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.

Creatures in the throes of murderous frenzy. Having them walk past him with detached indifference was somehow more frightening than

'Crap, crap, crap...'

it with measured steps, separated from each other by a

the shadows meant that the sun

was massive and ghastly, with four mighty paws and a tail like that of a

The creature was dangerous.

Sunny was more

flashed past the monster at stunning speed, the Sin of Solace swung, cleanly severing the abomination's head. They shot past the beheaded creature and continued forward without ever slowing

hands rose from beneath. Rushing away, Sunny turned his head and watched as the hands grabbed the bleeding carcass and pulled it into

the massive monster had never

after that, at

'Damnation...'

could finally allow

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

drank deeply, allowing the cool water to breathe some life back into his body. Then, he stared at

dormant Memory of the fourth Tier was the most precious thing in his possession. Who would have thought that it

important. But usually, there were many ways to procure it - during his Wilderness Survival courses, Sunny had learned many ways of finding or creating drinkable water in a variety

them would work in this terrible

the

and wide. He could send his shadows to explore, too, if need be. However, that would be risky... he wasn't sure that

no