Shadow Slave

Nephis stared at him for a few moments, then turned her head to Cassie and said:

"Follow behind us."

The three of them cautiously approached the entrance to the tower and lingered there, uncertain of how they should proceed.

In their minds, there were two outcomes to this unexpected situation.

One, the mysterious young woman would turn out to be a local Awakened. In that case, all their problems were going to be solved. If an Awakened happened to meet a group of Sleepers in the wild reaches of the Dream Realm, it was customary to guide them to the nearest human Citadel.

Of course, exceptions happened, but in general, Awakened strived to take care of Sleepers — in this alien land, humans had to band together. It was not only a moral obligation, but also in their own best interest.

Two, the stranger would turn out to be a Nightmare Creature. In that case, they were going to have a tough fight on their hands. Since the rank and class of the enemy were unknown, it was impossible to predict the result.

They just had to risk it.

Drawing a deep breath, Sunny followed Nephis into the cool darkness of the tower. Immediately, the appetizing smell of roasting meat hit his nostrils.

…His stomach growled.

'Crap!'

Before Sunny could react, a piece of bone flew past his head and hit the wall with enough force to shatter into tiny pieces. Belatedly, he raised the Midnight Shard and assumed a defensive stance.

But it was a little too late. The young woman had already been alerted of their presence.

Raising her head, she bared her teeth in a wide grin and murmured:

"Is someone hiding in the shadows? Why don't you come out to play…"

Her voice was deep, smoky and had a raspy huskiness to it. But what mattered the most was that she was speaking in the human language.

She was human!

Probably…

The stranger was still sitting in a relaxed pose, but Sunny didn't miss the subtle tension in her carved muscles. He had no doubt that the alleged Awakened could explode into a whirlwind of violence at any moment.

It was better not to provoke her.

his sword. Then, the three of them hesitantly stepped into the circle of light cast by

at them in surprise and raised

"Humans? Huh! Unexpected."

and shook

where are my

to her feet. The white fabric of her tunic shifted

Sunny blinked.

had assumed that the stranger was tall, but only now did he realize how imposing her true height was. The woman stood considerably taller than even Nephis, not to mention Sunny himself. Complete with

to look her in the eyes was sort of irritating, though. But Sunny had no choice. If he

young woman, meanwhile, wiped her dirty face with a

like to take

the polite invitation, they hesitated. After several seconds passed in awkward silence, Nephis finally took a step forward and asked the question that had been

voice uncharacteristically tense and full of suppressed

are

at her with a blank expression, then blinked a couple

I be?

amused by her own silly

the young woman giggled a few more times and looked at them with sparks of

are you even asking? Anyway, come sit. My

Sunny and Cassie finally approached and lowered

them over, then frowned a

seen you guys around. Are you

gave her a

We have just reached the

social skills had not been in vain.

The young woman grinned.

condolen… wait. You guys survived for two whole

looked at

a real

for a few

and Sunless. We are Sleepers who came here during the

woman gave them

to meet you! I'm Effie. Well, at least that's what

Awakened, just a Sleeper like them. Strangely, he didn't remember

silent, he leaned

There are people living there,