Shadow Slave: Arcadius of the Forgotten

Cade had debated several ways of stalling the three Sleepers.

At first, he'd thought that he would simply let Sunny's shadow catch a glimpse of the Monster's Echo and let Sunny do rest of the work. But he quickly discarded the idea.

Cade distinctly remembered Nephis's words from just before they had faced the Carapace Centurion in the original storyline.

"It's just an Awakened Monster," she'd said. She had also gone on to say that facing one was inevitable. And that it would not grow any easier the next day.

The same would be the case if they saw the Centurion before they stumbled upon it. Nephis would simply argue that they'd have to face it sooner or later and Sunny would be forced to agree. Then, they'd continue forward to ambush it.

And so, a confrontation was inevitable. The best thing Cade could do was take the initiative.

So, commanding the Centurion to take a different route and intercept the three Sleepers, Cade took a deep breath and again poked his head out from behind the coral pillar.

Hopefully, things would go as planned— he would not be discovered and the original sequence of events would be restored. 

As Cade was looking ahead, Cassie froze in her place once again. Her heightened senses had apparently picked something up. This time, it was Sunny who inquired. 

"What is it, Cassie?" he asked in a low voice. 

She raised a trembling hand, and pointed ahead, towards the shadows that populated one of the coral passageways.

"Something... something's there," she murmured. Her voice barely carried to Cade. 

Before Sunny could even face the direction she was pointing in, the shadows stirred. A low, guttural screech echoed through the labyrinth. It was sharp enough to make even the hairs on the back of Cade's own neck stand on end.

From the shadows, the Carapace Centurion emerged. Lethality and menace gleamed in its glowing eyes. 

Cade wasn't even the target of the orchestrated assault, but he still felt a bit uncomfortable. He could only imagine the terror the three Sleepers must be feeling right now, especially Cassie.

I'm sorry, Cassie, he thought, cursing himself internally for not foreseeing this situation. I really am, but this is for the best... 

Sunny was the first one to move. He instinctively stepped in front of Cassie. His hands held up the Azure Blade which he'd already kept summoned.

"What the hell is that?" he shouted, his voice cracking under the weight of fear and shock. 

Nephis didn't answer. Her gaze was fixed on the creature in front of her. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the hilt of the Dream Blade with both her hands and raised it in front of her defensively.

Her face didn't betray any emotion, but Cade could tell that she was just as dazed as Sunny was, though not as expressive about it. She took a cautious step forward. Her bare feet were silent against the wet stone; her posture was low and ready. 

The Echo struck first. Its scythe-like arms swung in a wide arc, slicing through the damp air with another screech that grated against the ears like nails on metal.

Cassie stumbled backwards, and clutched a coral tree for support. Her face was pale and stricken with terror. Cade fought off the overwhelming urge to step ahead and help her— reassure her that everything was going to be alright. 

Sunny lunged. This surprised Cade a little. At this point in the story, Sunny was only supposed to care about himself. He had only met the two girls yesterday. So, Cade had guessed that his response would be more... selfish.

But then again, Sunny had gotten to know Cassie back at the Academy because of Cade. Something which hadn't happened in the original story.

So, Sunny had changed a little. Not only had he put himself in between the Echo and Cassie, but he had also charged it, seemingly not caring about protecting himself at all. His newfound confidence could also be attributed to the training Cade put him through at the Academy.

However, as chivalrous as Sunny was, his sword was but an Awakened Memory of the First Tier, while the Echo was of the Second. That would not have mattered much if an experienced swordsman was wielding it, but right now, Sunny was a novice with the sword. He didn't even know how to properly hold the Azure Blade, let alone how to actually use it.

So, as Sunny slammed the Azure Blade against the Echo's carapace, it glanced off with a dull clang. The Echo didn't even seem to register Sunny's attack. 

"Curse it," he muttered, gritting his teeth. He dodged to the side as the Echo's scythe came down. It carved a deep gouge into the coral floor where he had stood a second earlier. 

At that moment, Nephis darted forward. Her silver longsword was a streak of brilliance against the dim light of the labyrinth. The Dream Blade found its mark. It slipped between two segments of the Echo's carapace near the shoulder.

The Echo let out a shrill, ear-splitting screech and jerked back. Its glowing, compound eyes were flaring with malice. 

But the retaliation came swift and brutal. One scythe lashed out. It grazed Nephis's side and sent her stumbling back. Blood seeped through the makeshift skirt of black seaweed, staining her ivory skin red.

Changing Star winced. Her composure faltered for only a moment before she steadied herself, gripping her sword even tighter. 

Sunny seemed to have called his shadow back. He wrapped it around himself and charged headlong into the Echo's midsection. He slammed his shoulder, clad in the Puppeteer's Shroud and augmented with Gloomy, into it with as much force as he could muster.

It seemed that Sunny had remembered his lessons with Cade and was using more than just his sword to contribute to the fight. 

The Echo staggered back half a step but recovered quickly enough. Its spiked legs were anchoring it to the ground. 

"Distract it!" Nephis barked, her breathing labored.

She moved with a grace that belied her injuries. She began circling around to find another weak spot. Her feet bled from cuts inflicted by the sharp coral shards, but she didn't seem to care about or even notice them. 

Sunny tried to comply, but the Echo wasn't interested in him. Cade had specifically commanded it to focus more on Nephis because he knew that she was a far greater threat right now, especially if she decided to unleash her Aspect Ability.

But thankfully, she didn't seem to think the situation hopeless enough for that. At least, not yet.

The Echo lunged, its scythe-like arms scything towards her in a blur. 

She ducked under the first strike. Her feet slid across the coral-strewn floor as she pivoted. The second strike came down hard, and she was forced to throw herself to the side. She landed awkwardly, and the Dream Blade skittered from her grasp. 

Sunny uttered a shout and hurled himself at the Centurion, grabbing one of its numerous legs with both hands and pulling with all his enhanced strength. He seemed to have thrown away all hope of using his sword. Instead, he was using the hand-to-hand combat skills that Cade had drilled into him in the month that they had trained together at the Academy. 

For a moment, the Echo seemed to falter. Its attention seemed diverted. 

Nephis didn't waste the opportunity. Ignoring the pain in her side and the blood pooling around her feet, she retrieved her sword and charged. Her silver blade found its mark again. This time, it drove into the joint where one of the Echo's scythes connected to the upper half of its arm.

The creature let out another screech, and twisted violently to shake her off. But Changing Star held on. Her knuckles turned white as she twisted the blade upward, towards the creatures torso. 

But the Echo's sheer strength was overwhelming. With a single powerful swing, it dislodged her. In the next moment, it sent her crashing into the coral wall, knocking the breath out of her lungs.

Ouch...

Cade grimaced. His features twisted as Nephis hit the wall, coughing up some blood. He hadn't commanded the Echo to be so... brutal. But he composed himself, because he knew that Changing Star wasn't one to break easy. 

She crumpled to the ground, dazed and gasping for breath. Blood trickled from a cut above her eyebrow. It was mingling with the sweat and grime on her face. 

"Get up!" Sunny yelled. His voice was strained as he grappled with the Echo's leg. The creature was dragging him along now. Its movements were unimpeded by his efforts. 

Changing Star stirred. It seemed like her vision was swimming. She forced herself to her knees. Her hand trembled as she reached for her sword. The Echo loomed over her, one scythe raised high to deliver the killing blow.

Well, at least that's what Cade wanted it to look like. He would never command the Echo to actually kill her, of course. 

Somewhere from behind a coral pillar, Cassie let out a strangled cry. Her voice was cracking under emotion and terror. "Move, Neph! Please, just move!" 

Cade was surprised that Cassie was actually so much aware of what was going on. But his surprise didn't last. Instead, it was replaced by a feeling of loss.

The loss of his Echo, to be exact. 

Because at that moment, Nephis raised her hand. A flicker of white flames appeared in her palm. The light was blinding in the dim clearing, casting long, dancing shadows across the coral wall. The flames hovered above her palm, crackling with intensity.

Her face twisted in pain as her wounds healed. She quickly grabbed her sword and forced herself to her feet. 

White fire erupted along the Dream Blade's edge. Its radiance was almost blinding against the oppressive dimness of the clearing. The heat was searing, and pain was evident on Nephis's face. She let out a painful scream, her voice raw and ragged, but she didn't stop. She didn't let go. 

The Echo lashed out. Its scythe-arm came down in a desperate attempt to stop her. She twisted her body, and the scythe sliced through the air inches from her face. Her feet slid on the uneven ground, but she used the momentum to propel herself forward. Her sword moved forward with all the strength she could muster. 

The Dream Blade struck true. 

It pierced the gap in the Echo's armor, and sunk into the flesh beneath. The soul flames ignited the creature from within. The Echo let out a piercing, inhuman shriek. Its limbs thrashed wildly as the fire spread.

And the voice of the Nightmare Spell whispered into Cade's ears: 

[Your Echo has been destroyed...] 

Cade didn't pay it any mind though. Because his master plan had just been burned down and blown to bits and pieces. The real tricky part was about to come.

The Echo was not a real Nightmare Creature. So, its corpse would not simply drop to the ground. It would dissolve into motes of light as soon as it was destroyed. That would make the trio aware that it was not a Monster that had attacked them but a human who had sent their Echo to do the job. Following that, Sunny would send his shadow out to discover the mysterious attacker.

Cade didn't want to stick around for that. So, he spun around on his heel and immediately bolted down the way he had come. 

Back at the clearing, Nephis and Sunny watched with wide eyes as the Echo dissolved into nothingness. 

"What in the world...?" Sunny said, looking around. "That wasn't a Nightmare Creature. That was an Echo. There's someone else here." 

Nephis also looked around, preparing herself for another assault but it didn't come. She turned to Sunny. "Send out your shadow. Find the attacker at all costs." 

Sunny hesitated for a moment, reluctant to let go of his augmentation but then nodded. "Okay," he said. And he sent his shadow outward.

Strangely enough, Sunny sent his shadow exactly in the direction of Cade's hiding spot. Cade was long gone from there, but he still wasn't completely out of the range of Sunny's Shadow Control yet. 

Running through the labyrinth, Cade felt the shadows around him stir slightly. Crap, he thought, running frantically, trying to get out of the range of Sunny's Ability. But the shadow was too fast. It was almost upon him.

However, just as it was about to lay its eyes— or whatever it had instead of eyes— on Cade, the world plunged into Darkness.