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

an abandoned fortress, a Nightmare Gate tore reality apart like a dark scar. The whispers

had started with those situated within the siege capitals

rather special. It was the Gate that Knight Shtad had ventured into, and the area of the

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

the reason why the fortified outpost had been abandoned, and why Saint Madoc was personally escorting them

help the Knight secure his prize. Due to the importance of that mission,

taken the place of

the eerie rift of the Gate in silence, seemingly unaffected by

"Are you ready, Squire?"

into the Dream Realm would be in the greatest

"Always, my lord."

revolting on

and

The world grew bleak.

Then, it disappeared.

himself in a vast, lightless space between dream and

light

assaulted his

of scorching sand flooded

regained his vision. He felt deeply uncomfortable, because there were very few reflective surfaces in the surrounding area - limited to only

him was

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

ruins rose from beneath the sand, scattered across the desert like

the stark shadows of

shifted slightly, hearing sand rustle behind

seemed to be made of countless claws was already lunging at him... a split second later, however, it

blood boiled as it touched

of the Nightmare Creature and turned

"Stay on guard."