This was the last secret about the fate of the lost expedition that Cassie had gleaned from her visions. But even then, the knowledge she had received was fragmented and incomplete.
All she could tell the members of the cohort was that, once they crossed the dark river and until reaching the next boundary, they had to keep their eyes closed at all cost, no matter what happened. No living thing could see what lay beyond these cold waters and remain... whole.
At least that was what she told them.
Cassie didn't really know herself what would happen if someone failed to follow that rule, but said that she had never felt more terror than in the short moment before the vision showing her the fate of the lost expedition had shattered and everything had grown dark.
This was telling a lot, considering what kinds of horrors the blind girl saw in her vision routinely.
…In any case, this was where Sunny came in.
While looking through the eyes of the shadow was still too dangerous, he could lead the cohort to their destination with the help of his ability to sense space through the shapes of shadows populating it.
At least in theory.
Standing on the shore of the dark river, six humans tied the golden rope around their waists. When everyone was ready, Nephis took out six strips of cloth and a block of wax. Lighting a small white flame on her palm, she sighed and turned to Effie.
"You're first."
The huntress made a complicated face, but then obediently approached their leader.
What followed next looked simultaneously intimate and disturbing. Using her flames to melt the wax, Changing Star gently took Effie's face in her hands and, after the huntress shut her eyes tightly, sealed them with melted wax. Then, she tied the strip of cloth around Effie's head to hold it in place.
One after another, every member of the cohort went through the same procedure. When Sunny's turn came, he shifted slightly when Neph's cool hands touched his cheeks.
A few moments later, he was blind.
'That is… is this how Cassie lives?'
Commanding his shadow to not see anything, Sunny was left in utter darkness. However, he still had it better than the blind girl. His Shadow Sense was still working, at least.
With its help, Sunny could more or less tell what was where. This form of perception was vastly different from sight, but could serve the same purpose in a pinch, be it very poorly. If conditions were right.
Luckily, he had practiced navigating the world with the help of nothing else but Shadow Sense in the past. This was how he had defeated the strange basilisk creature in the Dark City, among other things.
Leading the group of staggering humans to the graceful boat, he helped them to board it and untied the rope holding it in place. Then, Sunny found the oar and pulled on it, propelling the boat across the dark river.
Soon, cold mist shrouded everything around.
The deeper into the mist they sailed, the more it felt like they were leaving one world behind and entering another.
A much darker, much more ancient, much more terrifying world.
No one felt compelled to speak, so the silence was broken only by the murmur of rushing water and the creaking of the wooden oar.
'This is not too bad. Yeah. I am not scared witless, at all.'
Calming himself down with these silly thoughts, Sunny continued to guide the boat.
However, one thing kept making him shiver.
Being surrounded by mist and having to keep his eyes closed, Sunny couldn't help but remember the harrowing encounter with the being that appeared in a veil of fog and tried and lure him into gazing at it using a stolen voice.
…Was this where it came from?
After some time had passed — he couldn't tell how much no matter how hard he tried — Sunny suddenly sensed a solid mass in the distance. This was the opposite shore of the dark river.
Soon, they were drawing near to it.
As the bottom of the boat scraped against stone, Sunny jumped to the pier and tied the rope around the stone pillar. Then, he helped the others disembark.
Turning his head, he sensed another shape swaying on the surface of the water. There was a second boat here, presumably the one First Lord and his companions used to cross.
But unlike Nephis and her cohort, there had not been an oracle in their ranks. No one had warned them to keep their eyes shut.
Maybe this was the reason why none of them had returned.
Turning his back to the river with a strong feeling of unease, Sunny faced the mouth of the tunnel that led deeper underground. Letting out a resentful sigh, he slightly tugged on the golden rope and took a step forward.
The other members of the cohort had no choice but to follow him.
A few seconds later, they disappeared into the tunnel, leaving the shore of the silent river behind.
As soon as Sunny stepped into the tunnel, he felt cold shivers running down his spine. Although he couldn't see anything about it, he could tell that it was different from the ones they had traversed earlier.
This one still felt like it had been cut through the flesh of the mountains by someone — or something — as opposed to being formed by a natural process. However, its creators were unmistakably different from the humans that had created the mine and the quarry outside.
Everything about it was more pronounced, more skillful. The shadows populating the tunnel were different, too.
They were much deeper, much darker. And much, much more… ancient.
Soon, the tunnel turned into a maze of wide passages, all filled with nothing but mist and silence.
'Another maze. Of course it's a maze. Everything in this damn place just has to be a maze…'
Before Sunny could finish the thought, though, he suddenly froze, paralyzed by fear.
Because right in front of them, he felt the presence of a shadow that was different from all the others.
…A human shadow.