Shadow Slave

Grasping the coin in his fist, Sunny took a step forward, then cautiously walked around a thick vine sprawled across the floor of the small cabin.

Or was it a wall?

Since the ancient ship was laying on its side and at an angle, it was hard to differentiate the floor from the ceiling. The surface beneath Sunny's feet was skewed, forcing him to bend to be able to keep balance. The piles of debris and the vines weren't making things any easier for him.

By now, Sunny was almost sure that the vines were a part of a larger creature. His suspicion only grew when he climbed through the narrow doorway and left the cabin. Finding himself in a wide corridor, Sunny felt that the sweet smell permeating the murky air became much stronger.

Here, everything was covered by a thick layer of reddish moss, with twisted vines growing through it as they stretched in every direction. Sunny could help but feel as though he was now inside some giant being, with the wooden carcass of the ancient ship serving as its bones, the moss representing its flesh, and the vines being its veins.

The warm breeze that blew through the wreck at rhythmic intervals reminded him of slow breathing of a slumbering giant. It came from somewhere deeper in the ship, bringing with it the sickeningly sweet smell, and then disappeared for a dozen seconds, only to appear again.

'Let's, uh… not do anything to awaken that thing, then.'

Sunny thought for a few moments, and then decided to keep both shadows wrapped around his body instead of sending them to explore the ship. In situations where a confrontation with an unknown enemy could happen at any moment, having them close by was of paramount importance... at least that approach had saved his life many times in the past.

Taking a step forward, he felt the moss spring under his foot, and then swayed. His vision blurred slightly…

'Argh…'

His worse expectations did not come true. Unlike the Blood Blossom, the tiny grains of pollen — or spores, or whatever it was that he had breathed in — had not tried to take root in his lungs and grow through his flesh. Instead, they simply poisoned him.

entered his lungs, then traveled to his bloodstream, and was now spreading through his body. Sunny could easily see himself losing consciousness and falling to the ground, his

he wasn't going

to

just had to endure the

for his vision to become clear again. After a minute or two, Sunny slowly exhaled and continued

from pain and weakness, he picked up a second coin from the moss and stared

moon drawn on their forehead smiled at him with a carefree expression.

so happy about,

another coin gleaming in the moss a couple of meters further down

left these coins here like breadcrumbs to lead

'...Very convenient.'

it up, hid it in his pack, and then cautiously moved deeper into

side. The vines

a grim expression on his face. Although he could not

hold of the ancient ship.

ancient ship from time to time came simultaneously with the contracting of

decided that he had no desire to disturb the slumber of that being. Instead of trying to open the door, he jumped up, grabbed the

have been stored in the main hold with the rest of the mundane cargo, anyway. Unless he was absolutely certain that he had no other choice, he was not going to enter

to forget all fear. That thing inside was not for him to fight, at