«Outer Settlement hunter? One of Gunlaug's lieutenants? Maybe… maybe even a Sleeper from the same year as us and Caster?»
She peered into his memories tensely, fighting against the inescapable forgetfulness as hard as she could.
Cassie shivered when he saw the ruins of the Crimson Spire.
She cried when the Lord of Shadows built a grave for the fallen of the Dreamer Army.
She smiled sadly when he explored the molten ruins of the Bright Castle.
She was curious to see the runes for “Sunless” carved into the wall of the ruined cathedral.
«Is that actually his real name?»
Whose name? What had she been thinking about?
She was shocked when he descended into the secret cell under the cathedral and read the ominous words written on its floor.
«Weaver…»
When the Lord of Shadows started his tour of the giant statues, Cassie was finally illuminated.
«That arch… he was actually with us during the expedition to reclaim the Dawn Shard!»
So their connection had been that deep…
But it was only at the very end that Cassie's eyes widened, and she gasped in shock.
The memory of the Soul Devouring Tree burning was incredibly vivid.
Her entire body trembled.
«From… the beginning… he was with us from the very beginning…»
The Lord of Shadows was not a hunter from the outer settlement. He wasn't from the Bright Castle, either. He wasn't even just a Sleeper from the same year as them.
He was someone who had accompanied Cassie and Nephis from their very first steps on the Forgotten Shore.
The two of them… had been the three of them, all along.
It was just that they had forgotten.
Suddenly, Cassie felt a sharp pain pierce her heart.
She felt as though… as though something so precious that it couldn't be described with words had been taken from her.
And with that, Cassie finally closed her eyes, breaking the contact between her and the Lord of Shadows… with Sunless.
Sunny.
There were so many details in the avalanche of memories he had shown her, so many hints and clues… it would take her weeks to slowly digest and contemplate all of them, then build her knowledge based on the new understanding.
But right now, Cassie did not care to do so, and was incapable of doing so either.
All she cared about…
Was the feeling of loss, the bittersweet emptiness, and the faint hope of finding what they had lost once again.