Shadow Slave

Sunny was riding north through the bitter cold of the polar night, shivering in his raggedy, tattered bodysuit. The coastal highway stretched forward, strangely silent and empty. From time to time, he encountered bleeding carcasses of slain Nightmare Creatures that lay on the concrete, staring into the darkness with glassy eyes.

Those were the only signs left behind by the passing of the convoy. The rest of the abominations must have been pulled away by it, rushing in pursuit of the small column of vehicles. That gave Sunny a chance to catch his breath.

'Ah... I am tired...'

Now that the thrill of the battle was gone, he found himself in a somber mood. The cold, dark, and desolate landscape of the Antarctic Center was only adding to the gloom. Looking ahead, Sunny winced as he rocked in Nightmare's saddle. His wounds were hurting, and the lethal toxin was still trying to kill him from the inside.

Most people would have been dead already, but Blood Weave was slowly overcoming the black venom. Sunny was still bleeding from the torn bite wounds on his side and his forearm, though. His thumb was also a mess.

Since he had not encountered anything capable of making him bleed in a long while, that was a bit disconcerting. However, there was very little that Sunny could do. He had a mundane medkit stored inside the Covetous Coffer, but lacked the essence to summon it.

He could not summon an armor to protect himself from the cold for the same reason, as well. After being completely exhausted, essence was slow to return to the vast reservoirs of his cores.

What little he had received from dismissing the Sin of Solace was almost instantly absorbed by his essence-starved body. Until his flesh w'as saturated at least to a small degree, he was not going to be able to summon any Memory.

It was not too bad, though. The more of the rejuvenating essence returned to his body, the better he was able to resist the cold, and the stronger Blood Weave became.

but surely, the feeling of sickening weakness permeating his whole being was

a small trickle of essence flowed into his

'...Finally.'

Nightmare to stop, and then dismounted. He knelt on the concrete for a minute or two, steadily breathing in and out and thinking about what Memory he should summon first. He was cold and required armor to protect him from both the elements and the enemies, but he also felt very uncomfortable without a weapon. His wounds needed to be tended to, and the Memory of

Eventually, he sighed.

can be my weapon, for

awkwardly applied the clotting agent to his wounds, then plastered the sealing patches on top of them. After that, he reached deep

then put it on and

should do it for

his steed forward. Nightmare went slowly at first, so as not to disturb his master's

time. Eventually, Sunny recovered enough essence to summon another Memory, choosing the Cruel Sight this time. He had considered calling upon the Sin of Solace, but then decided against it. His mood was already dark, and listening

defenses were not as good as they had been. Sunny scowled when he remembered the loss of the Transcendent armor, and hurried to throw the bitter thoughts out of his

him to all kinds of misfortune, [Fated] had finally decided to bestow Sunny with some luck. He had not

though, that luck was bound to

kilometer further north... the concrete was littered with corpses, and the abominations were feasting on the flesh of their fallen brethren, devouring them in a nauseating

the morbid feast, his