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.

you two to not ask questions and do what

in the saddle, a troubled expression appearing on her

for a few long moments, then

"Alright."

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

lot of trouble both with the former

forced out a

return to the ship and

had no idea if returning to the Chain Breaker was indeed safe... but it was the best temporary solution

to Cassie,

"I'll need Nightmare."

to hop into the saddle. Looking down, Sunny lingered for a moment, then commanded Saint and Fiend to

later, he was galloping through

Undying Slaughter, which meant that he would not need his combat Shadows. If he still ended

'Faster!'

was the 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 forest unscathed, Sunny would need his

sent all five shadows to augment

black stallion scaled the stone steps without ever slowing down, his adamantine hooves sending sparks flying from the black rock, the melodious staccato traveling through the mist like

entered the

previous revolution... Jet should not have entered the clearing yet, so she could

'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 on

shame that the Guiding Light pointed to Effie, but not Jet. Otherwise, Sunny would have taken it

the clearing where Sunny had died the last two times - or however many times it really was - and crossed

direction of the beach, so the

everything, making the world appear only a couple dozen meters

'Damn it!'

however, he could also

in all

The stench of blood.

command, Nightmare slowed down, and then came to a halt. Sunny looked

than he could see, but there, on its bark, was a spot much darker than the rest of it.

the saddle and finally noticed another

gave him a direction