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.

right. There's a

about his intention to share the contents of this strange memory of his with Nephis and Cassie. In fact, he

but since Sunny couldn't remember things that he had

not have been the first time he had forgotten something

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

movements, Nephis opened her eyes and looked at him, her body tensing up. There

Sunny shook his head.

Stay with Cassie while I

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

sent his shadow to do this instead of going himself. But in situations like this, where the danger was unknown, Sunny usually preferred to

slope of the Ashen Barrow, he carefully looked up, still

above in the vast grey sky, a small

became heavy with wariness. Back when the terrible winged beast had first appeared, it looked exactly like

watch on the black dot, he returned and

it's just flying above the island. I don't know if it's the same

Changing Star frowned.

wasn't very interested in searching for live prey. Perhaps it's mostly a

her own

the corpses of the

Sunny shook his head.

did come for the carapace centurion's meat. But it took a few scavengers with it as well before leaving. So it'll be too optimistic to think that this abomination will not try to devour

thought for a while, then gave him

to stay away from the Carapace Demon for

looking up, she

it to make sure that it's the same creature and confirm

spot where he had left his shadow. There, they sat on the ground

disturbed and unsure of what

few times, allowing them to discern that it was indeed the same terrible monstrosity that they had encountered a few weeks before, or at least a creature of the same type. However, it never got too close to the crown of the great tree, as though hesitating

as horrifying and repulsive as

limbs protruding from its wide chest, each ending with a set

the creature had broken through the adamantine shell of the carapace centurion with its massive beak was still fresh in

now there were three

well.' he thought,

to approach the Ashen Barrow for some reason. They just circled around it, sometimes hesitantly approaching, but then gaining height again. Their behavior was strange and

time, Cassie quietly

"Maybe they're not hungry?"

world where a Nightmare Creature might not be

on the

about these albino chickens, but I'm hungry as

yesterday. Sunny was afraid that if the abominations did decide to land on the island, the loud growls of his

glanced and

eat some

his eyes wide and

even think about

stared at him, then