Shadow Slave

The griffin folded its white wings and dove down, then opened them up near the ground to slow its fall. Sunny raised his hand to cover his eyes from the dust that was sent into the air by the powerful gust of wind.

'...Strong.'

The mighty beast shone with ethereal light and disintegrated into a rain of sparks, letting the rider land nimbly on the ground. He regained his balance swiftly and straightened, then turned to Sunny.

The man in front of him was tall and had broad, powerful shoulders. He was wearing a light armor crafted from the adamantine scales of an unknown monster, with a blue scarf wrapped carelessly around his neck. His hair was the color of straw, as was his manly beard.

The stranger's eyes were bright blue, and dangerously attentive.

Sunny stared at the man for a moment, then bowed respectfully, hiding his face in the process.

"Master Roan."

Indeed, the man in front of him was none other than Ascended Roan of the White Feather clan — one of the only three Masters on the Chained Isles.

Well… there were probably only three.

Unlike the Forgotten Shore, this region of the Dream Realm had several Gateways. Two were found, conquered, and turned into Citadels by humans. Both Sunny and Master Roan — as well as pretty much everyone else on the Chained Isles — belonged to one of them, the Sanctuary of Noctis. That Citadel was ruled by the White Feather clan, which was one of the vassal clans to the great clan Valor.

The second Citadel was rather mysterious. It was situated at the very edge of the region, near the dreaded Hollow Mountains, and belonged to Valor itself. Only those in direct service to the great clan were anchored at its Gateway, so Sunny had no idea what went on there, and how powerful the Awakened stationed at the Citadel were.

He did, however, know a bit about Master Roan.

The man was married to the only Saint on the Chained Isles, after all!

...Roan looked Sunny up and down, then gave him a friendly smile.

know each

Sunny shook his head.

Awakened a couple

nodded and then glanced at the carcass of a Fallen wolf that Sunny had failed to throw over the edge of the island in time. When Roan turned to him

kill that

for a few moments, then

can be very lucky, on

man shook

a Fallen Beast… ah. You must be Sunless, then. From the Forgotten

Sunny smiled.

knows

against the older man, but preferred to remain unknown and underestimated.

"Yeah. That's me."

nodded, as though everything suddenly made sense, and then briefly looked at the

is dangerous to remain on an ascending island, right? Why are you

for a few moments,

and escape to the next one over

The tall man sighed.

island connected to this one are also ascending. You wouldn't have been able to escape

a while, a sour expression appearing on

'...Damn it.'

what about that beautiful griffin of yours, sir? Surely, it can bring us both away

Roan grinned.

we can dive below the islands and escape through the Sky Below, but believe me, you wouldn't want to meet the things that dwell on the dark

Sunny blinked.

do