Shadow Slave novel Chapter 328

Chapter 328 Siege of the Crimson Spire (14)

Left on the top of the tall mound of crimson coral, Cassie stood alone in the darkness.

Now that the Quiet Dancer had left her side, she was back to her previous self.

Lost.

Weak.

Frightened.

Utterly helpless.

The oppressive nothingness surrounded her from all sides.

But that nothingness was full of sound.

It swelled with the deafening cacophony of the nightmare horde's onslaught. Cassie heard howls, growling, inhuman screams, shrieks, and the scraping of chitin.

She heard the clangor of steel and the sound of flesh being ripped apart.

She also heard countless human voices calling out to any kind of deity that could save them. Full of fury, agony, bravery, fear, resolve, sorrow, strength, helplessness, hope, faith, despair, disbelief.

She heard them dying.

Standing above it all, Cassie shivered. She wanted to press her hands against her ears, but didn't.

…Her terrible vision was coming true.

And she was back to being lost in the darkness.

Just like before. Worse than before. Almost like on that first day in this cursed, forsaken, lightless land.

In this forgotten hell.

Back then, she had found herself stranded on a similar mound of coral. Only what surrounded her was the dark sea and not a horde of Nightmare Creatures.

But Cassie didn't know that. She didn't know where she was, and what was hiding in the boundless darkness. She only knew that she was alone, and helpless.

That she was going to die in that lonesome, cold nothingness.

She had given up. Sitting down on the hard coral, she hugged her knees and tried not to cry. Abandoned and forgotten, she waited for death.

But instead of death, a cold and indifferent voice came out of the darkness:

"...What are you doing?"

That was how she met Nephis, who saved and protected her ever since. Without even asking anything in return, not before, and not after learning of what Cassie's Aspect was able to do.

Just because she wanted to.

Nephis brought her out of the darkness and destroyed the bitter, all-encompassing prison of her loneliness. How was Cassie supposed to ever repay that debt?

And then, she met Sunny. Sweet Sunny, who pretended to be callous and cruel, but was actually caring and kind.

And then, she had to make a choice.

…And now, she had to live with that choice.

Or die with it...

As Cassie stood, listening to the sounds of slaughter, a sudden gust of wind rustled her beautiful blond hair.

She flinched, and slowly turned to face the wind.

A moment later, her face paled, and her lips moved slightly.

'No!'

Left alone, away from the battle and anyone who could have heard her, Cassie closed her eyes and whispered into the nothingness:

"A storm… there is a storm…"

***

The Dreamer Army became much smaller, but still held on. In fact, it was slowly pushing the horde of the Nightmare Creatures back.

As the line of archers ran out of arrows and ammunition, those who had no suitable Memories to replace them summoned their melee weapons and joined the vanguard, reinforcing its dwindling numbers. The Artisans had done the same, abandoning their siege engines and throwing themselves into the crucible of combat.