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.

***

it was once again utterly dark. Sunny hesitated for a

take him

way to take them with him to the real world, after all — if he was even going to survive that

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

now he

the bare necessities and then tidied the place up, wishing to leave it clean and

glanced at the tranquil room and hesitated

he had once scratched countless lines into the stone to count the days and

to tell that he had lived in this hidden chamber, in the ancient ruined cathedral, in the Dark City,

been here, had struggled here, and then left to fight for a chance

words, but nothing came to mind. He

the paranoia stopped him. What if someone would come here one day and read it out loud? What a funny disaster that would

a carved something beneath the lines that marked the days

Sunny turned around and

were two runes left on the wall behind

One meaning sun.

The other meaning loss.

***

two things Sunny wanted to accomplish before tomorrow morning. One was in the ruins of a library that he had never finished exploring,

walked past the statue of the nameless goddess and dove into one of the doors leading into the temple's

before, kept away by