Shadow Slave

It took Sunny the rest of the night to compile all of the information he had gathered about the Forgotten Shore into a succinct, comprehensive report. Knowing how passionate Teacher Julius was about researching the Dream Realm, Sunny tried not to miss any important detail.

He had described the geography and environment of the region to the best of his ability, including all the notable landmarks he visited or heard about, as well as the peculiar nature of the dark sea and the Labyrinth. He also described most of the Nightmare Creatures he had seen, met, or fought, writing down everything he knew about their powers, behavior, and weaknesses, writing through the lens of his own experience where he could.

When possible, he included the information received directly from the Spell, complete with the descriptions of Memories and Echoes he knew about. Of course, he provided those texts both in the human tongue and in the runic language.

Lastly, he had written down the results of his exploration and studies into the history of the Forgotten Shore, describing in detail every engraving, every mosaic, and every mural he had seen. He also added his theories about what had happened to the ancient civilization, as well as his observations on how the ancient people of the Forgotten Shore had lived before the fall.

…Of course, there were things that he had kept to himself.

Sunny omitted anything having to do with the nest of the Vile Thieving Bird, the Weaver, and the underground chamber beneath the ruined cathedral. He did not mention the Stone Saint, firstly because he wanted to keep her existence a secret, and secondly because she was connected to the Unknown. He also avoided mentioning his battle against the coral golems and the banishment of the cursed sea, as well as the eventual fate of the Crimson Terror and the destruction of both the artificial sun and the Spire itself.

As far as everyone was concerned, Sunny had left through the Gateway with the rest of the Dreamers. No one had paid attention to his whereabouts in those last minutes, and he wanted to keep it that way. Well… no one except for Effie and Cassie, but he was reasonably sure that they would be discrete about certain things.

And even if they failed to keep their lips sealed, Sunny had ways to explain his actions without revealing the truth.

Finishing the report, Sunny leaned tiredly on the back of his chair and glanced at the screen. There, a long title was shown:

Report on the Forgotten

think that's

how to write an academic paper… or a proper field report, for that matter. So he had written and structured this document in a way that would have been the most helpful for his younger self a year ago, when he had entered the Forgotten Shore

manual such as this would

sent the report to his communicator, then

two days since his return to the real world, so the fatigue was slowly accumulating. Soon, he would have to start using

walked away from the table, then hesitated a little and came back. Picking up several books from the orderly pile,

was back to its intended place, he nodded

a fascinating place. I like it

breathed in the cold winter air and remembered the description of

believed that knowledge was the origin of power, and so always hid behind numerous

this place?

that presented a washed,

also a palace

***

remembered, only weighed down by more snow. Sunny had

excitement, so much