Shadow Slave

Sunny woke up from a nightmare where he was a shadow that had lost the will to live, who woke up from a nightmare where he was a prince being drowned in a fiery tomb of molten steel, who woke up from a nightmare where he was an old man dying as he held the body of his murdered mother, who woke up from a nightmare where he was a mortal watching his world being destroyed by a god.

Soon enough, Sunny found himself tied to a stake, with fire spreading through the pile of tinder beneath his bare feet as a crowd of people whom he had considered friends and neighbors watched with demented glee. All he could do was struggle desperately against his bonds and pray that the smoke would smother him before the flames reached his flesh…

But his prayers were not answered.

Screaming from inside the fire, he died.

…It was time to face a new day.

Sunny fought desperately as sharp fangs tore his flesh apart, as he was being eaten alive. But no matter how much he struggled, it was of no use. The monster was just too strong, and mad, and cruel.

And then, he died.

It was time to face a new day again.

Sunny drowned, a heavy chain tied around his legs.

Sunny bled to death on a battlefield, suffering from terrible thirst and too weak to move, hungry crows tearing at his face with sharp beaks.

Sunny watched his entire family be executed before being hanged from the walls of a somber fortress.

Thrown into the boundless darkness of the Sky Below by his heartless mother, Sunny died of hunger, thirst, and fear, too tired to scream or cry.

Sunny was killed and turned into a wooden doll by a vengeful sorcerer, and then killed again after an eternity of silent servitude, the doll burning to ashes as it fell into an ocean of white flames.

His heart was pierced with an obsidian knife on an altar made of pure darkness.

His body was cleaved apart by the blade of a giant warrior in a red tattered robe while the jubilant crowd cheered from the stone seats of an ancient theater.

…It was time to face a new day again.

The nightmares never ended, bleeding into one another. Each time, Sunny woke up sure that the agony he had experienced was just a harrowing dream. But very soon, his waking life would turn into pure horror itself.

And then, he would die.

And then, it would be time to face a new day again.

Sunny dreamt of being mighty and weak, young and old, men and women, humans and beasts. Their end was always the same. Everywhere he went, everywhere he fled, no matter who he was, there was only pain and death.

And madness. It was as though everyone he met was infected by a terrible, unexplainable madness.

The whole world was mad…

And he was slowly going mad, too.

After a while, he found that waking up was getting harder and harder. Sometimes, he failed to differentiate which of his lives was real, and which ones he had just dreamt of. Even though the horrors he had experienced seemed like a nightmare, their weight accumulated, slowly breaking his spirit apart. His faces changed, his memories changed, but one thing always remain the same.

The terror.

The everpresent, chilling terror of waking up from a nightmare only to be thrust into a worse one instead.

…And two other things remained the same, as well. The pain in his chest, and the spheres of light that he saw from time to time burning inside someone's soul.

Sunny was a soldier in a war between the Ivory City and the Red Colosseum. Consumed by terror, he watched as a brilliant colossus made of lustrous steel stepped forward, making the whole island shake. A giant metal hand slowly moved forward, catching a swift flying ship and crushing the vessel in its enormous fist.

And then, the iron giant took another step…

Suddenly, the sky disappeared, replaced by a vast expanse of polished metal. The colossus brought his foot down, crushing Sunny, and all of his comrades, into a bloody paste.

Sunny died…

And then, he woke up with a scream.

It was time to face a new day again.

'That… that was too much.'

He shivered, remembering the terrifying sight of the steel giant advancing toward the trembling row of soldiers. Who would be mad enough to challenge the indestructible Sun Prince?

Well… he knew who. The Warmongers were all insane, each and every one of them. Some said that they had been different and called by another name once, that they had been valiant and brave. Champions who protected the Kingdom of Hope from the beasts of Corruption…

But he didn't really believe it.

As long as Sunny was alive, and as long as his father was alive, and his grandfather as well, the Warmongers had been the same. Bloodthirsty monsters wearing human skins…

Luckily, the war was raging far away from here. In the northern reaches of the Kingdom of Hope, people didn't have to worry about the madness of the followers of War, and the misguided righteousness of the followers of Sun.

…Granted, they had their own worries.

Shuddering and still in the grasp of the nightmare, Sunny massaged his aching chest and rose. Today, his lady was going to meet with the emissaries of the Night Temple. It was a high honor, but also not without risk. As a knight tasked with protecting her, Sunny had to be ready for anything.

'Why… why does my heart so much today?'

Shivering, he reached for his clothes.

***

"No!"

Sunny and a young girl in a beautiful silk dress that was passed down to her from her mother, and for that reason a little bit too long for the girl's awkward figure, had nowhere else to run.

The pursuers, who had already slaughtered the rest of their party, chased them to the very edge of the island. Now, there was nothing but the darkness of the Sky Below in front of them.

…And behind them, steel hooves were already ringing on the stones, growing closer and closer.

The teenage girl stared into the bottomless abyss, then turned to him. Her lips trembled.

"Sir… what… what should we do?"

Her face was soft and pale, not yet touched by the sharpness of maturity. Her eyes, usually so gentle and bright, were now dull and full of fear.

Sunny hesitated, then drew his sword and turned his back to the abyss.

"...Don't be afraid, my lady. I'm with you."

He said those empty words, knowing full well that it was a lie. He was just one man… he was not even an Awakened. What could a mundane swordsman like him do against this foe?

The girl, young as she was, knew that he was lying, too.

A few moments before the first of the pursuer appeared from the darkness, she grabbed his forearm and looked at him with desperate resolve.

"You… don't let them... don't let them take me alive, sir. Please…"

Sunny gritted his teeth, remained silent for a second, and then slowly nodded.

His heart hurt... it hurt so much. The pain was almost blinding.

A second later, a mightly black stallion appeared in front of them, bearing an armored rider on his back.

The rider jumped down, moving with a speed that no mundane human could ever hope to match. He unsheathed his own sword and glanced at Sunny, his eyes hidden behind a visor of a menacing black helmet.

His voice sounded like a voice of an ancient monster:

"...Step aside, warrior. We only need the maiden. You can still walk away alive."

Sunny laughed.

Ah, why did his heart hurt so much… dying was already painful enough.

He looked at the Awakened hunter in front of him, then at the young girl he had sworn to protect…

'Why does this nightmare never stop?'

...And then, he lowered his sword, and stepped aside.

Both of them looked at him, the pursuer with dark amusement, his lady with shock and disbelief. Her voice trembled:

"Sir, what… what are you doing?"

Sunny remained silent for a few moments, then sighed.

'Why is this world so insane?'

"I am very sorry, my lady. Please, don't hold a grudge against me. But, you see… how do I say this…"

He looked at her, then in the direction of the Awakened hunter. Then, he shook his head and said:

"I am pretty sure that you are not real…"