Third POV:
Sunny and Nephis approached the spot where the other members of the cohort and they had agreed to meet. The gloomy shadow had already located their camp in the ruin of an ancient building and was currently watching them, hidden in the darkness.
The four youths were busy waiting for their leader's arrival and were preparing for the last stretch of the way to The Bright Castle. They were calm and collected, not at all like people who were about to face the horrifying wrath of the Bright Lord.
What kind of horror had they not faced already?
Climbing over the rubble, Sunny and Nephis had let the rest know of their approach and jumped down.
Landing just a few meters away from the group, he straightened his back and gave them a friendly look.
"Hey."
They greeted them in a joyful but awkward manner. Sunny of course knew It was mostly because of Changing Star's return, and Cassie's rush to hug her seemed to ease the palpable tension that permeated the air. It made everyone at ease but a bit reluctant to speak too much. Although Effie was the only one who seemingly didn't notice the dark mood.
Leaning on a stone wall, the huntress was enthusiastically gnawing on a juicy bone. Her white teeth were effortlessly crushing it into tiny pieces, which were then chewed and swallowed along with the marrow. Noticing Sunny and Nephis, she smiled.
"Hey, doofus. Welcome back, Princess."
He gave her a nod and wanted to turn away, but then noticed a slight frown that appeared on Effie's face. Looking at him with a bit of uncertainty, she asked:
"Uh... you alright?"
Sunny was silent for a few moments, then smiled. Finally, he said in an even tone:
"I'm perfect. Why? You thought I would die?"
Effie spattered as if stating the obvious truth.
"Pah! With the princess by your side, I bit that there's not anything out there to the north that can actually kill you both."
Smiling mischievously, she added with a boisterous voice.
"… That's only if you guys didn't go out of your preplanned route and got carried away with your date."
Caster's head snapped to Effie's direction, glaring daggers at the giant huntress, while a small, soothing chuckle escaped from Kai's lips as he tried to hold back his laughter in the corner of the building. Cassie was still tightly clinging to Nephis, although she raised her head giving Nephis a questioning "look", she hadn't said a word.
Sunny groaned at Effie's antics but said nothing. His eyes soon turned to Nephis.
Leaving the doubtful huntress behind, he walked past Caster and approached Nephis.
Nephis returned Cassie's hug with one of her own, and then stood with her back to the group, looking up at the silhouette of the Bright Castle that loomed in the distance.
Hearing his steps, Cassie freed Nephis from her tight embrace and turned around.
Sunny's eyes were still glued to Neph's figure. The gentle light of dawn reflected in her eyes, making them appear to shine.
Cassie's timid voice brought him back from the reverie he was in.
"...You've made it, Sunny. I am glad."
He shrugged.
"Thanks,"
Sunny did return the smile with one of his own that didn't quite reach his eyes, however. Glancing in the direction of the Bright Castle, he asked. His question directed to Nephis.
"So, what's the plan?"
Nephis shrugged.
The one who answered this time was Caster.
"We have confirmed that Gunlaug is still pretending to be looking for Effie to bring her to justice for killing the missing Guards. Once we enter the outer settlement, the members of the Host will come for her. Then, Lady Changing Star will most likely be forced to challenge him."
He stepped up and made sure to make his presence known to Nephis.
Sunny slowly turned around and gave the scion legacy a look, Nephis did the same too.
Cassie tilted her head in his direction.
Silence took over the vicinity, leaving everyone wondering how to approach the situation.
"We'll... see after that."
Nephis soon broke the silence with that statement. Sunny looked at her with a dark expression.
'Pretty much exactly what I expected.'
He didn't hesitate to ask:
"Can you break his armor? Even with the Dawn Shard, your sword is barely equal to an Ascended Memory. And that thing is a true Transcended Echo."
Sunny of course knew that she could do it as she had already proven in the previous round. And if anything, she was now by far stronger compared to the previous round.
Nephis had consumed a lot of soul shards in the cavern after all, and if it wasn't for Sunny advice to focus on her control rather than the potency of her soul essence, she would have kept on consuming the soul shards until there were no more.
Sunny could spot three shimmering soul cores that resided in Neph's soul.
Changing Star was Already a Demon…
She lingered for a while before answering. When she finally spoke, her voice was calm and even:
"I don't have to break the armor. I just have to break the man."
Sunny shook his head with a smile.
"Sure,"
Sometime later, the six of them left the secluded ruin and made their way toward the Bright Castle. The Dark City was silent and bleak, its streets devoid of life and movement. Even the Nightmare Creatures seemed to remain hidden in the lairs today, as though the feeling of the tension that hung in the air like a harbinger of a disastrous change.
A lonely star was about to ignite in the sky above the cursed city.
Nephis was the first one to walk under the marble arch and step on the road that led to the outer settlement. Her face was calm and motionless, any hint of emotion hidden behind her usual mask of indifference. It was as though she was returning home in triumph, not marching to her own execution.
There was a slightly distant look in her eyes.
Sunny abandoned his usual position at the back of the group and was now walking side by side with her. Maybe it was just a whim, but he felt like he wanted to walk by her side and help her push through the ordeals she would face on her march toward her goal.
Their goal.
Soon, the familiar shapes of the outer settlement appeared in their sight.
They had finally returned to the Bright Castle.
*****
The outer settlement had changed from the time Sunny saw it last.
At the point where the white road widened into the vast platform that the settlement stood upon, a tall stone barricade was built, with watchful sentries observing the approach to the crest of the hill. Each of them was wielding a Memory weapon and a sturdy armor, their faces full of dark determination.
The makeshift watchtower constructed on the roof of Neph's lodge loomed above them, with several archers ready to rain arrows on any Nightmare Creature that wandered close.
The slum itself was much the same, but the people populating it seemed different. Many of them were bruised and bandaged, but their eyes shone with the subtle light of hope that wasn't there or as strong before. That hope was contrasted against the suffocating feeling of tension that hung in the air. From time to time, someone would glance toward the castle and frown, a dark expression appearing on their face.
There was another detail that surprised Sunny. On the sleeves of many slum dwellers, a piece of pure white cloth was tied, as if announcing their allegiance to some god or goddess.
There had been none of that when he left this place a few months ago.
There was also graffiti drawn on the walls of the most derelict hovels, some of them depicting a shining star, some the image of a beautiful bronze spear.
'...oh, this.'
The white armbands and the star were, obviously, meant to represent Nephis. But Effie had somehow became an apostle because of a false accusation.
Sunny almost forgot about it.
Glancing at the voracious huntress, he raised an eyebrow.
"Anything you want to tell me?"
She scratched the back of her head, then shrugged.
"I've become a bit of a folk hero, apparently."
Sunny shook his head and didn't press any further.
'Whatever...this is not important at the moment.'
When the sentries saw who was approaching, their faces first became shocked, and then lighted up with intense jubilation.
"Lady Nephis! It's Changing Star!"
"Lady Nephis has returned!"
"She is alive!"
The hum of voices spread through the entire settlement in an instant. If Gunlaug had not known that they were back in the Dark City, he would have learned of it now.
...But he knew, of course. He knew it long before the people of the slum ever laid their eyes on their supposed savior.
Sunny looked past the outer settlement, at the mighty walls of the Bright Castle.
How long before its Lord throws them a welcome party?
...Soon, the cohort was surrounded by a crowd of exhilarated people. Everyone wanted to see that Saint Nephis was alive and well with their own eyes. The other members were bathing in attention, too. Especially Effie.
"Effie!"
"Huntress Athena!"
"Welcome home, Effie! Show them!"
The huntress grinned in bewilderment and kept quiet.
In the crowd, there were a few faces that did not share in everyone's joy. They were the leaders of the outer settlement's hunting parties. The gazes they threw at Nephis were grim and full of meaning. She gave them a nod, letting the experienced hunters know that she understood the message they were trying to relay.
Then, Changing Star faced the inhabitants of the slum and took the bag that Effie handed her. Slowly unclasping it, she spoke, her calm voice effortlessly making the crowd grow silent.
"I am not good with words, so... please accept my gratitude, Dreamers of the Dark City. The past few months have been harsh on me and the members of my cohort, but they must have been equally as harsh on you. However, we have persevered. You here in these cursed ruins, and we out there in the ghastly depths of the Labyrinth. But all of it was not in vain."
With that, she took something from the bag and tossed it to the ground. Suddenly, a deathly silence settled over the crowd. Everyone was staring at the object laying on the stones, expressions of fear clearly written on many faces.
It was a terrifying, jagged black talon, which was as sharp and long as a sword.
And then, another one fell near it, and another, and another.
Eventually, thirty-eight of these dark blades lay in a pile in front of Nephis — thirty from the six front limbs of the Spire Messenger and eight from the two hind ones.
Closing the bag, Nephis put it on her shoulder and said, her tone dark and piercing:
"Out there in the Labyrinth, we have fought and slew one of the cursed Messengers of the Crimson Spire. I bring you its claws as a gift, to become your weapons."
Stunned whispers ran through the crowd. The Messengers were both a symbol of terror and a symbol of hope to the people of the Dark City — terror because of their horrifying power and appetite, as well as their connection to the dreaded Spire, and hope because of the legends that once, a long time ago, a group of powerful Sleepers had managed to kill one.
And now, the legend came alive right in front of their eyes.
Nephis lingered for a moment and then sighed, a somber note appearing in her voice.
"Many years ago, we, those who were sent to the Forgotten Shore, weren't yet imprisoned by fear. Enthralled by the sin of those cowards who had forgotten that they are, first and forever, humans. Back then, there were people among us willing to risk their lives to conquer this hell. Escape it. The First Lord and his companions were the greatest of them. And now..."
Brilliant sparks of light suddenly appeared around her head like a sacred halo. Changing Star's eyes shined with pure white radiance, and, as the Crown of Dawn weaved itself from light and fell upon her head, she spoke.
She didn't rise or even strain her voice, but the impact of her words only grew because of it.
"...I have brought his legacy back to the Dark City. This is the crown of the First Lord. We have retrieved it from a place of eternal darkness where he had fallen in battle. He died trying to find a way out of this cursed land for all of us to follow."
She paused for a moment and then said, her face illuminated by the brilliant white flames that burned in her furious eyes.
On her forehead, the single gem decorating the Dawn Shard shone with that brilliance, too.
Almost like a third eye.
"And with it, we will finish what he started!"
*****
Sometime later, they entered the stone lodge and found themselves in the middle of another, smaller crowd. Around twenty or thirty people gathered in the main hall of Changing Star's dwelling, making it look even smaller than it had before.
However, these were not just any Sleepers from the slum. Most of them were experienced fighters from the outer settlement few hunting parties, as well as people whom Nephis had recruited into her faction during her time in the Dark City.
Back when Sunny had been a part of the group, they were weak and hopeless young men and women who were barely surviving in the cruel reality of the Forgotten Shore. Now, things changed. Neph's little helpers were armed with makeshift weapons and wearing armors fashioned from a wide variety of scavenged materials, while some were even in possession of Memories. They also held themselves very differently from before.
But Sunny's expression was dark for a different reason than the others.
'If I remember correctly, there should have been around forty of them…..but now they were almost reduced by half.'
That didn't sit well with Sunny.
Changing Star walked through the crowd and approached the window that opened on the bleak view of the cursed ruins. She looked at it for a short moment, and then turned around, a dark expression on her face.
"...Tell me."
The leaders of the hunting parties glanced at each other. One of them, a stocky young man with long messy hair and three ugly scars running all the way from his forehead to his chin, spoke with a bit of uncertainty:
"Welcome back, Lady Nephis. It is good that you are alive and well."
She gave him a nod. The hunter paused, then continued, his voice somber:
"We, uh... have followed your orders and advice for these past months. The militia you created has been reinforced and organized to protect the settlement from the attacking monsters. With the Memories you and your cohort hunted for us in the ruins, the casualties were low both among the watchmen and among the civilians. Compared to before, I mean."
Changing Star remained silent and just stared at him. The young man sighed.
"About the other thing... it went almost exactly how you told us it would. Members of the Host came into the settlement shortly after your departure, demanding that Effie should surrender herself to be judged for the disappearance of those Guards. When we told them that she was gone, they got violent. Several people were injured, but no one died…. At least from that."
Effie scoffed. The hunted gave her a complicated look and scratched his cheek.
"But there was another problem…"
The young man stuttered. Unsure how to approach it.
"What is it?"
Caster urged the young man to talk.
The young man hesitated for a moment and then continued.
"E…Exactly, the next day of your departure….and for the fourteen days that followed it, we were finding corpses of our comrades every morning."
Deathly silence took grasp of the small lodge as a suffocating pressure rose in the air.
The young man gulped and continued.
"We thought it was a cunning nightmare creature that snuck into the settlement and was reaping the lives of our comrades at night, judging by how brutally their bodies were ripped apart. That was the only conclusion we managed to come up with."
The Man's hand began to tremble as his eyes quivered.
"We decided to keep watch in teams of two while trying to stay calm about the situation to avoid stirring fear in the settlement since we were its only target."
Beads of sweat tickled down his face and his breath became ragged. Sunny offered the young man the Eternal Spring and voiced a question.
"How did you guys know you were its only target?"
Taking a big gulp from the Eternal Spring, the man breathed and thanked Sunny then proceeded to continue his story.
"All the victims that had fallen to that entity had two things in common…."
He raised his index and middle finger.
"They were all hunters….and They were all Archers."
The faces of everyone in the room looked grimmer and darker. Only Sunny guessed the identity of that creature….no…individual.
Harus.
Another variable arose.
'That madman has taken his anger out on the hunters of the outer settlement. Damn it!'
Effie spoke, her voice couldn't sound any clearer.
"What happened after the fifteenth day?"
Staring at her, the young man replied, sounding a bit calmer.
"After that, the entity never returned. As for the guards, they would come again every week or so, hurt a few people, and break things, always with the same demand. But we kept our cool and just... well. Took it. Like you told us to do. That seemed to only make them angrier, but they had no real reason to escalate things. In the end, they just settled for making our lives difficult and pushing people around."
The tall huntress shook her head.
"What's with the people foaming at their mouths to greet me? What's that really about?"
The young man looked down in embarrassment and cleared his throat.
"Uh, that... well, you see, the more the Castle proclaimed that you have to answer for the murder of those Guards, the more people in the settlement became, how do I say this... appreciative of you?"
Effie looked at him with a perplexed expression.
"Because I am being unjustly accused?"
He smiled sheepishly.
"Ah, no. The opposite. They really appreciate the fact that you had... allegedly... killed half a dozen Guards. In fact, their only regret is that you didn't kill more. There are tales about how exactly you dealt with them, too, one more colorful than the other. The most popular one is that uh... the Guards wanted to rob you of your, eh, honor, so that's why you had to teach the Castle folks a lesson."
The tall huntress blinked.
"My... honor? Since when do I have honor?"
The young man grinned.
"Hey, don't look at me. I did not come up with this one, alright? Blame Park, it was his idea."
Effie looked darkly at another hunter, who just shrugged.
"Lady Nephis told us to do our best to make people in the settlement root for you. It worked, did it not?"
The unruly huntress rubbed her face with an exasperated expression.
"But... I didn't kill them, though?"
The hunter looked at her with no humor in his eyes.
"Who cares?"
Effie opened her mouth to say something, but Nephis interrupted her:
"Time is short. Don't waste it on useless chatter."
Then, she turned to the hunter with scars on his face and asked:
"What about my last instruction? And is there any way to know what that creature is?"
He frowned, then took out a small wooden box from a leather pouch tied to his belt. The young man held the little box like it was the most terrible Nightmare Creature. Handling it with extreme caution, he approached Nephis and handed it to her.
There were drops of sweat on his forehead.
"This... is what the person from the castle brought. I don't know what they used to make Hide create that thing, but the result was exactly as you wished, at least according to the note they left. As for the creature….unfortunately there's no way for us to know its identity."
Nephis nodded.
He hesitated and then continued.
"The box and the note simply appeared on my pillow one day. I almost died of a heart attack when I read what that thing is supposed to be."
Sunny stared at the box with interest. He didn't know what was exactly inside of it, but he knew what it does. Hide was one of Gunlaug's lieutenants, a young woman in charge of the Artisans. Her Aspect Ability allowed her to manipulate certain qualities of plants, which was of tremendous use here on the Forgotten Shore, where the food was scarce and monotonous.
Carefully taking it, Changing Star looked at the box for a few moments and then handed it to Caster.
"You know what to do."
With a short nod, Caster walked toward the door and disappeared.
Nephis, meanwhile, turned to the hunters and said in a steady tone:
"You did well. Thank you, all."
As wide smiles appeared on their faces, she took Effie's bottomless bag and opened it once again. Turning the bag upside down, Changing Star said:
"This is... not a reward, nor is it a gift. This is just something that all of you deserve, and going to need very soon."
A moment later, a river of glimmering crystals flowed from the bag, scattering on the table's surface. There were hundreds and hundreds of them, each shining with subtle, alluring light. Soon, the crystal spilled over the edges of the table and fell to the floor.
A few moments later, more than a thousand soul shards appeared before the stunned people who were gathered in the room. The bottomless bag finally ran empty.
The people gathered in the main hall of the hunting lodge — her most trusted subordinates — stared at the tall pile of soul-shards in utter shock. Here in the Dark City, this was an inconceivable wealth. One shard was enough to buy a person a week of food, comfort, and safety behind the tall walls of the Bright Castle.
Too many had died because they lacked these things. So, in a sense, the mountain of crystals in front of them was tantamount to a thousand human lives.
The scarred hunter slowly tore his eyes away from the glittering shards and looked at Changing Star, his face pale and his voice suddenly raspy:
"What… what is this, Lady Nephis?"
She remained silent for a few moments, and then said in her even, reserved, strangely affecting voice:
"This is for you. To nourish yourselves, and grow stronger. You are going to need every bit of strength for what awaits us in the days to come."
The young man watched her, a dangerous flame slowly igniting in his eyes. A flame of resolve, adoration…
Almost worship.
Hidden in a shadowy corner, Sunny smiled with dark apprehension.
The Dark City would soon become hectic and chaotic.
It was almost time….to end this horrible nightmare.