Shadow Slave

Mordret was still getting used to the fact that it never got dark in Antarctica. Because of that, the concept of time here was vague and abstract. The landscape itself was not like anything else he had seen in the waking world, and with countless Nightmare Creatures flooding the continent, it was easy to imagine that they were actually in the Dream Realm.

A whole continent of people, pulled into hell.

'No... it's much too early for that...'

The sky was strange, the land was strange, and the beings populating that land were strange.

And yet, wasn't he the strangest one?

'Isn't it nice, to be with family?'

His uncle's wide back was right in front of him.

Saint Madoc was walking across the desolate plain, not at all concerned by the hordes of Nightmare Creatures moving in the distance. A small force of Awakened followed, with Mordret in the lead. They had left their vehicles behind to traverse the last stretch of wilderness on foot, knowing that remaining unseen was more important than remaining safe.

The warriors of Valor were subdued, but full of unshaken resolve. Even surrounded by unspeakable danger, none of them showed the smallest sign of fear. They were ready to face any kind of threat, no matter how dire, and fight any kind of enemy.

Be it abominations or humans.

Mordret, meanwhile, was simply staring at his uncle's back.

How easy would it be to put a sword right through it?

He suppressed a sigh.

Sadly, not easy at all. Not even because of the priceless enchanted armor Whispering Blade was clad in, but simply because Whispering Blade was Whispering Blade.

If any of Mordret's family members were easy to kill, he would not be stuck wearing the cumbersome vessel of Squire Warren for so long.

'There'll come a day...'

forward in

itself. Hidden in the shadow of an abandoned fortress, a Nightmare Gate tore reality apart like a dark scar. The whispers of

had started with those situated within the siege capitals under

into, and the area of

dangerous before because of its proximity to Song's territory, and it grew only more dire now because the hunting grounds of the Corrupted Titan that still wandered

the reason why the fortified outpost had been abandoned, and why Saint

warriors - were meant to be the first wave of reinforcements sent to help the Knight secure his prize. Due to the importance of that

long taken the

the Gate in silence, seemingly

"Are you ready, Squire?"

in the greatest danger. Mordret pretended to

"Always, my lord."

words tasted revolting

and offered him his

The world grew bleak.

Then, it disappeared.

a vast, lightless space between dream

then, blinding light

heat assaulted

smell of scorching

very few reflective surfaces in the surrounding area - limited to only his

him was a

blinding disc of an incandescent sun was bathing the tall dunes in a flood of immolating heat. The sands of the desert were flawlessly white, and the azure sky above him was deep and boundless like an

rose from beneath the sand, scattered across the desert like the bones of a

horrors hid in the stark shadows

slightly, hearing sand

of countless claws was already lunging at him... a split second later, however, it was suddenly dismantled, falling apart in the air. It was as if a maelstrom of invisible

it touched the white

of the Nightmare Creature

"Stay on guard."