29 [29]Forgotten Castle

In the center of the cursed city, a tall hill towered above the ruins. At its base, an arch made of pristine white marble stood amidst the devastation. It was unscathed and spotless, as though protected from the entropic touch of the all-consuming darkness by some sublime force. Beyond the arch, a wide road paved with white stones scaled the hill. Sunny knew this place well. He wasn't exactly happy about seeing the damned thing again.

Sunny looked up as they passed beneath the arch, thinking about his past here. . . And his future.

Not turning her head, Effie said in a wistful tone:

"There are areas in the ruins that many Nightmare Creatures tend to avoid for some reason. The castle is one of these places. I was told that back when the original group of Sleepers came here hoping to carve a foothold in the city, there was only a single Spire Messenger nesting in the throne room, with no other monsters around. Those madmen actually managed to kill it."

Nephis gave her a glance.

"Spire Messenger?"

The huntress chuckled.

"Big ugly bastards with black feathers and pale bodies, you must have seen them hunting in the Labirynth. They come from the Spire."

Changing Star hesitated.

"What are their rank and class?"

Effie shivered a little.

"Fallen beasts. That's why I said that those guys were a little mad. But they were a powerful bunch."

She grew silent and then added in a quiet voice:

"It must have taken a lot to kill them, in the end."

Brought into a solemn mood by that last statement, they continued forward in silence. The stone road coiled around the hill, slowly climbing its sheer slopes. Here and there, it was broken by long stretches of stairs and formidable, but strangely graceful fortifications. No one was standing guard, though. The whole road was empty.

Sunny gestured to one of the stone barricades and asked:

"Why are there no watchmen?"

Effie shrugged.

"Gunlaug has barely enough people to man the castle walls. They will notice anything that approaches the hill, though. The whole city is in clear view from up there, and there are different protective measures put in place. They have already spotted us, too."

Sunny scoffed.

"We aren't your average sleepers. What are they going to do? Annoy us to death? I don't see any reason to be scared or annoyed. At least not until Gunlaug or his top thugs get involved."

Effie whistled and chuckled a little.

"That's some confidence for a little shrimp that just got here, kid."

"Well, we didn't get here based off luck alone, you know. I don't need to describe our trip or tell you how far we had to travel to get the point across."

Effie laughed and nodded. She wasn't exactly convinced that the three newcomers were stronger than the guards but she had seen Sunny expertly track all of the nearby monsters in the Dark City at once. She also had no real idea what the girls' powers were other than one being a supposed oracle. She presumed it was Cassie, the blond one.

Sunny was in awe of the Bright Castle once again, when he noticed the skulls hanging from rusty chains above the gates.

'Right. I have to convince a cruel and stubborn tyrant who has given up on returning to the waking world before Neph goes and offs the damned guy, or else most of the castle's residents will kill each other and then most of the survivors will die in battle against the creatures.'

Sunny sighed.

His gaze fell lower, only now noticing dozens of crude, makeshift hovels huddled on the stone platform. They were built from fragments of rubble, rotting wood and pieces of monster hides, chaotically clinging to the stones as if afraid to be blown away by the wind.

An unpleasant, strangely familiar smell hit him in the nose a few moments later. It was the motley, but unmistakable stench of the slums. That stench was nothing like the poisonous reek of the outskirts, and at the same time exactly the same.

'Damnation. I hate this.'

He was reminded of Antartica, and the Outskirts. He burned with a desire to have these people survive the horrors of this place. This was no way for humans to live. As a result of his thoughts, he gritted his teeth unknowingly.

Changing Star's voice tore him away from his reverie.

"Sunny? Are you okay?"

He blinked a couple of times, then slowly turned to face her and said after a brief pause:

"Yeah, this just gives me some nasty flashbacks."

Something in his voice must have sounded strange, because she gave him a long look before turning away with a short nod.

"Good. Don't relax just yet."

Then, she turned to Effie and asked:

"What do we do now?"

The huntress looked around and shrugged.

"It's going to get dark soon, so I would advise you to find a shelter before that. Look around for an empty hut. With how many people die each season, there's always plenty of those. Otherwise, two of you can pay the tribute and go into the castle. But the third one will have to stay."

Changing Star lingered, then said:

"What about you?"

Effie grinned.

"What about me? That luxury one-bedroom cottage over there is mine. Mind you, it was built from the best kind of crap you can find here... although it's still crap. Anyway, I am going home, preparing myself a hearty supper and then going to sleep. I'm dead tired from these last couple of days. Sorry, I don't host guests."

Nephis stared at her, obviously wanting to say more, but then simply nodded.

"I see. Thank you for everything you have done for us. I won't forget it."

Effie smiled, patted her on the shoulder and turned to Sunny and Cassie.

"Bye, doofus. Bye, doll. See you around."

With that, she began whistling a cheerful melody and walked away.

The three of them were suddenly left alone, lost and unsure about what to do. The inhabitants of the outer settlement didn't pay them a lot of attention, only occasionally throwing an indifferent glance at the three young strangers. Only Cassie's beauty attracted a couple of intense, darkly fascinated gazes.

After a minute or so passed in disoriented silence, Changing Star hesitantly took out the two soul shards that they had collected from the remains of the Rolling Stone and looked at the glimmering crystals lying in her hand.

They had to make a decision.

***

Nephis held the shimmering crystals, looking at them with a heavy expression. Sunny was also staring at the shards, his head full of dark thoughts.

The remnants of shattered souls glowed softly in the dim twilight of dusk.

Around them, the inhabitants of the outer settlement were hurrying to get inside their pitiful hovels before the coming of night. The sun was already hidden behind the cyclopean silhouette of the Crimson Spire, drowning the world in its eerie shadow. The air was full of fear and worry.

He grimaced.

"What are you thinking about?"

Changing Star sighed and looked up. Her ivory face was harsh and thoughtful. She remained silent for a while, and then said in her usual calm tone:

"We need to split up."

Sunny couldn't help but break his grimace and laugh.

"Well, we do have the means for two of us to be safe and healthy right? I can actually monitor the movement and the conversations of the castle from right here, so I'm afraid you can't use that excuse to send me off with Cassie. You two go and shower. You stink anyway. Plus, I spent most of my life in worse conditions anyway."