Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at the blind girl with surprise clearly written on his face. Allowing this surprise to seep into his voice, he asked:

"The vine creature? You want to kill that thing?"

Why would she want to attempt to do something that dangerous?

Cassie nodded.

"Yes."

He shook his head.

"That bastard sprawls through the entire island, its vines buried underground. It is Corrupted, which means that our weapons will barely be able to cut it. And, if that was not bad enough, the vines produce clouds of deadly poison. Are you sure that you want to attack it?"

The blind girl lingered for a few moments, then answered calmly:

"It is a Corrupted Monster, indeed. It is terrifying and lethal, yes. But I am sure that we can destroy it, with enough preparation. Everyone has weaknesses, after all. That creature is susceptible to fire, for example. There must be other things we might be able to exploit, too."

Sunny thought for a while, then shrugged.

"Fine. I will help your cohort fight the monstrosity on the Shipwreck Island. I will not promise that we will succeed, though."

Cassie sighed.

"Then we have a deal. My cohort and I will remain in the Desecrated Growth until our business here is done. I expect it to take a month, at least. Maybe more. After, we will return to the Sanctuary, recuperate, and proceed to the Shipwreck Island."

She paused for a moment, and then added:

"And then, I will help you challenge the Second Nightmare."

Sunny smiled.

die before that, you

turned back to the roots of the dead

we don't die

***

his way back to the Sanctuary, Sunny had a lot to think

which made him feel all sorts of complicated emotions. The manner of their relationship, at least, was set clear

could put away his resentment for the sake of mutual benefit. After all, Sunny could be a

was the perspective of returning to the wreck of the ancient ship, this time to do battle with the vine monster that ruled over the island. Sunny knew very

flame augmentation of the Cruel Sight, however,

Sky Below, at least. That… he didn't even know what to think about that. However, Sunny was not going to let this vision affect his decisions. The last time he had tried to act on the knowledge

mind, but continue to act as if nothing had changed.

long journey to and back from the Desecrated Grove, Sunny approached the Sanctuary of Noctis in the middle of the night. His shadow essence reserves were almost depleted, and his head buzzed from all the

and hearing the familiar sound of water falling over the edge of

about it, for now.

moon was high in the sky, which meant that he was finally going to get his

desire to find the source of the miraculous coins the dead Chain Worm had brought with it to the Iron Hand Island

waiting for

in its center. Stopping for a couple of moments to make sure that no one was watching him, he then crossed the stone path leading to the small island in

an

'The moment of truth…'

one of the gold coins out

shimmered, reflecting the moonlight,

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

big smile appeared

the runes, he

Shadow Fragments: [224/2000].

'It works!'

the altar each time

in his sight, he