Shadow Slave

Chapter 2883 Halfway There

Rain had said it as a joke, but after she did, her smile slowly disappeared. Cassie did not seem amused, either — instead, she simply faced the young woman with a solemn expression.

Eventually, she said:

“Knowledge is a perilous thing, Rain."

The fact that it was Song of the Fallen speaking those words gave them much more weight.

Rain sighed.

"Yeah. I figured."

...She knew enough to know that knowing too much was a death sentence.

Actually, death seemed merciful compared to the horrible fate that awaited those who learned the wrong things, by accident or on purpose.

One had to protect their mind dutifully in the Age of the Nightmare Spell.

So, Rain had to be careful as well. Despite all the boons her Ascended Ability granted her, it could also doom her... that was how things went. Anything that was of use came at a price.

She remained silent for a while before asking quietly:

"What are we going to do, Cassie?"

She was worried about her family. She was worried about her brother, as well, even if he seemed implacable at times. The only people she wasn't worried about were the members of her cohort, who had escaped into a Nightmare in time.

Challenging the Nightmare had actually turned out to be the safest bet, because the real world was much more hazardous.

If that was not irony, she did not know what was.

Humanity had been subjugated by a demented Supreme, while another one was waging a war to have it destroyed. The world seemed to be ending — ahead of schedule, no less, considering that it had already been ending for a while, and was set to be destroyed completely in a few years or so, when the Dream Realm finally consumed Earth.

Rain wasn't sure what to do.

Cassie studied her for a few moments, then spoke in a soothing tone:

“Ravenheart wasn't hit that hard. There were relatively few casualties... I saw it in Mordret's memories. Your family should be fine.”

Rain soaked in a shaky breath, only realizing then that she had been holding it. She gave the blind woman a look of gratitude.

Cassie leaned back and sighed.

“As for what we must do — we must do our best to help the King of Nothing in the war against the Hunger Domain... against humanity."

She paused for a moment, and then added:

“Because Sunny and Nephis left, things went awry for him, and he failed to wipe out enough of humanity before the enemy enthralled it. So, the Mirror Domain cannot compare to the Hunger Domain, at the moment. Mordret will put up a fight, but eventually, he will be pushed back against the Hollow Mountains."

She turned her head a little and faced Rain.

“You might think that one Saint and one Master won't be enough to change much in a war between Supremes. But you'll be wrong... I am uniquely suited to help Mordret fight the Dreamspawn. He needs my help, and I need yours. I need you to become my eyes for a while, Rain. Will you help me?"

A pale smile appeared on Rain's lips.

“It feels nice to be needed."

Her tone wasn't very animated, though.

She remained silent for a while, and then said:

“I did stab you, after all. So, naturally — I'll help you, Cassie. Until Sunny and Nephis come back."

Cassie smiled. and nodded.

"Until Sunny and Nephis come back."

***

At the same time, the molten edges of the sun revealed themselves above the white dunes of the Nightmare Desert. The Deathless — most of them, at least — watched the light conquer the world in eerie silence, then retreated with the shadows, sinking beneath the sand.

Those who had lingered hid, as well, moments before the light washed over them.

Sunny crouched, breathing heavily.

His armor was in shambles, and there were several vicious cuts on his face. They were not bleeding, of course, but they weren't healing either. The killing will of those who had wounded him lingered in the cuts, and so, his Supreme body was struggling to erase them.

He was tired.

By now, the dark silhouette of the Tomb of Ariel was much larger on the horizon, which meant that they had drawn much closer to it. By Sunny's estimation, they had made it halfway to the great pyramid, which was good news.

The bad news, however, was that the Deathless they fought at night were growing more and more powerful. His Shadow Legion was in shambles, with all weaker shades long vanquished — he threw those of them who were mended into the fight as soon as he could, but it was of little use. They would only be wiped out again, serving little purpose.

The stronger shades, therefore, had become much more precious. It took longer for them to be restored in the dark flames of his soul, so he could not allow them to fall easily. Many of them were now torn and tattered, surrounded by billowing clouds of dark fog. Their figures were battered and vague.

A shadow fell over him. Looking up, Sunny saw Saint — she silently stood guard above him, her fearsome black armor marred by ruby dust.

Slayer was in the distance, calmly fashioning arrowheads out of shards of black stone. Nephis, meanwhile...

Before Sunny could look up to see her, the sand quaked from the sounds of heavy steps, and another shadow fell over him. That one belonged to a towering skeleton encased in a strange armor that had been seemingly forged out of shards of glass. The skeleton was holding a fearsome great axe, its blade forged from the same glass, and looking down at him with a grin.

"Look, Shadow. Your army is getting weaker with each day."

Azarax let out a mocking laugh.

“While mine is only growing stronger. Where is your arrogance now?"

Sunny glared at him silently.

Eventually, though, he was forced to answer.

“Same place. I am still pretty arrogant, I think."

The ancient tyrant kept staring at him with a vicious grin.

Lowering his battle axe, Azarax clacked his teeth against each other.

"I'll kill you one day soon."

Sunny did not answer.

Usually, he would have mocked the Deathless Sovereign, but at the moment, he was not in the mood.

Not the least because of the fact that Azarax's bones, which had been white before, were now almost entirely black.