Caspian managed to fall asleep without much problems, whatever was going to happen, he thought he was ready.
The wasteland.
The tree.
The demon.
None of it felt… avoidable anymore.
So he slept.
—
By morning, he was woken up by Cassie, it looked like everyone was already awake.
Sunny blinked, looking at the blind girl in confusion.
"What is it?"
She gestured to Caspian, Nephis and Alice, asking them to come closer to Sunny and her. Then, a little pale, she gathered her courage and said:
"I had another vision. A vision about the Carapace Demon…"
—
Okay.
That was enough to fully wake Caspian.
Sleep vanished instantly.
He rubbed his eyes, exhaled slowly, and forced his mind to sharpen.
Nephis approached them and sat down, her face barely visible in the dim light of the early dawn.
"Past or future?"
Cassie thought for a bit and then hesitantly answered:
"Past… I think."
A pause.
Then her expression hardened slightly.
"No. I'm sure of it."
Caspian leaned closer.
"Good to know. And what did you see?"
—
Cassie deeply inhaled and fell silent for several seconds, remembering.
Her face paled a little, but this time, she was ready to face her fear.
"I saw the Ashen Barrow deep at night, enveloped in a raging storm. The winds were bending the branches of the great tree, as if desperate to break them. The island was illuminated by the constant barrage of thundering lightning bolts, with rain falling from the skies like a flood."
—
She paused, catching her breath, and continued:
"The Carapace Demon was there, standing in the middle of the storm like an unshakable fortress made of polished steel. Arcs of electricity were dancing between the spikes on his armor, but the demon did not pay it any attention. He was just as Sunny described… prideful, sinister and terrifying."
—
Cassie closed her eyes.
"When I looked into his eyes, I felt… a sense of emptiness and corruption. He observed the storm until it began to dissipate. The winds weakened, the rain stopped. The great tree stood unbroken, just as magnificent as it was before. But then, the last bolt of lightning fell from the sky and struck the ground beside it."
—
Everyone was hearing the vision with interest, trying to find useful information.
Caspian clicked his tongue quietly.
There went one idea.
Using its body as a lightning rod had seemed elegant.
Effective.
Now—
Useless.
—
Meanwhile, Cassie was ready to carry on:
"That bolt of lightning could never hurt the Carapace Demon, let alone the miraculous tree. However, when it hit the ground, it ignited the fallen leaves that cover the Ashen Barrow's surface. Soon, a large part of the island was engulfed in fire. In the absolute darkness of the night, it shone like a beacon."
—
Cassie's voice trembled a bit before continuing.
"Before the flames died down, the dark sea surged, and a… a thing crawled out of it, covering almost the entire slope of the Ashen Barrow with its body. It looked like a… like a mass of bones and rotten flesh connected by black seaweed, with thousands of horrible eyes staring at me hungrily from beneath, coiling tentacles seething as it pushed itself toward the great tree."
—
Her face turned slightly green. Just remembering the abomination made Cassie feel nauseated, but she gritted her teeth and did not stop speaking.
"That was the most repulsive creature I've ever seen. However, it seemed slow and clumsy, as though being ashore, outside of the black water, was weakening it. The Carapace Demon did not hesitate to lunge at the creature, completely ignoring the fact that it was at least ten times his size. It was like… like he completely lost his mind, enraged by the intrusion on the island."
—
Nephis suddenly spoke:
"How did the demon survive?"
The blind girl hesitated.
"I… I don't know. I didn't see the battle itself, only its beginning and its end. At the break of dawn, the Carapace Demon crawled back into the shade of the great tee. He was severely wounded, with several of his legs missing and his scythes covered by a spiderweb of cracks. The fire was gone, and there was no sign of the sea creature anywhere in sight."
—
She paused for a moment and then said in a quiet voice:
"The most terrible wound was on his chest. The steel armor of the demon was fractured and split apart, revealing the beating heart inside. Rivers of azure blood were flowing from the wound, mixing with the ashen sand. The demon crawled to the base of the tree and laid his broken body between its roots."
—
Cassie sighed.
"The last thing I saw was the passage of time. I don't know how long it took, but eventually, the Carapace Demon was able to recover from his wounds. His scythes restored themselves, his legs grew back. The fracture on his chest was the last to heal. However, it wasn't healed completely. Hidden from sight, there's still a weakness in his armor."
Everyone went silent for a long time, until Caspian broke the silence.
—
His lips curved slightly.
"Maybe I won't need to use the transcendent blood after all…"
—
Sunny immediately frowned.
"So you're planning to hold back?"
Caspian glanced at him.
"This isn't a stroll, Caspian."
Sunny continued, more serious now.
"Our lives are on the line."
—
Caspian exhaled slowly.
"I know."
A pause.
"But that blood…"
"…is also what keeps my flaw in check."
Sunny blinked.
—
"And we don't know how long we'll be here."
Caspian added calmly.
—
A faint smirk appeared on his lips.
"You wouldn't want me to go feral and bite your neck in the middle of the night, would you?"
—
Sunny recoiled slightly.
"…No, i wouldn't, fair point."
Then he frowned again.
"Wait… can't you just drink from Nightmare Creatures?"
He gestured vaguely around them.
"There's plenty of those."
—
Caspian opened his mouth to answer—
—and froze.
He hadn't thought about that.
Not seriously.
—
"Don't."
Velpam's voice echoed in his mind.
Clean and sharp, like someone who has been waiting to step into a conversation in the right moment.
"Repeat after me."
—
Caspian stayed still.
Listening.
—
"Is not a good idea, the blood of the nightmare creatures reak of corruption. I could drink a bit and my body would clean it, but it wouldn't be as effective as that of a human of the same rank, and in huge quantities..."
"Think of it as seawater, drinking lots of seawater not only don't satisfy your thirst, it also gives you salt poisoning, and in this case, is a thousand times worse than salt poisoning."
Caspian repeated everything Velpam said, word by word, surprising even him.
How did he knew so much about his flaw?
—
Silence followed.
"…That actually makes some sense."
Sunny admitted slowly.
—
And just like that—
The matter was settled.
Nephis spoke next.
"Sunny."
—
He looked up.
"How is your plan coming along?"
—
Sunny blinked.
Then smiled.
"Pretty well."
"I already had an inkling of how we should proceed, but Cassie's vision gave me additional inspiration."
Nephis raised an eyebrow.
"Is that so?"
He gave her a confident nod.
"Yeah. It's a wild idea, but it might just work. Well… maybe. In any case, it's going to be risky. And we'll have to make some preparations."
Everyone looked at him expectantly. The blind girl cautiously asked.
"So… what's your plan? How are we going to deceive the demon?"
Sunny crossed his arms.
"It's not very complicated. Actually, I got the idea from that ancient fellow Neph likes to talk about. We're going to build…"
He took a dramatic pause, and then said with a mysterious smile:
"... a trojan ass."
However, their reaction was not what he had expected.
The three girls blinked, then stared at him with complicated expressions.
Well, Cassie did not stare, since she was blind, but her face was exactly the same as the other two.
Strange.
Caspian's shoulders trembled slightly.
—
"…A what?"
Sunny scratched his head.
"…Did I say it wrong?"
" I'm pretty sure that guy—uh—Odysseus? Built a wooden animal…"
—
"…a donkey?"
Nephis closed her eyes.
Slowly raised a hand—
—and pressed it against her forehead.
"…Are you alright?"
Sunny asked cautiously.
—
She exhaled.
Deeply.
Then spoke in the flattest tone imaginable.
—
"…A horse."
—
Silence.
—
"…It was a horse."
—
Caspian broke.
Completely.
Laughter burst out of him without restraint.
—
Even Alice couldn't help but giggle a bit.
—
Sunny stood there.
Offended.
Confused.
—
"…Well excuse me for not being historically accurate in a death situation!"