"Then I'm requisitioning sunglasses."
The two of us stepped out into the corridor together, boots striking the stone floor in unison. The air smelled faintly of salt and metal, same as always. That was one thing the novel hadn't really mentioned, I'd found. The salty smell from the Dark Sea, while not particularly notieable, became quite pungent on a windy morning like today. It was a small detail, but it reminded me not everyhting in this world was confined to the imaginations of one man.
We crossed the courtyard. The air smelled faintly of brine and metal. A few soldiers nodded as we passed; others were sparring, the rhythm of their blades clanging steady and practiced.
A couple of them gestured to Sasrir, asking for a fight, buthe just shook his head and kept moving. They dropped it without a word and just resumed, though I swae one or two looked dissapointed on the side. Though the legend of Sasrir's deadly skill was more potent than ever, most had realised the silent killer was actually pretty normal, and so their apprehension had dropped considerably.
Only when he was in a good mood though: catch him on a bad one, and you'd be liable to lose a few fingers. After one or two especially violent incidents, we had basically given up on exploring certain parts of the City. The powers of a Listener were simply too damn hostile in this world, almost as bad as LOTM itself.
As we reached the ramparts, Sasrir squinted toward the horizon. The sea had withdrawn under the rising sun, revealing the corpse-stricken battground that had formed during the night. Already, some brave monsters were scavenging for scraps. Far beyond it, the Coral Labyrinth shimmered — a maze of pale pink and crimson spires jutting from the water like the bones of some colossal beast.
"Still thinking about it?" he asked quietly.
"Yeah."
The Soul Devourer.
Somewhere out there, beyond the crater of a fallen star, it waited.
Six months hadn't passed for nothing: we had planned and plotted almost obsessively on how to kill it. The Centurian Demon, Blood Weave, the hundreds of Soul Fruits hanging from its' branches...it was one of the few treasures left in the Forgotten Shore, ad arguably the biggest.
"I'll be ready soon," I said finally.
Sasrir nodded. "I know. But not today."
"Not today."
The wind swept past, carrying the scent of salt and distant storms. Below us, the rest of the Bright Castle stirred — a fragile flame burning against the vast silence of the Forgotten Shore.
We stood there for a long moment, side by side, listening to the heartbeat of our small world.
Then Sasrir broke the silence with a grin. "Come on, Golden Beard. If we're late again, Kai's going to write another song about your grooming habits."
"He wouldn't dare."
"He would. He already rhymed 'Adam' with 'handsome.' It's spreading."
I groaned. "Damn Night, the corruption begins already."
We made our way down the wall, sunlight painting our armor in glints of gold and steel. The world outside waited — unchanged, endless, beautiful in its quiet hostility.
And as we walked toward the gate, I found myself smiling again. It was a natural smile, a happy smile, one without loaded meaning and an ulterior motive. Somewhat refreshing, after all the Acting I had done, but since I had completely digested my Potions there was no need to be so invested anymore. 'The key to Acting is to remember you're only ever Acting, after all.'
The gates of Bright Castle moaned open, the sound echoing like the yawn of some ancient creature. The morning mist spilled inward from the sea, turning the world outside into a hazy watercolor of pale gold and gray.
The Forgotten Shore looked deceptively calm today —almost idyllic in the morning sunlight. But everyone who'd lived here long enough knew better. You never know what horrors lurked deeper into the City.
Sasrir and I stepped out first, our boots crunching over the hard, stony ground. The Guards at the gate gave us respectful nods as we passed — a small thing, but proof og labour. Every Guard on duty responded like this now, regardless of who they were.
Six months ago, we were strangers stumbling into this ruin, blood from one of their own on our hands. Now, when people looked at us, it wasn't wariness or curiosity in their eyes — it was recognition. Trust, even.
"Morning, Sir Beard," one of the gate guards called, grinning. "Try not to scare off the local wildlife with that radiant face of yours."
"Jealousy's unbecoming, Ranir," I shot back, smiling.
His partner laughed. "He's right, though. It's getting to the point where we'll have to issue you a license for that thing."
Sasrir rolled his eyes. "Ignore them, Golden Beard. You'll only encourage the disease."
"Which disease?"
"Your ego."
We walked down the ramp, where the outer settlement was beginning to stir.
The Scavengers were already sorting through piles of stone and dust, their carts creaking under the weight of salvaged metal. A few raised their hands in greeting as we passed — one woman even called out, "Hey, Adam! If you see any of those shell crabs today, try not to shatter them this time! I'll pay extra for all the meat attached."
"No promises!" I yelled back.
Beyond them, a cluster of Artisans stood together, seemingly out for a breath of fresh air. One of them, aan older man named Harrow, waved his hand in greeting upon seeing us.
"You heading to the Labyrinth again?" he asked.
"Routine patrol," Sasrir replied. "If we find anything that won't immediately try to eat us, we'll let you know."
"Appreciated! Be careful out there."
Not far off, the Handmaidens — the group maintaining the Castle's halls and hygiene — were gathering fresh water in clay pots. They were dressed simply, their faces calm and kind despite the setting. When we passed, a few offered quiet smiles. One of them, Irel, reached out and brushed dust from my shoulder as I passed.
"Keep yourself safe" she murmured.
I nodded. "Thank you."
Sasrir snickered to himself once we had passed, but I ignored him. A few girls had taken a...deeper interest in me during my time here, in part because of my natural good lucks, but also because I was extremely civilised in comparision to some of the other Hunters or Guards in the Castle.
The fact I was always willing to listen to their woes and chats probably helped too.
Past them, the Hunters were assembling at the courtyard gate. They were the rougher sort — scarred, armored, loud — but they greeted us with cheers all the same.
"Hey, it's the Shadow and his Human!" one of them called. "Where you guys off to today, City or Labyrinth?"
"Labyrinth," I replied. "Bad luck on the rotation, now we have to face off against a bunchof crabs."
Laughter rippled through the group. We had fought beside many of them, lost a few too. Bonds forged in survival burned hotter than friendship. After so much time, I had realised why Gemma held such high respect amongst the Hunters.
"Popular bunch, aren't we?" Sasrir muttered as we cleared the outer gate.
I shrugged, pretending not to smile. "What can I say? People love a good beard."
We descended the slope toward the lower City, where Effie was waiting with her spear planted in the ground, one boot resting on a half-buried stone face. She waved lazily as we approached.
"Took you long enough," she called. "Was starting to think you two got lost in the mess hall again."
"Blame him," Sasrir said, jerking his thumb at me. "Mirror addiction. Chronic."
Effie smirked. "Figures. I was gonna suggest therapy, but I guess self-reflection's already part of the problem."
"Ha-ha," I said dryly.
Up on the ridge above us, Kai dropped down from a watchtower, landing light as a cat by flying at the last second. "You're all early for once," he said, voice gentle and mellow to a point where I had once been filled with jealousy. "Is this a sign of the apocalypse?"
"Routine's a powerful thing," Sasrir replied.
Kai smiled naturally. "Good. Let's keep it that way."
The four of us formed up automatically — Effie in front, Kai ahead and high, Sasrir beside me, watching everything, and me taking the rear. The rhythm of half a year's patrols moved through us like muscle memory.
As we left the safety of the inner City, the air shifted — quieter, heavier. The mist thickened near the Coral Labyrinth, painting the horizon in eerie red light. The wind whished softly against the reefs, the sound both peaceful and menacing.
We passed a weathered marker stone carved with runes, the last boundary before the wilds began. Beyond this point, no one else came unless duty or madness drove them.
After walking for only a fewminutes, Effie crouched near a shallow pool, touching the wet sand. "Tracks," she said.
We gathered around her. In the damp earth, something massive had passed through recently — too large to be one of the usual crab-shells, too deep for the thin-legged coral hounds. The prints stretched toward the waterline, irregular, heavy.
Kai spoke low. "That's new."
Sasrir frowned. "Or old, and coming back."
I looked out over the red landscape of the Labyrinth. Somewhere out there, the Soul Devourer waited for us.
"Let's keep moving," I said quietly.
Effie nodded, spear glinting in the half-light.