Chapter 565: Unleashed
Sunny flinched as the sound of shattering mirrors filled his ears. No one else seemed to react to it, though — and a moment later, as the cracked piece of glass in Master Pierce's hand exploded into a rain of shards, the sound abruptly disappeared.
The fearsome man shuddered.
"No…"
'What is happening?!'
Sunny took a step back. Things were happening too fast, and he couldn't comprehend the situation yet. All he knew was that his heart was cold, and his mind was overwhelmed by a premonition of something ominous, dreadful, and disastrous happening.
He had been fooled… he had made a mistake!
Cassie shifted slightly, tilting her head with a tense and confused expression.
In the next moment, Pierce swiftly turned to the sentinel, his face still pale and terrified, but now also full of grim resolve. His voice, which had been so confident just a few moments ago, now sounded panicked:
"Seal the temple! Destroy the Gateway! Go, now! We can't… we can't let that thing escape…"
Sunny's eyes widened.
'D… destroy the Gateway?! What the hell does he mean?!'
And what thing he was talking about?
The sentinel didn't seem to have these questions. Pierce's terror had spread to him like an infection, but the man simply nodded and darted out of the room without letting fear slow him down.
Cassie took a step back to let him pass, then asked tensely:
"Sir Pierce? What is going on?"
As though reminded of their presence, the Master turned around and threw a dark, menacing look at Sunny.
"...You!"
His voice shook with barely suppressed fury.
'Crap…'
Sunny thought about summoning the Cruel Sight, but before he could even move, the tall man was already beside him, grabbing him by the shoulder. If it wasn't for the Bone Weave, Sunny's clavicle might have cracked from the terrible pressure.
With his other hand, Pierce grabbed Cassie, causing her to yelp in pain.
"I'll deal with two of you later… there's no time…"
Next thing Sunny knew, they were being dragged out of the room. He threw a regretful glance at the pile of his belongings that was left laying on the table, stared at the Covetous Coffer for a moment, and then turned away.
'What to do, what to do…'
The situation was clearly out of his control now. Mordret has done something… had manipulated him to do something… and now, the whole Citadel was on high alarm and furious with Sunny. Whatever it was that the mysterious prince had used Sunny to achieve, it was bad enough to terrify a Master and justify the irrevocable destruction of a precious Gateway.
So, there were two questions.
'Should I try to fight my way out? And… should I also be terrified of the thing that Mordret unleashed?'
Suddenly, another thought occurred to Sunny.
'Or is… is Mordret himself that thing?'
His heart grew even colder.
There was not enough information to answer the second question, but the first one was rather easy. Sunny was strong, but not nearly strong enough to fight two Masters and a hundred deadly elites, especially not on their home ground. Plus, both he and Cassie had status… even a great clan wouldn't dare to make them disappear without proper cause.
'I... I need more information first. Let's see how this plays out and make a move if the circumstances demand it…'
So, he didn't struggle as Master Pierce dragged them into the corridor.
Outside the small room, the Citadel that had been peaceful and somber before was not in a state of pandemonium. Several Lost darted past them, their shadows dancing on the black walls in the orange glow of the ornate oil lamps.
Sunny could see motion and sense hurried, but orderly movement in every direction. Unlike before, each inhabitant of the temple was now clad in armor and wielded deadly weapons. They were swift and disciplined, like professional soldiers that were preparing for war.
And there was an army of them.
But, despite all that…
Was it nervousness he felt behind the facade of calmness the Lost showed?
Master Pierce shouted at one of the sentinels, ordering him to stop, then pushed Sunny and Cassie toward the man.
"Lock these two up in the lesser cell!"
Sunny wanted to express his outrage, but before he could, the whole temple suddenly shuddered. A few moments later, a deafening soundwave rolled through the corridor.
'The gates… they have closed them…'
But it wasn't as simple as that. Since they were still in the outward ring of the Citadel, his shadow sense had been somewhat able to reach into the emptiness beyond its outer wall. But as soon as the gates closed, that changed, as though the temple was now completely cut off from the outside world.
It was now sealed… with them inside…
The sentinel silently grabbed the two of them and dragged them away. Staggering and trying not to fall, Sunny threw a glance behind his shoulder.
The last thing he saw was a woman with beautiful red hair appearing before the fearsome Master. She wore a simple black tunic and leather vambraces, her shins protected by a pair of greaves. The woman's face was grim and full of tension.
"...Pierce! What the Spell happened?!"
A moment later, the two disappeared behind a turn of the corridor.
'This must be Master Welthe…'
The Lost swiftly dragged them through the disorienting maze of corridors and stairs. They were descending lower and lower, most likely heading toward one of the cathedral's belfries. His expression was dark and severe, and for a good reason — everywhere they passed through, the inhabitants of the Night Temple were busy preparing for battle. It was as though they were expecting to face a terrifying siege…
The threat, however, didn't seem to be coming from the outside. Instead, most of the Lost were rushing deeper into the temple, toward its inner sanctum.
…It wasn't long before they heard screams.
The sound traveled through the confusing interior of the cathedral in a strange manner, so it was hard to say from which direction the screams came. They seemed distant, and yet, Sunny couldn't help but feel his blood run cold.
These chilling wails were full of indescribable agony and terror… he knew the type too well. These were the screams that humans let out when they were not only horribly hurt, but also maimed, knowing that their lives were either over or would never be the same.
The sentinel in charge of them stopped for a moment. His face grew ashen, and without saying a word, he continued to drag them toward a heavy metal door at the end of a long corridor.
The Lost used an elaborate key to open the door, and then pushed them inside.
Sunny and Cassie found themselves in a circular chamber that had a tall ceiling… or rather, a tall floor, since it was built in reverse. The domed ceiling of the chamber was actually beneath their feet, sloping down like a deep crater.
In the center of the cell, a large iron cage stood, each bar of it as thick as a man's arm. Strange runes were inscribed all around the cage, circling it entirely.
'What the…'
A moment later, the sentinel unceremoniously pushed them both in the backs, causing Sunny and Cassie to roll down the slope of the dome and through the door of the cage, which he then promptly closed.
It locked with a loud click, cutting their way to freedom.
'No way...'
Sunny rose to his feet, turned around, and watched as the Lost left the room and shut the door behind him.
For a few moments, they were left in absolute silence. The room was dark, with only a single oil lamp burning on the wall near the exit. Its orange flame trembled and danced, barely managing to keep the shadows at bay.
Sunny gritted his teeth, then kicked the iron bars with all his might and screamed in anger and frustration:
"Damn it! Damn it all"
Behind him, Cassie slowly stood up, then swayed a little.
"Sunny…"
He turned to her and snarled:
"What?!"
The blind girl grimaced.
"Something… something is wrong. I feel…"
Sunny stared at her for a few moments, then blinked and looked outside the cage.
...The runes surrounding it were slowly starting to emanate an eerie, dangerous blue glow.
Chapter 566: lmprisoned
Sunny looked at the runes. Their eerie glow was swiftly growing brighter and brighter, drowning the chamber in a ghostly light. Slowly, a deep frown appeared on his face.
Then, suddenly, his eyes widened.
"Crap!"
But it was already too late. The runes shimmered, and in the next moment, he felt his reserve of shadow essence plunging. It was as though something was draining the essence out of his soul with terrifying speed.
At the same time, the range of shadow essence diminished even further, becoming limited by the size of the cage. The gloomy shadow recoiled, trying to get away from the shining runes.
Sunny hurriedly tried to summon the Cruel Sight, but he was a second too slow. Before the spear could form itself from the sparks of light, his essence ran dry, and it disintegrated before assuming a physical form.
"...Damnation!"
He looked helplessly at the bars of the cage and clenched his fists.
This was indeed a jail cell built to contain Awakened. Without shadow essence, he wouldn't be able to use Shadow Step to escape. More than that, he couldn't summon Memories anymore — manifesting them into reality demanded essence, as well, even if it was a tiny amount.
The same went for Echoes… and even Shadows.
He also felt weak, and was only going to grow weaker in the coming hours — without essence circulating through his body, Sunny's strength was vastly diminished.
...Whoever created this damned cage really knew what they were doing.
With a resentful snarl, Sunny turned around and allowed himself to slide down to the center of the dome, where Cassie stood with a lost expression on her pale, delicate face.
Raising one hand awkwardly, she tentatively moved it through the air around her and whispered:
"...I am blind again."
Sunny frowned, stared at her for a moment, and then turned away.
"You were always blind."
Of course, he knew what Cassie meant — without soul essence, the Aspect Ability that allowed her to perceive the world from several seconds in the future was gone, too. It wasn't exactly sight, but something that had replaced being able to see to her.
His words might have been cruel, but Sunny was not in the mood for pleasantries.
Being locked in a cage, powerless to escape… that was his worst nightmare.
And he had no one but himself to blame for ending up that way!
Turning away from the blind girl, Sunny sat down, lowered his head, and grabbed it with both hands.
'Curse him…'
Suddenly, the cathedral shook again.
Cassie remained silent for a while, then said quietly:
"This must have been the Gateway. They… they really destroyed it."
Sunny closed his eyes.
"I guess you are right."
He heard her sitting down opposite him and wondered about the black altar that was now laying somewhere in the depths of the Citadel in pieces. Was the ivory knife destroyed, as well?
Had there even been a second knife, to begin with? Or was it just a lie Mordret had invented to lure him into the Night Temple?
What else had he lied about?
Sunny gritted his teeth, suppressing a groan. He felt scared, furious, and utterly humiliated.
He had been so careful not to trust the mysterious voice after hearing it for the first time. But Mordret had been so helpful, and had provided him with so much valuable information that proved to be true. Sunny was, most likely, only alive because of the lost prince's aid.
Even so, he had never lowered his guard. If there had been the smallest hint that Mordret wanted something from him, he would have suspected the worst. But the bastard was just too devious and cunning… terrifyingly so.
Mordret had played him like a fiddle...
He had understood perfectly just how untrusting Sunny was, and went with the lightest of approaches. Knowing that any pressure would scare his paranoid mark off, Mordret had simply mentioned the ivory knife in passing and never spoke about it again… in fact, after the hook was in, he had never spoken to Sunny again.
Observing silently and waiting for his prey to come to him of its own volition…
Sunny shuddered.
'Oh, gods… how much has he seen?'
He was willing to bet that there had never even been a need for Mordret to wait days between their conversations. All of it was just a part of an intricate web of lies and manipulation.
'Fool! I am such a fool!'
How had he allowed himself to be fooled so completely?
A crazy smile suddenly appeared on Sunny's face, and he let out a stifled laugh.
Wasn't the answer obvious? Truth… his downfall was the truth! Like a masterful liar, Mordret had mixed just enough of it into his lies to make them believable.
"Oh, the irony..."
Cassie shifted slightly, and asked, her voice soft and cautious:
"Sunny? What exactly happened back there?"
He let out a bitter chuckle and answered in a dark tone:
"Why? Don't you know everything?"
The blind girl didn't answer, and after some more time passed, he sighed.
"...Sorry. It was me. I got us into this mess."
Sunny straightened and forced himself to calm down.
Dwelling on the past was not going to do them any good. The situation was bad, but not hopeless. The future was uncertain, and there would surely be a chance to turn everything around… he just needed to remain in control of himself and be ready to act when an opportunity presented itself.
Who said that Mordret was going to have the last laugh?
"Do you remember the mysterious Lost I told you about? The one who had taught me about the Seed, and the knives?"
Cassie nodded slowly.
Sunny lingered for a few moments, then shook his head.
"Well, as it turns out, he lured me into the Night Temple on purpose. He needed the piece of mirror I found a while back, for some reason. When Master Pierce saw it, all hell broke loose."
She remained silent for some time, and then asked:
"Do you think that this Lost is here, in the Night Temple?"
Sunny looked away. When he finally spoke, his voice sounded grim:
"I do. Actually… I think that this whole Citadel is a prison. A prison that was meant to contain a single creature. Him."
Cassie shivered and hugged her shoulders. A heavy silence settled between them.
After a while, she said:
"Maybe you are right. But, Sunny…"
Her voice trembled:
"...What kind of a being would require a hundred Awakened fighters, two Ascended knights, and a Saint to guard it?"
Sunny stared at her, not knowing what to say.
He had no idea.
Chapter 567: No Escape
Sunny felt that there was a hint about what manner of a creature Mordret was in the fact that only the Lost and human Echoes had been allowed to guard him, but that was too little information to make a guess.
What else did he know about the man who called himself the Prince of Nothing?
He was reasonably sure that Mordret was a human… or at least had been once, at some point. A Nightmare Creature could fake a human voice, but not the knowledge of the waking world that Mordret had shown. Sunny also felt that the mysterious prince had told the truth about conquering the First Nightmare at twelve years of age.
Other than that, all Sunny had was the description of the Cruel Edge, which told of a prince that had been given away to a monstrous Dreamspawn, and later returned only to find out that he wasn't welcome in his father's home anymore. That and the fact that the Mirror Beast had been created by Mordret, much like Saint had been created by him.
That was not much to go off of…
With a sigh, Sunny looked around the cage.
Due to the concave nature of its floor, he and Cassie were forced to stay close to each other. The only surface flat enough to sit comfortably was at the very center of the dome, and not too large in diameter. The cage was utterly empty, with the exception of a rusty bucket that was covered by a wooden lid.
Sunny stared at a bucket for a while, then grimaced.
"How long do you think they'll keep us here?"
Cassie remained silent for a while, then answered evenly:
"That depends on whether they can contain the prisoner."
A deep scowl appeared on his face.
Would a hundred elite Awakened warriors and two Masters, all in service to a Great Clan, be able to handle Mondret? Before today, he would have said yes without a moment of hesitation. No matter how powerful the mysterious prince was, how could he contend against an entire army?
…But after seeing the terror on Sir Pierce's face and how nervous the Lost were, Sunny wasn't so sure anymore.
And what would happen if Mordret somehow prevailed?
Would they be safe?
Or… would they learn that terror themselves?
'Crap…'
Sunny threw a dark glance at the door of the chamber and closed his eyes.
For now, there was nothing they could do but wait.
Minutes passed, slowly converging into hours. With no windows, it was hard to measure the passage of time. Sunny and Cassie mostly remained silent, partially because each was preoccupied with their own thoughts, and partially because there was nothing useful they could say.
The Night Temple shuddered several more times, but these tremors weren't as strong as the first two. Sunny silently meditated, feeling the shadow essence dissipate from his muscles and his strength slowly diminishing. After a while, he stood up, climbed to the walls of the cage, and studied the runes, then explored every centimeter of the cell.
He even tried to bend and dislodge the iron bars, but it was useless. The cage seemed to be built to imprison Masters or, perhaps, even Saints. Even at his full power, Sunny wouldn't have been able to break free with brute force.
After a while, he had no choice but to slide back to the center of the dome and resume doing nothing.
…He hadn't had an opportunity like that in a long while. Actually, doing nothing was sort of relaxing — if he ignored the fact that their lives were hanging by a thread, of course.
The blue glow of the runes and the orange light of the oil lamp were soft and dim, leaving the chamber dark and full of shadows. Somewhere outside, a gruesome massacre was perhaps taking place.
But here, everything was calm and silent.
Sunny was on the verge of dozing off when Cassie suddenly turned to face the door.
"Someone is coming."
He opened his eyes and stood up, then glanced at the oil lamp with a dark expression. Its dancing flame trembled, and then disappeared for a moment when the door opened with a bang and a gust of wind entered the cell.
Five people came inside.
Four of them were Lost warriors, their faces grim and their armor bloodied. One was the same sentinel who had locked them inside, his face ashen and pale, a piece of white cloth wrapped around his head like a makeshift bandage.
The fifth was a woman with beautiful red hair, wearing a black tunic… Master Welthe. There was a strange amulet in the shape of an anvil hanging on a thin chain around her neck, and murder in her eyes. The aura she emanated was truly frightening.
'So, Mordret did not manage to escape, after all…'
The Master threw a cold glance at Cassie, then turned to Sunny.
"You! You brought that piece of mirror into the Citadel, correct?"
Sunny shifted slightly.
"I did."
The corner of Welthe's mouth twitched.
"Who instructed you to do so?!"
He blinked a couple of times.
"What? No one instructed me. I had no idea what that shard was. I just thought that it was curious and picked it up…"
The beautiful woman glanced at one of the Lost, who nodded.
"He is telling the truth. Or at least believes in what he says."
Sunny studied the Lost, who was a man in his thirties, with a gaunt face and clear, grey eyes.
'Great. Another walking lie detector…'
Welthe frowned, then pierced Sunny with a heavy gaze.
"What was your purpose in coming to Night Temple?"
Sunny hesitated for a few moments. When he spoke, his voice sounded frightened and a little shaky:
"I've been told that there is... there is a special knife here, on the altar. I am interested in that knife, because it has to do with the past of the Chained Isles. I am a researcher at the Awakened Academy, you see… maybe you've read my previous exploration report? It's, uh… quite famous."
The Master stared at him for some time, then glanced at the Lost with clear eyes, and shook her head dejectedly.
"All this… because of one clueless fool…"
'Yes, yes... I am a pathetic, useless fool. Believe it!'
Sunny cleared his throat.
"Master Welthe? I am very sorry for the trouble I've caused, but… uh… what is going on? And when are you going to release us?"
She suddenly let out a stifled laugh, then looked at him with a dark, furious expression:
"Release you? If you knew what your actions have caused, you would have begged me to keep you in this cell. At least that fiend can't get to you here… no, the two of you will remain locked up until we deal with the mess you've made. And we will deal with it, believe me."
That was not exactly the answer Sunny wanted to hear, but at least it gave him some information.
Mordret wasn't contained yet... rather, he and the Valor forces seemed to be in some sort of a stalemate.
Master Welthe gritted her teeth, then turned away.
However, before leaving, she stopped for a moment and then said, her voice grim:
"Now that the temple is sealed, no one but Lord Cormac can unseal it, anyway. With the Gateway destroyed, there's no escape. Where would you even go?"
With that, she clenched her fists and left the chamber. The four Lost followed, closing the door behind them.
Sunny stared at it for a while, a bleak expression on his face.
'No one but Lord Cormac can unseal it…'
"Crap!"
The Saint was not supposed to return until a month from now!
He looked at Cassie, then at their cage, and lastly at the glowing runes.
This was going to be a long and terrible month…
Chapter 568: Full Circle
He sat back down, waited for a while, and then turned to Cassie:
"Did you take a look at her Attributes?"
She sat down, too, and sighed.
"Yes. Her, the four Lost with her. Sir Pierce, too. I also saw the name and Rank of their Aspects."
Sunny frowned.
"What? Since when can you read Aspects, too?"
The blind girl shrugged.
"Since my Awakening."
He stared at her for a bit.
'What a useful Ability…'
In worse news, if she had not known some of his secrets before, she surely knew them now.
'...How infuriating.'
Sunny grimaced, lingered for a bit, and then said:
"Good. Chances are, we'll need that information before all of this is over."
He didn't press her for answers yet, since there was a lot he had to think about.
Some more time passed with both of them remaining silent. After a while, the door of the chamber opened once more, and the familiar four Lost entered. The one with a bandaged head was carrying a tray of food and a waterskin.
He studied them for a few moments, a cold expression on his handsome face, and then threw the food and the waterskin through the iron bars without approaching the cage.
Sunny suppressed his anger and opened his mouth, assuming the persona of a cowardly researcher:
"Hey! Sir… uh… sir Awakened! Can you tell us what is going on? Please, we don't even know what is wrong!"
The sentinel glanced at him darkly and spat in a commanding tone:
"Silence!"
His voice was clear and strong, full of arrogant confidence… and deep animosity toward the two of them.
Without saying another word, the Lost left, once again locking the door behind them.
Sunny remained motionless for a few moments, then slowly lowered his gaze and glanced at the food that rolled down the slope of the dome to his feet.
Then, suddenly, he threw his head back and laughed loudly.
"Oh… oh, gods! Never thought I'll be eating this crap again…"
Right in front of him, reflecting the blue glow of the runes, two colorless tubes of synthpaste were lying on the floor.
He knew their shape all too well.
***
They had a late supper, which consisted of a synthetic paste that had the consistency of mud and tasted about the same. Still, this vile invention was cheap to produce and supposed to contain all the nutrients one needed to — barely — survive.
Sunny had not missed the damned sludge at all.
In the outskirts, the easiest food to get was called a "universal ration pack"... or simply a rat pack. It contained a tube of synthpaste, a cheap water filter, and several dry, tasteless crackers. This was what he mostly ate before becoming an Awakened, so now, Sunny felt as though his life had come full circle.
Such irony...
After a while, tired and weak without the essence sustaining their bodies, they decided to sleep.
The flat space in the center of the cage was so small that Sunny and Cassie had to settle with their backs against each other. With nothing but two layers of thin fabric separating their skin, Sunny could feel the heartbeat reverberating through her lithe body.
...The cage was cold and chilly, but at least his back was warm.
They lay in silence for a while, trying to fall asleep.
Before they did, however, Cassie suddenly spoke:
"Sunny…"
Her voice was quiet and hesitant.
"How… how is she doing? Do you know?"
He kept his eyes closed and remained silent for a few moments, then said with no particular emotion:
"She is doing great. She is a devil already. Now stop bothering me."
Cassie sighed, and didn't say anything else.
…In the middle of the night — if it was night outside — he suddenly woke up, disturbed by a sudden change in her breathing. Through the thin fabric of their clothes, he could feel the blind girl's body tense up, her breathing rugged and uneven.
Sunny hesitated, then turned around and looked at Cassie.
In the pale glow of the runes, her delicate face seemed white and bloodless. It was contorted in a tortured grimace, with beads of sweat appearing on her forehead. Her eyes were moving hectically behind the eyelids.
He lingered, not knowing what to do.
It was obvious that Cassie was having a vision, and that like most of her visions, this one was painful and terrifying. Was he supposed to wake her up? Or would it do more harm than good?
Before he could decide, she suddenly sat up with a stifled yelp. Her chest was rising and falling wildly, and there was a panicked expression on her face.
The blind girl raised her hands and tried to feel her surroundings, clearly not quite remembering where she was.
Sunny caught one of them, making Cassie flinch, and said darkly:
"Take a hold of yourself, damn it. You're in a cage in Night Temple. Stop thrashing around."
She froze, surrendering to his iron grip. After a while, Cassie took a deep breath and said weakly:
"...I'm alright."
He let her go, picked up the mostly empty waterskin, and put it onto her hand.
The blind girl drank the last of their water and closed her eyes, her breathing slowly returning to normal.
Sunny waited for a minute, and then asked in a gloomy tone:
"Another vision?"
She silently nodded.
A dark grin appeared on his face.
"What? Did we die again?"
Cassie shook her head, then opened her eyes and frowned.
"No… no, this time I saw someone else."
She put the waterskin on the floor, hugged her knees, and spoke again, her voice still tense, but now much calmer:
"It was one of the Lost — the man with grey eyes who advised Lady Welthe. He was in front of a large crucible, throwing shards of broken mirrors into the fire. There were thousands of them, all reflecting his image. Only… at some point, one of the reflections stopped."
She shivered.
"The Lost stopped, too, and stared at the motionless reflection, his eyes full of utter terror. It was as though he was paralyzed by fear. He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out of his mouth. After that, he didn't move anymore… but the reflection finally did. It raised its head, and… and smiled."
Cassie grew silent, and then added, her voice trembling:
"That smile filled me with so much dread that all I could think about was to run away. But I couldn't. That… that was when I woke up."
Sunny looked at her for a while, thinking. His face was cold and grim.
It wasn't hard to understand what the vision was about. Mordret's Aspect was somehow tied to mirrors, after all… but what did it all mean? What were his powers, exactly?
He sighed and turned away.
"It's fine. You did well. Go back to sleep, if you can."
She listened to him and slowly lay down. However, Sunny could tell by her breathing that the blind girl was wide awake.
He couldn't sleep, too.
…In the morning, the door of their cell opened, and the same group of Lost brought them more food.
Only, this time, there were only three of them.
The man with grey eyes was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 569: On the Seventh Day
The three Lost seemed to be in a better shape than they had been the day before — their armor was cleaned, and their wounds were properly tended to. However, somehow, they looked worse to wear. Their faces were paler, their movements were full of tension, and there was a strange darkness hiding in their eyes.
Only the sentinel who had spoken to Sunny before was the same. If anything, his cold resolve seemed to have grown stronger… as did his silent hostility. Without saying a word, he threw the tubes of syntpaste into the cage, then pointed at the waterskin laying on the floor near Cassie.
Sunny tossed the empty waterskin out, and received a new one in return.
"Sir! Can you please tell us what is going on? Where is your, uh... fourth friend? Did something happen?"
The sentinel stared at him with a heavy, grim expression. When he answered, his voice was steady and even:
"Don't speak unless spoken to."
With that, the Lost left. The door of the cell locked with a loud click, the flame of the oil lamp trembled, and everything became silent once again.
Sunny sighed.
"...What an unfriendly fellow."
Just like that, their imprisonment started.
There were no windows in the stone chamber, so it was almost impossible to track the passage of time. Their only hint was the appearance of the three Lost, who brought them food and water once every day, and sometimes changed the oil in the lantern.
Sunny and Cassie spent the first few days in silence and tense, grim anticipation. They slept back to back, sharing the heat of their bodies to overcome the chilling cold of the prison cell, and suffered through the daytime without speaking to each other unless absolutely necessary. Both were waiting for something disastrous to happen.
However, nothing did.
The Night Temple had not shaken again, and nothing came through the heavy door to either set them free or destroy them. Neither Master Welthe nor Master Pierce had visited the enchanted chamber, as well, as if Sunny and Cassie were completely forgotten. The stone cell was silent and unchanging.
However, they could still tell that something sinister and dire was going on outside. The evidence was in how the three Lost that brought them food — their only connection to the rest of the world — looked and behaved.
With each day, two of them seemed more and more frightened, while the third grew increasingly cold and grim. No matter how much Sunny tried to get the sentinel to speak, the arrogant warrior refused to tell him anything, and only glared at the prisoners through the iron bars of the cage, his eyes full of ire.
Their actions changed, too. If before all three used to look at Sunny and Cassie while delivering the food, now only the sentinel did. The other two stood facing the door, their weapons drawn.
…Sometimes, their hands were trembling.
Realizing that nothing was going to change any time soon, Sunny had to reluctantly change his behavior. He shared everything he knew about Mordret with Cassie, and learned everything she remembered about the Night Temple in return. With nothing else to do but teach each other, they went over every little detail many times over… only to end up with nothing.
No new clues, no deeper understanding, not even a good guess or two. It was simply a dead end.
For now…
On the seventh day, the three Lost arrived as usual. The sentinel walked forward and threw the tubes of synthpaste into the cage, while the other two assumed defensive positions behind his back. Their eyes seemed dark and hollow.
However, before Sunny could toss the empty waterskin outside, a chilling scream suddenly resounded in the corridor outside the door. A long, drowning shriek echoed from the cold stones, full of torment and indescribable agony.
How could a human throat produce such a sound?
The Lost tensed and gripped their weapons, one of them taking an involuntary step back.
The sentinel snarled and pushed the man in the back.
"Get a hold of yourself, cowards! Remember your duty!"
With that, he threw the waterskin to Sunny and rushed outside, a slender sword appearing in his hand from a whirlpool of dancing sparks of light. The others gritted their teeth and followed, shutting the door behind them.
The flame of the oil lamp trembled.
…On the next day, when the door opened again, only two Lost walked through it.
***
One of the surviving Lost looked like a walking corpse. There were no wounds on his body, but his eyes were dull and glassy. He glanced at Sunny and Cassie lifelessly, then turned around and raised his weapon, staring at the open door with tired dread.
Even the arrogant sentinel seemed a bit… diminished. His handsome face was still cold and resolute, but there was a slight weakness to how his shoulders were set, and a slight uncertainty to his movements.
He tossed the tubes of synthpaste and the water inside the cage, not even waiting for Sunny to return the other two waterskins. Sunny wanted to try to get the Lost to speak to him again, as usual, but then thought better of it.
There was a sharp edge in the man's eyes that made the idea of pushing him even a little seem too dangerous.
The two Lost left, leaving the prisoners alone again.
Sunny stared at the door and the orange flame of the oil lamp dancing beside it for a few minutes, then shivered and turned away.
Their jailers returned several more times. With each day, they looked more disheveled and exhausted, the darkness in their eyes growing deeper and deeper. A few times, Sunny could hear strange, disturbing sounds coming from the corridor, but the two Lost did not seem to react to them at all.
A week later, the food did not arrive for an especially long time. Sunny glared gloomily at the door, feeling pangs of hunger torment his empty stomach. One tube of synthpaste a day was not nearly enough to satiate him, so he was always hungry… just like he had been in the past, living on the streets in the outskirts.
Hours passed, but the two Lost were nowhere to be seen.
'Where the hell are they...'
Then, something suddenly crashed into the door from the outside with a loud bang. A bit of dust fell from the ceiling, and then, everything became silent once more.
Sunny remained motionless for a few moments, then slowly looked down.
Something was flowing from beneath the door, streaming down the slope of the dome toward the cage. In the dim orange glow of the oil lantern, the liquid seemed almost black.
But he knew its smell too well…
Blood. It was human blood.
…After that day, no one came to feed them anymore.
Chapter 570: Thirst
Sunny looked at the stream of blood that was getting closer and closer to the cage, then glanced back at the door and waited, wondering if someone… or something… would burst through it and enter the cell.
But nothing did. After that first loud bang, everything stayed eerily quiet. Seconds passed, then minutes. Finally, he slowly turned away from the door and looked at Cassie.
"Do you smell it?"
She lingered for a moment, then nodded.
"...Blood."
Sunny remained motionless for a bit, then walked back to his usual place and sat down. His face was grim. After a while, he said in a dark tone:
"We are going to need to start rationing water."
Humans could survive for a long time without food, but water… water was much more precious. Without it, a healthy human could die in a matter of days.
And there were very few more agonizing ways to go.
Cassie turned her head, then asked somberly:
"Why? Do you think that they are going to just leave us here?"
Sunny opened his mouth to retorn that she was the one who could see the future. But in the end, he held his tongue.
"...Just in case."
They had one full waterskin left. As Awakened, they would also be able to last longer without water than mundane humans — especially Sunny, whose body was strengthened by three cores, Blood Weave, and his shadows.
But would that be long enough?
There was no way to know.
He closed his eyes and exhaled slowly, then tried to meditate.
Time crawled slowly. Their hunger grew, but no one came to bring them food. With their last connection to the outside world gone, it was impossible to tell what day it was. Sunny and Cassie remained in the barely illuminated darkness alone, waiting for something to happen, or slept while shivering from the cold.
It wasn't long before their water ran out. The waterskin wasn't that large, to begin with.
...Then, came the thirst.
Sunny thought that he knew what madness felt like, but after spending several days — at least he thought that a few had passed — without drinking anything, he learned that there was a completely different realm of crazed delirium.
The feeling of thirst was absolutely maddening, torturous, and suffocating. His throat hurt as if it was being cut, his lips had dried and cracked, and so did his tongue. His head was full of pulsating pain, and his muscles were experiencing excruciating cramps. All he could think about was water, water, water…
The worst part of it all, however, was the fear. Fear that he was going to die in this cursed cage like a dog, forgotten and discarded. Maybe one day someone would open the heavy door, and find his desiccated corpse reaching hopelessly and pathetically toward it through the iron bars…
Sunny had tried everything he could think of to get out of the cage, but nothing he had done helped. The only result was that his condition worsened even further.
By then, his throat and mouth felt as though they were on fire, and his entire body ached terribly. He felt weak and lethargic, and his vision was starting to blur. Sunny spent most of his time staring at the orange flame of the oil lamp, because it was more or less the only thing he could see clearly.
Then, it disappeared, too.
The stone cell became even darker, with only the ghostly, dim glow of the runes illuminating the iron bars of the cage.
'...The oil ran out.'
Sunny closed his eyes.
Was it really hopeless?
No, he couldn't give up… he refused to…
In all this suffering and despair, the only thing that kept him somewhat sane was the fact that Cassie was right there with him, going through the same hell. At least… at least he wasn't alone.
Despite all the complicated emotions and the heavy burden of past sins, sharing his pain with someone had made if not bearable, then at least a little easier. Neither of them would have been able to endure the agony and the terror of not knowing whether they were going to live or die, the fear of the unknown, alone. But together, the two of them managed to persevere, somehow. Maybe just to not let the other see them break first…
Sunny didn't know how many days had passed since the flame of the oil lantern died out. Time lost its meaning a while ago. All he knew was the thirst, the pain, and the stubborn, spiteful will to hold on just a little bit longer.
…At some point, he opened his eyes in the darkness and stared at the blurry blue glow of the sorcerous runes. Then, he turned his head and looked at Cassie, who was sleeping in his arms.
There was a sound… a sound coming from behind the door.
Sunny wanted to tell Cassie to wake up, but his throat was so dry that no sound came out of it. All it did was bring him more pain. He gritted his teeth, then shook her gently, waited for her to open her eyes, and carefully placed a finger on her lips.
He wanted her to remain quiet.
The blind girl hesitated for a few moments, then nodded.
They let go of each other and shakily rose to their feet. By that point, the faint sound became more clear… it was as though something sharp was scraping against stones as it was being dragged across them slowly.
Scrrrrish… scrrrrish… scrrrrrish… scrrrriiiiish...
The haunting, grating sound was drawing closer and closer.
Finally, it reached to just beyond the cell and stopped abruptly. Then, they heard another scrape, this one much smaller, and the click of the door's lock.
It opened, and Sunny saw a blurry silhouette standing at the threshold of the stone chamber. Half-blinded by the thirst, he could tell who, or what, it was.
...But the smell of blood was back.
Only now, it was much, much stronger…
Chapter 571: Don't Make a Sound
Sunny stood motionlessly, gathering whatever strength he had left… which was far too little. Cassie was silent, too, a tense expression on her pale face.
With his vision compromised and his shadow sense limited to the circle of runes glowing around the cage, all Sunny could see was a blurry silhouette. He was almost sure that it was a human… however, something about the dark figure was wrong.
Utterly, terribly wrong.
...A strong smell of blood assaulted his nostrils.
The silhouette swayed, and then took a step forward. The scraping sound resounded once again, coming from it. Sunny strained his eyes, and thought that he had noticed a slender sword being dragged behind the person. A hint of recognition appeared in his clouded mind, but in the next moment, a sudden burst of creaky, gurgling laughter threw his thoughts into a spin.
Sunny shivered.
'That... voice…'
The silhouette took another step forward, coming to the point where the flat surface of the floor gave place to the downward slope of the dome. Coincidentally, that was the moment when the dim glow of the runes finally reached it.
Sunny flinched.
'C—curses…'
A familiar face was looming in the darkness above him. Even through the haze clouding his sight, Sunny managed to recognize the arrogant sentinel who had locked them in this cage a long, long time ago.
Only now, that cold and handsome man was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, he looked broken and gaunt, his face contorted in a demented grin.
But much worse than that…
In the place where the sentinel's eyes used to be, two bloody pits were gaping, crimson streams flowing down his cheeks like tears. His fingers were marred with blood, too.
As Sunny recoiled, the Lost laughed again, and then suddenly clawed at his face, his laughter turning into a stifled groan, and then into a whisper:
"...can't get me anymore… can't, can't... get me... I tricked him..."
Then, the lunatic abruptly froze. Slowly, his head turned, and the bloody pits of his eyes stared directly at the cage. A moment later, a grimace of hatred appeared on his face.
"You! You! It is all your fault, yours! You let him free!"
Sunny felt weak and barely able to stand, and he was suffering too much to have any energy for fear. So, although it was obvious that the sentinel had returned to exact revenge and kill them, he didn't mind.
Instead, he welcomed it.
'Good… good! Come… come here then. Just come here and open the door. You cant try to kill me all you want. Just open the damned door, you wretch!'
As long as the door was open, they could escape.
The Lost swayed again, then made a move to step forward… and stopped. His sword fell to the floor with a clang.
'Damn you!'
…Instead, a whirlpool of sparks swirled around his hands, and a curved bow appeared in them.
Sunny's heart grew cold.
'No, no, no...'
The sentinel whispered:
"Die, vermin…"
With that, he drew the string of the bow. As soon as he did, a ghostly arrow appeared on it, its tip long and sharp as a razor.
Sunny held his breath and stared at the tip of the arrow, then slowly turned his head and looked at Cassie, who stood motionlessly beside him. His face grew solemn.
'Don't make a sound… please, don't make a sound…'
A moment later, he heard the sound of the string, and saw the arrow streak above the blind girl's shoulder, the wind throwing a few strands of her hair into the air, and shatter against the stones.
Cassie flinched, but remained absolutely silent.
The sentinel frowned.
"Alive? I know that you are still alive… but not for long, now…"
He drew the bow again, and sent another ghostly arrow flying.
This time, it flew mere centimeters above Sunny's head. For the first time in his life, he felt actually thankful for his short stature…
But the crazed Lost wasn't done.
Sunny turned his head and stared directly at him. A ghastly smile suddenly appeared on the sentinel's face.
"...got you now."
He drew the bow again, and then lowered it, aiming directly at Sunny's heart.
Sunny did not move a muscle.
A moment before the Lost released the string, something small and swift suddenly dashed toward him from behind, and bit his leg ferociously.
...It was the Covetous Coffer.
Back when everything started, Sunny had left it in the interrogation room on purpose. He couldn't control a Memory like he would an Echo, but the Coffer was still able to follow simple commands. The command it had received from Sunny in those moments was to hide, and then find him.
And then wait.
The poor thing had loitered near the locked door of the cell for several weeks, hiding every time anyone approached. And now, it was finally able to receive a new command.
'Attack!'
The box scurried from its hiding place, reach the cell, and ran through the door on its eight short iron legs, just in time to sink its sharp triangular teeth into the sentinel's heel. They easily pierced the steel of his armored boot. Blood spurted into the air, and with a surprised shriek, the man stumbled forward, fell, and rolled down the slope of the dome, crashing into the bars of the cage.
The arrow flashed past Sunny, missing him by a hair's breadth.
But he did not care, already moving.
As soon as the damage was done, Sunny dismissed the Covetous Coffer, and before the runes could devour the tiny amount of shadow essence returned to him by that act, sent all of it into his hurting muscles.
And now, he was dashing up the slope toward where the Lost was trying to get back to his feet.
Before he could, however, Sunny was already upon him.
He thrust his hands through the bars, wrapped one arm around the man's neck, pressed him against the cage, and used the other hand to lock him into a stranglehold.
Sunny was weakened by the runes, the hunger, and the thirst… but he still had three cores, and three shadows wrapped around his body. His strength was fueled by fury, desperation, and cold, murderous will.
All of it was barely enough to hold the struggling sentinel in place.
The two men struggled furiously, one trying to break free, the other trying to squeeze the very life out of his enemy. Sunny used everything he had, and then a bit more, strangling the Lost with all the strength he had left in his gaunt, starved body. He knew that there was not going to be another chance. He had to kill this man in order to survive.
…And even more important than that, he simply wanted to.
So, he bit his lip, feeling drops of blood flowing into his dry mouth, and pulled, pulled, pulled.
After what felt like an eternity, when his vision had gone almost entirely black and his muscles were on the verge of collapsing, he felt something snap under his grip, and then the body of his enemy suddenly grew limp.
The sentinel was dead…
Probably…
Sunny let out a shaky breath, let go of the man's corpse, and fell back, sliding down to the center of the dome.
He couldn't stand up anymore.
In truth, he couldn't even open his eyes. Not that he would be able to see anything. The fight had taken the last of his strength.
His chest rose and fell, every breath sending a wave of agony through his body. He didn't think that he could move.
'...I'm done.'
Through the haze, Sunny heard someone walk unsteadily past him, and some time later, a loud click. Then, two small, weak hands grabbed him by the shoulders, and Sunny felt himself being dragged across the cold stones.
He didn't quite understand what was happening.
However… soon, his whole body shuddered, and a dark grin slowly appeared on his face.
A raging, revitalizing flood of shadow essence was flowing into his three cores.
...He was free!
Chapter 572: Sweeter than Heaven
Sunny remained motionless for a while, then took a look into his Soul Sea. It didn't seem lifeless and drained anymore. The three black suns of his cores loomed above in a perfect triangle, burning with furious dark flames, and the tranquil sea was in turmoil, replete the raging energy.
He glanced at the shadow of the sentinel that had joined the silent ranks of his brethren, made a grimace, and closed his eyes.
His body was still weak and on the verge of shutting down, but now, satiated with essence, it was not completely useless anymore. He concentrated, then summoned the Soul Serpent and circulated the essence through its coils, feeling strength return to his aching muscles. His lethargy receded a little.
Finally, Sunny opened his eyes and turned his head to look at Cassie. The blind girl was laying on the floor beside him, just outside the circle of runes, completely spent. She must have retrieved the keys from the sentinel's corpse, unlocked the door, then dragged him out of the cage. Sunny didn't know how she had managed to carry him all the way in her terrible condition, but she had.
Now, Cassie was barely breathing. However, the color was slowly returning to her face — she was regenerating her soul essence, too.
Just the effort of turning his head made Sunny feel dizzy. He rested for a few moments, breathing heavily, then summoned Saint.
The taciturn knight appeared out of his shadow, her ruby eyes burning in the darkness. He stared at her from below for a second, then gave a silent command:
'Close the door. Guard us.'
The demon silently turned and walked away, her steps echoing in the silence of the stone cell. Sunny rested some more, then gritted his teeth and tried to sit up. He succeeded on the third try.
Water, water… he needed water… all of his being lusted for a single drop of the precious liquid…
A swirl of sparks danced around his hand, and then, the most glorious thing he had ever seen appeared in it.
It was a dazzling, beautiful, sublime bottle made out of patterned blue glass.
Sunny lingered for a few moments, then crawled closer to Cassie, held up her head, and brought the Endless Spring to her cracked lips. As soon as the first drops of water fell into her mouth, the blind girl opened her eyes, flinched, and then drank greedily. At some point, she raised one hand and grabbed his own, as if afraid that he would take the bottle away.
Sunny observed her, his own throat spasming in pain. Finally, he wrestled his hand free and drank his own share.
…The cold water was, without a shadow of a doubt, the sweetest and most magnificent thing he had ever tasted. Drinking it was more euphoric than being reborn during the Awakening, and much more rewarding by far. With each sip, he could feel life returning into his tortured body, as if he was rising from the dead.
In these moments, he was probably the happiest he had ever been.
After both of them satiated their thirst, they fell to the floor, dead tired. Sunny and Cassie were revatilized by the water, but mentally exhausted and utterly drained.
It wasn't long before they fell asleep.
***
When Sunny woke up, he felt much better. He was still in a rather bad shape and weak from hunger, his stomach pulsing with pain, but at least not dying anymore.
He sat up, drank more water, and looked around the cell.
Cassie was still sound asleep, laying on the cold stone floor. She looked to be in a worse condition than him, but there was color to her face, and her breathing was calm and steady. Even though the blind girl did not possess the miraculous Blood Weave, she was still a powerful Awakened. Her body was much more resilient and quicker to heal than that of a mundane human.
Sunny suspected that in a couple of days, both of them would be mostly back to normal.
…Provided that nothing else happens.
What were the chances of that?
He glanced at Saint, who was guarding the heavy door, then at the cage and the corpse of the sentinel laying near it. His face became contorted by a grimace of disgust.
Sunny sighed, then closed his eyes and sent one of his shadows to take a look outside the door. The long corridor was empty and submerged in darkness. Nothing moved there, and nothing seemed to pose any threat. The only thing he saw was another corpse — this one belonging to the partner of the dead sentinel — sprawled near the cell, terribly mangled and in the early stages of decomposition.
Sunny stared at it for a while, then commanded the shadow to return.
The silence outside was almost eerie.
At that moment, Cassie stirred and opened her eyes. She sat down and groaned quietly, then slowly turned her head in his direction.
Her second Aspect Ability must have returned. Or maybe she just located him by the smell… after weeks spent in the iron cage, both of them reeked terribly enough to scare away a pack of hungry wolves.
Sunny handed her the Endless Spring, stared at the bottle in the delicate hand of the blind girl for a few moments, then turned away.
Cassie drank the water, coughed, then returned the Memory and asked, her voice raspy:
"...What are we going to do now?"
Sunny hesitated for a bit, then shrugged.
"First, we need to find some food. Once we are full and strong enough to fight… we'll see. Gather information, assess the situation, then act."
She nodded, then slowly rose to her feet. The Quiet Dancer appeared in her hand in the glow of white sparks.
Sunny stood up, too, and headed toward the door.
Saint moved aside, allowing him to open it.
Standing at the threshold, he hesitated for a few seconds, and then took a step forward. A dark expression appeared on his face.
...Sunny knew that he had to be careful. But he also felt entitled to some vengeance of his own.
Chapter 573: Hunger
Stepping over the corpse laying at the doorstep of their cell, Sunny and Cassie entered the dark, empty corridor and stopped for a few short moments. They listened tensely to the echoing silence that reigned over it, and then cautiously moved forward.
Most humans would have felt lost in the impenetrable darkness, but neither of them found it uncomfortable. Stepping softly, they walked toward the entrance to the closest stairwell, the shadows gliding ahead of them to scout for potential dangers.
Sunny didn't let the shadows go too far, though, knowing that he might need their help at a moment's notice.
In the past weeks, he had learned everything that Cassie knew about the Night Temple, so there was a clear mental picture of its interior in his head — the parts of the great cathedral that the blind girl was familiar with, at least.
Currently, they were at the lowest levels of one of its seven belfries, deep below the outward ring of the main structure. There were two other belfries in the outward ring, and both the ring itself and the three towers descending from it remained uninhabited. They were mostly empty or occupied by storage rooms, workshops, and other facilities the Lost used to maintain the Citadel.
…Still, there was no way of knowing what might have changed inside the temple since their imprisonment, and what danger lay ahead, in the darkness.
They moved from one level to another, not meeting a single living soul. Here and there, signs of battle could be seen — the furniture was smashed to pieces, the walls scraped by sharp blades or cracked, a few of them completely shattered. The floor was stained with blood, but there were no more corpses around.
All they found were a clump of torn, bloodied clothes and several overturned tables, as though someone had desperately tried to build a barricade. Whoever it had been, it didn't seem as though they succeeded — the makeshift barricade was broken, and there was a lot of blood on the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling behind it.
Sunny and Cassie walked past, their expressions turning somber.
After a while, Sunny finally discovered a storage room full of wooden crates behind one of the locked doors, each containing hundreds of tubes of synthpaste. His mouth instantly watered.
'Food…'
No matter how much he hated the muddy sludge, right now, he was ready to kill for a single mouthful.
Sunny and Cassie opened the storage room with one of the keys attached to the keyring they had picked up from the body of the sentinel, entered it, and then locked the door behind them.
Both of them were starving, but before Cassie had a chance to grab a tube, Sunny stopped her.
"Don't eat more than one. And eat it slowly."
She hesitated, then turned to him with a frown.
"Why? I'm so hungry..."
He shook his head and sat down on one of the crates.
"If you eat too much, too quickly after going without food for a long time, you might die."
The blind girl tilted her head.
"What? Why? How do you know?"
Sunny opened a tube and shrugged.
"...Seen it happen."
That was just general knowledge among the street kids in the outskirts. However, Cassie had probably never faced real hunger — even in the Dark City, the inhabitants of the outer settlement had been fed generously by Changing Star and her hunting party during her time there.
Sunny was surprised, actually, that normal children didn't learn about such stuff in school.
The blind girl lingered for a few moments, but listened to his advice in the end.
Each of them slowly ate one tube of synthpaste, and then rested for a while. After that, Sunny summoned the Covetous Coffer, patted it on the lid, and loaded a couple of crates into the small box.
"What a good little box you are! Good job, Coffer!"
Then, feeling refreshed and energized, the strength slowly returning to their starved bodies, they moved the crates around and took turns washing themselves with the help of the Endless Spring.
Sunny went first. Taking off the reeking clothes and scrubbing his skin with cold water felt heavenly. When he was done, he summoned the Undying Chain, and finally felt like himself again.
After that, he sat by the door quietly and, using one of the shadows, kept watch on the corridor outside.
In the dead silence on the stone belfry, Sunny couldn't help but hear every sound around him — the rustle of the crude tunic against Cassie's skin as she took it off and dropped it on the ground, the murmur of the water as it flowed down her petite, supple body, and the small sighs of relief she made as the weight of several weeks of imprisonment was washed away by it.
After a while, she joined him, clad once again in her blue coat and polished armor.
Sunny hesitated for a bit, then said:
"Come closer."
Cassie tilted her head a little, then did as he told. Sunny reached toward one of the extinguished oil lamps, and then proceed to rub her cuirass, pauldron, and other steel elements of the armor with soot.
The blind girl frowned, but didn't stop him.
"...Are you trying to make it non-reflective?"
He nodded.
"Yeah. Just… just in case."
They still didn't know what powers Mordret possessed, but whatever they were, mirrors and reflections obviously had something to do with it. The Undying Chain was forged out of bleak steel, but Cassie's armor was too lustrous for him to feel at ease.
…That was also the reason why he had not summoned the Cruel Sight yet. The silver blade of the enchanted spear was like a clear mirror, and he wasn't sure what might happen if he did.
After Sunny was done covering up the polished steel of Cassie's armor with soot, they rested for a while, ate a little more, and left the storage room behind. It was time to ascend the belfry and return to the outward ring of the Night Temple.
***
As soon as they stepped out of the stairwell and found themselves between the black walls of the main structure of the Night Temple again, a terrible smell assaulted their nostrils. Sunny grimaced, and then covered his nose with a hand.
This was the familiar, vile smell of death.
Just like the belfry, the outward ring was submerged in darkness. No one had bothered to change the oil in the lamps, and there were no windows to let in the light. The corridors here were wider, and their adornments richer. However, just like before, everything was silent, and there was nobody around.
Sunny shivered.
'...Just where is everyone?'
The Night Temple seemed completely deserted. At first, when they had been hungry and weak, he was glad for it. But now, the absence of people was starting to make him nervous.
What the hell had happened here while they were locked up?
Moving slowly, the two of them cautiously headed in the direction of the gates leading to the outside.
…It wasn't long before Sunny noticed a trail of dried blood on the stones beneath his feet, as though someone dead or dying had been dragged across them. Coincidentally, the trail led in the same direction. Soon, the smell of death grew stronger, making it hard to breathe.
Sunny and Cassie entered the hall separating them from the gates, and froze.
His face darkened.
'That… that is not good…'
Chapter 574: Black Altar
Before the gates of the temple, a large hall stood, submerged in darkness. The air was permeated with the smell of rot, and at least a dozen of eviscerated bodies lay on the cold stones, staring into nothingness with their empty eyes.
Sunny had long become accustomed to such sights, so he wasn't too bothered by it. The implication, however, left him feeling cold.
'Damnation…'
He entered the hall, both Saint and the Serpent emerging silently from his shadows. Cassie followed, gripping the hilt of the Quiet Dancer so hard that her fingers turned white.
Sunny walked over to the nearest corpse, held his breath, and knelt beside it, studying its wounds. Then, with a grim expression, he moved over to the next one and did the same.
It took him some time to check on each of the slain Lost, and by the end, his eyes were full of darkness.
The blind girl remained silent for a few moments, then asked, her voice tense and trembling:
"...How did they die?"
He lingered for a second, then shook his head.
"Sword wounds."
Each of the fallen sentinels was killed with one precise, fatal strike. However, most of them were terribly mutilated and covered in multiple wounds — none of them lethal, but all aimed at inflicting the maximum amount of pain.
The killer, whoever it was, wanted his victims to suffer before they died.
Well… Sunny was pretty sure that he knew who the killer was.
Mordret. The man — or thing — that he had set free.
It seemed that the Prince of Nothing had a sadistic streak about him.
…But that wasn't the problem.
From everything that Sunny had learned before, he assumed that Mordret possessed a bizarre and powerful Aspect that allowed him to deal either mind or soul damage to other living beings. That made him extremely dangerous.
The prerequisite for this Ability seemed to be looking the prisoner of the Night Temple in the eyes… which was good, since both Sunny and Cassie could naturally counter it — Sunny by fighting with his eyes closed, Cassie by simply being blind.
However, these Lost had clearly died in a ferocious and bloody melee. That meant that, on top of everything else, Mordret was a fighter of incredible skill… skilled and powerful enough to not only kill a dozen experiences Awakened with a sword, but also to play with his victims before he did.
Just how was Sunny supposed to win against someone like that?
He sighed, then walked past the corpses and approached the gate.
Master Welthe had told them that the Citadel was sealed, and no one except for Saint Cormac would be able to open it. However… Sunny had to check for himself.
He wrapped all three shadows around his body and tried to push open the gates, but to no avail. The heavy doors didn't budge even when Saint joined him. None of the keys their jailers had carried were of any use, too… there wasn't even a keyhole to insert them.
Sunny looked beneath the surface of the gates, hoping to see the same type of primitive weave he had seen in the door of the Ebony Tower. But there was none.
"Curse it."
He gave the gates a good kick, then turned around and walked back to Cassie in frustration.
"...I guess we aren't getting out of here until the Saint arrives."
Which would happen in a week, at the earliest.
Would they even be able to survive that long?
The blind girl frowned, then asked with uncertainty:
"Where to, then?"
Sunny thought for a few seconds.
Since they were already stuck in this damned place… why not try and accomplish the task they had come here to complete, in the first place?
"...Let's go check on the Gateway."
Perhaps the ivory knife was still there, somewhere.
Leaving the scene of the cruel massacre behind, the two of them headed deeper into the stone bowels of the Night Temple.
***
It took them a long time to cross the outward ring and enter the central temple. The distance itself was not that considerable, but the bizarre interior of the cathedral was disorienting and sprawling, resembling a vast, convoluted maze of black stone. They also had to remain cautious and move slowly so as to not walk into an ambush.
The darkness, silence, and eerie emptiness of the deserted Citadel were slowly stretching their already tense nerves. Both Sunny and Cassie had not recovered from their ordeal completely, so they had to stop and rest a couple of times, drinking water and eating small amounts of synthpaste.
They also encountered more morbid remnants of the struggle that had been going on inside the Night Temple while they were slowly dying inside the cage — rotting corpses of the Lost, signs of bloodshed and destruction, as well as things that were too strange and vile to be explained by any kind of sane logic.
It was as though they were traveling through the workshop of a mad butcher.
With each minute that passed, Sunny grew more and more grim.
For the first time since this whole disaster started, he actually began to question the moral implications of what his actions had led to. Even if he had been an unwilling accomplice, Mordret only managed to escape because of him.
Had Sunny accidentally released an unspeakable evil upon the world?
He wasn't sure how to feel about that. On one hand, he didn't really care about the world… but on the other hand, Sunny didn't like to leave behind a mess without cleaning it up. It was just basic decency.
A bit conflicted, he sent the shadow ahead, made sure that everything was fine, and finally led Cassie into the grand hall of the Night Temple.
This place was both magnificent and uncanny. It was vast and full of darkness, reminding him of his home in the Dark City... the only difference was that this tenebrous cathedral was built upside down.
Far above them, the ceiling was flat and stretched into the distance. The floor, on the contrary, arched downward like a giant bowl, with load-bearing stone seams protruding from it like bridges and roads. The hall was silent and somber, and absolutely empty.
In its center, there was a wide stone platform. It was covered in rubble, large pieces of black obsidian laying in piles where the black altar had once stood.
'They really destroyed it…'
Sunny stared at the shattered altar, still not quite believing that the Gateway was really obliterated.
What madness was this?
They lingered for a few moments, and then descended toward the platform. There, Sunny spent some time sifting through the rubble, hoping to find the ivory knife.
But it was nowhere to be found. All he found was broken obsidian, and pieces of Storm God's shattered statue.
Either the knife had never been there, to begin with, or Mordret had gotten to it first.
'Curse it!'
Sunny turned the head of the statue, looked beneath it, and then stood up, staring into the empty eyes of the dead goddess with dark fury.
'Damned liar… a prince of lies, that's who he is!'
As he was boiling with rage, Cassie suddenly took a step forward and touched him on the shoulder.
Then, she pointed toward the other end of the grand hall and whispered:
"I hear footsteps. Someone… someone is coming."
Sunny stared into the darkness, his hand itching to summon a weapon. His eyes gleamed dangerously.
"...Let them come."