Shadow Slave Fanfic: The Song of The Shadow Beast

As the drumming sound of heavy footsteps drew closer and closer, the three sisters became more and more uneasy.

Beastmaster stepped to the table and threw on a black shirt. Facing her captor with an alluring sight was one thing, but fighting in just a bra and some sweatpants was too much, even for her.

Not to mention how her sisters would not let her degrade herself like that. They would, without a doubt, go out of their way to ensure she kept her own dignity and, therefore, the respect of Clan Song intact as much as they could as prisoners.

Silent and Howl were already in a battle stance. Soon, Bin joined them with a playful smile on her beautiful lips.

"I just want you to know that I love you. Whatever happens, we face it together. As sisters of the Great Clan Song."

She said evenly, which earned her a slight smile from the other two. Howl would never admit it, but she felt the same. She might keep her distance from others, but deep down, she felt the same sisterly love as the rest of them.

"May the Goddess of Beasts be with us."

"Amen, sister."

The two ended Bin's declaration of love with prayers they were sure wouldn't be heard. The gods were dead, but yet they listened, it seemed.

Because as soon as the echoing footsteps drew close enough for them to see something, they couldn't believe their eyes.

An onyx Saint stood before them. All of them knew the creature perfectly well, of course, but what shocked them was not the mighty Echo itself but what it carried on both of its shoulders.

On each of them was a person they knew all too well and trusted with their lives.

Revel wore a similar outfit to the rest of them. Although she had some wounds that had been swiftly treated with bandages, she looked mostly fine. Their sister Moonveil looked like she was in much better shape.

The only problem was that they had the same shackles on them as the rest of them, which wasn't a surprise to them at all. But it would have been nice to get some hope.

When the Onyx Saint reached the three now totally flabbergasted women, it bowed down to let the two sisters from its shoulders.

Revel looked them up and down before rushing to them. In an instant, she took them into a hug. Barely holding her tears back, she just held onto them, not daring to let them go. When she heard what had happened, she was away with Moonveil on a mission deep inside the Hollows.

She had fully believed her sisters were dead, but knowing that they had just been captured was relieving, to say the least.

After all, as the oldest of them, she always felt responsible for her little sisters. Even though they weren't related by blood, that didn't stop them from feeling like they were. Sure, they had their differences, but what kind of siblings didn't?

"Thanks, whoever listened out there… you are alive. I don't know what I would have done if…"

Revel didn't finish her cruel sentence. She was just glad that they were alive, not daring to imagine a life where that wasn't the case.

Soon, Moonveil joined in. She was maybe the most reserved of all of them. She was also by far the youngest. But even she had learned to appreciate the warmth of her sisters, even if she did so silently.

Together, they just stayed that way for a while. Everyone felt relieved, although Silent felt embarrassed by the sudden rush of affection; she couldn't deny that she too felt the same.

Saint just silently observed the five sisters. She hadn't seen anything like that. She knew one of them pretty well, of course. After all, she had fought Revel along with her master with the intent to kill her. But now her orders had changed.

With the piercing gaze of the Onyx Saint on them, they felt like shuddering. The Saint didn't intend to make them uncomfortable, but one cannot help but feel that way when a creature of such power has its eyes on them.

Slowly, they parted from their embrace. Tears had been spilled, and sobs had been exchanged. Whispers erupted between them to confirm the flow of events that led to this unfortunate situation.

In the end, they were sure of one thing: they had to stay together no matter what. Revel assumed the role of their leader and stepped forward. She didn't show it, but she knew she was at the mercy of this creature she once fought with desperation and rage. And so, she felt fear too.

"What are you going to do with us?"

Saint just tilted her head a little, as if she didn't understand the question. In the next second, they froze when the female knight raised her arm. To their surprise, she just pointed in a direction without lashing out as they thought she would.

They all stared at the way the Saint was pointing, with doubt in their eyes.

None of them dared to move until the Saint did. Soon, she was far ahead and almost vanished from sight. Revel gave her sisters a glance and smiled. They felt assured when their oldest took the first step. Together, they braved into the deep shadows. None of them could see, but the heavy footsteps of the female knight were like a beacon in the impenetrable darkness.

Everything seemed fine until it wasn't. A quick yelp followed by Revel falling to the ground startled them.

"AN ATTACK?"

"WHERE?"

"SHOW YOURSELF, FIEND!"

All of them braced for impact, as if a terrible creature would lunge at them any second. But to their surprise, Revel just chuckled.

"I'm okay; the terrible abomination is, in fact, a set of stairs. So be careful when you move forward."

Revel could not see it, but every single one of them had to hold back their laughter.

"So the powerful Lightslayer has been beaten down by a set of stairs? That's a new one."

Beastmaster chuckled to herself, but it was still loud enough for the others to hear, especially Revel. The demoness got up with the help of Moonveil and Bin before shooting her a murderous stare.

At least that's what she tried, but neither the direction she looked at was right, nor could her dear sister even receive her death threat.

"Let's just move on. I can't wait to be able to see something again. Funnily enough, I can't see in the dark. What a waste of an attribute to be able to see through true darkness."

Yet another set of chuckles erupted between them. But Revel didn't feel disrespected; instead, she was glad to have lightened the mood.

Together, they braced the set of stairs. What lay before them was awe-inspiring: a giant garden with a single tree in the middle. The green grass under their bare feet felt good. Their toes finally relaxed from the hard and cold sensation of the black stone they walked on before.

(I DID NOT WRITE THAT SCENE TO SATISFY YOU MF'S WITH A FEET FETISH! Not that I'm judging, just for clarification.)

They all looked up at the crown of the tree with a hint of resolve in their eyes. Suddenly, this place didn't seem so bad anymore.

"It's… beautiful."

Was all that came to mind when witnessing the lonely tree in the dim blue lighting. Little sparks of essence swirled around it like it was alive in its own way.

"I think I know where we are."

Revel called out from the front of the group. Her gaze never left the alluring sight of the magical tree.

Moonveil nodded in agreement; she too had been informed by Mordret of this place. Although she never wanted to come here, now that she was, she felt like she never wanted to leave again.

"Can one of you two tell the rest of us? Because we have no idea."

Smiling to herself, Revel turned around and said in a low voice, "We are in the Nameless Temple. The Citadel of the Lord of Shadows."

Everyone acknowledged the fact as if it was totally normal to suddenly stand behind enemy lines—no, in the heart of their enemy's sanctuary.

"So… what now? The weird Echo is gone. We were too slow."

Silent commented, having enough of staring at the tree, no matter how beautiful it was.

"I guess we will look for a way out. I guess she is somewhere around. I can't think of a reason why he would let us stray through his citadel without supervision."

As soon as Revel said that, they all dispersed in different directions. Revel and Silent went to the left while Howl and Beastmaster decided to take the right.

Moonveil, on the other hand, had different plans. She felt that there was more to the tree, and she was right; there was. When she called out for them, everyone gathered around her. What they saw was both surprising and strangely calming at the same time.

A man with a small stature sat at the feet of the tree. His hair, pitch black, seemed to absorb the light around them. While his back was rested against the trunk, he appeared to be sleeping. What struck them even further were his looks, though.

His perfectly symmetrical face was perfectly sharp, and his skin made him look like a porcelain doll. The black mantle he wore covered most of his body, but his supremely athletic form could still be seen through the simple attire.

"Is he sleeping? What is he doing here? Is he a prisoner too?"

Beastmaster bombarded Moonveil with questions. But, of course, the girl had no answers for her. To their surprise, though, Beastmaster crouched down and poked the man's cheek with her finger.

"Yep, totally asleep. I wonder if he knows more about our situation."

She didn't make any moves to stand back up, though. Instead, she kneeled down, completely sitting herself in front of the man.

"What are you doing, Bin?" Revel asked with a raised eyebrow, not knowing where this was going. But when she thought about it, a light ignited in her mind, and she didn't like it one bit. Before she could confront her sister, though, Beastmaster answered with a smile she knew all too well from her.

A smile that Bin always wore when she saw something she desperately wanted, like she had just found a treasure.

"I look at him, of course… What? You don't think the guy is cute?"

"For the record, I found him first. I already called dibs on him."

Everyone turned to Moonveil. The usual shy girl seemed to have taken a liking to the man, which only made Revel's frustration grow heavier.

"I don't want to disappoint you, but I think I know this guy. And he's not single; I can tell you that much."

Now it was Silent who earned herself confused stares from her sisters, except for Beastmaster, who continued to admire the beauty in front of her.

"Who is he? Come on, say it so I can rip him from the grip of whatever witch decides to stand between him and me."

Bin called out from below. In just a couple of seconds, she had totally fallen for the man. Everyone felt nothing but pure remorse for the guy.

Silent coughed awkwardly before stating her suspicion. When she did, though, it made Bin's stomach drop.

"Well, if what I know about him is right and I'm not mistaken, that guy is called Master Sunless; he's Changing Star's boyfriend."

Meanwhile, everyone seemed taken aback by Silent's theory. Sunny had to use all his strength to keep himself from laughing. He had indeed taken a nap, but as soon as Revel and Moonveil were captured by the Lord of Shadows and brought here, he had woken up.

Currently, he is fighting his perhaps toughest battle to this day.