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.

smells delicious. Where did

tilted her

***

opposite each other inside the narrow fissure, finishing 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

take a bite... and yet, he was thankful for that meat. Without Neph making a fire to roast it, he might not have found her so soon, or even

'It really tastes amazing...'

Sunny glanced at his greasy hands with a bit of

just eat

had his life turned out this way?

brought the Endless Spring to her

myself. After the sea serpent

Sunny

within the mist, just like Sunny - but after the mist

few hours to realize that the rocky island beneath her feet was actually the carapace of a

attacked, waking the turtle up and initiating a harrowing battle. Nephis had no choice

of the furious battle between two great abominations almost killed her - that was why her clothes were in such a sorry state. Eventually,

then dove down into the water to carve out some meat to satiate

Sunny coughed awkwardly.

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

an eyebrow, looking at him in

"Sorry? Why?"

the back of