Shadow Slave: Arcadius of the Forgotten

"Identify yourself," the voice demanded.

It was the voice of a girl, cold and commanding despite its youthful tone.

Cade remained silent. Outwardly, he appeared calm. However, in truth, he was... stunned. His heart hammered in his chest. Adrenaline surged as a torrent questions flooded his mind.

Who the hell...? he asked himself inwardly. Who can it be? No, more importantly, how is this even possible?! I know for a fact that no one's supposed to be here except for me. And how the fuck did someone manage to sneak up on me?

Cade was completely sure that he was supposed to be alone, save for the three Sleepers who were currently several kilometers ahead of him. They were resting inside the bones of a dead leviathan. He should be alone. No one was supposed to be in the Crimson Labyrinth apart from Sunny, Nephis, and Cassie at this point in time.

Sure, there were the other three Sleepers who had been sent to the Forgotten Shore apart from the trio and Caster. But all of those Sleepers were small fries who'd died very quickly. There was absolutely no way that they would have survived three whole weeks in this hellish nightmare of a place, let alone be able to sneak up on Cade of all people.

And besides, the owner of the curved longsword seemed to be alone.

Cade's jaw tightened imperceptibly, but his expression remained neutral. He thought about calling upon the Darkness and dissolving into it, but he quickly banished that idea. The rage hit him much, much harder in the presence of other humans and he could end up killing this person without ever getting any answers.

But something told Cade that she would not let herself be killed so easily. Anyone who was capable of braving the Crimson Labyrinth for three whole weeks would be no push-over. Even less so, if the someone in question worked alone like him.

A storm was raging in Cade's mind. Just who could she be? Did the Spell send someone else into this area because of me? Because it thought that I could protect them?

That did make some sort of sense. The Spell was no executioner. It was cold and callous, but it was fair nonetheless. So, it made sense that Cade's presence would elicit a response from the Spell and it would send another Sleeper to this hell if it deemed Cade capable enough to protect them.

Not likely... he thought. But it's the only explanation.

Cade was somewhat reluctant to believe this possibility. He doubted that the owner of the ice cold blade was someone who needed protection.

Still, it did not seem like the female intruder was actively hostile toward him. Sure, she had a blade positioned right where it could claim Cade's life in an instant. But Cade understood that that was not her intention. Simply because of the fact that she had chosen to address him, rather than cutting his throat open.

So, as bewilderment warred with irritation, Cade forced himself to take a slow breath, releasing the tension in his shoulders. He lowered the strip of meat he had been chewing on and placed it on the ground. Dust clung to his palm as he removed his other hand from the stone, and clapped both together briefly, shaking off the residue. His movements were slow, measured and calm.

The intruder behind him seemed to grow impatient. She adjusted the blade against Cade's skin and repeated in her cold, piercing voice, "I said... identify yourself."

Cade recoiled a little due to the blade's unnaturally cold edge. He took a deep breath, calming his nerves. Or at least, trying to.

"Definitely not the most pleasant of introductions," he replied, his voice smooth and steady despite the storm within. "But since you're asking so nicely..." He tilted his head ever so slightly, careful not to nick his skin on the blade again. "My name is Arcadius. And I am a Sleeper. I'm assuming you are one as well— though definitely not the friendly sort, that's for sure."

The mysterious girl seemed to tense slightly, as if his response was something she'd expected, yet had been caught off guard by.

Cade chose that moment to move. Sure, he had chosen to hear the unknown intruder out, but he still felt uncomfortable at the other end of her icy blade. So, with all the precision of a seasoned Battle Master, he shifted his weight, and stood up swiftly.

He twisted, his hand snapping out to grab the blade. A subtle flick of his wrist, a shift in balance— and the sword was no longer pointed at his throat but held firmly in his own control, its icy edge now aimed back at its owner.

The girl stood frozen, her eyes wide with shock at his sudden movement. Cade noticed her immediately.

She was unnervingly close. Her short, ash-blonde hair fell in stiff, almost frozen strands that barely swayed despite the tension in the air. The blunt fringe of her curtain bangs framed a beautiful, angular face, accentuating the icy sharpness in her features. Her pale skin seemed almost translucent in the dim light, as though carved from ice— fragile yet unyielding.

Her icy-blue eyes locked onto his abyssal black, brimming with hesitation, but devoid of fear— they were full of a calculating resolve that mirrored Cade's own.

Her crude clothing, woven from black seaweed, clung unevenly to her slender frame, hinting at lean curves shaped by survival. Despite the exposure to the biting cold that seemed to radiate from within her, she stood unwavering, as if winter itself had molded her for this frozen stalemate.

But as Cade took in her cold appearance, she dismissed her weapon Memory in a sudden shimmer of... frost? The blade disappeared from Cade's grip and before he could even react, she jumped in a sudden but precise motion. Both of her feet slammed directly into his stomach with the force of a battering ram that belied her slender frame.

The deadlock was broken in an instant. Cade let out a painful gasp, "Ugh..." He staggered back and held his stomach with both arms, groaning and barely keeping himself from falling to the ground. The impact of the dropkick rattled against his armor, almost threatening to break it.

What the hell? he cursed inwardly. What's with that damned strength?!

Cade gritted his teeth against the pain that shot through his mid-section. He'd long learned to ignore physical pain, at least to some degree. His body had seen plenty of dreadful battles and taken plenty of monstrous blows. He'd almost gotten used to the feeling of pain by now.

So, Cade regained his footing quickly. His hand rose instinctively to summon his own weapon. A black sword materialized out of Darkness into his outstretched hand. Its surface swirled faintly with the Darkness as Cade adapted his usual stance, directing the Voidfang's blade at the girl in front of him.

She had put some distance between them and had already summoned her longsword back, gripping it tightly as she tried to shift into a defensive stance. Her tense posture, however, betrayed her inexperience and uncertainty. She obviously knew what Cade could see just as clearly— she was grossly outmatched.

From the fact that she had been able to sneak up on Cade and point a blade at his throat, he deduced that she had been watching him for a while now. As such, she must have known exactly how terrifying of a warrior he was.

Still, she didn't lower her weapon. Her icy gaze was locked onto him. Cade adjusted his grip on his own sword, tilting his head slightly. His own expression was unreadable. For a moment, the tension between the two held, heavy and unbroken.

Then, Cade sighed silently and lowered his sword. The Darkness swirling along its surface faded into nothingness and took the Voidfang with it. He abandoned the stance he'd been holding.

"You know," he began, his voice calm but laced with a sharp undertone, "for someone who clearly doesn't wanna fight me, you have a pretty strange way of showing it."

The girl didn't respond. Her blade remained raised. Her icy-blue gaze was locked unwaveringly on him, as if a single twitch of his hand would prompt her to strike.

Cade raised his hands by his sides, his tone softening a little. "You wanted to talk, right? I'm sure we can work this out. There's no need to make a mess of things."

The girl seemed a little surprised by his calmness. Her eyes widened imperceptibly as her grip on the frostbitten blade tightened. Hesitation flickered in her expression. After a long moment though, she relented. The weapon shimmered and dissolved into... frost.

Cade watched her carefully, and his eyes caught the way her weapon dissipated. There was no mistaking it. The Memory disappeared into a shimmer of frost, not the light haze of soul essence that Memories were supposedly made out of.

Cade's eyes widened slightly as realization began setting in. The Memories in this strange world always appeared and disappeared from motes of light— except the ones that he carried. Ever since his transformation, his own Memories had always manifested from and dissolved into the Darkness that lingered within him, a dark gift tied to his very being.

But now... this girl.

She was clearly different. Her Memory didn't follow the conventions. The frost, her icy presence— it all felt alien, yet somehow familiar.

While taking in her appearance, Cade had deduced that this was not a character from the original novel. And at last, he'd concluded that she was another Sleeper who had been sent to the Forgotten Shore because Cade himself was here.

But somehow, this girl also seemed to be weirdly similar to him.

"Who are you?" Cade asked, his voice low but tinged with suspicion. His mind raced with possibilities. He had to confirm it. He just had to. But how?

A strange idea popped into his mind. His Flaw. The description of his Flaw had changed after his transformation. It had read 'in the harmony of kindred echoes, the fury of your inner storm wanes.'

Cade had assumed it to be referring to Nightmare Creatures because like them, Cade was also descending into profanity. But he had been proven wrong.

After some time, he had given up on trying to find out what exactly the Spell had meant by 'kindred echoes.' But now... now, standing in front of him was someone who was alien yet strangely familiar to Cade.

Cade debated the idea. If he was wrong and she really was just another normal Sleeper, he would drive into a murderous frenzy and kill her right here and right now. In the presence of humans, the intensity of his rage was beyond unreal; it was unimaginable and uncontrollable.

But Cade found himself growing more and more confident that she was the 'kindred echo' that the Spell had mentioned. Someone like him. He didn't really know how much or what that entailed but he was inclined to find out.

Okay, here I go, Cade thought as he steeled himself to summon his Darkness. He took a deep breath and—

But before he could breathe out the True Darkness, the girl spoke in a hesitant but somewhat expectant tone, "I am from the real world as well."