Shadow Slave

"It's actually her..."

Sunny did not want to admit it, but he was incredibly excited. A small smile appeared on his face, and he let out a long sigh.

Far below, his shadow waved back at Nephis.

He was happy, and not only because it was Neph whom he had found. Sunny was also happy to find anyone at all... after days spent in solitude, he was starting to fear that the strangeness of the Great River was much more dire than he had thought, and that he was actually sent into an entirely different Nightmare - or perhaps epoch - than the other members of the cohort.

In fact, he had been suppressing the gnawing fear of being the only human in this flowing world.

"Thank the gods."

Under the watchful gaze of the azure serpent, Sunny retrieved the Heavenly Burden and glided down in a wide spiral. He was still wary of the great abomination, but had no choice except to land. It was a good thing, too... after spending two days drifting through the empty sky, he longed to stand on something solid again.

The small puncture wound left behind by the black needle was completely healed by the time Sunny reached the stone shell of the dead behemoth.

To his relief, the ancient serpent did not follow him onto the island. It stayed in the water, staring at the tiny human with hungry madness - luckily, looks could not kill.

Well, at least this Great Beast's gaze could not kill. There were all kinds of Nightmare Creatures and Aspects out there, though...

As soon as the soles of his shoes touched the weathered rock, Sunny let out a satisfied sigh. Then, he dismissed the Dark Wing, bent down to grab the edge of the fissure in front of him, and jumped down.

A few moments later, Sunny landed in front of Nephis. The gloomy shadow slid off the wall and attached itself to his feet.

The two of them stared at each other for a bit.

Then, Sunny grinned.

did

her head and

***

the last of the meat she had roasted. The Covetous Coffer was standing nearby in the form of an alloy chest, its lid open - there was not much food inside by now, but there was

he had to augment himself with a few shadows just to take a bite... and

'It really tastes amazing...'

his portion, Sunny glanced at his greasy hands with a bit of regret, and then carefully licked his fingers. Then,

really just eat the meat of a

his life turned out this way? It was

and brought the Endless Spring

it myself. After the sea serpent

this, Sunny shifted

on the shell of the black turtle the whole time. At first, she had appeared within the mist, just like Sunny - but after the mist dissipated, she found

rocky island beneath her feet was actually the carapace of a titanic abomination. Then, she slowly

turtle up and initiating a harrowing battle. Nephis had no choice but to hide in one of the fissures and hold on for dear life while being battered, doused with

her clothes were in such a sorry state. Eventually, though, the serpent managed to burrow into the turtle's flesh and kill it from the inside. After killing

down into the water to carve out some meat to satiate her hunger, as well

Sunny coughed awkwardly.

"About that... I'm sorry."

eyebrow, looking at him in

"Sorry? Why?"

scratched the back