Shadow Slave

Sunny had no choice but to resort to one last, desperate gamble.

He had no chance against the enemy in a direct confrontation, at least not without an advantage. Bloodbane poison was supposed to be his hidden card, but turned out to be nearly useless. Being able to see in the dark did not help that much, too: somehow, Hero was able to perceive their surroundings even without any light.

Whether he was using his sense of hearing or some magical ability, Sunny did not know — not that it mattered now that they had left the cave and were standing under the moonlit sky.

Now he had only one advantage left. The fact that he knew that the tyrant was blind, and Hero did not. Acting on that knowledge, however, was easier said than done.

But what else could he do?

That’s why he tried to stay as quiet as possible and rang the silver bell. If the description did not lie, its ringing could be heard from miles away. Surely, the tyrant was going to hear it, too.

Now Sunny only had to stay silent, stall for time and hope that the monster would come. As he did so, Hero’s bewilderment slowly turned into anger.

“Tell me right now or you will regret it.”

His voice was quite threatening, but still, the young slave did not answer. He just shivered in the cold and tried not to moan despite the pulsing pain in his chest.

“Why are you not answering?”

But Sunny did not dare to answer. He held his breath and watched, horrified, as the familiar colossal figure appeared behind Hero. His lungs were on fire, and his heart was beating like crazy. It was beating so loud that he was even afraid that the blind tyrant would hear it.

But, of course, it couldn’t be louder than Hero’s voice, who was still talking, turning himself into the only source of noise on this mountain.

At the last second, a hint of understanding appeared in the young soldier’s eyes. He began to turn around, his sword rising with lightning speed.

But it was too late.

A massive hand appeared from the darkness and caught him into an iron grip. The bone claws scraped against the armor, pulling it apart. Mountain King dragged Hero back, paying little attention to the sword biting into its wrist. Viscous saliva was streaming from its opened maw.

Petrified by fear, Sunny slowly turned his back to them and took a couple of steps up the old, winding path. Then he darted away, running as fast as he could.

Behind him, a desperate scream tore apart the silent night. Then a hungry roar followed. It seemed that Hero wasn’t going down without a fight, even though his fate was already sealed.

But Sunny didn’t care. He was running away, climbing higher and higher.

“I’m sorry, Hero,” he thought. “I did say that I will watch you die… but, as you know, I am a liar. So go and die on your own…”

***

A lonesome dark mountain stood tall against the raging winds.

cutting the night sky with its sharp

reached the peak of the mountain. However, his looks

young man looked

cloak were torn and smeared with blood. His sunken eyes were cloudy and lifeless. His

left side of his chest. Each step caused him to moan, ragged

all over. But most of all,

So, so cold.

wanted to lie down in

Because he believed that the

Step. Step. Another step.

had

stood a magnificent temple. Its colossal columns and walls were cut from black marble, with exquisite reliefs decorating the stygian pediment and broad frieze. Beautiful and awesome, it looked like a palace of a dark

and cracks marred the black stones, parts of the roof had collapsed, letting in ice and snow. It’s tall gates were broken, as if smashed into

Still, Sunny was satisfied.

you,” he said

his strength, the young slave slowly limped in the

already dead. ‘I’ve made it. You were strong and ruthless,

the edges of his broken ribs cutting deeper into his lungs. Blood was dripping

any of you even know about being ruthless? Poor fools. In the world where I come from, people had thousands of years to turn cruelty into an art. And as someone on the receiving end of all that cruelty… don’t

closer to the

told, you never stood a chance… wait. What was I thinking

only pain, the dark temple, and the overpowering desire

It’s just hypothermia. If you fall asleep,

them, not noticing thousands of bones that were scattered around. These bones once belonged to humans and monsters both. All of them were killed

was burning weakly in the defiler’s chest, but then stopped, sensing a faint, strangely familiar scent coming from

he entered

a grandiose hall. Cascades of moonlight were falling through the holes in the partially collapsed roof. Deep

a single piece of black marble. It was the only thing inside the temple untouched by snow. Forgetting

wanted

clean, and as wide as a bed. Sunny climbed

seemed like he

okay

head to look,

its five blind eyes. He was still massive, terrifying and

and moved forward, slowly approaching the

and suddenly clutched his chest, convulsing in a fit