Cassie and Sunny followed Neph's example and sat down near the fire. The host began to speak to them. However, Sunny didn't plan to respond; he had already relegated the role of speaker to Nephis.
"Haven't seen you three around. Are you new?"
Nephis nodded.
"Yes, we just reached the city."
The young woman grinned.
"Wait. You guys survived for three months in the Labyrinth?"
She looked at the three of them with a different light of respect.
"That's a truly wondrous feat. Congratulations and welcome to the dark city, I guess."
Nephis lingered for a few seconds before saying:
"My name is Nephis, and these two are Sunless and Cassia. We are sleepers who were sent to the forgotten shore during the winter solstice."
"Nice to meet you three. I'm Effie, or that's what people around here call me. I'm also a sleeper."
Sunny frowned. So the young huntress was not an Awakened like he hoped she would be, but a Sleeper. He wanted to have faith about a gateway being in the human castle. However, Sunny was sure that there wouldn't be one. So, he was not that heartbroken by the truth.
Nephis stayed silent for a while, until Sunny gestured at her and she spoke:
"You're from the castle, right? Are there people living in there?"
Effie glanced at her with a hint of pity in her eyes.
"There are people living in the castle, yes."
Nephis nodded and continued:
"Can you take us there?"
Effie shrugged.
"Sure, no problem. Do you guys have shards?"
Sunny blinked. He didn't know what soul shards had to do with anything. He had taken two from the rock he killed at the base of the wall. Was he going to give them up as payment?
Nephis took the soul shards she was keeping and showed them to Effie.
"We have two."
Effie sighed.
"Only two? Well, it's better than nothing. Keep them. You're going to need them soon."
Not understanding her words. Neph lingered, then spoke with uncertainty:
"We were hoping to reach the citadel and access the gateway in the castle, if there is one there.
Effie stared at Nephis for a long time, until she burst out into vigorous laughter.
"Ah, Sorry guys. I couldn't help myself. At the mention of a gateway in the castle ,I just had to…"
She waited for a short while until she added:
"I can take you to the castle, but there is no gateway there. In fact, there is no way out of this hell. So, give up… I guess."
Nephis sighed and spoke:
"What do you mean there is no gateway? Are there no gateways on the forgotten shores at all?"
Effie shook her head.
"There is one, of course. There's supposed to be one in every region, I think. But it's not something you, or I, or any sleeper can reach. You must know where it is already. You had to have noticed the massive spire looming over the city."
Nephis nodded.
"That was easy to infer. However, if there is a gateway, why has no one tried to reach it?"
Upon hearing Neph's words, Effie burst into another round of laughter before calming down and answering the question seriously.
"It's not that no one has tried; there were some who tried, naturally, they aren't alive anymore. But it's impossible for any sleeper to get there and defeat the guardian. So, I'm sorry, princess, for being content with staying here." Effie responded, seeing through the hidden meaning in Nephis's words.
"What is it that's defending the spire for it to be something no one has considered confronting?
Effie stayed silent for a long while before she sighed and responded in a grim voice.
"The gate guardian is a fallen terror."
Hearing about the gate guardian left Sunny, Cassie, and Nephis completely pale and in shock. Nephis closed her eyes for a second and nodded.
"Is that so…"
Sunny took a glance at Nephis.
"Is that so? Are you telling me you are actually considering it?"
Nephis nodded.
"Am I considering it? Sunny… what other choice do we have?"
Effie chuckled. "I like your confidence, princess. But there is no way you can get past a fallen terror to the gateway. So abandon all hope and leave contentedly in the dark city."
Nephis furrowed her brows.
"Abandon all hope? No, I can't do that. If you are content with living as a slave to the nightmare spell, that is your choice. However, I won't live and die in this hell you call the forgotten shore. I am Changing Star of the Immortal Flame Clan. Who dares to stop me?"
Hearing this, Effie's eyes widened.
"Immortal Flame Clan? Like the Immortal Flame? I guess you really are a princess. However, even someone like you can't carve your way out of here. So I'll only repeat myself. Abandon all hope."
Nephis sighed and didn't continue arguing.
"Alright then. Lead us to the castle… and maybe fill us in on what's going on."
Effie led the three sleepers to the castle. Navigating through the dark city with the safe path she had scouted after years of constant hunting. She had also told them about the situation in the forgotten shores. About the group of sleepers who took the bright castle fifteen years ago, and about Gunlaug, who ruled it today.
A week's stay in the bright castle cost a single soul shard — which the local tyrant called a tribute. She had also told them about people who couldn't afford to pay the tribute and were cast out to the outskirts of the castle, living in what was the NQSC equivalent of the slums.
Sunny knew what that was like, of course. He had lived on the outskirts himself. However, hearing what Gunlaug demanded from people in exchange for weeks' worth of food and shelter made him irrationally angry.
Hunting a nightmare creature was extremely dangerous. A sleeper killing an awakened creature was already something unheard of. However, here people not only needed to know their way around the city to avoid the more dangerous creatures, but also needed to be strong enough to take one down themselves.
People who knew their way around the city were rare and treasured. They were called pathfinders by the people living in the castle, and their services were certainly not cheap.
However, that was not the only way to earn stay in the castle. Gunlaug's gang offered many jobs that earned a roof over someone's head. Some were dangerous, but some were more menial and safe. People would say that was the mercy of the bright lord. But to Sunny, it was no better than slavery.
Choice? They had no choice? Either work or bleed out in the dark city?
Effie had also mentioned the tyrant's harem — where beautiful girls like Nephis or Cassie could join to pay for the tribute. Effie herself had mentioned that the two girls would certainly not be rejected.
However, imagining Cassie being forced to join them made Sunny want to burn the castle to the ground. And imagining Nephis being forced to be there induced a certain primal wrath in him.
He wanted to tear the bright lord's head off his neck and hang his skull next to the skulls of his victims that he hung on top of the castle.
That's what he wanted to do.