Chapter 247 The Mist
Standing around the cairn, the members of the cohort looked at it with somber expressions — except for Cassie, who turned away and faced the mountainside, as though trying to hide her emotions.
Now that they knew what they were looking at, their mood suddenly became forlorn and solemn. People stranded on the Forgotten Shore were well acquainted with death and tragedy, but finding this lonely grave so far away from any place where another human could find it, lost under the alien grey sky of the Dream Realm, was still a poignant revelation.
None of them had ever met the Dreamers of the first cohort, but after living in the shadow of their legendary achievements and hearing stories of their deeds for so long, it felt as though this grave belonged to one of their own.
Because of how bleak and tense the reality of the Bright Castle was, it was easy to forget that in this cursed world, all of them were fellow humans. But in front of the quiet grave, the truth was stark and cutting: it was them alone against the endless tide of Nightmare Creatures, and every human life lost diminished them all.
Sunny sighed and noticed that there were words carved into one of the stones placed on top of the cairn. It took him a while to make sense of the inscription, because it wasn't written with the runes he had grown accustomed to. Instead, it was written in simple letters of the human language, which looked strange and alien in this forsaken land.
Cut into the stone by unknown means, a single sentence was left behind on the otherwise unmarked grave.
"Her nightmare is over"
With a heavy heart, Sunny silently repeated it several times. It was strange how much meaning could be expressed with so few words. They echoed in his mind and lingered there, leaving a deep and mournful mark.
'...Rest in peace, whoever you are. I... I hope that your dreams are sweet and serene now.'
With that, he turned away and gritted his teeth.
When would their own nightmares be over?
The other members of the cohort were slowly coming back from their sudden reverie. Kai sighed and looked at Changing Star, his face full of sadness.
"I guess… I guess this is what we've been looking for. The First Lord and his expedition definitely passed this way. But what now?"
Nephis threw a last glance at the grave and turned to face the charming archer.
"There should be an entrance to an old mine somewhere nearby. From what Cassie had seen, this is where they went."
Sunny frowned. Something in what she said made him uneasy. But why?
Turning his head, he looked at Cassie, who was still silently standing a few steps away from them, her head turned to the mountains. It seemed as though the blind girl was enjoying the sight of white mist that was flowing down the mountain slope, slowly approaching the valley.
She had been awfully quiet all this time.
With an ominous feeling suddenly gripping his heart, Sunny gestured to Nephis to draw her attention. Changing Star frowned, then followed his gaze and slightly changed in the face.
Walking over to her friend, she carefully placed her hand on the blind girl's shoulder. Instantly, Cassie flinched at turned around, her face pale.
"...Cassie? Did you see something?"
There was an expression of terror written on the blind girl's face. For a few moments, she just breathed heavily, as though trying to control herself. Finally, she spoke, her voice quiet but steady:
"The mist... we must get underground before the mist comes. If not, all of us will die!"
Nephis didn't waste any time questioning Cassie further. Turning around, she shouted:
"Sunny, Night! Find the entrance to the mine, quick!"
A moment later, Kai rose into the air and dashed toward the giant amphitheater on the opposite side of the quarry. Sunny did not hesitate, too: his shadow detached from his feet and glided away with startling speed.
Despite the urgency of the situation, he remained calm.
'So… I guess there is a reason why we haven't met a single living creature in this place, after all.'
Sunny had expected something like this to happen from the very moment they entered the foothills of the Hollow Mountains. Even before learning about how dangerous these peaks were, he had already known that no land that the crimson coral was incapable of growing on could be safe.
"Caster, Effie! Prepare to move as soon as the scouts find anything!"
Glancing at the white wall of mist that was already starting to seep into the valley, Nephis lingered for a moment, then summoned her sword. Behind her, Cassie rose slightly above the ground and unsheathed the Quiet Dancer, holding the elegant rapier in her left hand.
Two transparent wings turned into a blur behind her back.
Looking at them, Sunny sighed and walked over to stand near the Stone Saint. His mind was preoccupied with perceiving the world through the shadow. Then, he closed his eyes to concentrate on his other senses.
The shadow and Kai found the entrance to the mine almost simultaneously. A tall archway was cut right into the side of the mountain, with false columns carved into the rock around it. The mouth of the tunnel was dark and ominous.
There was a twisting path leading away from the mine into the quarry. Sunny couldn't see where it exited the maze of stone blocks, but was sure that Kai would see it from above.
Opening his eyes, he noticed that the wall of mist was now looming above them, mere seconds from falling down into the quarry, and said:
"Follow me!"
With that, he ran toward the general direction of where the mine was situated. The others ran behind him, exerting as much speed as they could manage — except for Caster, of course.
Halfway to the wall of the quarry, Kai landed near them and gestured to a barely visible opening between the stone steps.
"There! Hurry!"
They entered the hidden path and ran as fast as they could, soon approaching the wide tunnel.fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
At the very edge of darkness, Sunny stopped for a second and looked back at the swiftly approaching wall of mist.
As he gazed into the milky fog, a cold and heavy feeling of dread suddenly grasped his heart.
Not wasting any more time, he turned around and dove into the shadows.
A few moments later, the mist swirled around the entrance of the tunnel and devoured the rest of the world.
Chapter 248 Those Who Survived
Leaving the mouth of the tunnel and the swirling white mist behind, the cohort cautiously went further into the darkness. As they walked, they summoned the Memories that produced light to illuminate the way.
The tunnel leading into the mine was wide and spacious. Despite the ruthless flow of time, it had remained in perfect condition — just like the ancient wall that surrounded the Dark City. The floor was inclined and led down, deep into the belly of the mountain.
Sunny sighed, not happy with the idea that they had to travel further into this deadly region of the Dream Realm. Who knew what horrors lived in the darkness at the roots of the Hollow Mountains? The only thing that consoled him was that, with some luck, the cohort wouldn't have to go too far.
They just had to find the remains of the doomed expedition that had disappeared somewhere down below. He wasn't entirely comfortable hoping that those people had died sooner rather than later, but they were dead either way.
What Sunny cared about the most was for him and his companions to not follow suit.
Walking at the back of the party, he glanced at the five people in front of him.
How did Changing Star's cohort stacked against that of the First Lord? Were they weaker, stronger, or just about the same?
His brow furrowed.
Regarding Nephis herself, he doubted that the young man who had led a group of Sleepers to conquer the Bright Castle could have been more powerful or driven than her, at least not at the start. However, he had much more time to accumulate power and resources before venturing into the Hollow Mountains to find his death.
Fifteen years ago, when he had entered the Dream Realm and got stranded on the Forgotten Shore, things were much different from now. The Immortal Flame clan was yet to fall, for one. In fact, it was not long after Broken Sword, Neph's father, had become the first human to conquer the Third Nightmare and achieve the rank of Saint.
Would the world be different if the First Lord managed to find the way out and returned to reality? Yes, most likely. If the era of the Nightmare Spell had shown anything to humanity, it was that history was often changed by individuals, as opposed to events and invisible currents. The influence one extraordinary person could exert on history in a time of adversity was hard to deny.freeweɓnøvel.com
From everything that Sunny knew about the First Lord, a man like him could have done a lot to improve the position humanity was in. What a shame that he had perished in this godforsaken hell, the story of his incredible deeds known only to a handful of people as unfortunate as him.
But how many were there of such brilliant youths, killed before their time by the Nightmare Spell?
In the end, history was not written by the best, but by those who survived.
Glancing at the people walking in front of him, Sunny couldn't help but think:
'How many of us will survive?'
Each member of the cohort was incredibly strong. Just like Nephis was at least an equal to the First Lord, her companions were most likely equal to his.
Because of Effie's light-hearted and carefree demeanor, it was easy to forget how fearsome of a warrior she was. The huntress had not survived three years of stalking monsters on the cursed streets of the Dark City alone by accident. Hundreds upon hundreds of vicious Nightmare Creatures fell by her hand.
As much as Sunny hated to admit it, Caster was a true powerhouse among the Sleepers, too. His incredible Aspect Ability, outstanding skill, cold intelligence and the wide arsenal of inherited Memories made him a deadly threat to anyone foolish enough to become his enemy.
Kai was not as ferocious of a fighter as the core members of the cohort, but his ability to fly coupled with the mastery of the bow and the Ascended arrow that Sunny had sold him made him a real menace in a battle, too.
Cassie was not much of a fighter, but her gift was arguably more important than any combat Aspect Ability could ever be. Especially so on the Forgotten Shore, where inconceivable dangers lurked under each rock.
…And then there was Sunny himself.
Sunny was, perhaps, the deadliest of them all. If he wanted to, he could have killed every member of the cohort twice over.
With the exception of Nephis himself, of course.
If the two of them had to face each other in battle, he didn't count his chances too high.
…At least for now.
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As they walked deeper into the mine, there were more tunnels forking away from the main one. The cohort turned a few times, choosing the path that led further down underground.
Soon, the walls surrounding them changed. More and more, they were decorated with the intricate stone carving that the inhabitants of the ancient city had loved so much.
At first, these carvings were strictly decorative and mostly senseless, shaped into beautiful patterns of lines and simple images. But then, slowly, something about them changed.
Sunny was, perhaps, the only one who paid attention to the carvings. Due to his passion for learning the history of this ancient civilization, he had spent a lot of time doing the same back in the Dark City, where there were a lot of similar things.
He was still planning to clear the floor of the ruined library of rubble and study the vast fresco that was hidden beneath — the project he had been working on before the events of these recent weeks had taken him away.
However, the condition of the carvings back in the ancient city was mostly terrible. The unknown disaster that had wiped out its inhabitants, the passage of time, and the Nightmare Creatures left most of them in ruins.
Here in the remote mine, however, the carvings were preserved in pristine condition.
When Sunny finally saw what was depicted on them, his breath became faster.
The answers to many questions that were tormenting him were right there, carved into these walls.