapable forgetfulness as hard as she

he saw the ruins of the Crimson

the Lord of Shadows built a grave for the

smiled sadly when he explored the molten ruins of the

curious to see the runes for “Sunless” carved