Shadow Slave

Kai, Effie, and Cassie settled in the living room and chatted while Sunny returned to the kitchen. The two areas were basically a single space, separated only by distance and a tall counter, so he could see them clearly. Watching his friends at ease and happy to be reunited with the blind girl turned his expression dark for a short moment, but Sunny quickly put on a carefree mask.

Rain was by his side and staring at them, too.

Her gaze lingered on Kai for a while, then on Cassie. Finally, she looked at Effie and studied her face with a complicated expression.

'Here it comes!'

A few moments later, her eyes widened. Sunny didn't think that it was possible for the teenage girl to become paler than she already was, but he was proven wrong. Looking like a ghost, Rain slowly turned to him and whispered:

"Effie… she is… she's…"

Sunny offered her a polite smile.

"Huh? What are you mumbling about?"

Then, he glanced into the living room and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh, do you want me to call her over? No problem. Hey, Ef…"

Rain waved her hands and pressed one against his mouth.

"No! Don't!"

Sunny stared at her with a silent question in his eyes.

The girl looked at him, then at her hand, then awkwardly stepped back.

"What I wanted to say was… Effie, is she…"

Sunny grimaced.

"...Awakened Athena, also known as Raised by Wolves? What, you didn't know?"

Rain suddenly swayed and grabbed the counter to balance herself. A comically mortified expression appeared on her face.

Really, he couldn't blame her for not recognizing Effie. The girl wasn't that interested in the Awakened, to begin with, and the government mostly used the heroic visage of Raised by Wolves as she looked in the Dream Realm — mighty, tall, and brimming with vitality — in their propaganda.

It wasn't easy to match that image with the weak, gaunt, and sickly young woman who was bound to a wheelchair. Not to mention that a normal person would never expect to meet a famed hero in their backyard... still, looking at Rain now was incredibly funny.

"But… but she and I… oh gods, I even said… oh, no. Oh, no!"

She lowered her head, then suddenly looked up and pierced Sunny with an unexpectedly furious gaze.

"Damn it! Sunny… why are you friends with Raised by Wolves, Nightingale, and Song of the Fallen?! They are famous people!"

He frowned in confusion, then shrugged.

"So what? We used to be members of the same cohort."

Rain blinked a couple of times. Her voice became even quieter.

"But… but Song of the Fallen, Raised by Wolves, and Nightingale were members of Lady Changing Star's cohort."

Sunny smiled innocently.

"Oh? Yup, that's the one."

The girl lifelessly sat down, almost missing the chair. She remained silent for a long time, then asked slowly:

"Sunny… you know Lady Nephis? The Lady Nephis? Changing Star of the Immortal Flame clan? You're from... from her cohort?"

He grinned.

"Who, Neph? Yeah, sure. I guess."

Rain closed her eyes.

Sunny did not say anything for a bit, then cleared his throat.

He waited for a few more moments, then said gently:

"So… about those potatoes…"

She flinched, looked down at her apron again, then answered weakly:

"Oh, sorry. Actually, I have to go home. I, uh… forgot to do homework. Sorry."

With that, Rain stood up and rushed to the door.

Sunny yelled at her back:

"Hey! What homework? It's Saturday!"

Without turning around, the teenage girl squealed "sorry" one more time and fled the house in a panic.

Sunny watched as the door closed behind her and laughed.

He felt avenged. He felt... wonderful!

"Ah, priceless. That was priceless… I do wish she would finish peeling the potatoes first, though…"

***

After the dinner, the four of them settled around the table and moved on to the real reason for today's gathering — the discussion of their plan to challenge the Nightmare Seed.

This conversation could have taken place in the Sanctuary, but despite having a somewhat good relationship with the White Feather clan, Sunny didn't want to say some things aloud in their territory.

Their territory was also a Sovereign's territory, after all.

So, the cohort had made plans to meet in the waking world.

There was a lot to discuss. The Second Nightmare was a deadly challenge, and they had to be as prepared to face it as possible. There were also a lot of preparations to be made for the journey to the Seed itself — venturing into the Sky Below and locating the rift in the ocean of flames that hid in its depths was not an easy task in and of itself.

So, they spent many hours going over every little detail, sharing knowledge, and finding solutions to potential problems they could encounter. The Nightmare itself was a mystery, of course, so no matter how much they tried to account for every possibility, they still had no way of knowing what awaited them inside.

All they knew was that it would be dangerous, deadly, and terrifying.

Still, there were things they could do to improve their chances. Grow stronger, improve their arsenals. But most importantly, aim for maximum flexibility in the collection of tools at their disposal. After all, it was not the strongest who survived… it was the most adaptable.

It was already deep night when the conversation stopped. It seemed as though they had discussed everything they could, at least for now.

Sunny made a pot of coffee for everyone, poured it into the cups, and sat down opposite Cassie.

"Now that everything else is settled, let's talk about the Night Temple. The more I hear about it, the stranger I feel… isn't it supposed to be just a private Citadel of clan Valor? What's the deal with it?"

Cassie remained silent for a bit, then took a sip of coffee and sighed.

"Night Temple… how do I describe it? It is an eerie place. The first thing you need to know, I guess, is that it's actually situated on the underside of the Northern Island, and not on its surface. In the eternal shadow... that makes it harder to access, but also more defendable. I doubt that even an army of Nightmare Creatures — or Awakened, for that matter — would be able to take it by force."

She paused, and then continued:

"At first glance, it's a frontier outpost for the knights of Valor, a transfer base that was supposed to serve as a staging ground for their push further north during the active expansion of the previous decades. But, as you know, after humans encountered the Hollow Mountains, our progress in that direction stopped. Night Temple remains, though."

Sunny frowned.

"So… it's basically empty?"

Cassie lowered her head.

When she spoke, her voice sounded tense:

"Logically, it is supposed to be. But it's not."