Shadow Slave

Before leaving the wall, Sunny threw one last glance at the settlement below.

It shone in the vast darkness of the Forgotten Shore like a sole island of light in a lightless ocean. He could see the small figures of the prisoners wandering the streets, and could sense the dazed movement of their shadows. Numerous were already gathered in the square that served as the heart of the settlement, where Revel had landed after plummeting from the dark sky.

More were hidden in their dwelling, terrified by the sight of the shades that stood guard outside.

Sunny let out a sigh.

He was full of a bittersweet feeling of irony. Once, a long time ago, the Forgotten Shore had been his prison. Now, he was its ruler.

Back then, the people sent to the Forgotten Shore were trapped in the Bright Castle, with no hope of ever escaping back to the waking world. The only way out was the Gateway of the Crimson Spire, which was guarded by its ghastly Terror — a foe that none of them could ever dream of defeating.

Now, the captives were caged in the prison camp Sunny had built, with no hope of escaping either. Even if they escaped the gaze of the silent shades and scaled the unbreakable walls, then made their way into the Dark City... the only way out of the Forgotten Shore was the Gateway of the Nameless Temple.

And that Gateway was guarded by Sunny himself — a being who was infinitely more powerful and fearsome than the Terror of the Crimson Spire had ever been.

In that regard, the prisoners had it worse. Still...

Overall, their situation was far better than what the Sleepers of the Dark City had endured.

After all, they did not have to risk their lives hunting terrifying Nightmare Creatures to stave off starvation. No Nightmare Creature would descend from the darkness to devour them, either. They did not have to pay tribute to a bloodthirsty tyrant in order to survive, and neither were they forced to sell themselves into his service.

Instead, they could simply enjoy complete safety while being provided with everything they needed to live.

Sunny doubted that anyone would thank him for his benevolence, though. No one would appreciate the lengths he and Nephis had gone to in order to avoid having to slaughter these pawns of Asterion.

Letting out another sigh, Sunny looked up and smiled.

”Ungrateful wretches...”

The bastards did not know how good they had it.

As he descended the walls of the Dark City, he shifted his focus to the distant Bastion.

There, the Ivory Island had long returned from its war campaign in the Death Zone Belt and the Eternal City. It drifted in the blue skies above the Mirror Lake once again, serving as a symbol of hope for the millions of citizens who went about their lives far below.

On the day of the Ivory Island’s return, the festive streets had been full of celebrating people. They pointed at the sky with awe and delight, welcoming their victorious ruler home. Today, however, the mood in the city was strangely subdued.

The news of what had happened last night slowly spread among the population, and while few people felt truly frightened, many shared a heavy feeling of unease.

Nephis was looking at her city from the balcony of the Ivory Tower, a frown creasing her brow.

Sunny appeared out of the shadow behind her, walking over to stand by her side.

”How did it go?”

She gave him a brief look.

”About as well as we expected.”

The reaction of the population was important — after all, undermining their belief in Nephis and the Human Domain would lower their immunity to the spreading influence of the Dreamspawn. However, in these first few days, it was the reaction of the powerhouses of humanity that carried most weight.

The ordinary citizens could hear about the sudden disappearance of a strange cult and feel a bit disturbed by it, then go about their lives as if nothing had happened — but those who wielded actual power were bound to be more inquisitive, and were more capable of connecting the dots.

They would never simply ignore a large-scale attack that happened in various regions of both the Dream Realm and the waking world simultaneously, especially since the Immortal Flame clan had not only failed to repel it, but also seemed to have been caught by surprise just like the rest of them.

There were very few forces in existence that could pull such a startling act of violence... in fact, such a force was not supposed to exist at all. Naturally, the champions of humanity had to suspect that something sinister was taking place.

The harrowing memories of the Skinwalker were still fresh in everyone’s minds, so at the very least, they would be wary of a new Nightmare Creature of similar power emerging to wreak havoc across the world. People who would become wary of an unknown Nightmare Creature were like a gift to Sunny and Nephis, though. The real problem was those who were a little more discerning, and could surmise that the only entity that could deliver such an eerie blow to the Human Domain... was the Immortal Flame clan and its ruler herself.

Nephis sighed.

”My subordinates are much too clever. I should be overjoyed by how astute they are, really”

Sunny put his hands on her shoulders, massaging them gently.

”What? Were they giving you funny looks?” She nodded, then smiled faintly.

”Yes. Seishan, Nightwalker, Wake of Ruin... even Morgan. And many more. It was almost fascinating to see how troubled their expressions were, and how erratic their desires became. After all, they could only see one reasonable explanation for what happened last night... but that explanation was too frightening to accept.”

The explanation, of course, was that Nephis — the undisputed ruler of mankind — had perpetrated a vicious attack against humanity for no apparent reason, and was now callously covering it up.

Sunny sighed.

”So, what did you do?”

In fact, he knew what she had done... well, at least what she had been supposed to do. They had discussed it in advance.

Nephis had been supposed to blame it all on Sunny — in front of those who were aware of his continuing existence, at least. In front of those who believed him to be dead, she was supposed to pretend to know nothing. Turning her head, Nephis looked at him over her shoulder. She lingered for a few moments, then said in an even tone:

”Ah. You might be a little angry with me”

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

What was that supposed to mean?

”What? What did you do?”

Had she gone against the plan?

Nephis remained silent for a few moments, then shrugged.

”I just did not want to defame you. It seemed like a shame, especially when there’s already a perfect scapegoat that we could use.”

Her voice was even, and her expression remained neutral. However, Sunny could feel that there was a calm, but cold edge to her voice — one that had not been there before.

He studied her for a moment.

”First of all... what do you mean, defame me? I actually did kidnap those people!”

Sunny paused, then coughed.

”Oh, but thank you. I appreciate the thought.”

He smiled.

There were friends out there who would help you hide a body. As it turned out, there was also a girlfriend out there who would help him cover up the kidnapping of thousands of people.

Wasn’t it just too sweet?

Yeah... sweet was the right word to describe it...

Sunny shook his head, trying to focus.

Secondly, what perfect scapegoat are you...”

His eyes widened a little.

”You didn’t.”

Nephis looked at him silently for a while before responding.

”I did. Why wouldn’t I? So many people disappeared without a trace from the middle of the Human Domain, and all our allies are asking themselves who would have been capable of perpetrating such an act. There’s not a lot of candidates, and so...” She looked away with a shrug.

”I blamed it all on Mordret.”

Sunny stared at her in disbelief.

’That!’

Sensing his gaze, Nephis spoke in a measured tone:

”The King of Nothing is powerful enough to pull off such an attack, and sinister enough to be blamed for it. His reputation is so terrible that I only had to drop a couple of subtle hints for everyone to assume that he was behind everything.”

Looking at the lively vista of Bastion, Nephis smiled.

”It’s his own fault for being such a wicked wildcard. Plus... he might want to hide in the Hollow Mountains and avoid this conflict entirely, but I never promised not to drag him into the fight against the Dreamspawn. One way or another, he’ll have to become involved. It’s only fair that he starts doing his part by letting me borrow his name.”

Sunny let out a heavy sigh.

Using Mordret as a scapegoat! That was... that was so...

Devious.

Why hadn’t he thought of that himself? Suddenly, Sunny felt a pang of vindictive joy.

”I doubt that he’ll be happy about it, though”

Nephis looked at him, lingered for a few moments, and then raised an eyebrow in sincere confusion.

Her response was even.

”What should I care if he’s unhappy?”

Sunny blinked a few times.

She had a point.

He could not argue with logic.

”There’s no good reason, indeed”

They needed to bolster the morale of the Human Domain, and nothing united people better than a common foe. Asterion was that foe, but for obvious reasons, Sunny and Nephis could not use him as a scarecrow — after all, merely mentioning him would add to his power.

So, the least Mordret could do was act as a scarecrow for them, instead.

Internally, Sunny was laughing.

It was a proper villain laugh, no less.

’Ah, how the tables have turned..’