This is the part where I compress over 50 chapters in one because I don't change much from the original…
— —
The voyage on the stone giant that was supposed to be 'safe', as much weight the word had on a Death Zone, was hazardous and dangerous. From insidious nightmare creatures trying to eat them, to enormous abominations attempting to take down the headless statue of the builder.
The cohort had to face the numerous beasts in the difficult environment on the top of the giant, and still hold on as the stone giant fought its own battles on the Dark Sea.
As the stone statue brought down their enormous stone Hammer to squash a Great Abomination with a skull carapace, Sunny and his companions held on for their lives, doing whatever they could to not die.
That kind of scene had become something of a recurrence in the journey, rarely did they have a moment of respite.
When they had finally reached their destination, they bid farewell to the stone statue. Using either Kai's aspect or memories that made them able to glide down to reach the ground. Sunny used a Memory he received after killing an insect creature, [Dark Wing], letting him glide in the air.
The edge of the Forgotten Shore, a few more minutes of travel and they would enter the Hollow Mountains. It was another Zone deemed impossible for human survival, the mountains were surrounded by a fog that made you lose yourself, that erased you from existence, filled with monsters that even Saints would find difficulty in slaying.
But that was not their destination, instead, it was the caves beneath, where instead of white mist, darkness overwhelmed the place.
Lighting up their Memories, the cohort descended the dark tunnels, paying extreme attention to any threat that may appear, they were diving head first into the belly of the Hollow Mountains after all.
Sunless used one his shadows to scout out ahead, Gloomy seemed torn, on one hand, he was at risk of finding a murderous abomination, on the other, he was getting away from his master…
'At this point you just want to make me angry!'
At the same time while traversing the tunnels, Sunny noticed the engravings on the walls, being able to see in the shadows helped him understand that a story was being told there, the story of the Starlight Legion and the Forgotten Shore, about 7 heroes born from an era of darkness around the Crimson Spire, at least, when it wasn't crimson. The seven heroes, representing the seven statues.
It was a fascinating story, but one that Sunny couldn't focus too much on.
After hours of passing through caves and dead monsters, probably victims of the cohort of the First Lord of the Bright Castle, they had reached the part where Sunless was instrumental.
A lone beautiful boat stood in a dark river where mist hovered in the air, swirling in silent darkness.
According to Cassie, they couldn't, in absolute no circumstance, open their eyes to see what was beyond the cold waters. No living being could see and remain whole.
That was probably what doomed their predecessors, they didn't know the cost of walking in with their eyes open.
Knowing that it was improbable that they could stay with their eyes closed at all times, they tied themselves together by the waist with the Memory of the golden rope, Nephis took out 6 strips of cloth and a block of wax, lighting up a fire in her hands.
She melted the wax and passed on each of their faces, then they covered it with the cloth. Sunny could finally feel the world like Cassie did, without being able to see anything.
It was an agonizing feeling, at least he could still feel the world around him with shadow sense, it was for that very reason he was the guide for the cohort this time.
They got into the boat and began their slow, quiet ride into the dark river.
—
Nothing happened during the ride, it was quiet, none dared to speak, all with the lingering fear that a creature may appear, and yet, none did.
Some time later, they reached the shore on the other side. Sighing, Sunny stepped out with the others following him through the golden rope, leaving the shoreline and progressing deeper into the tunnels.
Merely entering it was enough to send chills down his spine. Everything felt different, alien, artificial, not a natural formation but created with intent. Even the shadows were different, but there was something he was sure of. It was a maze.
'Another labyrinth? I had enough of those-'
He felt… Something, someone right in front of him, a shadow… Of a human.
But there was something wrong with it, the shadow felt lonesome and desperate… Lost.
Maybe it was because of his aspect that made Sunny a kin of shadows… But he knew…
The shadow didn't have a master, a connection, a link, to anything, it was a alone, no human to cast it. Because the master of it was dead, snatched away from their shadow. Erased from existence.
Sunny couldn't help but feel sympathy…
He took a few more more steps, now the shadow could sense his presence, it quickly shifted nervously as if it saw some sort of God… But he could still feel all the sorrow and pain coming from it.
'Don't worry… Here… I won't let you be alone anymore.'
Sunny reached out his hand, offering the shadow a place… To simply rest.
The shadow hesitaded… But took his hand, disappearing from view.
[Your shadow grows stronger…]
In his soul sea, a new shade appeared on the silent, tranquil waters, a graceful woman, all the loneliness and sorrow gone.
'You can rest now… Your nightmare is over…'
Maybe it was because he was the Heir of Shadows, but he felt… Responsable, he needed to let these shadows find peace, no matter what. All souls deserve rest.
For what felt like hours, Sunny wandered through the maze, finding three more lonely shadows that he absorbed onto his soul sea. It didn't take long to figure out who they were, the cohort of the First Lord. But the Lord himself wasn't here, only his companions.
At a certain point, Cassie stopped Sunny and pointed in one direction, he could feel it from the shadows and went down that path, the others following him.
After reaching a new place indicated by the change in atmosphere, Cassie finally let all of them retrieve their blindfolds and take off the wax.
What met them was a bridge connecting their platform with another, a river beneath it.
On the other side… The skeleton of the First Lord of the Bright Castle.
—
The First Lord was dead, and yet, his skeleton still sat with its legs crossed, with a perfect posture. Most importantly, it still had the ruby gem resting in their head.
What the Memory they came for, the Dawn Shard. The way to defeat Gunlaug.
Nephis approached the resting place of the Lord and knelled, respectfully obtaining the Memory and bowing.
"Thank you. For everything."
Soon all of them followed her example, even Sunless.
Kai breathed in, then let out a sigh of relief.
"So… We'll have to go back now…"
Sunny chuckled at that, the archer on the other hand looked at him confused.
"What are you talking about? We still need to finish what the First Lord and his cohort started.
Kill the nightmare creature and collect its memory shard."
----
Sunny was launched aside, hitting the statue that they were supposed to touch, crashing into it.
His bones felt like they were about to break, blood gushed out of his mouth as he felt his body being wounded by the impact.
The cohort was fighting a Spire Messenger, a Fallen creature that seemed like a cross between a lion and crow, and it was not going well.
Effie had already lost her shield and arm, she couldn't do much with a mere lance on the other arm. Cassie was not much help either, the Quiet Dancer and Carapace Scavenger didn't receive the augmentation of the [Dawn Shard], so they were more distractions than anything else.
Kai did what he could with a bow Sunless gave to him that he received after killing Corpse Eater, his blood arrows caused damage to the Messenger, but the sturdy body of the creature was too strong.
Finally, Nephis, Caster and Sunless faced the creature with everything they had, but were only staying in the fight because of Sunny's Shadows, Wraith and Saint took most of the attacks, giving the legacies a breather from time to time.
They needed to kill the abomination to get the memory shard.
Caster spat out blood next to Sunny, he also got sent flying, only by a weaker attack.
Nephis was with the two Shadows, facing the Fallen abomination with her flames, healing her wounds while burning the creature, supporting the two Shadows.
Sunless looked at Caster, who looked back with his green eyes filled with determination. Sunny summoned the [Moonlight Shard], making sure the scion noticed it.
Caster looked confused at first, but soon understood, remembering a maneuver they did once in the Dark City. He brandished his green jian and dashed ahead without using his aspect. And like a shadow, Sunny followed.
Caster made no effort to conceal himself, in fact, he wanted for the Messenger to see him, to distract from the fact that Sunless used the shadows to hide from the beast while running right behind Caster.
The Fallen creature pierced Nephis's shoulder with its claws, making her grunt in pain, then turned to see the scion of Han Li approaching it.
But it didn't expect for a harrowing wraith to appear on its back, growing in anger upon seeing Changing Star hurt. It pierced one of the wings with its fangs and tore skin and bone off.
A scream of maddening agony filled the air, seeing the opening, taciturn knight began her attack, throwing her shield aside and using both arms to pierce the tendon of the abomination, immobilizing one of its front limbs.
On the other limb, the one that pierced Nephis, was engulfed in flames coming from the girl, burning the white skin.
Then, the Messenger finally noticed the green jian approaching it, showing killing intent. It would be the end of it.
Ignoring all the pain it was feeling, it moved its head and targeted Caster with their beak, intending to pierce the heart of the scion.
The beak struck the ground, creating a mist of debrie… But as it cleaned, no human was found on the beak of the Messenger, only rock.
"Too slow…"
A shadow suddenly appeared, covering its entire vision.
"He is way faster than you'll ever be."
Sunny pierced the eye of the Messenger with [BloodRaven], tearing tissue and skull until it reached the brain.
[You have slain a Fallen Monster, Cursed Herald.]
[Your shadow grows stronger…]
[You have received a Memory.]