Shadow Slave

Caged in the darkness, Sunny had a lot of time to think. All around him, a horde of Nightmare Creatures waited for their turn to be slaughtered in the bloodsoaked arena, a few unfortunate human slaves among them. Here in the nightmarish dungeon, both abominations and people were the same, equal in the face of inevitable death.

His thoughts returned to the very start of the trial, to the announcement the Spell made. Five brave ones… someone else had entered the Nightmare with them, and Sunny had a good idea who.

Mordret… the Prince of Nothing still lived, against all odds, and had found a way to reach his goal. Perhaps his reflection had hidden in the eyes of Saint Cormac, and then slid unnoticed into either Effie's or Kai's.

Was one of his friends dead?

No… no, that didn't make sense. If Mordret had devoured one of the souls aboard the ancient flying ship, then someone would have noticed. The Fire Keepers were a close group, and knew each other too well to miss a sudden change in the demeanor of one of them.

As for Effie and Kai, if they had fallen victim to Mordret's terrifying Ability, then there would have been only four souls entering the Nightmare.

But who was to say that the Prince of Nothing had to invade a soul once his reflection jumped into the person's eyes? Maybe he could just hide in the reflections, biding his time and waiting for an opportunity to find a better vessel.

And speaking of vessels…

Sunny studied his monstrous body, his black eyes full of a somber apprehension.

Why had he been sent into a body of a demon? The Spell was supposed to find suitable vessels for the challengers… had he been made into a hideous abomination because of his three shadow cores? After all, it was hard to find a human with a soul worthy of a Divine Aspect.

If so… was Mordret in the body of a Terror right now?

Hidden in the darkness, Sunny shivered.

most likely the case. This fact had the potential to either reveal itself to be a blessing, or a

the Nightmare and Ascend. So, having a Terror fight on their side would be a boon, no matter how much resentment Sunny had for the bastard. He also suspected that Mordret wielded the ivory knife, increasing their chances

had told them… not all of the Awakened trying to conquer the trial of the Spell had to pursue

Mordret as an enemy in this already insurmountable hell scared him. The

cruelty, and was not nearly as insane as everyone seemed

it felt as though something was missing in them. It was a

card, one whose actions

way to escape

slightly as pain radiated

thought back to his

it was

but others remained. His Aspect seemed

did this mean… did this mean that an Aspect was not a

an unbreakable enchanted cage, Sunny

passed the First Nightmare and received his Aspect… it had felt

only awakening inherent powers that were locked inside

'Wait a minute…'

silently in the nearby cage had not said it, he was an Awakened, too. But in this ancient past, the gods were still

that would

suspicions were correct, of course. Than meant the Nightmare Spell had not even existed yet, in

But Awakened did.

as Nightmare Creatures… or the Corrupted,

Sunny's vertical pupils narrowed.