The chain swayed lightly as Caster and Tracker walked across it, rattling loudly from time to time. Since the island that they had just left was currently ascending, the one in front of them was below and fully visible.
The Northern Island was not too large, maybe two kilometers in diameter.
Soon, they were upon the island. The two of them landed softly amidst the delicate flowers and looked around.
At the very corner of the platform that lay beyond the gate, almost unnoticeable, a narrow set of stairs led down, cut from weathered rock. The path snaked around the overhanging slope, clinging to the stone surface as it led to the dark side of the island.
It was the way to enter the chained Isles.
"Tracker. It is finally time to enter the Night Temple."
She nodded.
"I'll have you do something for me. Go and check, alone, if Saint Cormac is at the Temple or not, if he is, spend time at the temple until he leaves for one of his expeditions. When he leaves, bring me in afterwards. If the Saint isn't there, immediately ask if you can bring a subordinate of yours. If they allow it, get me in."
Tracker looked worried, likely due to thinking that she is going to betray her clan. But nonetheless, she nodded.
"Just so you don't get any weird ideas, give me all of your memories. Every one of them right now."
"What? Why?"
"So that you can't affect me much in the Night Temple. I do not want you trying to make use of that opportunity to attack me again. Now, come on, give me all of your memories."
She groaned, but knew that she didn't have a choice.
She grabbed Caster's hand and started transferring all of her memories to him.
One, two, five, fifteen... thirty one memories. Tracker had given Caster exactly thirty one memories.
"There. I gave you all."
"You kidding me? You're still wearing your armor."
"I'm naked under it! Do you want me to go get permission for you while I am naked?"
Sigh.
"I'll give you something to wear, give me all of your memories. I'll return them to you after you I'm done with this temple."
Begrudgingly, she gave her armor to Caster too, making her naked. During the journey, Caster had seen her naked a few times already so she didn't .
Bringing out a few clothes from his ring, he gave them to Tracker. They were just half sleeved shirt and shorts that Caster had brought for himself, but on tracker, they looked massive on her.
(Massive? You know what else- okay sorry.)
"Are these all the memories you have?"
Tracker nodded hesitantly.
Caster took out the book of books suddenly, which caused Tracker to panic. She had seen its effects first hand, it gave incredible information advantage so Caster had used it many times with her.
Hurriedly she spoke up again.
"W-Wait! I'm sorry, I had one more memory! Here, this is all."
She took his hand again and transfered the thirty second memory. It was an armor.
Caster dismissed the book of books without using it, it would just be a waste of essence if he asked again to confirm.
"This musn't happen again, Tracker. Or I will kill you."
Caster paused for a moment, thinking something whilst making a 'mmm' sound.
"Also, call me Kieron in front of them, them finding out who I am would be bad."
Shaken up, she nodded fearfully.
"U-Understood. And... uhh... What must I say to them? I can't just... you know... check on them."
Caster had thought this over and over, however he still was unsure what the best excuse to enter would be.
The excuse Cassie and Sunny used in the novel was that they wished to have an audience with Saint Cormac, even though they did not want that. But that can't work here, since Cassie knew the future. Caster doesn't. He has changed loads of things since the start, and even going to the Night Temple over half a year earlier compared to the novel.
Even though Caster has the Book of Books for the information, it, at times, just refuses to give certain information without ridiculous essence payment, that an awakened just can not fuel, despite the question itself not being very "heavy".
Which is why Caster will be using Tracker for helping him find out if Cormac is there or not.
In the end, Caster had decided on a decent excuse.
"Ask for an audience with Saint Cormac. If he isn't there, ask if you can bring your subordinate to the Night Temple to wait for him as well. If the Saint is actually there, ask for his help for "destroying the evidence" for the fight against me. You were supposed to get his help with this anyways. Lead him to Reckoning and part ways with him after he does his thing. Let's meet up in the waking world afterwards, I'll take care of the consequences you'll face from Valor."
"How will you do that?"
"I'll take you to Song."
"What about my family? My entire Clan?"
"If your family has a citadel, tell them to excommunicate you. If not, just come to song with its entirety before the higher ups of Valor find out about my survival."
"This is not favourable for me."
Caster's tone got harsher.
"I'm giving you a chance to scrape by. If I wanted to, I could kill you and get rid of your burden on me, which I definitely should. But I am holding back. I do not want to kill unnecessarily. Take what I am offering you, or leave it. It's upto you, but you won't be able to get a better condition than that."
"Understood. I-I will go now."
"I will be two islands north of here. You know the rules right?"
Tracker simply nodded to that and left.
For the first time in a while, Caster would be alone. He went past the Northern Island and hid at a nearby island, not wanting to be noticed by Cormac.
He waited there for a while, perhaps a couple hours, before Tracker returned again.
"They've... They've allowed us in."
"What about the Saint?"
"He's on an expedition to the Hollow Mountains. He's been gone for about 3 weeks already so he's likely to return in about another week."
'That's not ideal... I was hoping for a couple weeks at least. Well, it is better than the saint being at the temple so I'll take it.'
Kieron jumped from the position he was laying in and stood up. Wiping some dust from his tunic.
"Okay, let's go."
The path leading to the Night Temple was long and narrow. There was barely enough space for two people to walk side by side. To his right was the stone wall of the island, and to his left was the bottomless dark abyss of the Sky Below. One careless step could spell a person's doom.
They descended lower and lower, finally reaching the dark side after a long time.
At the point where the slope turned almost completely horizontal, the stairs transformed into a strange hanging bridge that was attached to the stone surface above by rusty chains. It swayed precariously above the dark chasm of the Sky Below, leading all the way to the center of the isle… to the Night Temple.
In front of him, at some distance, a magnificent structure protruded from the underbelly of the floating island. Made out of black stone, it resembled a tall, somber cathedral that was somehow built upside down and hovered above the abyss of impenetrable darkness.
The foundation was its highest point, and its seven belfries descended into the depths of the black void, each ending with a short chain that held a massive bell cast of tarnished green copper.
Since Night Temple was located under the island, the light of the sun never reached it. Instead, the cathedral was shrouded in eternal shadow, with only the pale shining of the distant divine flames caressing its black walls.
In a strange reversal, the velvet darkness of the abyss and the scattering of false stars in its depths seemed like a vast night sky hanging above it.
As Kieron watched, a second bell rang. He shifted a little and turned his attention to the narrow path, tracing its treacherous steps all the way to the massive iron gates of the cathedral.
Tracker turned to him, lingered for a moment, and said:
"Let's go. They've seen us."
Kieron nodded and took a step forward.
Night Temple waited ahead, its gates opened like a hungry mouth.
The rules at the night temple are strict. Outsiders aren't allowed to summon any Memories or Echoes inside the Citadel. They can only go into the allowed areas, unless a Master is escorting them. They may not speak with the inhabitants of the temple unless they are addressed first… additionally, all items they bring inside have to be inspected.
Kieron knew what he was getting himself into, but he was nervous nonetheless.
As they approached the ornate gates, two figures became visible standing on both sides of it. Both the sentinels radiated an imposing, overbearing aura.
One of them nodded before speaking up.
"Follow me."
Tracker had talked about everything necessary, so Kieron didn't have to do any of the annoying negotiations fortunately.
They were led into a small, chilly room at the side of the gate and handed two sets of simple garments made out of crude cloth, then locked inside. Kieron stared at the bundle in his hands with a questioning expression.
He knew this would happen, but didn't understand what its purpose was.
But he was past the point to care.
The girl silently turned her back to him. Kieron hesitated for a moment, then did the same.
He dismissed the Ashveil Tunic and put on a pair of simple trousers given to him. Following that, he put on a tunic and put on a pair of leather sandals.
Its sleeves were short, barely sheilding him from the cold but it wasn't the worst.
"Are you done?"
Tracker answered after a short pause:
"Yes."
The clothes provided to her consisted of similar sandals and a long tunic that left her shoulders bare and her legs exposed below the knee.
Kieron took the previous clothing he had provided to Tracker and put it in his memory.
Then, he scowled and banged on the door.
Soon, the same sentinel let them out and led them through into the depths of the Night Temple.
As soon as they left the gateway behind, Kieron tensed, as if expecting something terrible to happen.
…But nothing did.
The sentinel glanced at him and frowned.
"What are you waiting for? Come. Sir Pierce will see be with us shortly."
The interior of the somber cathedral was as bizarre as its exterior. Kieron expected the actual floors to be constructed properly, and some of the corridors they walked through were. But other parts of Night Temple were upside-down, as well, the flat floors serving as ceilings and the arching ceiling serving as uneven floors.
And that was just the outward ring. He didn't even want to imagine how the temple itself and the inner sanctum looked.
'So this is how fantastical the structures in Shadow Slave are. Really disorienting, this place is.'
The mood looked really dim in the Night Temple. Worse than he had expected.
'I wonder if this is the norm here. The novel didn't really describe this in detail.'
After descending a few sets of twisting stairs, Kieron and Tracker were led to another, slightly bigger room. That one had a large table in its center.
The sentinel gestured at it and said, his voice not betraying any emotions:
"Sir Pierce is on his way. Please, present the items you brought from the outside for inspection."
'They sure are delaying this meeting. Should I just rush with unsealing Mordret? Tracker might have betrayed me, so that would just straight up prevent any of that...'
Tracker spoke up:
"We have nothing on us right now. We left our items behind."
Kieron, however, continued to think about his next move.
'No, that is not a good idea. Lack of leadership here might allow Mordret to escape the Night Temple. I need Pierce or Wealth to be near and ready when I unseal Mordret. Even if it means willingly walking into a trap, I can't risk Mordret. He's a way bigger threat than anyone else here. That's not to mention that Tracker may have just not betrayed me, but I see no reason why she would not... ahh I don't know at this point. I am overthinking this, being paranoid and all.'
The sentinel nodded.
"What about items stored inside memory?"
Kieron asked that in a low tone. He didn't wish to sound suspicious. He just wanted to be looked as a subordinate.
But perhaps that was an overcommitment as the sentinel's eyes darkened, looking more focused.
The act was not fooling him.
Chuckling on the inside but acting nervous on the outside, Kieron spoke up again.
"W-What? Why're you looking at me like that?"
He was trying to buy some time, to let Pierce get in the room before bringing out the Mirror Shard.
"Summon them. I shall inspect them."
Soon, a beautiful black ring was summoned onto his middle finger. Kieron injected some essence into it and commanded it to take out all of the things inside it.
Soon the table was filled with a ton of daily necessities, clothes, foods, a chunk of soul shards that Caster left for himself for practice weaving, and finally a Mirror Shard.
'It is now time...'
"How much trash do you have in that box?"
Caster smiled.
"I'm finished!"
The Lost shook his head and started picking up the items one after another, inspecting them carefully.
At that moment, the door of the room opened, and a tall man with sharp features and steely eyes came in. His dark hair was cut short, and there was stubble on his cheeks. The man wore a scale armor forged out of lusterless blue steel, and held himself with the relaxed confidence of an experienced killer.
'He's here... Pierce.'
The sentinel greeted the Master respectfully, and then continued to inspect the mountain of items Caster had produced on the table.
Pierce glanced at it for a moment, then turned to Tracker.
'What? Why?'
Caster was beginning to suspect something was off.
It was then that a familiar voice suddenly resounded in his ears:
"Caster… I am so glad that you made it."
Caster's eyes widened very slightly.
He forgot to act startled.
He looked at the sentinel, Tracker, and Master Pierce. None of them showed any sign that they had heard anything. Turning away, as if to stare at the wall, he hid his face and said in a barely audible whisper:
"Mordret! Where have you been, bastard?"
His words sounded harsh, but his tone was actually elated. Not that he was elated himself. It was just the persona he was building up.
The voice chuckled, making Sunny feel a bit tense, for some reason.
Was it just him… or did the mysterious prince sound a bit different?
"Me? Oh… actually, I was with you this whole time, watching as you traveled across the Dream Realm. I just chose not to speak."
This time, he didn't forget to act startled.
"What? You… chose not to speak? Why?"
Mordret remained silent for a few moments, then said in his usual pleasant tone:
"With that memory you have, giving you so much information, I was afraid that you wouldn't come if I said too much."
"Come where? Here, to the Night Temple?"
At that moment, the sentinel picked up the piece of the broken mirror from the pile.
Mordret spoke again, his voice still friendly, but suddenly much colder and deeper beneath the surface. Like a dark and restless ocean hiding under a thin veil of mist…
"Indeed. Thank you for bringing this piece of mirror to me, Caster. I am very grateful."
Sir Pierce casually glanced at the sentinel while responding to Tracker. His gaze stopped at the mirror. In the next moment, his pupils widened.
"...And very sorry for what is about to happen next."
The formidable Master was suddenly near the table, the Lost thrown aside. The piece of the mirror was in his hand.
Throwing a wild look at Caster, he screamed:
"Where did you find it, boy?! Answer me!"
"Reckoning. I picked it up after slaying a strange creature."
Sir Pierce stared at him for a moment, and then his face suddenly changed. It became deathly pale and motionless, as if aged by ten years. His eyes grew wide and glassy.
The fearsome Master was… was…
Terrified.
But before any of them could do anything, a thin crack appeared on the shard in his hand.
And in the next moment, all Caster could hear was the sound of breaking mirrors.
And he couldn't help but smile.
Everything was going as he wanted it to.