Shadow Slave

As soon as the dawn came, bringing with it the mournful sound of retreating waves, Nephis and her cohort left the ruined cathedral.

Sunny remained alone, standing on the edge between the darkness of the old temple and the light of the new day.

Lingering in the ornate doorway, he remained motionless for a while and watched as the artificial sun rose into the bleak grey skies above the cursed city. After months spent in the company of other humans, being by himself once again felt strange… just like it had felt strange to be with other people after all the time he had spent on his own here before that.

Turning around, Sunny returned into the darkness.

The grand hall of the ruined cathedral was peaceful and quiet. Without the menacing steel guardian, there was no one here to disturb the silence anymore. Even the darkness that populated the corners was empty and docile now, not at all the living entity it had been once.

…It felt sort of lonesome.

Freely walking through the echoing expanse of the magnificent hall, Sunny looked around, taking in the sight of the cathedral that had sheltered in the past from a new perspective. Despite spending so much time here, he had never seen it like this — in the same way the inhabitants of the Dark City must have seen it all those years ago. Sunny had only looked down on the hall from the height of one of the ancient temple's support beams.

It looked majestic.

But it was also not safe anymore.

With the Black Knight dead, no one was left to defend the cathedral from the Nightmare Creatures that would want to claim it as their nest. So Sunny couldn't stay here for long.

Not that he had the luxury of that choice anymore.

Throwing one last look at the beautiful dark hall, Sunny sighed and began climbing the statue of the nameless goddess.

***

chamber, it was once again utterly dark. Sunny hesitated for a bit and

didn't take him

them with him to the real world, after all — if he was even

a lot of stuff to call his own. He had dreamed of enjoying a lavish lifestyle after becoming an Awakened, but got stuck

now he

bare necessities and then tidied the place up, wishing to leave it clean and orderly despite knowing that there was little chance

Sunny glanced at the tranquil room and hesitated for

had once scratched countless lines

leave a mark of his presence here. Something to tell that he had lived in this hidden chamber, in the

had been here, had struggled here, and then left to fight

words, but nothing

the wall was his True Name. But even now, the paranoia stopped him. What if someone would come here one day and read it out loud? What a funny disaster

carved something beneath the lines that marked the days he had spent living in the

Sunny turned around and walked

runes left on

One meaning sun.

The other meaning loss.

***

One was in the ruins of a library that he had never finished exploring, and

of the nameless goddess and dove into one of the doors leading into

kept away by the living darkness and the