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.

two to not ask questions

the saddle, a troubled expression appearing on her face. She remained silent,

stared at him for a few long moments, then nodded

"Alright."

with relief. He knew that she trusted him... but blindly trusting someone was not easy. It

he would have had a lot of trouble both with the former and

forced out a

ship and hide. Stay

idea if returning to the Chain Breaker was indeed safe... but it was

Cassie, he

"I'll need Nightmare."

into the saddle. Looking down, Sunny lingered for a moment,

he was galloping through

which meant that he would not need his combat Shadows. If he still ended up facing the mist wraith, summoning them to him would take only a couple of

'Faster!'

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

shadows to augment the dark

stallion scaled the stone steps without ever slowing

entered the

the clearing yet, so she could be anywhere. That was a problem, considering that he did not dare

'Quite a predicament...'

Jet in his direction... the problem was that Undying Slaughter would recognize its ringing as

was a shame that the Guiding Light pointed to Effie, but not Jet. Otherwise,

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

come from the direction of the beach, so the most

everything, making the world appear only

'Damn it!'

any moment... however, he could also stumble

his shadow in all directions, after all, when he suddenly smelled

The stench of blood.

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

see, but there, on its bark, was a spot much darker than the rest of it. A bloody handprint, as if

the saddle and finally noticed another bloody

a direction to