No Return (Shadow Slave Fan-Fic)

Something was definitely wrong..

During their sleep , Cassie had woken up Sunless and told him that he needed to remember. And that it was five.

In the morning , Levi confronted Cassie when Sunny left.. and she didn't seem to have any memory of what had happened during their knight.

Levi was feeling weird.. He felt like his mind was trying to be won over.. of course due to his Innate Ability , he was immune to mind attacks. But fortunately he could feel it if they were trying to attack his mind..

Soon , Sunny returned , he had left to see if there was any danger. He didn't seem to remember anything either..

"Right now, it's just flying above the island. I don't know if it's the same creature or not, and when it is going to land."

Changing Star frowned.

"Last time, it wasn't very interested in searching for live prey. Perhaps it's mostly a carrion eater, and thus is only interested in the Carapace Demon's carcass."

Shashi offered her own opinion:

"Maybe we're too weak and little to satiate it? After all, it never came for the corpses of the scavengers we had slain. As if eating mere beasts is beneath it."

Sunny shook his head.

"Back then, it did come for the carapace centurion's meat. But it took a few scavengers with it as well before leaving. So it'll be too optimistic to think that this abomination will not try to devour us too if given a chance."

Nephis thought for a while, then gave him a nod.

"You're right. The best course of action would be to stay away from the Carapace Demon for now and hide when it decides to land."

Then, looking up, she added:

"But first, we must observe it to make sure that it's the same creature and confirm its intentions."

Soon , they walked to the place where Sunny's shadow was hiding.

Levi's eyes were on Cassie and Sunny. For now they were only ones showing abnormalities.. Shashi and Nephis seemed to be doing fine..

The black dot drew closer a few times, allowing them to discern that it was indeed the same terrible monstrosity that they had encountered a few weeks before, or at least a creature of the same type. However, it never got too close to the crown of the great tree, as though hesitating to land in its shadow.

What's worse, as hours passed by, it was joined by two other abominations of the same breed, each as horrifying and repulsive as the first one was. Now, three black dots were circling in the skies above their heads.

One of those creatures, with its corpselike white body and raven-black feathers, with an unnatural mess of powerful limbs protruding from its wide chest, each ending with a set of terrifying talons, was enough to wipe out their entire group.

However, the flying monsters seemed to be reluctant to approach the Ashen Barrow for some reason. They just circled around it, sometimes hesitantly approaching, but then gaining height again. Their behavior was strange and disturbing.

Levi was suspecting the Great Tree at first.. now he was sure that it was influencing his friends.. But for now , Levi decided to act like he was under its influence too. He did not want to make the tree suspicious of him.. if it could easily influence an Awakened Demon.. it surely had some other things under its sleeve..

After some time, Cassie quietly said:

"Maybe they're not hungry?"

Sunny blinked, trying to imagine a world where a Nightmare Creature might not be hungry. Was it even possible?

He, on the other hand ...

"I don't know about these albino chickens, but I'm hungry as hell."

This was true. The three of them had not eaten anything since yesterday. Sunny was afraid that if the abominations did decide to land on the island, the loud growls of his stomach would give away his position.

Nephis glanced and him and asked:

"Want to eat some grilled chicken?"

Everyone immediately turned to her , and almost at the same time everyone uttered a rejection sentence.

'Ah Hell nah!'

She stared at them, then turned away with a smile.

'That was a bad joke.. who knew she had a worse humor than Sunny..'

... In the end, their worst fears did not come true. After the sun began to roll toward the horizon, the three flying abominations finally made a decision and left the skies above the Ashen Barrow, flying west in a loose wedge formation. They never descended low enough to notice the five Sleepers, let alone landing on the surface of the large island.

Looking at Cassie, who couldn't see that the danger had passed, Levi said:

"They're gone."

The blind girl exhaled with relief and relaxed, the frown disappearing from her face.

"Thank Heavens. Sitting here and waiting was five times worse than hiding from one of them at those cliffs."

For some reason, Sunny flinched a little.

"What ... what did you say?"

"I said that waiting for them to land was very tiresome."

Levi looked at Sunny. 

'5 huh.. I wonder what it means..'

Then Shashi turned to Nephis and asked:

"What do you want to do now?"

Changing Star looked west, where the black dots had disappeared from sight, and said after a short pause:

"Let's check the western edge of the island and decide on the next high point to reach."

Sunny shrugged, not having any objections.

Cassie smiled:

"Good idea! Who knows, maybe we'll finally see the walls of the castle!"

***

Soon, they had crossed the island and approached its western slope. Here, the ground was raised just before plunging down, forming a natural rampart that hid the landscape from their eyes.

Nephis was the first to climb up and reach the top.

Levi was just behind her when he felt that something was wrong. Changing Star's posture was somehow strange, stiff and rigid, as though she had suddenly turned to stone.

Stepping on the ashen surface of the natural rampart, he worriedly looked at Nephis and noticed a grim, resentful expression on her face. He had never seen her in such a state before.

Turning his head, Levi looked west and then narrowed his eyes. His face instantly darkened.

Levi clenched his fists.. his nails digging into his skin and drawing blood.. Only one word was repeating through his mind:

'Shit! shit! shit!'