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.

followed her example and dismissed his sword. Then, the three of them hesitantly

looked at them

"Humans? Huh! Unexpected."

and

are my

that, she lightly rose to her feet. The white fabric of her tunic shifted slightly, revealing even more of

Sunny blinked.

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 her robust physique, olive skin and archaic armor, she looked like an

sort of irritating, though. But Sunny had no choice. If he were to just look straight, his line of sight would land

meanwhile, wiped her dirty face with a forearm and gestured at the

like to

in awkward silence, Nephis finally took a step forward and asked the question that had been tormenting all three of

uncharacteristically tense and full of suppressed emotion,

you… are

a blank expression, then blinked a

else would I

laughed loudly, amused by her own silly joke.

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

asking? Anyway, come sit. My neck is tired from looking down

assumed a relaxed pose. Nephis, Sunny and Cassie finally approached and lowered themselves to the stones, looking at the tall girl with hungry flames burning

looked them over, then frowned a

you guys around. Are you

her

We have just reached the

person. It seemed that her endless attempts to improve her social skills had not been in vain. If Sunny didn't know how awkward and clumsy Neph's natural state was, he wouldn't have

The young woman grinned.

condolen… wait. You guys survived for two

whistled and looked at them with newfound

real feat.

a few seconds, then

Nephis, and these are my companions, Cassia and Sunless. We are Sleepers who came here during the winter

gave them a wide,

I'm Effie. Well, at least that's what people call me. I'm also a

not an Awakened, just a Sleeper like them. Strangely, he didn't remember ever seeing her in the

to remain silent, he leaned forward

castle? There are