Shadow Slave

Falling through the boundless blue skies with the wind whistling in his ears, Sunny threw his hands to the sides and summoned the Dark Wing. As the translucent Memory weaved itself from light behind his back, he shifted his weight and allowed the air resistance to push him off course, effectively turning left.

A few seconds after that, he activated the enchantment of his cloak and slowed down his fall, simultaneously turning the downward momentum into a forward push.

In these past two months, Sunny had become somewhat proficient in navigating the sky.

Cutting a smooth arc in the air, he swiftly approached one of the gargantuan chains connecting the Forest Island to another, flew above it for a few minutes, and landed nimbly on one of the massive links.

The giant chain swayed lightly beneath his feet. Somewhere behind him, it rose and merged with the soil of the island. In front of him, there was a vast expanse of empty heavens. Here on the border to the Sky Below, it was currently twilight. The chain stretched into the distance, disappearing into the darkness of the void a few hundred meters away.

As the Dark Wing turned from a blur back into a transparent cloak, Sunny sighed and walked forward. Each link of the heavenly chain was as wide as a road, so he didn't need to be afraid of falling off. Approaching the connection between two links, Sunny either jumped down or glided up to the next one.

Walking across the length of the chain that was drawn between the bottomless abyss below and the boundless sky above, he soon left the light of the sun behind and entered into the eternal darkness of the Below. Here, there was no wind and no sound, only silence. If not for the swaying of the chain, Sunny would have thought that he had entered a completely new world.

A myriad of ghostly lights were burning somewhere far below, pretending to be stars.

Making sure that no one was watching him, Sunny lingered for a few moments… and then dove into the iron surface of the chain. His body turned into an incorporeal shadow and merged with the darkness enshrouding it.

Here in the Sky Below, he was in his natural element, after all.

Sunny couldn't travel through the empty darkness itself, but the chains were covered by an impenetrable veil of shadows. He could swim through them for as long as he had essence to spare, safe from the terrible creatures that lived on the dark side of the Chained Isles.

Rushing forward with terrible speed, Sunny slid over the surface of the chain and flew through the darkness like a ghost. He went faster and then faster still, circling around the chain several times and leaving the Forest Island far behind.

Covering the distance to the next isle in mere minutes, he escaped from the shadows the moment the sunlight touched the iron chain once again and shot upward in a spin. The Dark Wing turned into a blur, pushing him even further up.

Sunny soared above the floating island and then glided smoothly to its surface, landing on solid ground with a light step.

This one was much different from the one where he had fought the monstrous wolves. Instead of a forest of twisted trees, the isle was covered by jagged rocks, with an ancient ruin standing lonesomely in its center. Sunny had explored the massive structure already, and wasn't interested in visiting it again.

Jumping from one shadow to another, he avoided the Nightmare Creatures populating the island and soon approached its other edge.

Technically, from here, he only needed to cross two more isles to reach the Sanctuary. However, one of those isles was home to a dreadful and utterly terrifying Corrupted Monster, so he was going to have to make a big detour.

Sunny looked at the sun, and then jumped off the edge once again.

Just like that, he traveled from one island to another for a few hours. When possible, Sunny turned into a shadow and rushed along the lengths of heavenly chains, then emerged from the darkness and traversed the islands themselves on foot.

Each island was different from another. Some were desolate and bleak, some covered by grass and vegetation. One was full of beautiful white flowers, while another hid a clear, tranquil lake. A few were covered by ash and flames, while several were covered by the ruins that some ancient civilization had left behind.

If there was one thing that united all of them, it was that each was dangerous in its own way.

The desolate islands were home to swarms of monstrous, gluttonous ants. The grass covered the maws of giant abominations that hid beneath, waiting for prey to step into their trap. The vegetation was predatory and deadly if one wasn't careful to not get too close. The beautiful white flowers could put a person to sleep from which they would never wake up. The tranquil lake was home to a creature so terrifying that Sunny did not even dare to approach its clear waters.

And these ones were on the safer side, as far as the Chained Isles went. Due to their proximity to the Sanctuary, they were well explored, and anything dangerous enough to pose threat to the Citadel had long been destroyed by Saint Tyris herself. Sunny had been to these islands already, too, so he knew his way around them.

Each was either descending or ascending. The former were easier to cross, while the latter forced him to walk while suffering from the early stages of the Crushing. If an island he wanted to use was to high, Sunny had to change his plan and seek out another way.

After a while, his reserve of shadow essence became dangerously low. Knowing that he will have to make a stop, Sunny chose a relatively safe island and headed toward it.

Gliding to the surface, Sunny tiredly dismissed the Dark Wing tiredly and looked around.

The island he was currently standing on was rather close to the Sanctuary, and usually empty of any Nightmare Creatures. However, it was wise to make sure.

Sending his shadows in different directions to scout for potential danger, Sunny sat on the ground and summoned the Endless Spring. When his thirst was satiated, he crossed his legs, put his hands on his knees, and closed his eyes, concentrating on the coils of the Soul Serpent.

With a part of his mind observing the world through the shadows and another concentrated on hastening the accumulation of shadow essence, he meditated for a while, and then suddenly opened his eyes.

One of the shadows had noticed something interesting.