A Sunless Dream

Orion's spine-chilling laugh radiated throughout the quiet field as Sunny waited to hear the next words that would come out of his mouth. All the remaining members of the cohort barring Nephis and Cassie were already unconscious leaving the original three the only members to listen.

"Sunny listen to me, we can explain!" Cassie's desperate voice rang through Sunny's head as he turned around and levelled her a glare "Shut up." Turning back to Orion, the look in his eyes displayed his irritation at being made to wait any longer than he had to.

"See, when you were sleeping oh so peacefully on her thighs. Lady changing star was having urges of strangling you in your sleep!" As he finished, Orion's hearty laugh bellowed throughout the field once more. Sunny's eyes darkened further as he moved to glare at Nephis, however Orion's voice stopped him.

"Don't you dare think that's all! Then, she woke you up and decided to discuss with you about it. Long story short you guys got into a heated argument and you my good friend Sunless, decided to sleep in the guest room."

Nephis hands balled into fists, she blitzed towards Orion only to be intercepted by Saint. The two stood facing each other in a tense standoff as Nephis gauged her chances in defeating the shadow in a battle, and quite frankly those chances were slim to none.

"But Changing Star wasn't done there, she rushed into your room telling you that you should never blame her for things she can't control! But what she could control however, was her choice to choke you half to death until she came to her senses! Not only that, but she also ordered you not to resist too!"

Orion shook his head in faux disappointment as he crossed his arms, his eyes remained levelled with Sunny's as he continued. "After you coughed up blood, Nephis ordered you to forget what had happened and fall unconscious, giving her time to clean up all traces of her mess." Another laugh escaped his lips as he continued.

"But it gets better, Changing Star here thought she had committed a perfect crime! Only for not only your good friend Song of the Fallen to be watching, and not tell you anything! But also, an acquaintance of yours Mordret happened to be in attendance."

Sunny leapt to his feet, grimacing slightly due to his injuries before turning to Nephis and Cassie. Nephis refused to look him in the eye whereas Cassie was already rushing at Orion, ready to take his life. However, despite his weakened state Orion was still a monster.

Leaping to his feet, he slammed his foot on the side of Cassie's jaw sending her flying backwards "No matter how weak I get, I'm never losing to a pathetic seer." He spat out with venom as he continued his speech.

"Mordret had the pleasure of letting me know that Cassie had done him a favour to stop him from telling you, however I'm unsure what she expected from a bastard like him. The first person he came running to with the information was, me!"

Orion's laughs settled, leaving the chilling silence remaining in the field as Sunny turned around to fully face Nephis. He called Saint back to guard Orion as he paced towards her, slowly but surely.

In a few moments, they were standing in front of each other. Sunny wore a pained expression on his face whereas Nephis looked on the verge of tears as he locked eyes with her. "Tell me he's lying." His voice remained impassive, not betraying the look in his eyes as he continued to stare at Nephis.

"Tell me he's lying Nephis!" Sunny's rage sent cracks across the already crumbling continent like a spiderweb, Nephis lack of answer was infuriating him more than he could ever imagine. "I'm sorry Sunny." She whimpered, Sunny's face morphed from one of hurt and betrayal to a look of disgust.

Faster than the eye could see, Sunny had kicked Nephis in the chest sending her flying backwards. Nephis was too slow to react and had to bear the full force of the blow, tensing herself in preparation for a follow up, she saw Sunny slowly making his way towards Cassie.

"Cassie, I...poured my heart out to you. I was willing to let things move forward without letting them affect our relationship, please...I'm begging you. Tell me that you have an explanation." Tears streamed down Sunny's eyes as he awaited Cassie's response.

Cassie remained silent, her body coursing with essence in preparation to endure Sunny's attack. However, the attack never came. Sunny grabbed her roughly by the shoulder before dragging her into the shadows, soon, she found herself standing next to Nephis.

"Changing star," Sunny's cold voice radiated through the slowly crumbling continent with menace as he summoned his sword. "If you want to survive, order me to stop fighting. If you don't, I will kill you and Cassia right now." The usage of her true name caused Nephis to flinch slightly as she summoned her weapon in preparation.

Cassie did the same, summoning a rapier as she held it weakly in one arm to face Sunny. "Sunny, it doesn't have to be this way, we can figure out a way forward! Like we always have!" Nephis voice pleaded as she continued to stare down the shadow born saint before her.

"A way forward? You disgusting witch, you think you can take advantage of me any longer than you already have! You promised not to use the bond unless you had to, and then you're using it because you can't control the power it gives you!"

Sunny's growing anger caused both women to tense as they continued to stare at him, essence swirled around his body in monumental amounts, forming a small tornado behind him as his eyes turned from onyx black to blood red in a matter of moments.

In a burst of speed, Sunny lunged towards them, truly intending to take their lives.

Kai slowly woke up from his slumber and surveyed the battlefield. Looking around, he discovered that half of the continent had disappeared, and he was currently near the edge of the remaining floating continent.

Although usually, heights were never an issue for him, he lacked the essence needed to use such an ability and instead chose to slowly nudge himself forward. After a moment more of surveying the battlefield, Kai noticed the sitting body of Orion observing something with immense focus.

Hobbling towards him, Kai intended to take his life by any means. Although he couldn't summon a bow, ripping out his throat with his teeth would do as he limped and sometimes even crawled towards Orion.

Before he knew it, an onyx knight had grabbed him off the floor, leading him closer and closer towards Orion before sitting him down a few feet away from him. The stalwart knight then sat down herself, positioning herself between the two as Orion spoke.

"Look ahead archer, your cohort are having an internal dispute. I really think Sunless might kill those two if given the chance." Orion commented to himself, raising a hand to his chin in contemplation. Kai's eyes widened, he didn't have the energy to speak and so simply turned his head towards the battlefield.

There he saw Sunny facing off against Nephis and Cassie, each onslaught he decided to pursue only barely being repelled by their combined might. Instinctively, Kai shot to his feet, a wave of pain flowing through his body as he prepared to lunge in between the two.

The onyx knight next to him however, grabbed him by the shoulder and forced him gently onto the ground, staring at him with what appeared like pity. "I have fragmented memories of the past I used to share with Sunless, but if I remember correctly, Cassie interfering with a battle between he and changing star was what caused this mess to begin with."

Turning to Kai, he stared at him with a serious expression "Do you want to make the same mistake Cassie did?" Kai grimaced at the logic, he had no way of ending Orion's life with the knight guarding him and interfering with the current fight that took place had a high likelihood of killing him by accident.

He couldn't die, he had to fulfill his promise to Effie.

Orion's voice tore through the air once more, he sounded so similar to Sunny that it sickened Kai however he had no choice but to listen. "How about we have a chat, Nightengale."