Shadow Slave

Sunny and Nephis stood side by side as they watched utter devastation being unleashed by creature crawling out of the colossal Nightmare Gates. The gargantuan black tentacles were still far away, but they were getting closer with every moment.

Numerous Awakened had already been killed, and more were going to die soon.

It was… too sudden, too much.

There were a lot of things that Sunny needed to comprehend, accept, and think about… the future… Cassie, Effie, and Kai… Jet…

But there was no time to think. It was almost impossible, anyway — the Call was roaring in his mind, making any kind of thought difficult. All he could do right now was concentrate on his own survival.

One thing Sunny did do, however, was dismiss his Shadows. They would be of no help againt the Great being, but losing them to this catastrophe was just too easy.

’Ruined… it’s all ruined…’

Sunny tried to sense his connection to the Dream Realm.

As a Master, he could leave the waking world at will. It took some time to activate the connection, and usually, he would be transported to his anchor Citadel in a matter of minutes.

That was not going to happen today, of course. Being in close proximity to a Nightmare Gate disturbed the anchor, so entering the Dream Realm near them meant being pulled by the Call and entering the area surrounding the Seed instead.

Currently, Sunny was in the area of effect of four different Nightmare Gates. He didn’t even know which Seed he would be pulled to, but anything was better than remaining on the desolate plain that was going to be flooded with indescribably powerful abominations very soon.

’Hurry, hurry, hurry…’

In front of him, a scene out of a nightmare was playing out. No one on the battlefield was strong enough to resist the being unleashed by the Nightmare Gate — all they could do was try to run, fail, and die.

Those who succumbed to the Call could not even run.

Scores of Awakened, Echoes, and enthralled abominations were all being torn apart and pulverized. The seething mass of dark flesh, meanwhile, continued to squeeze itself through the Gate.

The black fingers continued to hold the rift apart, but there was also a gargantuan hand that had emerged from the abyssal nothingness entirely, plunging down to grab a fistful of screaming humans.

’I need to… succumb to the Call, as well.’

Sunny had spent the last… it was close to eight months, by now… the last eight months having his mind almost constantly assaulted by the insidious whispers of the Call. Sometimes, they were loud, and sometimes they were quiet enough to seem nearly absent.

It had been hard to deal with the maddening pressure at first, but slowly, he developed a sort of resistance to the Call. He had learned how to fight it.

But now, in a bizarre turn of events, he had to surrender to it. It was a frightening and uncomfortable feeling… the feeling of releasing control…

’There.’

He sensed it, his connection to the Dream Realm. Strange and distorted, it was still there — in fact, it was much stronger than before. The whispers of the Call grew even more deafening, screaming, demanding for him to make use of it.

Feeling a strange ecstasy and an immense sense of relief flood his mind, Sunny submitted to their will.

Concentrating, he pulled on the connection, and felt the border between the two worlds becoming weaker and more ethereal. Before, it had been like an impregnable wall, but now, it was more akin to fog. And he was slowly entering that fog.

It was as though something was pulling him from the other side…

Or maybe expelling him from this one.

And that was it.

That was all he could do.

Now, Sunny just had to hold on to that feeling and hope that he would leave the waking world before the great and terrible being entering it squashed him like one would a bug.

The three colossal Gates stretched into the broken sky like festering wounds. The dark tentacles were rampaging on the battlefield — some whipped around, obliterating the armies of the great clans, some plunged into the soil and grew tout, pulling more and more of the Great abomination into the waking world.

Sunny and Nephis stood motionless amidst the harrowing destruction. They did not try to run or search for shelter.

There was nowhere to run, anyway, and no shelter to be found. The spot where they had fought Dire Fang was as good as any other. It was all up to chance now.

Turning away from the black tentacles that were getting closer and closer, they looked at each other.

Sunny felt the ground under his feet quake, the tremors growing stronger and stronger. It was as though something was approaching them, shaking the world with each heavy step.

He didn’t even look to see what was appearing from the other two Gates.

Instead, he just looked at Nephis.

She was pale and weakened, but seemed calm.

She always seemed calm, even when she wasn’t.

After a few moments, Sunny opened his mouth, which was suddenly excruciatingly dry, and said:

”...I’ll see you on the other side.”

Nephis looked back at him, something grotesque and lumbering reflecting in her striking grey eyes.

She nodded.

”Yes.”

Then, she hesitated for a second, and took a deep breath.

”Sunny… I need to tell you something.”

He gritted his teeth, suddenly frightened that what she was going to say would sound like a farewell. Nevertheless, he forced himself to ask:

”What?”

Neph lingered for a bit.

Then, as the ground under them trembled violently, she suddenly looked away.

What she said next was entirely unexpected.

”The projector… back in your house… it... it didn’t really explode by itself. I lied. Actually, I broke it. So... I’m really sorry.”

Sunny stared at her in disbelief. His mind short-circuited for a moment.

’How is her tone so… what…’

He blinked, and then scoffed.

”Why the hell…”

However, he did not finish the sentence.

Suddenly, the world disappeared, and Sunny saw — or rather, perceived — a boundless void. It was the familiar, empty void between dream and reality.

A moment later, he was suddenly blinded by bright sunlight, and assaulted by unbearable heat.

Falling on something soft and scorching, Sunny rolled and frantically tried to sense the surrounding space through the shadows.

The battle was now behind him.

…He had reached the Nightmare Desert.