Shadow Slave | A Slave Once Again

Chapter Ten: Catacombs

Third POV:

After that disturbing confrontation, Effie changed their course slightly. Instead of moving straight south, they were now traversing the ancient city heading for its eastern border.

Sunny was familiar with this part of the ruins, thanks to his memories from the previous round.

In the previous round, Sunny mostly stayed north of the Bright Castle, sometimes venturing northeast. He stayed away from the western areas because they were closer to the Crimson Spire, and had not explored much of the south because it was too far away from his cathedral.

It was still fresh in his memory. The last time he had been here was on the day of the bloody fight against the Spire Messenger. Back then, they were headed for the ruins of the lighthouse that had once stood near the impregnable wall of the Dark City. Not that he had a lot of time to observe the surroundings. Pretty much all of his attention was concentrated on Harus, who backed off after Sunny's greeting gift. Although not completely.

'That Arrow was augmented by Two of My shadows...it must have hurt him quite a bit.'

It wasn't meant to kill him of course but it was just to a message. To his Lord.

Soon, they were nearing the tall expanse of the city wall. Not too far away, the remnant of a giant tower lay broken on its side, stretching far away into the distance. The buildings that the tower had fallen on thousands of years ago were shattered and turned into dust. The ancient lighthouse might have been proud and magnificent once. Perhaps it had even served as a symbol of the defiant will of the people of the ancient city, burning as a shining beacon in the eternal darkness of the cursed night. But it had fallen a long time ago... just like the people that built it. At least its ruin remained.

Kai asked. His face pale:

"Where are we heading now?"

Effie gestured at the massive ruin.

"Inside."

They were currently hiding in a collapsed building near the collapsed tower. This area was populated by an especially vile tribe of monsters, and attracting their attention would spell trouble for the entire cohort.

"Call your shadow back and keep it close. When we enter the lighthouse, we will have to act quickly."

"Already did."

Sunny responded seemingly undisturbed by the atmosphere.

Staying low to the ground, the six of them dashed from their hiding spot to the broken lighthouse. Without wasting any time, they found a breach in its wall and climbed inside.

Effie summoned her radiant Memory, bathing the interior of the ruined tower in light. Due to the fact that it was currently lying on its side, they found themselves in a massive, echoing tunnel. Looking around, Effie found her bearings and led them deeper into the tunnel, extreme tension apparent in her every move.

While walking, Effie began to speak:

"Listen to me very carefully and do as I say. Once we're inside, don't separate from the group. Stay together and keep your weapons at hand. The place we're going to is full of Nightmare Creatures. They're not too strong, but they're... special."

She bit her lip.

"Don't even try to kill them. Just defend yourself and keep moving. If you stop, you'll most probably die. Same thing if you slow down and get yourself surrounded. But if we can preserve our formation... we might survive. I hope."

Right in front of him, the floor of the tunnel was broken, forming a narrow crevice. It was filled with darkness, leading deep down into the ground... and then deeper still.