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.

the ingenious system of mirrors that

didn't mind. In fact, this was one of the features of his secret lair that he enjoyed

was his

remnants of sleep. His long, dirty hair was

'Let's make some breakfast.'

But first things first…

on the invisible string that connected his wrist to the ring-shaped pommel of the kunai. The throwing dagger jumped into the air and landed on his palm. This was a trick that had taken Sunny quite some time

over 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, grouped neatly into

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

things had happened during

***

found a vast, ruined city surrounded by tall walls, with monsters wandering its

the three of them had hoped. Instead, they were, each

were no Gateway

the Forgotten Shore due to their strength or luck — were stuck there

loud. Oh, what a fool he had been. So

over

that's funny! Good one, Sunny. What do you

with reproach. Its silence only made Sunny laugh louder. He just couldn't

he had gone a little bit insane some time ago. Probably around his third week of living alone in the city. He was more or less alright after leaving the castle due to that unfortunate falling

crawl away while using his own two 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 move and simply waiting to

'Good times…'

Anyway, he survived.

walked over to a table that he had scavenged from the ruins of a library and glanced at the grey rock that was lying in