Shadow Slave

Sunny walked through the empty halls of his castle, shrouded in shadows. Wherever he passed, the pale radiance of moonlight disappeared, devoured by the tide of flowing darkness. His steps were silent, and so were his thoughts.

Raising a hand clad in a glove of black silk, he traces his fingers across the intricate engravings, uncaring to remember the events depicted on the ancient stone walls. They were his triumphs and his victories, etched into the annals of history… but all of it was so distant and had happened so long ago, at the dawn of the Age of Heroes.

He had been a hero once, too, battling the remnants of the Corruption across the mortal realms. He had been cunning and fearless, valiant and unrelenting, full of faith and hope.

…The Age of Heroes was over, but Sunny still remained.

By now, all of his servants and warriors had long left, taking the treasures he did not care about anymore with them. The halls of the castle were populated by shadows, and nothing else.

Well… except for one loyal fool who was too stubborn to get the hint.

'Sorry, kid. You should have found a better master…'

Damnation… why did his heart suddenly hurt so much?

Sunny opened the gates to the courtyard, not bothering to close them as he left. This castle of his would be, without a doubt, overtaken by one of the other Chain Lords soon enough. Or maybe even a ragtag gang of random bandits… he did not care too much about it, either.

Standing in the darkness, Sunny hesitated, and then took out two knives from the hidden sheathes on his forearms. One seemed to be cut from a single piece of ghostly glass, the other from beautiful ember.

One was the knife entrusted to him by the Lord of Light, and the other was the one he had stolen.

The nightmare he had seen must have been because of a sense of guilt he had not known he felt. But why would he? The fool only had himself to blame for losing the knife to Sunny.

And surely, the two brothers were not demented enough to come up with something that distasteful… at least not yet.

Sunny sighed and shook his head, indifferent to the fate of the other immortals. Then, he turned slightly and watched as a tall figure appeared from the darkness.

A towering demon with pale grey skin, four arms, and twisting horns approached him and bowed his head, a sorrowful expression contorting the bestial lines of his face.

Sunny smiled.

so gloom, kid. You knew that

The demon didn't answer.

he

Sunny hid the ember knife in its sheath, and handed the glass one to the tall creature, who hesitated for a few moments and took it with fear and

made that knife, you know? It is a very precious thing… precious enough that even you aren't suited to wield it. The others will eat you alive if

considering something, and then

to the Temple of the Chalice and give it to the War Maiden. Tell her... tell her that we'll meet again, in the Realm of Shadows. That is my last order to you, kid. After that, you will

clenched his fists, then slowly shook

Sunny chuckled.

this is how it has to be. Now, go! Your master commands

looked down, then growled sorrowfully, and disappeared into the

go. Soon, the towering demon left the castle, crossed the hills of emerald grass, and

the creature was gone, Sunny recalled his

look back once. What a heartless

he walked toward the gates of the castle, followed

long horns protruding from his head and his teeth

stallion's eyes burned

Sunny smiled.

you let me ride on your back one

the saddle, and sent his terrifying steed galloping across the land. They flew through shadows and raced across the chains that swayed between two lightless skies,

the one thing

being burdened by the crushing weight of knowledge and duty, Sunny was finally free, and at peace. The night sky above him was vast and beautiful,

one thing. Why did his heart

didn't have any regrets

patted him on the back, and said his farewells. The steed then turned into a vast, sprawling shadow and disappeared, as though he had never

stallion even made an attempt to hide his heartbreaking grief, to not burden his creator with it, and

few moments, and then made his way to