Shadow Slave

On the way to the ruin, Sunny stumbled on a human. It was the first survivor of the Battle of the Black Skull that he saw in the desert… sadly, the man was already dead.

His body lay on the white sand, staring at the merciless azure sky with glassy eyes. Sunny vaguely recognized him as one of Clan Song’s Ascended — they had never spoken to each other before, but he recalled seeing the man during the battle against the titanic horde, back in East Antarctica

The Ascended’s Memory armor had dissipated after its master’s death, so the body was only covered by a torn bodysuit. There were several wounds in view, but none of them were serious enough to doom a Master. It was unclear what had brought upon the man’s death… maybe there was severe internal damage, or maybe it was simply the heat that had killed him.

With a sigh, Sunny jumped off Nightmare, kneeled, and closed the man’s eyes. There was not much more he could do, so he just remained motionless for a few moments, then climbed back into the saddle and continued on his way.

His mood was somber.

In the end, the sun had almost disappeared beyond the dunes by the time Sunny reached the large ruin. Scared by the prospect of remaining in the open after dark, he hurriedly dismissed his Shadow and climbed over the weathered black stones. He quickly found a narrow fissure in the sand-covered floor and squeezed through it, eventually reaching an underground chamber.

Near the end of the narrow crawlway, the stones shifted under his weight, and Sunny fell down in an avalanche of sand.

He landed awkwardly and was about to let out a relieved sigh when something cold touched his neck.

A steel blade.

A hoarse voice resounded from above:

”What do we have here…”

Sunny carefully put his fingers on the blade of an enchanted glaive and slowly pushed it away from his skin.

”Can you not? I really don’t want to have my head cut off… again…”

There was a moment of silence, and then a soft gasp.

”Sunny?”

Looking up, he saw a curious scene.

The underground chamber was not very large, and there were two beautiful women hiding inside. Both of them were bruised and battered, with grim expressions on their enticing faces.

One of them was Jet, and the other one was Song Seishan.

Soul Reaper was closer to the hole he had fallen from, so she had lashed out with her glaive on instinct.

”Yeah, it’s me. Say… why are you two sitting here in complete darkness?”

Jet retracted her weapon, took a step back, and tiredly lowered herself onto the cold stones. A stifled scoff escaped from her lips.

”...We weren’t sure if the light would attract danger.”

She remained silent for a moment, and then said:

”I’m really glad that you’re alive.”

Sunny sat up, brushed the sand of the Shroud of Dusk, and summoned a luminous memory. The two women grimaced, shielding their eyes from the bright light.

Now that he could see colors better, he judged that they were in a worse state than he had initially thought. Jet’s armor was torn rather severely, and Seishan’s dress was ripped, as well. Its wine-colored fabric seemed dirtied by blood.

He coughed, trying not to stare.

”Me too…”

That sounded too sentimental, so Sunny corrected himself:

”I mean, I’m glad to be alive, too. Anyway, the light won’t attract the abominations. Most of them are being pulled toward the Seeds, and those that are going to rise at night… well… I guess with a Category Four Gates, some of them will leave for the waking world, as well. The rest will be too busy fighting each other. As long as we’re out of sight, we should be safe.”

He fell silent.

Indeed, the true horror of the Nightmare Desert — the dead soldiers that endlessly continued their ancient battle in the darkness, night after night, as they had for thousands of years — had not entered the waking world during the Chain of Nightmares. That was because most of them were too terrible and powerful to step through Category Three Gates. Now, though… now, things would be different.

Sunny lingered for a few moments, staring at Jet and Seishan. Both were in sorry states, but at least they were alive.

He summoned the Endless Spring and said:

”I have water, by the way.”

Their eyes gleamed.

”Then give it here!”

Jet was the first one to snatch the bottle, acting with a terrible lack of decorum. Well, thirst would do that to a person… Seishan, who had been a second too late, stared at her coldly. Nevertheless, she patiently waited for her turn while Soul Reaper greedily drank from the Endless Spring.

Once Jet was finished, she let out a delighted sigh and passed the bottle to the daughter of Ki Song. The latter, at least, had enough composure to bow slightly and say ”thank you” before bringing the Memory to her parched lips.

Sunny watched this scene incredulously.

”...Weren’t the two of you trying to kill each other? I swear I saw you fight. How come you’re together?”

Jet leaned back and smiled.

”Yes, we were trying to kill each other. This wench even tried to bite me… ah, it was really gross! But what does it matter now? Here in the desert, there are no sides. Just us, and the Nightmare Creatures. So, there was no reason to fight anymore when we stumbled on each other.”

Seishan gave her a long look.

”Who are you calling a wench, you corpse?”

She grimaced, as if nauseated.

’Wait… did Seishan try to drink Jet’s blood? Ha… it must not have tasted too pleasant, judging by that expression.’

Of all the people on the battlefield, she just had to go and clash with the only person who countered her Aspect. Compared to her, even Sunny’s luck seemed wonderful.

Seishan lingered for a few moments, then returned the Endless Spring and gave Sunny a long look.

”What about you, Sunless? The last I saw of you, Dire Fang was heading to your position. How did you survive?”

Sunny received the glass bottle and smiled pleasantly.

”Oh… actually, I killed him.”

The two of them stared at him with wide eyes.

’Right. I received a reward for slaying Dire Fang. I didn’t even check…’

Seishan opened her mouth to say something, but at that moment, they heard a terrifying sound. It came from above, from the sides… from everywhere.

The dead were rising to continue their eternal battle.

Soon, a distant cacophony of titanic blows and inhuman roars seeped into the chamber through the hole in its roof, and the stones surrounding them vibrated. Streams of sand flowed through the cracks in the black tiles.

No one was in the mood to talk after that.

They just sat in silence, tense, and waited…

Time passed.

Then, a different sound reached their ears.

Someone — or something — was crawling through the narrow fissure, descending into the underground chamber.