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.

had only ever seen Nightmare Creatures in the throes of murderous frenzy. Having them walk past him with

'Crap, crap, crap...'

desert was wide and flawlessly white, and the towering figures of abominations were moving across it with measured steps, separated from each other by a considerable

that the sun

was massive and ghastly, with four mighty paws and

The creature was dangerous.

was

stunning speed, the Sin of Solace swung, cleanly severing the abomination's head. They shot past the beheaded creature and continued forward

and watched as the hands grabbed the bleeding carcass and pulled it into the

the massive monster had never

stopped following him after that, at least,

'Damnation...'

finally allow himself

Nightmare at the crest of a tall dune, Sunny breathed heavily, then wrapped two more shadows around himself, enhancing the effect of the Memory of Fire. That way, he

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

was the most precious thing in his possession. Who would have thought that it would

his Wilderness Survival courses, Sunny had learned many ways

would work in this

dismissed the Endless Spring and looked

However, that would be risky... he wasn't sure that he was ready to part with even a

was no need to,