Shadow Slave

Sunny and Nephis stood side by side as they watched utter devastation being unleashed by creatures crawling out of the colossal Nightmare Gates. The gargantuan black tentacles were still far away, but they were getting closer with every moment.

Numerous Awakened had already been killed, and more were going to die soon.

It was... too sudden, too much.

There were a lot of things that Sunny needed to comprehend, accept, and think about... the future... Cassie, Effie, and Kai... Jet...

But there was no time to think. It was almost impossible, anyway - the Call was roaring in his mind, making any kind of thought difficult. All he could do right now was concentrate on his own survival.

One thing Sunny did do, however, was dismiss his Shadows. They would be of no help against the Great being, but losing them to this catastrophe was just too easy.

Ruined... it's all ruined...

Sunny tried to sense his connection to the Dream Realm.

As a Master, he could leave the waking world at will. It took some time to activate the connection, and usually, he would be transported to his anchor Citadel in a matter of minutes.

That was not going to happen today, of course. Being in close proximity to a Nightmare Gate disturbed the anchor, so entering the Dream Realm near them meant being pulled by the Call and entering the area surrounding the Seed instead.

Currently, Sunny was in the area of effect of four different Nightmare Gates. He didn't even know which Seed he would be pulled to, but anything was better than remaining on the desolate plain that was going to be flooded with indescribably powerful abominations very soon.

Hurry, hurry, hurry...

In front of him, a scene out of a nightmare was playing out. No one on the battlefield was strong enough to resist the being unleashed by the Nightmare Gate - all they could do was try to run, fail, and die.

Those who succumbed to the Call could not even run.

Scores of Awakened, Echoes, and enthralled abominations were all being torn apart and pulverized. The seething mass of dark flesh, meanwhile, continued to squeeze itself through the Gate.

The black fingers continued to hold the rift apart, but there was also a gargantuan hand that had emerged from the abyssal nothingness entirely, plunging down to grab a fistful of screaming humans.

need to... succumb to the Call,

to eight months, by now... the last eight months having his mind almost constantly assaulted

at first, but slowly, he

had to surrender to it. It was a frightening and uncomfortable feeling... the feeling of

There.

still there - in fact, it was much stronger than before. The whispers of the Call grew even more deafening,

a strange ecstasy and an immense sense of relief flood his

he pulled on the connection, and felt the border between the two worlds becoming weaker and more ethereal. Before, it had been like an impregnable wall, but

though something was pulling him from

him from

And that was it.

all

on to that feeling and hope that he would leave the waking

festering wounds. The dark tentacles were rampaging on the battlefield - some whipped around, obliterating the armies of the great clans, some plunged into the soil and grew taut, pulling more and more of the Great abomination into

They did not try to run or search for

The spot where they had

the black tentacles that were getting closer and

felt the ground under his feet quake, the tremors growing stronger and stronger. It was as though something was approaching

to see what was appearing from the other two

he just looked

and weakened, but seemed

always seemed calm, even when she

his mouth, which

you on the other

him, something grotesque and

She nodded.

"Yes."

she hesitated for a second, and