Shadow Slave

Sunny stood on the shore of the ocean, shivering and considering if he should fall down and take a long, relaxing rest in the cold water. His reserves of essence were utterly spent, and with it came the sickening feeling of fragility and weakness.

Awakened experienced a form of backlash when burning through all of their essence, but it was only a little bit harmful. The weakness would pass, and there would be no long-term harm done... he just had to weather the immediate consequence.

The more concerning aspect of the situation was that he did not even have enough essence to summon a single Memory. Looking down at the threadbare rags of his once-pristine black bodysuit, Sunny sighed.

For now, that was all that separated him from the bitter cold and the chilling winds of Antarctica.

'I need to get back to the convoy.'

Trying to get his tired mind to work properly, Sunny hesitated for a moment.

'...But first, I need to check on Nightmare.'

The stallion was nowhere to be seen, so he was afraid of what had happened to his steed. The runes were still shimmering in the air in front of Sunny, so he turned his attention back to them.

...Death Charge: (0/1000].

The charge of the Dying Wish was completely spent, but it had done its job...

The Undying Chain was gone.

Turning away from the list of Memories with a sigh, he looked at the status of his Shadows. The runes describing Nightmare shone as always, so the black steed was not destroyed.

'Then where is he?'

Sunny frowned, then softly hit himself on the forehead, remembering that he could simply check his innate connection to the Shadow. Without wasting any time, he reached inward and tried to sense it within his soul.

Soon, Sunny felt Nightmare's presence. The connection was not really meant to share information, but he could still tell that the black steed was nearby, and in the middle of a battle... the battle did not seem dire or dangerous, though.

The stallion was most likely dealing with stray Nightmare Creatures that could have attacked Sunny while he was still healing.

We can get away from here

a little, then glanced at his four shadows, who were all staring at him with different expressions. The happy shadow was beside itself... but strangely, the other three were also showing some degree of uncharacteristic positivity. Even the

He grinned.

mere titan would

to catch up with the convoy, then took a couple steps forward and

'That damned thing...'

jade hilt, the more it

"Behind you."

Sunny scoffed.

I would be

swift shape shot through the darkness

pierced Sunny's side, and he was sent flying into the water. Hitting the dark surface with a pained scream,

flew in the direction of the unknown attacker, meant to slow whoever it was down. However, the creature was still standing in the spot where Sunny had been a few moments ago, staring

Sunny staggered.

torn out of his side. Blood Weave had stemmed the bleeding, but the wound still looked

the bastard who had

a suit of light armor. The damned goblin

was also missing two fingers on its right

off.

bleeding flesh in the abomination's mouth.

his fists and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything... the Scavenger seemed to grin

Sunny's eyes widened.

wicked little

let the imp go once, but the bastard

just kill him

fury, Sunny took a step forward, but then staggered. The world

'What the...'

numb and burning with terrible

looking down, he saw a strangely familiar black liquid flowing out of the gruesome wound. No... it was his blood,