Shadow Slave

Sunny slowly rolled on his stomach, then rose to his knees. He was breathing heavily, and his whole body felt as if it had just gone through a meat grinder. Master Roan, on the other hand, looked almost unperturbed.

The rider was already on his feet, tying the blue scarf around his neck with a relaxed expression on his face.

The forest around them let out an almost human sigh of relief. The ancient trees creaked and cracked, rising their brancher back toward the sun. Those that had broken remained on the ground, adding to the nearly impenetrable layer of deadfall.

Sunny glanced at the older man with a bit of envy, then stood up and tried to shake off his exhaustion. After spending a few minutes resting and drinking greedily from the Endless Spring, he almost felt alive again. Glancing at the tall man, he asked:

"How are you able to fly up there on your griffin? I mean… no offense, but that seems like something only a crazy person would do."

Roan laughed.

"I don't rise too high unless I really have to. Usually, you can fly above the descending islands without experiencing too much pressure. After a while, you develop a sense of how much your body can handle, and for how long."

He massaged his broad shoulders and added, a note of pride in his voice:

"Plus, I am a Master, after all. I can withstand much more than an Awakened would. You did exceptionally well, however. To be honest, I was pretty sure that I would have to abandon my patrol to bring your bleeding body back to the Sanctuary at full speed, then throw it into the Gateway. I guess it's true what they say about you Forgotten Shore kids."

Sunny blinked a couple of times and asked cautiously:

"...What do they say?"

The older man smiled.

"Tough as nails, disturbingly indifferent to pain and fear, strong… almost scary. Scary children, that was the exact phrase I heard."

Sunny lingered for a few moments, then scoffed.

"Indifferent to pain and fear? What nonsense. I pride myself on being a coward — as one should. What's wrong with being a coward? Fear keeps people alive, while bravery gets them killed. As for pain, no thank you. I have been beaten, burned, crushed, drowned, cut, stabbed, pierced, bitten, chewed, and gutted enough times for several lifetimes already."

As Master Roan gave him a strange look, Sunny raised an eyebrow.

"Uh… what?"

The tall man shook his head, then scratched his chin and said in a wondering tone:

"No, nothing. It's just... if that is true, Sunless… then what are you doing here on the Chaines Isles? Shouldn't you be having a nice time in a safe place like Bastion?"

Sunny looked away in embarrassment, then coughed.

"That… uh… there are several reasons for that, actually. Not the least of which is that…"

He looked side to side, then lowered his voice and said in a gravely serious tone:

"...You won't believe it, but the government actually pays you money for writing down things about the Dream Realm. And since the Chained Isles are largely unexplored, they pay me premium for going around dusty ruins here and scribbling down a thing or two. I am technically a contracted researcher, believe it or not!"

He grinned and watched as Master Roan stared at him with an incredulous expression. After a while, the older man said:

"You are a strange fellow, you know that?"

Sunny shrugged.

"Huh? Everyone knows that, I think. Anyway… don't tell anyone about what I've just said. I don't want the competition."

The tall man blinked a couple of times, then smiled:

"No problem. Do you need me to take you back to the Sanctuary? Or will you be fine returning on your own?"

Sunny thought for a bit, then said:

"I'll be fine. It's not that far, anyway. If I make haste, I'll be back before morning and go straight back to the real world. I have business to attend to there, actually."

Master Roan nodded and patted Sunny on the shoulder.

"Alright. Then I'll be on my way. It's been nice meeting you, Sunless. If you need anything in the future, don't hesitate to find me in the Sanctuary."

With that, he summoned his Echo. A sea of white sparks appeared out of thin air and swirled, slowly turning into the figure of the mighty griffin. The winged beast towered above Sunny like a gargantuan mix between a lion, an eagle, and a pure nightmare. Slowly, it lowered its head, staring at him with two beautiful, inhuman eyes.

Its beak looked about as fearsome and terrifying as that of a Spire Messenger.

Sunny tensed a little and took a couple of steps back, prepared to dissipate into the shadows at any moment.

He didn't really think that Master Roan would suddenly attack him, but being paranoid was better than being dead.

The tall man summoned his armor, then easily jumped on the griffin's back and raised a fist to bid Sunny farewell. In the next moment, the Echo stretched its wings and pushed itself off the ground, sending a squall of hurricane wind in all directions.

Sunny struggled to remain on his feet, and then looked as the griffin flew into the distance. Slowly, a friendly expression disappeared from his face.

'Well, what do you know…'

The famed Master had turned out to be a rather pleasant person. Granted, he was a Legacy by marriage, and not by birth… still, Sunny had expected to be treated with a lot more disdain and contempt, at best hidden behind a mask of false courtesy.

Come to think of it, the Saint governing the Chained Isles herself was pretty down to earth, if a bit cold. Not that Sunny had a lot of opportunities to interact with her after that first day when she had brought him to the Sanctuary.

With a sigh, he walked over to the carcass of the monstrous wolf and sent it flying over the edge of the island with a frustrated push.

The corpse of the abominable beast plummeted down and soon disappeared into the darkness of the Sky Below.

Making sure that nothing appeared from beneath the island to snatch it, Sunny lingered on the edge for a couple of minutes, then sighed…

And jumped into the bottomless abyss himself.