Shadow Slave

A few minutes later, Sunny was staring at a table full of all kinds of delicious food. The table was situated on the upper deck of the flying ship, allowing for a breathtaking view of the shattered Kingdom of Hope below.

Being that high up in the sky, he couldn't help but feel a deep sense of discomfort. The fear of the Crushing was already deeply ingrained into his bones… however, the terrible curse that dictated the lives of everyone on the Chained Isles did not exist yet. He had nothing to worry about.

Or rather, he did not have to worry about that particular danger. There were plenty of other existential threats surrounding him, however.

The food had been served by obedient wooden dolls wearing tasteful silk liveries. Sunny was pretty sure that each of the animated mannequins had been a living creature once, their souls torn from their bodies and placed into the dolls by the person sitting across from him.

Taking a sip of a cooled wine, the person in question smiled brilliantly and gestured at the food.

"Come, Sunless! Enjoy."

Sunny hesitated for a bit, then reached out to put a few portions of several mouth-watering dishes onto his plate. He was careful not to touch the emerald amulet that lay in front of him, knowing that doing so would reveal all his thoughts to the damned sorcerer.

That thing… was maybe the greatest danger he faced. While the ability to communicate with people was something he had been thinking about from the first day of entering the Nightmare, sharing his every thought was not something Sunny was ready to deal with yet.

His Flaw had been constraining what he was able to say for a long time now, so his mind was a kind of safe haven for Sunny. For that reason, he had developed a tendency to run wild with his thoughts… revealing them all to a mad sorcerer was not a very great idea.

Noctis watched him eat with a carefree smile, then said in a friendly tone:

"By the way, great job killing that nasty horse! What a feat! What a gallant deed! Truly, vanquishing it was an exploit worthy of being sung about. But, Sunless…"

The sorcerer hesitated for a moment, then leaned forward and asked with a bit of exasperated desperation in his voice:

"Please tell me, why... why, for the love of the gods, did you kill the horse?!"

was taking a sip of cold water,

fury burning in his bestial black eyes, then ground his fangs and put his palm on the emerald

who sent me into his damned lair! The

his four fists and

of

for that last thought to remain unsaid, but sadly, one of his

blinked a few times, and then flung his hands into

it! Do I look like an idiot? That horse destroyed hundreds of creatures much scarier than you, why would I

closed it, then

I don't know. Why did

of wine, remained silent for

might have liked you. Didn't you know each

immortal for a few moments, then trembled slightly and

'That damn fool…'

time, he was careful to not touch the amulet

all of it… was that Noctis was not entirely unfounded in thinking that the black steed would not attack Sunny. The body he was currently inhabiting had, indeed, been acquainted

knowing the black courser, while the courser himself had gone mad during the hundreds of years of solitude and only recognized his old companion seconds before death, when

was the result of a

out a low

it. It doesn't matter, anyway. Not now, and not anymore. The important part is… Noctis might look like an eccentric idiot, but he is anything but. If he wanted me to

then placed his hand back onto

did you want me

silent for a bit,

any chance… before you killed it… has Nightmare shared anything with you? The location of a