Shadow Slave

Sunny woke up from the insistent sense of alarm coming from his shadow. Groggy and disoriented, he opened his eyes and sat up.

'Wh—what's wrong?'

He looked down at the shadow and saw it repeatedly pointing up with a tense expression on its… well, it didn't have a face. He could just tell that it was nervous.

'Trouble?'

Sunny looked up and saw nothing but the scarlet leaves of the great tree. The sky was hidden, but he could easily tell that the sun was still up. It seemed that he was asleep for just a few hours.

There was no threat anywhere in sight. He frowned.

'What got you so spooked?'

The shadow just pointed up again, seemingly irritated by his stupidity. Sunny blinked a couple of times and addressed it again:

'High in the tree? Higher? In the sky?'

Finally satisfied, the shadow crossed its arms.

'Something dangerous is above the island… that creepy raven thing again?'

He had to check… but why did he feel as though he was forgetting something?

Sunny scowled, trying to understand where this feeling of missing something important had come from. What was there to miss? He was asleep, then woke up and conversed with the shadow.

Asleep…

Suddenly, he remembered bits and pieces of a strange dream. At least it seemed like a dream… was it? People weren't supposed to dream in the Dream Realm. It was just how things worked… from what he knew, only Cassie seemed to be an exception from this rule.

He didn't remember much about this supposed dream of his, with even the remaining fragments already fading from his memory. There was a… a woman grabbing him by the shoulders, an expression of horror and panic on her face. She was saying something, but he couldn't hear what.

No, not a woman. It was… Cassie? Yes, it was her. And the thing she was saying…

Sunny strained his memory, trying to catch the pieces of the dream before they completely disappeared.

'Yeah, I think she was saying… uh…'

Suddenly, he could clearly hear Cassie's frightened, tense voice as she was hurriedly telling him to remember something, repeating the same sentence over and over again in a begging tone:

"...you have to remember, Sunny! Five! It's five! Remember! You have to remember! It's five!"

'What a strange dream.'

Sunny cast a glance at Cassie, who was sleeping peacefully near Neph, and shook his head in bewilderment. He wasn't sure if this memory of his was really a dream or some strange scene he had imagined right before falling asleep. With how the Dream Realm worked, he was leaning toward the latter possibility.

'Still. I better tell the girls when…'

He was distracted from this thought by the shadow, which waved its hands impatiently.

a threat in the

all about his intention to share the contents of this strange memory of his with Nephis and Cassie. In fact, he had forgotten that it was strange and

in his judgment was sudden and unnatural, but since Sunny couldn't remember things that he had forgotten, he didn't notice anything amiss and went about

this might not have been the

darkly at the blood-red leaves of the great tree. Feeling the coolness of the black polished hilt in his hand, he

quiet movements, Nephis opened her eyes and looked at him, her body

Sunny shook his head.

know yet. Stay with Cassie while I check things

to reach the edge of the island, where the branches of the colossal tree were not as thick and the sky could

to do this instead of going himself. But in situations like this, where the danger

he carefully looked up, still

sky, a small black dot was circling

terrible winged beast had first

watch on the black dot, he returned

don't know if it's the same creature or not, and when it

Changing Star frowned.

Perhaps it's mostly a carrion eater, and thus is only

offered her own

and little to satiate it? After all, it never came for the corpses of

Sunny shook his head.

come for the carapace centurion's meat. But it took a few scavengers with it as well before leaving. So it'll be too

a while,

of action would be to stay away from the Carapace Demon for now and

up, she

first, we must observe it to make sure that it's the same creature and confirm its

an argument against this logic, Sunny led the girls to the spot where he had left his shadow. There, they sat on the ground and watched the black dot

the flying creature left them disturbed and unsure of

few weeks before, or at least a creature of the same type. However, it never got too close

by two other abominations of the same breed, each as horrifying and repulsive as the first one was. Now, three black dots were circling in the skies above their heads,

body and raven-black feathers, with an unnatural mess of powerful limbs protruding from its wide chest, each ending with a set of terrifying talons, was enough to wipe

carapace centurion with its massive beak was still fresh in his mind. He suspected that these abominations were at least as powerful as the Carapace Demon was, or perhaps even more

there were three of

well.' he thought,

just circled around it, sometimes hesitantly approaching, but then gaining height again. Their

time,

"Maybe they're not hungry?"

world where a Nightmare

on the other

know about these albino chickens, but I'm hungry as

Sunny was afraid that if the abominations did

glanced and

to eat some grilled

eyes

even think about

then