Shadow Slave

With an empty stomach and a head full of thoughts, Sunny returned to the center of the platform and sat down. After a while, he beckoned to his shadow and said:

"Wake me up if anything happens."

Then, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep. His consciousness quickly slid into the sweet embrace of darkness, giving Sunny some well-needed rest.

In the middle of the night, however, a sudden impulse stirred him awake. Sunny jumped to his feet, his groggy mind full of tense apprehension. He was afraid that the owner of the giant tentacle had come back to finish the job.

Or maybe some other horror from the depths had sensed him and decided to snack on human meat.

However, the sea was quiet and calm. He didn't hear any abnormalities around the knight's statue.

"What is it?" Sunny whispered, addressing the shadow.

The shadow silently pointed him in a particular direction.

Turning his head, Sunny squinted. He quickly understood why it was a good idea to wake up. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to see…

Out there in the distance, a few kilometers away, a small orange light was shimmering in the darkness. Its reflections were rising and falling with the movement of waves.

It was too far away to make out any details, so Sunny just stared at it for a while. Pretty soon, the light disappeared.

"Other Sleepers? Natural phenomenon? Or some monster laying a trap?"

Memories of nightmarish deepwater creatures immediately came to his mind.

Shaking his head, Sunny lay back down and attempted to return to his slumber. However, this time sleep was escaping him. Pangs of hunger were still not unbearable, but slowly becoming more and more intense. The thirst, however, was worse.

awake up until the sun rose again,

***

from their hiding spots and

time and then walked to the opposite side of the platform to take a look in the direction

kilometers away, the ground rose naturally and formed something akin to a hill. On top of that hill, an

of it, its upper branches were just high enough to stay above

head, but at the end of it, only two questions

he even attempt to do it? After all, there was no indication that the source of the mysterious light was

however, send the shadow to investigate as far into the

statue as he probably could be in this strange place. The only problem was, he was going to die soon because of

much everywhere in the Dream Realm. He could also prepare traps and hunt a pincer

routine: hunting by day, returning to the statue at the

one vital element: the potential for improvement. It was well suited for keeping Sunny alive, but had no way of giving him hope. If he was destined to spend the rest of his life in the small area surrounding the headless statue, devouring monsters and trembling at night in fear

he would rather just jump down and

only choice left for him was to try and reach the source of the orange light. And if Sunny was really trying to attempt it,

the labyrinth was going

headless statue the next morning. He would spend the

eyes and concentrated his

***

sea. Sunny was stirred awake by the shadow in time to prepare himself for the crushing winds and

be blown over the edge of the platform, Sunny cupped his hands and waited until they became filled with rainwater. Then he raised

illuminated everything above the churning sea. If anyone were to see Sunny now,

than once, a tall wave would crash into the headless knight's neck, threatening to wash

storm finally dissipated, all of his muscles were

there was no time to

a few stragglers quickly following behind, he slid over the edge of the platform and began to nimbly

about giving his student a crash course in all possible forms of traversal. Additionally, Sunny had already scouted the optimal way down