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

one of the features

was his

stood up and rubbed his face to chase away the last remnants of sleep. His long,

'Let's make some breakfast.'

But first things first…

throwing dagger jumped into the air and landed on his palm. This was a trick that had taken Sunny quite some time to master: in

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 sets of

been four months since Sunny came to this

things had happened during that

***

city surrounded by tall walls, with monsters wandering its narrow streets. And in the center of

of them had hoped. Instead, they were, each

were no Gateway

Forgotten Shore due to their strength or luck — were stuck there with no hope of ever returning to the real world. It was

Sunny couldn't help but laugh out loud. Oh, what a fool he had been. So full of hope

he bent over and slapped his

funny! Good one, Sunny. What do you

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

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

to 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

'Good times…'

Anyway, he survived.

Sunny walked over to a table that he had scavenged from the ruins of a library and glanced at