Shadow Slave

Elyas hesitated for a moment, and then looked at Sunny with a sad smile.

"It's… it's alright, Demon. Thank you... thank you for getting us this far. But now, it is my turn. This is our chance. This is what we've been fighting for all this time, is it not? The tales my mother told me were all true… I'll free us both! You'll see. The Lord of Light will guide my hand…"

With that, he reached out and took the wooden knife from Solvane hand, his fingers wrapping tightly around its hilt.

The priestess smiled radiantly and took a step back. He beautiful eyes shone with joy, and he voice resounded in the darkness of the dying night, full of longing and hope:

"Be brave, boy. The gods are watching!"

Sunny struggled desperately against the crushing force that pressed him into the ground, but it was of no use. A stifled roar escaped from his mouth…

A few steps away, Elyas straightened, calmly looked the Transcendent beauty in the eyes, and then assumed a battle stance. He knew what he was doing, after all… the youth was as talented of a fighter as Sunny had been at his age, or maybe even better.

Two months of constant battles in the arena gave him plenty of experience. More than most would have acquired in a lifetime, and certainly no less than what Sunny had on the Forgotten Shore.

'No! That is not enough!'

But what if... what if Elyas really had a chance? Sunny had achieved many impossible things himself, as well, and seen others do the same.

Even in the direst of situations, there was always hope... that was a lesson he had learned against all odds in the hell of the Forgotten Shore, and later in the stone mausoleum of the Night Temple.

…Without wasting any time on doubt and hesitation, Elyas sent his soul essence flowing in a raging flood, and shot forward, moving with grace and speed that few Awakened could ever hope to achieve. His hand flew through the air, swift enough to appear as an almost imperceptible blur.

The strike was swift and cunning... however, it was just a feint. His true intention was to attack from below, and it was hidden almost perfectly. There was no sign of the fact that the young man was preparing to change the direction of the blow. He had learned well from watching Sunny fight...

see it, then so

His eyes narrowed.

the Transcendent's flesh, Elyas suddenly stumbled, then slowed down. Taking a few unsteady steps forward, he swayed, and suddenly toppled

appeared across his chest, and then burst open in a flood

with sorrow and lowered her hand, a single drop of crimson falling from her delicate fingers. Her lips trembled, and then, a

"...Not today."

stared at Elyas, who lay motionlessly on the ground, the grass soaking in his blood. The young man's unmoving face was turned to him, his light-blue eyes still open. However, those eyes, which had been bright and

was

to stand up, but all he achieved was damaging his mangled body even further. Without paying any attention to that pain, he continued fighting against the invisible chains holding him down, feeling the ground itself shift beneath

I'll kill her! I'll rip her

while, and then silently bent down

stared at Sunny with a dark expression, and then

willing to fight me, little

in a hateful grin. He wanted to... oh,

he could not. Fighting Solvane

shook

The beautiful priestess sighed.

different from the

suddenly flashed, and terrible pain exploded through

he saw a graceful arm protruding from his chest, the breastplate

broken chest, easily tearing the still-beating heart out in the process. She glanced at it with disappointment, and then sent the body of the

was her

Sunny fell into the embrace

and faster, quickly disappearing into the nothingness of