Chapter 50

None of them wanted to climb down from the wall, because that would leave them with no path of retreat should something terrible happen. Without the need to discuss it, they had decided to explore the nearest tower and see if there was a suitable way to descend from the wall inside of it.

They followed the slightly bending wall north, keeping an eye on the ruins below. By the looks of it , Sunny could sense some creatures lurking beneath. However none was interested in scaling its tall granite bulwark.

For the time being, they were safe.

Their journey through the Forgotten Shore was about to end. They had endured a lot and survived through a lot. At times , he was worried about his friends , were all of them going to survive? He usually worried about them , rather than himself. Well.. the reason was because of his flaw of course..

'Wait.. I think I am becoming a lot more laidback..'

Levi mentally slapped himself , gathering his thoughts. There was no room to be laidback , otherwise it could lead to disastrous situations.. Even if he was immortal , he still wanted to keep his sense of preservation.

The path to freedom was already in their sight ... they just had to overcome this one last hurdle to return home in glory.

... Soon, they were closing in on one of the mighty towers built into the wall. The structure was round in shape, rising above the main embankment by a good dozen meters. There was a wide wooden gate leading inside the tower, which was broken a long time ago, with only a few splinters remaining on the ancient iron hinges.

Behind the doorway, there was nothing but darkness.

Suddenly Cassie put a hand on Sunny's shoulder and Sunny turned to her with an alarmed expression. 

"Listen."

Levi focused on hearing out his environment , Soon, he was able to discern a strange sound coming from inside the tower.

Chomp. Chomp. Crunch. Chomp ...

It sounded like ... like something was being devoured there, flesh and bones being ground by sharp teeth. The nauseating sound of meat being torn and chewed made him grimace.

Sunny and Nephis summoned their swords , while Levi stood guard for Cassie and slightly dazed Shashi. Her situation was improving somehow.. he assumed it would take a day or two until she fully healed.

Levi was observing Sunny , as he seemed to be focused on something. His ability always came in handy.. He wondered what Sunny's aspect rank was.. 

And Levi also noticed , Sunny never really used soul shards.. however he always seemed to be getting stronger. Did he have an ability that helped him grow without any soul shards? 

As Levi was in deep thoughts , he noticed that Sunny was finally looking at them.

"What did you see?"

He lingered for a bit, and then said in a hesitant tone:

"Well ... it's either a very hungry human girl. Or a very gluttonous demon."

***

Levi gestured for the two girls to follow behind him as Sunny and Nephis lead the way.

In their minds, there were two outcomes to this unexpected situation.

One, the mysterious young woman would turn out to be a local Awakened. In that case, all their problems were going to be solved. If an Awakened happened to meet a group of Sleepers in the wild reaches of the Dream Realm, it was customary to guide them to the nearest human Citadel.

Of course, exceptions happened, but in general, Awakened strived to take care of Sleepers - in this alien land, humans had to band together. It was not only a moral obligation, but also in their own best interest.

Two, the stranger would turn out to be a Nightmare Creature. In that case, they were going to have a tough fight on their hands. Since the rank and class of the enemy were unknown, it was impossible to predict the result.

They just had to risk it.

Levi observed Sunny and Nephis.. Immediately, the appetizing smell of roasting meat hit their nostrils.

...Sunny's stomach growled.

'Fool!' Levi facepalmed.

Before Sunny could react, a piece of bone flew past his head and hit the wall with enough force to shatter into tiny pieces. Belatedly, he raised the Midnight Shard and assumed a defensive stance.

But it was a little too late. The young woman had already been alerted of their presence.

Raising her head, she bared her teeth in a wide grin and murmured:

"Is someone hiding in the shadows? Why don't you come out to play ... "

Her voice was deep, smoky and had a raspy huskiness to it. But what mattered the most was that she was speaking in the human language.

She was human!

Probably ...

Levi observed the stranger.. The young woman was tall and attractive. She had hazel eyes and beautiful brown hair, currently tied in a simple braid. Her build was extremely athletic, with perfectly defined lean muscles rolling under the dewy olive skin with each movement. And there was ... uh ... a lot of skin on display, since she only wore a provocatively short white tunic, augmented with bronze greaves, vambraces, and a cuirass with leather pteruges.

The five of them hesitantly stepped into the circle of light cast by the bonfire , Nephis and Sunny had dismissed their weapons , however Levi hadn't. After all she wouldn't even know if he had weapons on him or not since he had imbued the memories with his arms.

The young woman looked at them in surprise and raised her eyebrows:

"Humans? Huh! Unexpected."

Then she smiled and shook her head.

"Ah, where are my manners?"

With that, she lightly rose to her feet. The white fabric of her tunic shifted slightly, revealing even more of her toned, powerful thighs.

Levi looked up at the woman.. He had assumed that the stranger was tall, but only now did he realize how imposing her true height was. The woman stood considerably taller than even him and Nephis , which they were about the same height , Levi was slightly shorter by a few centimeters. 

Levi also noticed that poor Sunny had to crain his neck to look up at her , a ghost of a smile appeared on his lips.

The young woman, meanwhile, wiped her dirty face with a forearm and gestured at the fire.

"Here, would you like to take a seat?"

Despite the polite invitation, they hesitated. After several seconds passed in awkward silence, Nephis finally took a step forward and asked the question that had been tormenting all five of them.

With her voice uncharacteristically tense and full of suppressed emotion, she cautiously said:

"Are you ... are you human?"

The stranger stared at her with a blank expression, then blinked a couple of times.

"What else would I be? A horse?"

With that, she threw he head back and laughed loudly, amused by her own silly joke. Levi stared at her expressionlessly..

Meanwhile, the young woman giggled a few more times and looked at them with sparks of glee dancing in her eyes.

"Of course I am human! Why are you even asking? Anyway, come sit. My neck is tired from looking down on you."

With that, she sat down near the fire and assumed a relaxed pose. Nephis, Sunny , Cassie , Shashi and Levi finally approached and lowered themselves to the stones, looking at the tall girl with hungry flames burning in their eyes.

She looked them over, then frowned a little.

"Haven't seen you guys around. Are you new?"

Nephis gave her a nod.

"Yes. We have just reached the city."

She was trying very hard to act like a normal, well-adjusted person. It seemed that her endless attempts to improve her social skills had not been in vain.

The young woman grinned.

"In that case, my condolen ... wait. You guys survived for two whole months in the Labyrinth?"

She whistled and looked at them with newfound respect.

"That's a real feat. Congratulations."

Nephis lingered for a few seconds, then said:

"I'm Nephis, and these are my companions, Cassia , Sunless , Levi , Shashi. We are Sleepers who came here during the winter solstice."

The young woman gave them a wide, friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Effie. Well, at least that's what people call me. I'm also a Sleeper."

Levi's eyes narrowed a bit. He did not remember seeing this woman at the academy..

Too impatient to remain silent, Sunny leaned forward and said:

"Are you from the castle? There are people living there, right?"

Effie glanced at him. In her eyes, there was a hint of a strange emotion.

It almost looked like ... pity.

" ... There are indeed people living in the castle, yes."

Levi's heart was gripped with a sense of dread. He did not like her expression.

"...There are indeed people living in the castle, yes."

Nephis and Sunny exchanged excited looks. Then, Changing Star cautiously asked:

"Can you take us there?"

Effie shrugged.

"Sure, no problem. Do you guys have shards?"

What did soul shards have to do with any of this? They had retrieved two from that weird stone Sunny had killed at the base of the wall. Was she going to ask for payment?

Nephis retrieved the soul shards and showed them to the tall girl.

"We have two."

Effie sighed.

"Only two? Well ... it's better than nothing, I guess. Keep them. You'll need them later."

Not quite understanding the meaning of her words, Changing Star lingered, then said uncertainly:

"We were hoping to reach the Citadel and access the Gateway as soon as possible. How long will it take?"

The young woman stared at them for a long time, and then suddenly bent over in a fit of hysterical laughter. She laughed so long and hard that tears soon appeared in the corners of her eyes.

Unpleasantly shocked , the others looked at each other with shocked expressions. Even Shashi seemed to have forgotten about her head injury..

Levi however , was looking at this.. so called 'Effie' , a bit too coldly.

Effie's laughter stopped as abruptly as it had started. Wiping her tears, she shook her head and said in a strange tone:

"Ah, sorry guys. I just couldn't help myself. Please, forgive my lack of manners."

Then, she straightened her back, looked them heavily into the eyes, and said:

"I can take you to the castle, but there is no Gateway there. In fact, there's no way out of this cursed hell at all. I've been stuck here for three years myself already. So ... welcome to the Dark City, I guess. Abandon hope all ye who enter here, and all that ... "