Shadow Slave | A Slave Once Again

Chapter 12 : Filler

Third POV:

A while later, they were resting in the shadow of the giant statue. Every member of the cohort looked nothing short of terrible. Well, except for Sunny at least.

However, beneath the bloodied сlothes and broken armor, their bodies were whole and sound.

Nephis had healed them all, and now, she was the only one who was weak and exhausted. Using the white flame so much had taken a heavy toll on her.

Sitting in the mud, Sunny raised his head and looked at the familiar giant statue of the faceless woman. She was just like the last time he had seen her, slender and graceful, with her light flowing robe rippling in the wind, as though made out of actual fabric and not hard stone.

The statue was tilted slightly to the side, with its one remaining hand reaching high into the sky. A long time ago, on the night of their harrowing escape from the Ashen Barrow, Sunny, Cassie, and Nephis had taken shelter in her palm.

It was from its height that he had first seen the walls of the Dark City.

Looking down, Sunny stared at the other hand of the giant statue, which had broken off a long time ago and fell down, crushing through the dome of the underground chamber.

'Her statue has saved us two times, well Three times for me.'

Sadly, the cohort did not get a lot of time to rest. Despite the fact that it wasn't even noon yet, they had a lot of ground to cover before sunset.

The plan they had made at the start of the day was to leave the Dark City from the south by climbing the wall near the grandiose Main Gates and then travel through the Labyrinth to the next safe height, which was about ten kilometers away.

However, due to the fact that they had ended up in the catacombs instead and had to escape through the chamber belonging to the Lord of the Dead, the party was now to the east of the ruins, near the beautiful statue of the faceless woman. Not only did they have to circle around the city now, but there was also less time to reach safety before the flood of darkness devoured the Forgotten Shore once again.

Standing up in a chorus of disappointed groans, the cohort assumed the marching formation and set out south. Walking through the mud of the colossal crater was not easy, but for the time being, they had no other choice... unless they wanted to scale the monumental stone wall and return to the Dark City, of course.

Luckily, with both Sunny's shadow and Kai scouting the way ahead, they didn't have to worry about being ambushed by monsters. So, for the time being, the only thing the party had to struggle with was moving their feet through the wet dirt.

The monotonous silence was broken only by laborious breathing and slurping of mud.

...A while later, the impregnable and seemingly endless grey wall that loomed some distance away and above them slowly twisted, drifting away from the edge of the crater.

Far away, the floor of the gargantuan crater sharply rose, forming a tall slope. On it stood the unassailable wall of polished grey stone, firm and unyielding despite the thousands of years that had passed since the demise of its creators.

From where he stood, Sunny could see the flood of crimson coral swelling at its base, sharp blades powerlessly scraping against the cold stone in hopeless attempts to find purchase. It looked as though the city was being besieged by the land itself.

With a sigh, Sunny looked up and noticed a lone, bloodied human figure holding his shoulder while standing on the wall, watching them disappear into the distance. That figure was crooked and dark, emanating a cold feeling of foreboding.