Shadow Slave

A tenebrous black steed was flying across the white sands of the Nightmare Desert, pursued by an unseen horror. Sunny was leaning from the saddle, shielding his eyes against the scorching wind as he brandished the Sin of Solace. A hand that shot from beneath the ground was cleanly severed and dissolved into a swirl of ash.

'Curses... that thing is persistent.'

Behind him, a vast swath of the desert was changing. It was almost imperceptible unless one knew what to look for - the minute tremors running through the sand, the slight tilt of the dunes, the subtle shifting of the shadows...

Something enormous was moving beneath the sand, following him.

He had already used four out of his five shadows to augment Nightmare, leaving only one to strengthen the enchantment of the Memory of Fire through the [Underworld Armament]. That allowed him some measure of relief from the unbearable heat of the desert, at least.

But even with the help of the four shadows, his mount was not fast enough to outrun the creature.

Much worse, it was not the only abomination in this part of the desert.

In fact, Sunny was surrounded by Nightmare Creatures.

There were too many of them to count, all moving in the same direction... they were responding to the call, pulled to the blooming Seed of Nightmare by its sweet promise.

Luckily, most abominations seemed to be in a strange state. It was as though they were hypnotized, forgetting about everything except for the goal of reaching the Seed and entering the waking world through it. As long as Sunny did not get in their way, most paid him no attention.

It was deeply disturbing, really.

them walk past him with detached indifference was somehow more

'Crap, crap, crap...'

figures of abominations were moving across it with measured steps, separated from

length of the shadows meant that the sun was

was massive and ghastly, with four mighty paws and a tail like that of a scorpion. Its insect-like

The creature was dangerous.

Sunny was more

cleanly severing the abomination's head. They shot past the beheaded creature

moments later, countless hands rose from beneath. Rushing away, Sunny turned his head and watched as the hands grabbed the bleeding carcass and pulled it into the sand. Soon, only a few drops

was as though the massive monster had

horror stopped following him after that, at least, its hunger seemingly satiated

'Damnation...'

while, he could finally

at the crest of a tall dune, Sunny breathed heavily, then wrapped two more shadows around himself, enhancing the effect of

life back into his body. Then, he

the most precious thing in

- during his Wilderness Survival courses, Sunny had learned many ways of finding

of them would work in

the Endless Spring and

if need be. However, that would be risky... he wasn't sure

was no need to,