Shadow Slave

"Wake up, Sunless! Your nightmare is…"

"Shut the hell up!"

Trying to remain in the blissful embrace of sleep, Sunny hissed through his teeth and stubbornly closed his eyes tighter. He was warm and comfortable under the blanket, on his own bed, where all the problems of the world seemed less serious and dire.

For a moment, there was silence.

'That's better…'

"Wake up, Sunless! Your…"

'Goddammit!'

Thrusting one arm from under the blanket, Sunny summoned one of his Memories. Immediately, a triangular leaf-shaped throwing dagger appeared in his hand, only to be thrown blindly at the source of the irritating voice. Missing its mark, the kunai clinked against the stone wall and fell to the floor.

However, the voice did fall silent.

Sunny sighed. It was already too late. He was awake.

Far in the distance, the waves were starting to crash against the city wall. The night was coming, so it was time to get up.

Opening his eyes, Sunny sat up and looked around.

His room was beautiful and spacious. The stone walls were engraved with intricate patterns, creating an atmosphere of sanctity and elegance. The furniture was made out of pale polished wood, with several mismatched pieces that Sunny had scavenged from different places himself.

and there. Sadly, the ingenious system of mirrors that was supposed

In fact, this was one of the features of his secret lair that

his best

of sleep. His long, dirty hair was getting in the way,

'Let's make some breakfast.'

But first things first…

into the air and landed on his palm. This was a trick that had taken Sunny quite some time to master: in the beginning, he almost lost a couple of fingers

to a wall empty of engravings, he used the kunai to scratch a small line into the stone. All around it, there were dozens and dozens of similar lines,

had already been four months since Sunny came to this loathsome,

things had happened during

***

monsters wandering its narrow streets. And in the center of

the three of them

no Gateway

their strength or luck — were stuck there with no hope of ever returning to the real world. It was nothing but a graveyard of

out loud. Oh, what a fool he had been. So full of hope and newfound faith in humanity… where's that faith now,

over

Good one, Sunny. What do you

staring at him with reproach. Its silence

in the city. He was more or less alright after leaving the castle due to that unfortunate falling out with… well, it

hands to stop his intestines from falling out. After finding his way to a secluded ditch and lying there for a few days, too weak to

'Good times…'

Anyway, he survived.

from the ruins of a library