Shadow slave reacts to the novel

(I decided to skip two chapters.)

By the time they decided to stop, Sunny was on the verge of fainting. After hours and hours of traversing the rough mountain slope, his body was almost at its limit. However, to everyone's surprise, Shifty seemed to be doing even worse than him.

Mordret gazed at Sunny and whispered "how treacherous and heartless, you are Sunless."

Sunny whispered back "can you shut up?"

Noctis seeing their interaction asked: "what are the two of you talking about without including your hole lord? Weren't the two of you ever taught that it is rude to whisper around other people?"

Sunny and Mordret, one that did everything for his survival in the slums without any parental guidance since 4 and a kid kidnapped by an uncaring old man that couldn't careless about you at all and seen as a monster by his family when he returned at 12 before getting imprisoned by them, gazed at Noctis.

Noctis understood and gazed away whistling to himself.

The roguish slave's eyes were muddy and unfocused, aimlessly wandering around. His breath was ragged and shallow, as though something was exerting pressure on his lungs. He looked feverish and unwell.

"That... doesn't look too good..." Aiko said to herself...

Unfortunately for her, Kai heard her and asked "do you... do you think any of them will die?"

Before Aiko could respond to Kai, someone else did. "He will most likely die... all of them for that matter other than Sunless, and Hero or whatever his name is..." Tyris, sitting one row ahead replied.

"Why so pessimistic," her dear husband asked "and why do you think sunless will survive?"

Bloodwave responded this time "why would we be looking at a dead men walking? It is nearly 100% that he will survive" master Naeve nodded along with his uncles words agreeing with them.

As soon as Hero found a suitable place for a camp, Shifty simply collapsed on the ground. The most unnerving part about all of this was the lack of angry cursing that they had already gotten used to. The slave lay silent and motionless, with only movements of his chest betraying that he was still alive. Several moments later, he uncorked his flagon with a shaky hand and greedily drank a few large gulps.

"Something is wrong with him... probably sick. Does anyone know why?" Cassia asked.

Sunny looked away slightly and Mordret continued to gaze at him in amusement.

Saint Revel was the one to respond this time, while she was stored it was better to occupy herself instead of just sitting "It is propable that it is thanks to the cold as the body needs fluids to maintain it's core temperature or it could be because of something he ate..."

"Conserve your water," Hero said, a hint of concern somehow finding its way into his usually stoic voice.

Noctis smiled, who would have thought that the cold rumored rising star of this new generation could showcase concern, how fascinating was that!

Disregarding these words, Shifty drank more, emptying the flagon completely.

Morgan sighed dramatically, "it seems that retards stay retards..."

Revel turned to Morgan "How inconsiderate of you, do you know how offensive saying such things can be?"

Morgan merely smirked.

Mordret, tho. Was left pondering. 'What was this thing called a retard? He wasn't quite knowledgeable after being in solidarity with a weirdo for 12 years that wouldn't do anything for you and than being trapped for another 6 years give or take...

...Thus he gazed to the side with an troubled expression and asked his good friend sunny what that means.

Scholar didn't look much better than him. The arduous climb took a heavy toll on the older slave. Despite the unbearable cold, he was sweaty, with bloodshot eyes and a grim expression on his face.

"Well, this makes sense... he seems the second weakest... and very sheltered." Jet said and didn't elaborate on who she thought was the weakest but everyone knew and so... Noctis chuckled and Sunny continued to fume.

None refuted her claim.

Being the weakest of the three, Sunny had somehow managed to endure the best.

"How weird! What is your opinion on this Sunny?" Mordret asked his dear friend.

Sunny glared, "even tho, I might seem the weakest. I still grew up in the outskirts, I needed to run a lot to survive thus I am used to such... things"

Mordret smiled pleasantly and innocently and creeply very creeply.

"Can't we just melt the snow once there's no more water?"

Hero gave Scholar a complicated look.

"There might come a time when we won't be able to make a fire, as to not attract unwanted attention."

No one commented, knowing perfectly well whose attention they had to avoid. The memory of Mountain King's horror was still fresh in their minds.

Luckily, today Hero had managed to find a natural alcove in the mountain wall, perched precariously behind a narrow ledge. The fire was well hidden by the rocks, allowing them to enjoy its warmth without the fear of being noticed. No one was in the mood to talk, so they just roasted slices of oxen meat above the flames and ate in silence.

"How lucky! Maybe, no one will die anymore" Mordret said as If he actually cared and this gained a couple glances of disdain... mostly from his family.

By the time the skies had turned completely black, Shifty and Scholar were already asleep, lost in the thrall of their own nightmares. Hero took out his sword and moved to the edge of the rock outcropping.

"Try to rest, as well. I'll take the first watch."

"Wow, what a good person. The same like has been described by all those people" Noctis said "he truly might be the greatest hero... right behind me of course, because there is no greater than the lord of the East."

Sunny gazed at his schizophrenic friend and patted him on the shoulder.

Sunny gave him a nod and lay down near the fire, dead tired. Falling asleep inside a dream was a new experience for him, but, unexpectedly, it turned out to be quite mundane. As soon as his head touched the ground, his consciousness slipped into darkness.

Kai shivered "I wouldn't have been able to fall asleep, not in a hundred years!"

Aiko agreed, how could anyone fall asleep in such a place do easily?

After what felt like only a second, someone had gently shaken him awake. Groggy and disoriented, Sunny blinked a few times, finally noticing Hero hovering above him.

"These two didn't look too well, so it's better to give them some time to recover. Don't let the flames go out and wake us up once the sun starts to rise. Or if… if the beast appears."

"Captain obvious..." Sunny started to once again insult the hero.

Mordret continued to smile.

Sunny silently rose and changed places with Hero, who added a couple of logs into the fire and was soon fast asleep.

For a few hours, he was on his own.

"A good time to think" Jet said, Sunny nodded.

The skies were black, with dim stars and a sharp crescent of the newborn moon. However, its light was not enough to pierce the darkness that enveloped the mountain. Only Sunny's eyes seemed to be able to do so.

"Truly, a very convenient attribute, I must say" master Roan stated.

None disagreed with the statement of course...

...well Revel found her sight superior simply because but otherwise none.

He sat quietly, looking down the way they came. Despite the fact that they had managed to climb quite high during the previous day, he could still see the distant ribbon of the road. He could even trace it back to the stone platform where the fight with the tyrant had taken place.

The tiny dots littering the stones were the dead bodies of the slaves.

Kai gazed away from the screen as he put a hand before his mouth.

Effie patted him on the back to reassure the man.

As he was watching them, a dark figure slowly crawled on the platform from beneath the cliff. It stayed motionless for a while and then moved forward, scraping its claws against the ground. Every time a claw hit one of the bodies, the tyrant would grab and bring it to its maw.

Kai felt vomit rising up his mouth and swallowed it back down, the disgust didn't decrease in the slightest and a single question arrived in his mind 'how are they so unfazed?'

Obviously not seeing some of the disgusted people, Sunny included.

The wind brought the muffled sounds of crunching bones to Sunny's ears. He flinched, accidentally pushing a small rock off the ledge. It fell, hit the slope and then rolled down, causing a few more to follow.

The noise of these falling rocks sounded like thunder in the silent night.

"It sure does sound like that..." Saint of the house of night, bloodwave agreed.

Far below, the tyrant suddenly turned its head, looking directly at Sunny.

"Ah, shit... here we go again..." Sunny sighed

Mordret looked at his dear friend and sighed "you are so unfortunate"

Sunny froze, petrified. He was scared to make even the tiniest sound. For a while, he even forgot to breathe. The tyrant was staring directly at him, not doing anything.

"He... doesn't see you..." Nephis said

"Hmm? It seems that he is blind" Noctis slowly concluded.

A few torturous seconds passed, each feeling like an eternity. Then the tyrant calmly turned away and continued to devour dead slaves, as though he had not seen Sunny at all.

'It's blind,' Sunny suddenly understood.

He inhaled, watching Mountain King with widened eyes. It was true. The creature could not see.

Looking back at everything that had happened earlier, he grew more and more certain of his guess. Those milky, expressionless eyes. Come to think of it, he never saw the tyrant moving them at all. And back when Sunny was pushing the wagon off the cliff, the tyrant only reacted after the wagon's had started to fall, scraping loudly against the rocks.

"True, well it seems everyone didn't notice that..." Tyris said

"Well, I was to bored to actually pay attention" Morgan complained.

Of course! It was all making sense now.

***

At the break of dawn, Sunny had woken the others up. Hero had hoped that a full night's rest would do Shifty and Scholar some good, but his hopes were crushed. Somehow, the two slaves looked even worse than before. It was as though yesterday's climb had overstrained Scholar too much.

"Wow, is this supposed to mean you didn't hope athat the night"s rest would help? How heartless." Mordret exclaimed.

Sunny wanted to strangle this bastard so badly and Sunny gave it a thought to give some excuse, but decided not to...

...It was gonna get revealed and if he would try to give excuses, it would only make him look worse in the long-term.

However, Shifty's condition could not be explained by simple overexertion. He was deadly pale and shaky, with half-conscious eyes and a lost look on his face.

"Do we know his actual name?" Cassia asked "It feels weird to address someone as Shifty."

Sunny gave it a thought before replying "What does his name matter, he is a construct created by the Spell and a factor in the Nightmare, but his name is unimportant. And even if it was important... we don't have the names of any of them."

"But... we do." Noctis smiled, waiting for a second before continuing "The 'hero' as you called him is a rising star of the new generation, his name is Auro."

Everyone absorbed the information provided.

"What's wrong with him?"

Scholar, who himself was not doing very well, helplessly shook his head.

"It might be the mountain sickness. It affects different people differently."

His voice sounded raspy and weak.

"The mountain sickness is affecting him strongly too..." Jet said "both of them will most likely fuck over and die."

None refuted her claim as everyone thought the same.

"I'm fine, assholes. Get out of my face."

Shifty had trouble forming full sentences, but still insisted that he was alright.

Hero frowned and then took most of the supplies the defiant slave was supposed to carry before adding them to his own load. After hesitating a little, he gave some to Sunny, too.

"Shifty is becoming a deadweight." Naeve said, mostly to himself.

...But someone still responded

"Wow, aren't you smart? All the people in the house of night are probably as smart as you, aren't they?" Revel mocked him, gaining few glares of anger, but no one would do anything...

She was a Saint, but more importantly she was a sovereigns daughter. None would dare touch her.

"Did anything happen while we were asleep?"

Sunny stared at him for a few seconds.

"The monster ate the dead."

The young soldier's frown deepened.

"How do you know?"

"I heard it."

Hero moved to the edge and looked down, trying to make out the distant stone platform. After a minute or so, he clenched his jaw, showing signs of uncertainty for the first time.

"Then we'll have to move faster. If the creature is finished with all the bodies, it will come for us next. We need to find that old path before nightfall."

Frightened and dejected, they set out again and continued to climb. Sunny was slowly dying under the weight of the added load. Thankfully, Shifty and Scholar had already drunk most of the water, lightening it a little.

"You truly are weak." Caster gazed towards Sunny.

Most couldn't believe that someone as worthless as him was talking, but that was also the reason why none reacted to how noisy he was. He was beneath most. He could be compared to a mutt at best. Some even already theorized that if he became a Saint that he would transform into one.

'This is hell,' he thought.

They climbed higher, and higher, and higher. The sun was climbing with them, slowly approaching the zenith. There was no talking, no laughs, only strained breathing. Each of the four survivors was concentrated on his own steps and footing.

However, Shifty was falling farther and farther behind. His strength was abandoning him.

"Well, it seems that the lord of eternal rest has came to claim him" Noctis said.

And then, at some point, Sunny heard a desperate scream. Turning around, he only had time to see a panic-stricken face. Then Shifty fell backward, his foot slipping on an ice-covered rock. He hit the ground hard and rolled down, still trying to grab onto something.

But it was too late.

Frozen in place and powerless, they could only watch as his body tumbled down the slope, leaving bloody marks on the rocks. With each second, Shifty looked less like a man and more like a rag doll.

Aiko flinched and looked away from the brutal sight before her

Mordret smiled instead and gazed at Sunny "Aren't you sad for your friend, Sunless.? He has just died and you are reacting so coldly. Don't you care about your friends at all?"

Sunny glared at the bastard "I hadn't ever met him, why would I care?"

"How cold."

A handful of moments later, he finally came to a halt, hitting the top of a large, protruding stone in a pile of broken flesh.

Shifty was dead.