Shadow Slave: The Blessing of Fate

'A... a Cursed Terror...'

Terrified, Sunny took an involuntary step back.

An intense pressure crashed into him, making it hard to breathe.

Just as he took the step, a pair of round, utterly crazy eyes pierced him with a demented look.

The Cursed Terror that had been hiding behind Oblivion's grave... was a huge, mad, and unmistakably vile bird.

'C-curses!'

Sunny took another step back, but at the moment, the vile abomination lunged forward, its demented eyes igniting with covetousness and greed.

Before Sunny could even react, he was drowned by its loathsome shadow. And then, its talons plunged into his chest.

He gasped.

However, the talons did not rip his flesh apart. Instead, they went much deeper, finding their way into his very soul.

Despite the fact, that he was experiencing an indescribable agony, Sunny dove into his Soul Sea and was startled by what he witnessed.

A colossal, hill-sized horror, one more terrifying than any Nightmare Creature he ever encountered, was sinking its dreadful talons into a glistening silhouette made up of countless strings.

'W-what...'

The shape of this silhouette was unmistakably similar to something that he has known for years.

It was a silhouette that was shaped just like his very own body. The strings creating the familiar shape were recognized by Sunny. They were strings of Fate.

On the outside, they surrounded him like the strings that held up a marionette.

But on the inside, those strings produced a pattern that looked like his body, it felt as though they were making up his entire being.

And now a vile Terror was messing them up.

'Bastard!'

Sunny tried to open his mouth, trying to scream at the abomination, but no sound came out. He was nearly completely paralyzed by the torment it was inflicting on his soul, its presence had terrified Sunny to the core.

However, he had to do something - he couldn't just let it do as it pleases. But how?

How is he supposed to stop something so horrible? A being that is able to scare senseless all that enters its gaze. He could not imagine ever fighting such an awful creature.

He used every drop of strength and clarity he had left, though it wasn't much... It was a laughable effort to be honest, but he still tried. Desperately manifesting a tangible shadow that shaped itself to resemble something akin to a javelin, Sunny threw his creation, with all of the power he had in him, at the abomination.

The javelin surged through his Soul Sea, its course aimed directly at the humongous Terror.

The giant Terror didn't even flinch, seemingly undisturbed by the vague shape flying its way, it was still plunging its talons into the shining silhouette, grasping onto many strings and tearing them apart, as if searching for something...

And then, perhaps due to some divine intervention, the javelin hit the vile thing right into one of its eyes. It didn't damage it whatsoever, but it didn't need to. All that was needed was a flinch - a squint of its eyes... Anything...

The mad bird turned its head a little, looking at Sunny curiously with its demented eyes.

And then...

The vile Terror was ejected out of Sunny's Soul Sea, releasing its grip on the strings of Fate making up the silhouette.

Although torn up and incredibly damaged, the silhouette still stood.

However, Sunny had no time to study it, because he was disturbed by a whisper entering his ear.

[Your nightmare... is... your... over... nightmare is...]

'What... just what the Spell is h-happening?!'

And then, everything disappeared.

The heart of the Estuary was gone. The beautiful tree and the sarcophagus resting beneath its branches were gone, too.

The harrowing Terror plunging its talons into his chest was nowhere to be seen.

Sunny found himself in utter darkness.

...And then, he heard a familiar voice whispering.

[Aspirant! Welcome to the Nightmare Spell. Prepare for your First Trial...]

'... What?'

Sunny looked around and saw a well-known scene to him. He was walking, shackled by bloodied chains, on a path built on top of a jagged and lonesome mountain. The mountain's very peak seemed to cut the night sky, surrounded by a great mountain chain and with temperatures so cold that anything still alive would shiver. Such a cruel, brutal environment. Could anything survive its challenge? Bound to the chains in a long line were dozens of people, their eyes as hollow as they could get, looking as if they had given up on the very idea of survival.

'Just... how... what the...'

Consumed by utter confusion, Sunny lost his balance and stumbled, pulling on the chain with the weight of his body. The familiar man behind him, the shifty-looking guy looked just like Sunny remembered.

"Whore's bastard! Watch where you're going!" Shifty shouted angrily.

Sunny didn't mind the idiot's scream and insult, he knew he was going to die eventually anyway. So why concern himself with trash like him? Instead, he was dying to know about something else.

His runes.

Sunny summoned his runes and searched through them, he couldn't feel any of his cores, so he didn't even bother checking his rank and core statuses, but what he saw below was something so outrageous, that he had almost stumbled again.

***

Name: Sunless.

True Name: -

Rank: Aspirant.

Soul Core: Dormant.

Memories: -

Echoes: -

Attributes: [Fated], [Spark of Divinity], [Child of Shadows].

Aspect: [Slave of Fate].

Aspect Description: [Slave is a useless wretch with no skills or abilities worth a mention, but anything with affinity to Fate is incredibly special. The chains of Fate around you are supposed to be tighter than around anyone else. But due to the damage inflicted onto you by a horrible abomination, they seem to be loose instead.]

'It... it changed?!' Sunny was confused beyond belief.

'And still a slave, just a different kind?! Curses!'

As he was reviewing his runes, he noticed something peculiar. The [Fated] Attribute seemed to be.. grayed out?

'What the hell does that even mean...'

[Fated] Attribute Description: "The strings of fate wrap tightly around you. Unlikely events, both good and bad, are drawn by your presence. There are those who are blessed, and there are those who are cursed... but rarely both."

[This attribute is currently inactive.]

'Inactive... is that due to the damage that the stupid bird dealt to the strings?'

[Spark of Divinity] Attribute Description: "Every fire starts from a spark. Somewhere deep within your soul, a radiant spark shines with divine light."

'Wasn't this... supposed to be [Mark of Divinity]? What caused the sudden change?'

'Is it due to the connection to Fate that the changed Aspect seems to have?'

As Sunny was contemplating the various reasons, he was suddenly disturbed by a shout.

"Stop the caravan! Prepare to camp!"

Following the head soldier's order, the slaves, including Sunny, stopped and fell to the ground. Most of them were shivering and completely exhausted. The small clearing where the road widened was somewhat protected from the wind by a protruding mass of rock, but it was still too cold to rest with ease.

Well, it wasn't difficult for Sunny, the unthinkable things he went through up to this point were infinitely more dreadful than some freezing weather. Looking seemingly undisturbed by the terrible cold, he became the center of attention of another familiar slave, a man with a scholarly aura surrounding him suddenly spoke up with curiosity seeping out of his voice.

"You don't seem to be affected by the cold much. Child... are you alright?"

'Who are you calling a child, damn you... you bastard! I was whipped the first time around, because of you acting as if you were a gentle and noble person, and now you are asking me if I am alright?!'

"Oh, it's definitely cold, but I went through worse." Sunny replied with an emotionless tone.

"Do you mind me asking, just what a child like you could have gone through?" Scholar asked.

'Again with the child!'

"Well..."

'Wait hold on... what is this feeling? It's like something is missing...'

'The pressure to answer... I haven't received my Flaw yet!'

"Well, I mean. I am an incredible person after all! My kindness and humbleness know no bounds. Forged through endless torment, I've achieved the state of absolute peace and unity with my body and spirit. Ever heard of meditating? You should try it! I once meditated for a week straight without being disturbed in the slightest!"

"Oh... I see, incredible indeed." And with that, the Scholar lost his interest in Sunny and went back to minding his own business.

'What? Don't believe me?' Sunny laughed inwardly.

With the bonfire blazing, the stronger slaves tried to find their way closer to the fire, while the weaker ones were forced to sit at the outer end of the circle, with their backs freezing in the cold. Of course, any movement was encumbered by the fact that they were still shackled to the chain. The broad-shouldered slave that once walked in front of Sunny, ended up just where he started despite all of his efforts to get closer to the flame.

'Damn Imperials!'

"Damn Imperials!" he hissed, clearly irritated.

'Yeah, same as before.' Sunny chuckled inwardly.

The soldiers walked among the slaves, giving them water and food. Sunny, just like everybody else, received a few sips of icy water and a small piece of rock-hard, moldy bread.

'It'll still probably be tastier than the rotting insides of an abomination, playing the role of a chest, though...'

Sunny ate the moldy piece of bread and drank the water hastily, wishing to get back to studying his runes, while he still had the chance.

Close to him, Shifty looked around in anguish.

"By all the gods, they used to feed me better even in the dungeons!"

'You should have had a piece of the Mimic, while it was still warm...'

The shifty slave spat on the ground, desperate.

"And most of us innocent men in the dungeon were there waiting to visit the gallows, too!"

Around them a scattering of bright-red berries was growing from the snow. Sunny already knew about the Bloodbane berries, and he was sure of the role they would play in his survival.

"I would advise against eating those, friend."

...

Sunny channeled the conversation out of his head, he already heard it once, so there wasn't any need to listen to it again. Instead he summoned his runes yet again and looked through them thoroughly.

***

Name: Sunless.

True Name: -

Rank: Aspirant.

Soul Core: Dormant.

Memories: -

Echoes: -

Attributes: [Fated], [Spark of Divinity], [Child of Shadows].

Aspect: [Slave of Fate].

Aspect Description: [Slave is a useless wretch with no skills or abilities worth a mention, but anything with affinity to Fate is incredibly special. The chains of Fate around you are supposed to be tighter than around anyone else. But due to the damage inflicted onto you by a horrible abomination, they seem to be loose instead.]

'Come to think of it, why do I still have [Child of Shadows]? I am not a temple slave anymore...'

[Child of Shadows] Attribute Description: "Shadows noticed a being that was like themselves, yet different. This being seemed to be lost and without anyone to turn to, so they decided to recognize the being as one of their own."

'Oh... Well, it figures that I remind them of a shadow, since I was a divine one after all...'

Sunny, disturbed yet again, stopped looking at the runes and gave his attention to a loud noise enveloping the camp.

The Mountain King was coming.