----------
For a moment, Sunny was afraid that they had been walking in circles all this time and now returned exactly to where they had started. But then, he calmed himself down and noted that this river, while as eerie as the one they had crossed on a wooden boat, was rather different.
He couldn't exactly explain it, but it didn't feel the same. Plus, there was no pier with two boats tied to stone pillars anywhere in sight… or rather, sense.
Instead, there was a bridge.
Sunny could feel its shadow falling on the cold water, solid and firm as the stone it was built from. The bridge arched over the river, leading far into the distance.
Not wishing to spend another minute in the terrible maze that no living thing could see if it hoped to remain alive, Sunny led the cohort toward the bridge.
If Cassie was correct, they would be safe after crossing the second river. Sunny surely hoped that it was true, because the long journey where he had to play the role of a guide for five blind people had been nothing short of exhausting.
After spending seven… or was it eight by now? ... months on the Forgotten Shore, Sunny had thought that he possessed a high tolerance for terror. But this last ordeal tested the limits of his mental endurance.
Walking through that dark place with his sight taken away…
It was a miracle that Cassie had somehow managed to remain sane at all.
He tensed up when they entered the bridge, expecting something dreadful to happen at the last moment. But the silence was not broken by anything except for the sound of rushing water, their steps, and laborious breathing.
The cohort walked on the bridge, leaving the dark maze behind. Soon, they could feel the mist surrounding them grow thinner.
And at some point, it was gone.
They crossed the river without any trouble and returned to solid ground again.
Making several more steps, Sunny stopped and finally allowed himself to tremble. Then, he opened his mouth and said in a hoarse voice:
"Are we through?"
Although Cassie had not said anything about the need to remain quiet, each of them subconsciously avoided speaking ever since entering the mist. Because of that, the sound of his own voice startled Sunny a little.
A few moments later, Cassie answered in a hesitant tone:
"I… I think so?"
Without wasting any more time, Sunny untied the cloth that covered his eyes and removed the wax from them. Then, he carefully opened them and looked around.
They were standing on a stone shore inside a vast cave, through which the underground river was flowing unobstructed. Some distance away from them, the wall of the cave came down, with the mouth of a wide tunnel visible in it.
By his side, other members of the cohort were removing the strips of cloth. Sunny could hear the sighs of relief coming from them.
However, his attention was instantly drawn to Nephis, who had already opened her calm grey eyes and was looking at something behind him.
Turning around, Sunny followed her gaze… and froze.
----------
Close to the stone shore, in a shallow backwater where the river curved inward and stilled—incredibly calm and silent compared to the tumultuous current beside it, its dark waters thin enough to let the faint light seep through and reveal the soil beneath—there lay a human body at the bottom.
As if untouched by the ominous aura of the vile substance that submerged it, the body of a young man lies there, naked, and seemingly preserved from the ravages of time. Golden hair drifted freely around his head, pale strands shimmering faintly in the dim light. His skin was smooth and ivory, unblemished by decay. Broad shoulders, a sculpted chest, and well-defined limbs gave him the build of a seasoned warrior. His face was beautiful in a striking, almost regal way, as though carved with deliberate care.
Sunny had to admit that he looked almost perfect, even by Awakened standards. Kai was the only person Sunny thought could beat the unknown corpse in terms of appearance.
The only flaw that he could notice was a severe wound at his right side, leaving a gaping hole instead of flesh.
Despite the young man being naked, Sunny could see a thin strip of light metal resting on his head like a humble crown. There was a single bright gemstone on the metal band, placed right above the middle of his forehead.
Sunny realized who the unknown corpse was.
The First Bright Lord.
The young man whom the members of the cohort only knew by his title had died on the shores of the cold underground river, just a few meters away from the bridge that he had used to escape the terrible place, which, according to Cassie, no living being should have been able to escape.
Somehow, he had survived even without knowing that anyone entering the mist had to keep their eyes closed at all times. But in the end, the wound he had received there—or somewhere up ahead, perhaps—turned out to be too grievous.
Before the last vestiges of life abandoned him, the young man—the First Lord who had wrestled the Bright Castle from the Nightmare Creatures, created a safe place for the humans sent to the Forgotten Shore to live, and led an expedition to find a way out of this cursed place—decided to find a place to rest and lay at the bottom of the shallow backwater, leaving him alone in the darkness of this forsaken underworld.
Looking at the body that lay quietly below the surface of the dark water, Sunny couldn't help but feel a deep feeling of awe… and sorrow.
He had never met this young man, but somehow, it felt as though they knew each other very well.
Everything that humans had on the Forgotten Shore was thanks to his bravery, power, and skill.
…What a shame that he had died here, in this lonesome place, with no one to share his last moments and tell the tale of his last deeds.
As Sunny acknowledged the situation, someone in the party moved close to the edge of the shore.
Approaching the body, Nephis looked at the metal band. Sunny realized that it was probably this mundane crown that made her lead this desperate expedition in the first place.
With a deep sigh, she lowered her hand in an attempt to gently retrieve what she had longed for the past few weeks.
For a brief moment, everything seemed suspended—the faint drift of golden hair, the soft glow of the gemstone, and the muted breath of the group behind her.
Then Cassie screamed.
"Nephis! Don't! He's—"
Too late.
The very moment Nephis' hand broke the numbing silence of the backwater adjacent to the underworld river, something changed.
Below the surface of the dark water, the eyes of the First Bright Lord opened, revealing in the darkness of this forsaken underworld a golden glow that had not shone upon the Forgotten Shore for over a decade.
Cassie's voice finished in a whisper.
"— alive!"
-----
First chapter, I hope it was interesting. I took part of the chapter from Shadow Slave and switched things to match my fan fiction.
Any advice/opinions/etc. are welcome.