Shadow Slave

The coins were identical to the first one: they were cast from gold and heavy, a beautiful wooden ship with a tree growing around its mast depicted on one side and the face of the mysterious stranger on the other.

Hiding the coins in his pack, Sunny wiped the rainwater off his face and looked at the remains of the winged demon. In a flash of lightning, he saw the whole creature, red grass growing through its white bones, darkness nesting in the empty eye sockets, terrifying fangs crowding the massive, powerful jaws.

Even in death, the creature looked frightening.

\'Where have you come from, ugly?\'

With a sigh, Sunny looked at the sky, allowing rain to pelt him in the face for a while. Whatever little chance he had of tracking the flying abomination by following the trail of its blood was now gone. What else could he do?

Closing his eyes for a moment, Sunny walked a few steps and retrieved a piece of gnawed wood from the mud. Just as he had remembered, it resembled a broken corner of a chest, with a strip of metal reinforcing the seem. Both the strip of metal and the wood itself had been violently torn from the rest of the chest, it seemed, by the bite of the dead demon.

Which meant one thing… there had to be at least one chest full of mysterious coins somewhere out there, probably.

But how was Sunny supposed to find it? The Chained Isles was a vast land, full of numerous dangers and hidden places. All he knew about the creature was that it had been mortally wounded by the dwellers of the Dark Side and then succumbed to the Crushing.

Speaking of the Crushing… the rattling of chains thundered in the distance, announcing that the Iron Hand Island was entering the ascent phase. Sunny had to leave this place quickly. The next time he returned, the bones of the demon would most likely already be turned to dust.

Gritting his teeth, Sunny walked over to the skull of the abomination and dislodged one of its fangs with a powerful kick. Picking up the jagged bone dagger, he studied it for a few moments, and then put it in his pack.

If all else failed, he would try to find an Awakened with affinity to revelations and convince them to perform a divination upon the fang.

There was one person capable of something like that on the Chained Isles, at least. But… Sunny wasn\'t really willing to request help from that particular seer. Not unless there was no other choice at all.

\'We\'re not there yet.\'

Banishing the dark thoughts out of his mind, Sunny threw a last glance at the dead demon and the surrounding area, trying to see if he had missed a clue. However, there was nothing.

With a troubled look on his face, he dissipated into the shadows and hurried back to the Sanctuary.

***

By the time he returned to the Sanctuary, dawn was not that far away. Sunny snuck on the Altar Island and placed two of the three coins on the cold surface of the stone monolith, then waited for a bit.

Nothing happened.

\'Huh.\'

Disappointed, he waited patiently for the moon to appear from beneath the dark veil of clouds. After some time, the Sanctuary was finally illuminated by pale moonlight, and two coins on the altar immediately gleamed, reflecting it. Then, they shone with a soft light of their own.

The coin he held up in his hand, however, did not.

A moment later, the Spell whispered, its voice entwined with the rustle of the leaves and the murmur of flowing water:

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

Sunny smiled.

\'So, both the altar and the moon are needed.\'

Hurriedly, he placed the third coin on the altar, and soon heard the Spell repeat itself for the third time:

[Your shadow grows stronger.]

\'That… should bring me to two hundred and one.\'

And also… was he seeing things, or had the obsidian dagger moved ever so slightly?

With a skeptical frown, Sunny tried to lift the damned knife, but just as before, nothing he did had any effect on it.

\'Ugh, whatever!\'

His recent discovery was enough of a reward in and of itself. He had received four shadow fragments — the equivalent of killing a Fallen Monster — without having to risk his life one bit. On its own, this amount was not that considerable… but what if he found a thousand, or even a few hundred of these miraculous coins?

What if he reached the treasury where the chest bitten into by the winged demon was hidden?

That… would change a lot.

The problem was, Sunny had no idea where to look.

Pacing back and forth, he thought for a while, and then said to himself:

"I should probably find an expert on all things Chained Isles."

Somebody who might know about this type of Nightmare Creature, their behavior, and usual haunts… somebody who had spent long years in this region of the Dream Realm and was friendly enough to talk to Sunny.

\'Now who do I know who fits into all these criteria?\'

Sunny stopped pacing, lingered for a few moments, and then turned his head to the ring of massive menhirs.

A strange expression appeared on his face.

***

In the early morning, a lone figure approached the hallway leading to the White Feather clan\'s residence.

Saint Tyris and her people occupied the northern part of the Sanctuary\'s interior. Sunny had no idea what went on there, since he had never been invited, but he knew that both entrances to their compound were usually guarded.

Today was not an exception.

Before Sunny could step foot inside the hallway, a young warrior in a cuirass decorated with etchings of hawk feathers appeared from an alcove and glanced at him with a vigilant expression.

"State your business, Awakened."

Sunny stared at the young man with an earnest expression, then smiled.

"Oh! I am here to see Master Roan. He once told me to come find him if I need anything. So… here I am. In need of something. Can you fetch him really quick?"

The guard blinked a couple of times, then frowned:

"What is this about, exactly?"

Sunny grinned, lingered for a few moments, and then said honestly:

"...Demon hunting."