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.

example and dismissed his sword. Then, the three of

young woman looked at them

"Humans? Huh! Unexpected."

she smiled and

are my

feet. The white fabric of her tunic shifted slightly, revealing even more

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

eyes was 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

like to

seconds passed in awkward silence, Nephis finally took a

and full of

you… are

stared at her with a blank expression, then blinked a couple of

I

own silly joke. Nephis and Sunny glanced at each other, confused as to what

giggled a few more times and looked at them with

I am human! Why are you even asking? Anyway, come sit. My neck is tired from looking

down near the fire and assumed a relaxed pose. Nephis, Sunny and Cassie finally approached and lowered themselves to the stones, looking at the tall girl with

looked them over, then

guys around.

gave her

just

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

and looked at

a real

lingered for a

Nephis, and these are my companions, Cassia and Sunless. We are Sleepers who

them a wide, friendly

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

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

silent,

castle? There are