Shadow Slave

After the food was finished, a tense silence settled inside the ancient ruin. Everyone was tired beyond words, but no one dared to fall asleep… not only out of fear of the Gate Guardian finding them, but also because of the two Saints.

Beastmaster and Summer Knight sat on opposite sides of the fire, staring at each other tensely. Neither could lower their guard, knowing that the opponent would, perhaps, use that moment to launch an attack.

’I guess their alliance was doomed to be a short-lived one.’

Sunny tiredly closed his eyes, then yawned.

”No offense... but why don’t you just leave? Then those of us who have to stay will get some rest, at least.”

Both Saints looked at him with a hint of surprise. After a few short moments, Sir Gilead shook his head slightly.

”I must admit, I admire your composure, Master Sunless.”

Summer Knight must have been under the impression that the people he couldn’t save would be terrified, perhaps even begging him to take them back to the waking world instead of Morgan.

Well, Sunny did not consider begging to be beneath him — if there was a point to it. But he knew that the Saint of Clan Valor was never going to abandon the daughter of his Sovereign.

Sunny shrugged.

”I’m too tired to be worried.”

Beastmaster chuckled, then said in a raspy voice:

”The reason why we haven’t left is very simple. You are not a Saint, so you wouldn’t know… but there are conditions that have to be met in order to return to the waking world. Namely, our anchors in the waking world are affected by the Call the same way your anchors in the Dream Realm are affected by it. Every Seed exerts a pulling force, and since there are so many of them in the Nightmare Desert, that force is quite ubiquitous. We need to find a spot where it is relatively weak first, and this ruin is not one of these spots.”

She paused for a moment, and then added:

”They are not too hard to find, though. I am willing to bet that we’ll encounter at least one tomorrow.”

Sunny tilted his head a little.

’So that’s how it is…’

It was only logical that Saints were influenced by the Call even in the Dream Realm. In fact, the influence they had to endure would be much greater than what the rest of them suffered through — Sunny knew it because of his own experiences as an Awakened and as a Master. After the Ascension, he felt the pull of the Call much clearer.

’It’s interesting that she said anchor instead of tether, though.’

The point was… neither Beastmaster nor Summer Knight could leave the ruin — and the Nightmare Desert — before the night ended.

Sunny nodded.

”Okay. You stand guard, then.”

With that, he carefully lowered himself to the ground, making sure to lay on the uninjured side, and closed his eyes.

Beastmaster was visibly amused by his nonchalant attitude, but Sunny didn’t care. He just wanted to sleep.

Falling asleep was risky, but so was staying awake and refusing his body and mind the much-needed rest.

There was a bit of silence in the dark ruin. Then, the others slowly followed his example.

Soon, only Summer Knight and the beautiful demoness were left awake.

***

Sunny was a bit surprised to come back to his senses alive. Of course, his shadows would have warned him if anything truly dangerous happened while he slept — still, being in the company of Saints and great abominations was a bit above their pay grade.

Well... technically, the shadows weren’t paid anything, so everything was above their pay grade.

In any case, Sunny did not feel particularly rested — his body was still in a terrible state and covered in wounds. However, his condition was much better than it had been before. Due to the blessings of the Graceless Dusk and the tenacity of his unique physique, he felt… somewhat restored.

Sitting up, he saw rays of pale sunlight pouring through the cracks in the roof of the ruin. The air still felt chilly, so it must have been early in the morning.

The chill was going to be replaced with appalling heat soon enough.

Shaking his head, Sunny stood up with a grimace and stretched his neck.

He was the first to wake up, and everyone else was still asleep — except for Summer Knight and Beastmaster, who were still where they had been before.

’Have these two been staring at each other the entire night?’

Summoning the Endless Spring, he nodded at them and forced out a smile.

”Good morning.”

Sir Gilead greeted him calmly, while the beautiful demoness smiled.

”You look less like a corpse, little brother.”

Sunny stared her for a few moments, then said stiffly:

”Thanks for the compliment, I guess.”

’Why the hell is she calling me ”little brother”, all of a sudden? First of all, I’m not her brother… second of all, I’m not little!’

The torn wound on Beastmaster’s face was still shedding drops of blood, but that did not stop her from laughing.

He struggled to not be enchanted by that laugh.

The beautiful Saint lingered for a bit, then asked in a languid tone:

”By the way, I was meaning to ask…”

Her eyes glimmered with friendly amusement.

”...How did you and Changing Star kill Dire Fang?”

Sunny looked at her and remained silent for a while. Beastmaster’s tone sounded relaxed, but he could not help but wonder if there was a hidden threat beneath that calmness.

Being threatened by the tantalizing enchantress… would be a frightening experience.

When the pain of his Flaw grew unbearable, Sunny shrugged.

”The same way you and Sir Gilead killed a great abomination. By combining our strength and exploiting his weaknesses.”

Beastmaster studied him for a few moments, then turned away with a scoff.

”Kids these days are truly terrifying…”

Sunny frowned.

”Why? Should I expect to become the target of Clan Song’s vendetta after I return to the waking world? Because, let me tell you… I just barely managed to stop being targeted by Clan Valor before coming to Antarctica and experiencing the wonders of the Chain of Nightmares. It has very, very rough year for me, so… I would really appreciate some leniency…”

The beautiful demoness chuckled.

”You seem really confident that you’ll be able to return, though? How optimistic!”

Sunny blinked a couple of times and stared at her with a bleak expression.

After a bit of bitter silence, he sighed.

”Well. If you put it like that… I take it back. It’s not a good morning at all…”