Shadow Slave

By the time the three of them reached the line of footsteps in the sand, Sunny had formulated a rough plan of what he had to do during this particular revolution.

Well... it wasn't much of a plan. There were too many paths he could take, so he simply chose one that was the closest. Jet was not that far, and had to know more about what was happening on the island than he did. So, Sunny was determined to find her before Undying Slaughter did.

He was not enthused about the idea of fighting the dreadful wraith again so soon. Luckily, there was a high possibility that he could snatch Jet and escape without exchanging a single blow with the Defiled.

'What I need right now is not strength, but speed.'

Sunny glanced at Nephis and Cassie.

He would have to share his knowledge with his companions sooner or later, without a doubt. Just imagining that conversation made him uncomfortable, though.

It was a rather bizarre thing to say to someone, that they had been living the same hour over and over again without ever realizing it.

'I'll tell them the next time... hopefully, there will be a next time.'

Sunny suspected that the loop was endless - it should have existed for as long as the colossal whirlpool existed, which had already been hundreds of years - but he couldn't be sure. So, for now, he had to treat each revolution as if it was the last one.

'I'll tell them after I'm back, then.'

Sadly, he had already wasted a lot of time coming to this realization, so there was none of it left for lengthy explanations.

Noticing his intense gaze, Nephis looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

Sunny hesitated for a few moments, considering his words carefully, then opened his mouth and said just three of them:

"Aster, Song, Vale."

Her expression changed slightly, becoming darker and more intense. It was not exactly the same murderous reaction as she had showed on the Ashen Barrow, but Sunny still felt a little uncomfortable.

Nephis frowned.

"Why..."

She paused for a moment, then took a deep breath.

"Are we under a mind hex again?"

Sunny shook his head.

something similar. Right now, I need you two to not ask

troubled expression appearing on her face. She remained silent, though, waiting

at him for a few

"Alright."

she trusted him... but blindly trusting someone was not easy. It was even harder to suppress one's

have had a lot of trouble both with the former

forced out

Then return to the ship and hide. Stay safe until

Chain Breaker was indeed safe... but it was the

to Cassie,

"I'll need Nightmare."

the saddle. Looking down, Sunny lingered for a moment, then commanded Saint and

later, he was galloping through the

would not need his combat Shadows. If he still ended up facing the mist wraith, summoning them to him would take

'Faster!'

fastest of his followers... his speed was far superior to even Sunny's own, as well as that of his shadows. To find Jet and bring her away from the misty

sent all five shadows to augment the

them flew along the line of lonesome footprints, swiftly approaching the wall of black cliffs. The black stallion scaled the stone steps without ever slowing down, his adamantine

entered

she could be anywhere. That was a problem, considering that he

'Quite a predicament...'

Silver Bell to point Jet in his direction... the problem was that Undying Slaughter would recognize its ringing as well. Not to mention that there were most likely other deadly creatures

that the Guiding Light pointed to Effie, but not Jet. Otherwise, Sunny would

however many times it really was - and crossed it in the blink of an

shouldn't have come from the direction of the beach, so the most logical choice is

veiled everything, making the world appear only

'Damn it!'

moment... however, he could also stumble on Undying Slaughter at

was hesitating to send his shadow in all directions, after all, when he suddenly

The stench of blood.

command, Nightmare slowed down, and then came to a halt. Sunny looked around, inhaling the wisps of mist, then sent his steed toward a

than he could see, but there, on its bark, was a spot much darker than

in the saddle and finally

him a direction to