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.

night sky with its sharp edges. A radiant moon bathed its slopes in the ghostly

of the mountain. However, his looks didn’t match the magnificence of

man looked like a

eyes were cloudy and lifeless. His body was bruised, beaten and cut. There were specks of bloody foam

his chest. Each

all over. But most of all, he

So, so cold.

lie down in

instead, he continued walking. Because he believed that the Nightmare will

Step. Step. Another step.

he had made

Its colossal columns and walls

the roof had collapsed, letting in ice and snow. It’s tall gates were broken, as if smashed into pieces

Still, Sunny was satisfied.

said in a

of his strength, the young slave slowly limped in the direction of the ruined temple. His thoughts

forgetting for a second that Hero was already dead. ‘I’ve made it. You were strong and ruthless, and I was weak and timid. Yet now you are a corpse,

broken ribs cutting deeper into his lungs. Blood was dripping from his mouth. Dead or not, Hero had gotten him good with

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 you think I would know more about being

was getting closer to the

stood a chance… wait. What was I

moment later, he had already forgotten. There was only pain, the dark temple, and

it. It’s just hypothermia. If you fall

started to climb them, not noticing thousands of bones that were scattered around. These bones once belonged to humans and monsters both. All of them were killed by the invisible guardians still lingering around the

was ready to snuff out the spark of life that was burning weakly in the defiler’s chest, but then stopped, sensing

entered the

of moonlight were falling through the holes in the partially collapsed roof. Deep shadows were surrounding these circles

far end of the hall, a large altar was cut from a single piece of black marble. It was the only thing inside the temple untouched by snow. Forgetting why he came here, Sunny headed for the

just wanted to

as a bed.

seemed like he was

was okay

head to look, not even a little bit curious. What he saw would

standing there, looking at him with its five blind eyes. He was still massive, terrifying and revolting. Worm-like shapes were still moving frantically under its

and

clutched his chest, convulsing