Shadow Slave

Sunny's upper arms were much longer than that of a human. Bending down, he fell on all fours and broke into a bestial gallop, flying forward with incredible speed. With each jump, the saving darkness grew closer and closer. The links of the heavenly chain rattled and swayed wildly beneath him as the Black Tar fiend pursued.

Sunny could have tried to find safety in the depth of the Sky Below, but his speed and maneuverability in the air would have been severely diminished. If the abomination decided to expel another rain of tar-covered projectiles, he would be shredded, torn to pieces, and consumed. Besides, there was no saying if the harrowing creature could follow him into the abyss.

His best chance was to reach the segment of the chain submerged in darkness, glide across it as a swift shadow, and escape to the next island.

Behind him, the mass of liquid darkness rolled forward with staggering speed, hundreds of black tendrils shooting out of it every moment to form a ceaseless tide. The distance between them grew smaller and smaller, and smaller still.

'Oh, gods…'

Just a split seconds before the tendrils of darkness descended upon him, Sunny finally reached a sufficiently low altitude and dove into the shadows, turning into one of them and rushing forward across the giant chain. The space where he stood just a moment ago was instantly enveloped by the foul flesh of the tar monstrosity, which then lunged after him, somehow starting to move even faster.

A strange, deafening sound that resembled a gurgling wail escaped from the depths of the mass of liquid darkness, causing Sunny's whole being to wreathe in pain. It washed over the world like a wave, penetrating deep into the darkness of the Sky Below and the radiance of the Sky Above, and making both shudder.

Sunny fled across the border between two skies, and the harrowing creature from the Dark Side followed.

Soon, the length of the heavenly chain that was shrouded in shadows came to the end, and he escaped them at a terrible speed, sliding across the metal of the links and barely keeping himself from plummeting down.

A tide of black, shifting tendrils fell at him almost instantly, but hit only ancient iron. Sunny had stepped through shadows, appearing a couple of dozen meters away, and then once again, teleporting to the surface of the island that loomed above him now.

That last jump ate a lot of his essence, but he had no other choice than to make it.

Falling to the ground, Sunny grabbed at his chest, which was pulsating with dull, crippling pain, and groaned. Then, he threw himself up and continued running.

Behind him, the tendrils of black tar were already above the edge of the island.

gaping with empty darkness. Here and there, pieces of rusty weapons and armor protruded from the ground, covered with ash. The ground itself was shattered and uneven, littered with

sometimes chaining several jumps in a row. By exerting every fiber of his demonic body to its limit,

apart with a thunderous cacophony of crashes. Its tendrils ripped the wooden hulls apart like paper, sending clouds of ash and debris flying through the

the opposite side of the island, Sunny saw the remnants of a colossal pyre, thousands upon thousands of charred human bones arranged into a solemn pyramid to form it. These were, perhaps,

brought them to this island, and what had they fought for? Who had won the terrible battle, and at what cost? Had this pyre been meant to honor fallen heroes, or

and fell through the air, reaching another chain and escaping further south. A few moments later, the Corrupted fiend flowed over the edge, as well, landing

fiend failed to outrun him.

was that Sunny was growing tired and slowly running out of shadow

south, south… pursued by the fiend from the Dark Side, Sunny fled south, crossing one island

the towering emerald skeleton, these ones did not even try to fight the Corrupted abomination. Instead, they fled, too, scattering to the neighboring islands in something that resembled panic,

of Nightmare Creatures that would have usually not hesitated to attack him. They were like forest animals escaping from a raging fire… when

had shadowed the abominations of all kinds

and all the other creatures. It only paid attention to those abominations that were directly in its way, while its only goal, for some

it all… what's

the fact that he followed the path of Ascension instead of Corruption? Was it his nature as a shadow? Or maybe… was it the flame of divinity that burned in his soul and flowed through

irresistible lure for a creature like

run as his chest became consumed with pain, and his soul became empty and barren, devoid

later, he escaped from the shadows one last time and fell on the emerald grass

His single heart was beating wildly in his aching chest, drowning as it tried to do the work meant for two. His four lungs were on

was as far

and then slowly rose to his feet. His eyes

get me, beast. Let us see which one of us is stronger. I…

he had months of preparations and a whole cohort of Fire Keepers