"She's… she's g…"
Before he could finish, a subtle sound attracted his attention. It came from below, from the edges of the restless dark waves.
Sunny's heart skipped a beat.
Out there at the base of the giant thumb, where the cursed sea was almost touching its stone surface, a pale white hand appeared from the black water and grabbed onto the rocks.
Then, a tall figure slowly pulled itself onto the opened palm of the stone giantess.
His eyes widened.
Feeling that something was wrong, Cassie turned her head and asked:
"Sunny? What is it?"
He trembled and whispered, gripped with sorrow.
"It's Nephis."
An uncertain smile appeared on the blind girl's face.
"Neph?! She is alright?!"
Sunny found himself unable to answer.
No, Nephis was not alright.
In fact, he didn't know how she was even alive.
The Starlight Legion Armor was shattered and torn, revealing the mutilated flesh beneath. There was a horrifying gaping wound on Changing Star's torso, looking as though almost half of her right side was missing. Sunny could see the sharp shards of broken ribs, the rivers of blood streaming down her legs, and the mangled mess of viscera spilling over the edges of the wound.
He wanted to close his eyes.
Another large chunk of flesh was missing from her thigh, exposing the shredded remnants of muscle and the white surface of the femur, cracked and barely holding together. Her right arm was severely damaged, too. In fact, it was almost torn off, hanging only by a narrow strip of skin and a few tendons, like that of a mistreated, broken marionette
Even her face was not spared. One of Neph's eyes was gone, its socket crushed and shattered, the skin of her cheek was shaved off as though by sandpaper, leaving behind a mangled mess of bleeding flesh and broken teeth.
The sight of her was harrowing and heartbreaking.
It was apparent that Changing Star was about to die.
"Sunny? Why are you not answering?"
He glanced at Cassie and bit his lip, trying once again to suppress the answer that was fighting its way out. Something sharp and hot was stabbing at his heart, making his vision blurry.
Meanwhile, Nephis staggered and blindly stepped forward. Her legs buckled, and she heavily fell to her knees, splattering blood all other the cold surface of the stone. A terrible moan escaped from her lips as her cracked femur finally shattered, bone piercing through muscle and skin.
Sunny felt as though he was thrown into his worst nightmare. He wanted to scream, but his voice was gone. A deep, almost physical pain was tearing him from inside.
He didn't want to be here. He didn't want to see this.
And yet, he couldn't look away.
…That's why he noticed instantly when two white flames ignited in Neph's eyes. The radiance grew brighter and brighter, spilling from her eyes, her mouth, the gaping wounds in her body. It was as though there was a flaming star burning in the place where her heart should have been, as though she was nothing but white flame hidden behind a thin layer of human skin.
The incandescent radiance filled Changing Star's blood, turning it into streams of liquid white fire.
As Sunny watched, frozen in place with his eyes opened wide, that fire began to melt and reshape her flesh. Slowly, her muscles repaired herself, her organs returned to their places, her bones reassembled themselves from the shards.
Where there was nothing to replace a missing part, the fire took its shape and solidified.
With a terrible scream, Nephis grasped her almost severed arm and tore it away, then pressed it to the stump that was bleeding with white flame. Soon, the mangled halves melted together, becoming whole again.
Shocked, he saw every terrible wound on her body heal, washed in the purifying fire.
Soon, there was nothing but pristine white skin showing through the wide gaps in the shattered armor.
Nephis raised her head, looking at them but not seeing anything. There was no recognition in her gaze, all understanding destroyed by the cruel crucible of the sacred fire.
Then the last daughter of the Immortal Flame clan closed her eyes and fell to the ground, losing consciousness.
…Finally, the first rays of sunshine appeared from beyond the eastern horizon.
The dawn was coming.
***
In the end, Nephis had remained unconscious for an entire two days.
On the third day, she finally opened her eyes and slowly rose, looking around with subtle confusion.
Her face, as usual, was calm and indifferent.
However, she did flinch a little when her gaze fell on Sunny, who was sitting at the top of the giant hand's index finger and grinning from ear to ear at her.
Frowning, Changing Star looked herself over, noticing the embarrassing gaps in her armor, and said:
"Why are you smiling?"
Sunny gave her a mischievous wink and shrugged.
"Look behind you."
Lingering for a few seconds, Neph sighed and turned around, wondering what is it that he wanted her to see.
Behind her, a dark expanse of land was rising above the slope of the colossal crater.
And on it, a tall city wall built of grey polished stone was towering over the giant chasm of the abyss. It looked ancient but still impenetrable, able to withstand the crushing pressure of the dark sea for a thousand more years,
They've made it.
That had found the human castle.
[End of volume one: Child of Shadows.]