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,

his bestial black eyes, then ground

do you mean, why did I kill the horse?! You were the one who sent me into his damned lair! The horse was this close to becoming the end of me, what else

he clenched his four fists

nerve of this

last thought to remain unsaid, but

few times, and then

That horse destroyed hundreds of creatures much scarier than you, why would I send a mere demon

opened his mouth, then closed it,

don't know. Why did you send me into

remained silent for a bit, then let out a bitter

might have liked you. Didn't you know each other back

moments, then trembled slightly and covered his face with two

'That damn fool…'

not touch the amulet while

was that Noctis was not entirely unfounded in thinking that the black steed would not attack Sunny.

courser himself had gone mad during the hundreds of years of

result of a tragic and cruel twist of fate. It was just a series of wicked and disastrous coincidences,

let out a

anymore. The important part is… Noctis might look like an eccentric idiot, but he is anything but. If he wanted me to reunite with Shadow Lord's steed, there

hesitated, then placed his hand back onto the

you want me to meet

silent for a bit,

has Nightmare shared anything with you? The location