SHADOW SLAVE

Sunny remained motionless for a while, then took a look into his Soul Sea. It didn’t seem lifeless and drained anymore. The three black suns of his cores loomed above in a perfect triangle, burning with furious dark flames, and the tranquil sea was in turmoil, replete the raging energy.

He glanced at the shadow of the sentinel that had joined the silent ranks of his brethren, made a grimace, and closed his eyes.

His body was still weak and on the verge of shutting down, but now, satiated with essence, it was not completely useless anymore. He concentrated, then summoned the Soul Serpent and circulated the essence through its coils, feeling strength return to his aching muscles. His lethargy receded a little.

Finally, Sunny opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Cassie. The blind girl was laying on the floor beside him, just outside the circle of runes, completely spent. She must have retrieved the keys from the sentinel’s corpse, unlocked the door, then dragged him out of the cage. Sunny didn’t know how she had managed to carry him all the way in her terrible condition, but she had.

Now, Cassie was barely breathing. However, the color was slowly returning to her face — she was regenerating her soul essence, too.

Just the effort of turning his head made Sunny feel dizzy. He rested for a few moments, breathing heavily, then summoned Saint.

The taciturn knight appeared out of his shadow, her ruby eyes burning in the darkness. He stared at her from below for a second, then gave a silent command:

‘Close the door. Guard us.’

The demon silently turned and walked away, her steps echoing in the silence of the stone cell. Sunny rested some more, then gritted his teeth and tried to sit up. He succeeded on the third try.

Water, water… he needed water… all of his being lusted for a single drop of the precious liquid…

A swirl of sparks danced around his hand, and then, the most glorious thing he had ever seen appeared in it.

It was a dazzling, beautiful, sublime bottle made out of patterned blue glass.

Sunny lingered for a few moments, then crawled closer to Cassie, held up her head, and brought the Endless Spring to her cracked lips. As soon as the first drops of water fell into her mouth, the blind girl opened her eyes, flinched, and then drank greedily. At some point, she raised one hand and grabbed his own, as if afraid that he would take the bottle away.

Sunny observed her, his own throat spasming in pain. Finally, he wrestled his hand free and drank his own share.

…The cold water was, without a shadow of a doubt, the sweetest and most magnificent thing he had ever tasted. Drinking it was more euphoric than being reborn during the Awakening, and much more rewarding by far. With each sip, he could feel life returning into his tortured body, as if he was rising from the dead.

In these moments, he was probably the happiest he had ever been.

,m After both of them satiated their thirst, they fell to the floor, dead tired. Sunny and Cassie were revatilized by the water, but mentally exhausted and utterly drained.

It wasn’t long before they fell asleep.

***

When Sunny woke up, he felt much better. He was still in a rather bad shape and weak from hunger, his stomach pulsing with pain, but at least not dying anymore.

He sat up, drank more water, and looked around the cell.

Cassie was still sound asleep, laying on the cold stone floor. She looked to be in a worse condition than him, but there was color to her face, and her breathing was calm and steady. Even though the blind girl did not possess the miraculous Blood Weave, she was still a powerful Awakened. Her body was much more resilient and quicker to heal than that of a mundane human.

Sunny suspected that in a couple of days, both of them would be mostly back to normal.

…Provided that nothing else happens.

What were the chances of that?

He glanced at Saint, who was guarding the heavy door, then at the cage and the corpse of the sentinel laying near it. His face became contorted by a grimace of disgust.

Sunny sighed, then closed his eyes and sent one of his shadows to take a look outside the door. The long corridor was empty and submerged in darkness. Nothing moved there, and nothing seemed to pose any threat. The only thing he saw was another corpse — this one belonging to the partner of the dead sentinel — sprawled near the cell, terribly mangled and in the early stages of decomposition.

Sunny stared at it for a while, then commanded the shadow to return.

The silence outside was almost eerie.

At that moment, Cassie stirred and opened her eyes. She sat down and groaned quietly, then slowly turned her head in his direction.

Her second Aspect Ability must have returned. Or maybe she just located him by the smell… after weeks spent in the iron cage, both of them reeked terribly enough to scare away a pack of hungry wolves.

Sunny handed her the Endless Spring, stared at the bottle in the delicate hand of the blind girl for a few moments, then turned away.

Cassie drank the water, coughed, then returned the Memory and asked, her voice raspy:

“…What are we going to do now?”

Sunny hesitated for a bit, then shrugged.

“First, we need to find some food. Once we are full and strong enough to fight… we’ll see. Gather information, assess the situation, then act.”

She nodded, then slowly rose to her feet. The Quiet Dancer appeared in her hand in the glow of white sparks.

Sunny stood up, too, and headed toward the door.

Saint moved aside, allowing him to open it.

Standing at the threshold, he hesitated for a few seconds, and then took a step forward. A dark expression appeared on his face.

…Sunny knew that he had to be careful. But he also felt entitled to some vengeance of his own.