Shadow Slave

Roll, you creaky piece of shit!’

Sunny pressed himself against the wagon, pushing with all he had. Four powerful oxen that used to pull it were now dead, and instead of them, three tired slaves were trying to do the job. Even with the slope of the road helping them, the speed of the wagon was agonizingly slow. The tyrant, in comparison, was moving much faster.

Pushing Hero back with a deadly swipe of his lower arms, he raised the other two to its neck and tried to grab the chain that was wrapped around it like a noose. However, this time Mountain King’s fearsome physique turned into a disadvantage: its long, terrifying bone claws were perfect for tearing flesh apart, but they weren’t the best tool for precise manipulations. It took the tyrant some time to get a hold of the chain without slicing its own neck open.

By then, the wagon was nearly at the edge of the cliff.

‘Come on! Just a little bit more!’

What followed happened very quickly. The wagon’s rear wheels finally slid from the road, hanging over the dark, seemingly bottomless pit beneath. The creature turned, staring expressionlessly at the three slaves with its five milky, dead eyes. The wagon careened, throwing Shifty and Scholar off their feet, and then froze, balanced precariously on its middle axis.

Sunny was the only one left standing. He cast a last glance at the towering monster, and then slammed his shoulder into the front of the wagon, putting all of his weight behind it.

The wagon finally lost its balance and rolled over the edge, scraping its underside deafeningly against the jagged rocks. Sunny fell forward and landed on his knees, narrowly saving himself from tumbling down the cliff with it. Turning his head to the tyrant, he gave it a wicked smile.

Mountain King made a move to lunge at the scrawny slave, but it was already too late. A moment later, the chain on his neck drew tight, and he was yanked back with tremendous force, flying over the edge of the cliff like a rag doll. The creature fell into the darkness silently, as though refusing to believe that it was defeated by a tiny human.

‘Go and die, bastard.’ Sunny thought.

Then he took one deep, ragged breath and dropped to the ground, utterly exhausted.

‘Is this it? Did I pass the trial?’

faintly familiar, but elusive voice to announce his victory. But instead of that, wave after wave of pain that he had earlier chosen to

bone spikes of a newborn larva, especially, was in agony. He was also starting to shiver, once again

‘I guess not.’

were

am I supposed to

was Hero, looking calm and as handsome as ever. There were dirt and scratches on

You’ll

over. Then he clenched his teeth and slowly rose to his feet,

and Hero, every member of the caravan was dead. Their bodies were littering the ground, horribly maimed or torn into pieces. Here and there, a repulsive carcass of a larva could be seen. Shadows cast by the bonfire were dancing happily across the stone platform, seemingly unperturbed

too tired to

were already up, looking at Hero with weary apprehension. With or without shackles, they were still slaves, and he was still a slave driver. Noticing their tense gazes,

of you. We need to warm ourselves and

Hero turned around and walked away. After hesitating for a few

seated around the bonfire, soaking up pleasant heat. Shifty and Scholar were close to each other, maintaining a safe distance from Hero. Sunny sat apart from everyone — not because he had a specific reason to distrust one more than the

ability. Like there was an invisible wall between him and other people. If

however diligent, inevitably fell flat. This strangeness

getting too close to anyone and settled comfortably into his outcast role. This habit served him well, since it not only made him self-reliant, but also saved him from being stabbed

why he was not thrilled to share the rest of this Nightmare with three strangers. Instead of trying to start a conversation, Sunny sat quietly by himself, lost

a few minutes, Hero’s voice finally

the sun rises, we will gather whatever food and water we

him a