Shadow Slave: Purgatory

Sunny travelled through the black desert with immense speed as he raced across the shadow of the dark eclipse.

This traversal method wasn't as taxing as he'd thought. Originally, he had been massively disappointed when the dark wing was destroyed, taking away his ability to traverse the desert safely, but it had forced him to evolve. His essence manipulation had improved manifold, even with the soul serpent helping guide essence.

It still stung that he had to constantly use more essence to stay as a shadow to move around undetected, but sacrifices had to be made somewhere.

'Why does that even matter?'

This method was the only way Sunny could travel right now. He was essentially crippled with his broken right leg - just standing normally caused immense pain.

A weary sigh escaped him.

'I really have to find Nephis.'

If anyone could heal his leg, it would be her. Her flaw might be cruel, but right now Sunny was about as helpless as a newborn.

'And where in the spell am I?'

This place was quite peculiar, and its inhabitants were unlike anything he had heard or seen before. Sure, it made sense that it was an unexplored region of the dream realm, but that was the least peculiar part. Sunny was quite experienced in the unexplored department thanks to his unique experiences in the forgotten shore.

No. What made this place truly peculiar was how it tied into his abilities. This place complemented all aspects of his powers quite nicely. For example, when it came to shadow sense, the shadows fed him a huge constant stream of information almost eagerly. The fact that this place was shrouded in an eternal eclipse that wouldn't go away made it really the perfect place for his newly acquired shadow step.

Sunny sighed. The inhabitants of this place were quite peculiar too. Every being here - or more like every being he had seen here - was a shadow just like him. They shared his common traits and even some of his abilities. They used his abilities in ways he hadn't conceived of yet.

'Did this place belong to the Shadow God or something? If so, why is it in the dream realm?'

He didn't know if it was the dream realm. He had assumed it was, but the initial assumption was shattered by the dream Nephis had. In a strange turn of events, he was incapable of dreaming just like in the dream realm, which meant that Nephis was an outlier. Her dream was quite special, akin to Cassie's visions, which made the fact much more bizarre.

Even if this was the dream realm, it only partially made sense. Each region in the dream realm existed in patches with unique environments and its own version of celestial objects like the sun, or even different ones for certain places. If he followed that train of thought, that would mean this place was related to the Shadow God's realm at one point in time.

But even if this assumption was true, it opened more questions than it answered. Why was it here in the dream realm? 

'How infuriating. I should probably push Nephis on the details of her dream next time, consequences be damned.'

Sunny slowed down as his shadowy body travelled across the surface of an incredibly tall dune. He materialized at the peak with a deep breath, supporting his weight on his left leg.

He slowly put his right leg in the black sand to support himself but winced and lost his balance sending slight erratic ripples in the sand.

'The ripples... how does the physics of that even make sense?'

Sunny wasn't educated, but he wasn't a complete idiot. This place completely defied the laws of physics. In fact what didn't defy the laws of physics in the dream realm? At this point, he should probably stop being surprised.

After adjusting his balance a bit more, Sunny tilted his head and looked forward. He was closer to the river than before, approximately 30 or 40 kilometers more. He could make the final push in shadow form, but he had to play this safe.

He had been taking short breaks every 10 or so kilometers. He'd wait for a few hours to replenish his essence before moving further. He intuitively knew that the wraith was stalking him - if he recklessly pushed and sacrificed all his essence in the process, he'd be signing his own death sentence. And in this desert, the ancient wraith was the least of his worries.

Sunny shifted as he took a seat on the dune, gently grabbing his limp right leg and placing it forward to dangle, seating himself on the sand overlooking the black desert. As he took in the view and relaxed his body, he sighed with a sense of satisfaction and comfort.

There was something oddly peaceful about this place. For someone like him who treated social interaction like a plague and lived in the shadows, it was almost... perfect. If only it wasn't for those creepy wraiths who shared his powers!

Sunny placed his hands on either side of his thighs as he leaned back.

His mind drifted back to his original train of thought.

If this place was indeed the dream realm, why were they here instead of the crimson spire or the forgotten shore?

'Was it because I stabbed those runes?'

A small, self-deprecating smile crossed his face as he shook his head.

Sure, he couldn't have predicted how the gateway would react to his interference, but that didn't stop him from feeling like an idiot. If his theory was right, instead of sending them back to the real world, his actions had just relocated them to a different part of the dream realm. And thanks to his cursed [Fated] attribute, he'd landed in a place that made the forgotten shore look like a holiday resort.

It was almost funny — if he didn't have shadow step or the dark wing, he'd be dead already. The spell had shown its own perverse sense of fairness by sending him to the forgotten shore back when he was just a sleeper, instead of this death trap.

With an exasperated sigh, Sunny released a groan.

'What the hell am I doing? After everything I went through, I should be resting!'

With a sigh, Sunny squeezed his eyes shut as he forcefully tried to calm his thoughts, but that's when an uncomfortable feeling washed through him…

*** 

More filler? Oh well sorry but don't worry I'm release two more chapters with this!