Once again, Sunny dreamt of a mountain.
The old road stood in the middle of a endless fall and a wall of rock and snow that rose to the sky, trespassing the clouds and sunlight that touched the slopes, and then time began to regress, the snow covered path slowly revealed that it had long ago been a trade route, and along it a caravan of slaves was being carried by the empire of war.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the ----]
The words that came from the spell were cut in the part were he would be welcomed into the Nightmare Spell, now, the moment of truth had arrived. The silence indicated that once again, two distinct forces fought for the lines of Sunny's destiny, and just like the first time he tried to acquire the Shadow God's lineage, the weaker one would end up devoured.
[Aspirant! Welcome to the Shadow Spell! Prepare for your First Trial...]
'Huh, that's new! So that's how I found a way to stay connected to the spell? I mean, instead of making one from scratch, why not just copy the original, right? And yet, my version must appear as the original to others infected by the spell, the shadow really can take any form.'
When the passage of time ended, he was once again in the body of the temple slave, once again in the pain of bleeding feet, once again at the mercy of the freezing mountain weather.
The first thing he notices, was that once again, he could feel them, his most loyal companions, the shadows.
[Child of Shadows] Attribute Description: "Shadows recognize you as one of their own.
'Oh, how i missed you guys.'
Sunny had walked this path a long time ago, but he still couldn't forget that moment that marked the beginning of his life, and yet, he lost his balance like the first time, pulling the chain down with his weight, causing the guy behind him, Shifty, as he had named him, to scream.
"Whore's bastard! Watch where you're going!"
Sunny composed himself and at the same time was reminded that this had happened exactly like this the first time he fell into the nightmare, which was good news, after all he had no need to change what had happened here the first time. In the end he would survive, while all the slaves and guards would meet their deaths either by the cold or by the mountain king.
He thought for a long time if he should try to take advantage of this moment to try to talk to a specific person, the red-haired awakened was now working as one of the escorts of Sunny's caravan, and in some time they would be alone inside a cave on the way up the mountain, the same place where he would try to kill Sunny.
Not wanting to take any risks at the moment, he tripped on purpose, causing Shifty's chain to be pulled again, and causing an argument between them.
First he cursed Sunny, making the slave in front of him say that the cold would kill everyone, and so it went on, until Auro appeared and offered water to Sunny, who was whipped when he tried to accept.
And so they continued, the march on the merciless road continued with dozens of slaves being led, Sunny's feet hurting, the extremities of her body purple from the cold, and the sight of those who could no longer walk being thrown off the slope to a merciless death.
When night fell, the slaves were led to sit in a large circle on a wider area of the road, the guards set up their tents around it, small bushes with whitish leaves appeared near some rocks near the circle, their red berries tempting the slaves, but Scholar soon warned that Bloodbane was poisonous.
"Curses!" Shifty flinched and went back to gnawing his moldy bread.
Looking around, the slaves finished their meals with hopelessness in their eyes, and then, something massive fell from the sky.
In the direction of the sound of the impact, rocks and ice fragments continued to rain down from above, everyone panicked, lurching away as they pulled themselves along by the chains, and the shadows of all of them grew and shrank in size as they moved away from the bonfire.
Several were hit by the ice shards, the temple slave kept hiding in the right places to avoid being hit, thanks to the attribute he had received when entering the nightmare.
Then the veteran soldier decided to open his mouth.
"On your feet, fools! Get to the wall"
Shouting angrily, he didn't notice the tyrant that came along with the rocks, the tremor was felt through the stones beneath everyone's feet, and there, the 4 meters tall creature rose, his arms ending in enormous claws, his five eyes scanning through the slope.
Chaos has been unleashed.
Several slaves and guards were killed by the creature's claws, others were transformed into larvae, some of which Sunny killed with the chains. The confrontation continued until Auro fought the king of the mountain, keeping him busy while Sunny prepared the trap that threw him into the same bottomless abyss that dozens of other people had been thrown into.
The rest of the night was spent searching for supplies and warm clothes, after all the heat from the fire could not follow them up the mountain, and among the bodies scattered around the place, Sunny recognized the fallen veteran soldier.
"Wow, and they say I'm not honest, right? Now look at this, I'm going to keep my promise and see you die for the second time."
Not wanting to wait like last time, Sunny pressed her foot on the soldier's neck, preventing him from making any attempt to call for help.
[You have slain a dormant human, name unknown.]
[You have received a Memory...]
'Look who's back.'
And so he returned to the campfire, where they spent the night trying to withstand the winds that carried the icy sigh of the dream realm.
The next day they walked along the road until they realized that they would have to change to the old path taken by the pilgrims, and so they climbed. Once again night fell, and so Sunny heard the creature devouring the dead.
The next morning, they climbed again, higher and higher. The slave's fragile body seemed at every moment that it would break, his lungs as if they were burning due to the effort, at the same time that the air entered through his nostrils. A short time later, Shifty fell to his death.
Between Scholar's false condolences and the feeling of suffocation, the path continued, colder, crueler, the furry clothes no longer seemed to be of any use, these mountains were not a place for humans, and finally, they found the remains of the lost trail.
As they listened to the old man say he was right about the path, Sunny informed them that Shifty's body had disappeared from the rocks tens of meters below them, and just like the first time, it only took a few more sentences before Scholar was dead.
As Sunny and Auro walked in silence, the hero spoke.
"Don't feel guilty about what happened. It's not your fault. The decision was mine, and mine alone."
'It didn't even cross my mind'
"Do you think I could become a soldier like you?"
The question hung in the air like smoke. There was no emotion in his voice. Just enough edge to test the waters, to see how deep Auro's guilt really ran.
The red-haired soldier turned his head away, eyes hidden beneath his fringe. "Sure," he said. "But to be a soldier, you need a strong body. Better sleep soon... you'll need the strength."
Sunny let out a low laugh.
"You're a terrible liar, Auro."
The name struck like a whip. The Hero froze. His eyes widened. Before the sound had even faded, he had snatched his spear and leveled it at Sunny with the speed only an Awakened could excerpt.
"...How do you know that name?" His voice cracked with panic. "Who are you?!"
Sunny raised his hands calmly. "Relax. I'm just a regular human."
"Don't mess with me! I'd feel you if you were close, your soul, your presence, but there's... nothing. You're like a ghost."
"Of course," Sunny said with a tired smile. "I'm just a shadow, after all."
Auro stepped back, his eyes locked onto Sunny's. The spear trembled in his hands. In the dark, the flicker of stars caught in his gaze, panic, confusion, and something deeper, fear.
"It can't be" he whispered. "Did the gods send you?"
Sunny scoffed. "Please. I don't have time for divine errands."
"I could kill you right now," Auro hissed.
"And you will," Sunny replied, stepping forward. "Let's not pretend otherwise. You'll wait till I'm asleep, then put your spear through my back. Is that how the Hero of Justice does it?"
"I... I don't want to..." Auro's voice broke. "But I have to. My life isn't mine anymore. I have duties. I can't die, not yet."
"Ah, yes," Sunny said with a crooked grin. "Your noble duty to the Nine, how could i forget?"
"Shut up!" The words were raw and desperate. "How do you know these things?! Who told you?!"
Rising slowly, Sunny looked at him.
"No more excuses. You're not doing this for some great cause. You want to live. Tell the truth, you just want to survive, but so do I, I'm fated just as much as you, Auro."
Auro's grip tightened on his spear, his face twisted in anguish. And then, his body lurched. A wet cough escaped his throat, and a splash of blood hit the ground at his knees. He collapsed, trembling.
"No, no, not now. I... I can't die here. Not before I finish... I need to survive... for them. Who are you?! What kind of cursed magic is this?!"
"Bloodbane," Sunny said quietly. "In every one of your canteens."
Auro's eyes widened in horror. "You poisoned us... from the start..."
Sunny's smile was cold now.
"You were going to kill me. I just beat you to it. I might not be a soldier, but I'm not a fool. And I've learned not to trust my slaver."
After that, despair blinded Auro, attacking Sunny, screaming for answers. In the end, perhaps it wasn't even necessary for him to use the silver bell, but anyway, its ringing calling the death of one of the nine.
When the Hero turned around, it was already too late, one of the mountain king's huge claws wrapped around him in a vicious grip, the tyrant didn't even notice Sunny, it was at that moment that the boy had his chance to run away as fast as he could.
Behind him, a desperate scream broke the silence of the icy mountain, it was good to know that the redhead wouldn't go down without putting up a good fight, or a good amount of time at least.
***
Finally, he had arrived, the highest point of the mountain, the vast expanse of flat stone, which in the center rose to a magnificent temple, the colossal columns of black marble were just as Sunny remembered. Beautiful and awesome, like a palace worthy of him.
With the last of his body's strength, the slave dragged himself inside, every broken bone he had accumulated on the way up was evident in his movements, although he was not as bad as he had been the first time he had been here.
'Don't get carried away Sunny, it's not over yet, it's just hypothermia, you've dealt with worse.'
Climbing the staircase, he felt the presence of the invisible guardian, who let him follow as if he were not even there. As he entered, ancient shadows spread across the great hall, the moonlight projecting them as an audience for Sunny's walk to the altar.
Laying in a fetal position on top of him, the feeling that death was approaching showed itself once again, but he knew that this was not the end.
He then turned towards the entrance, this time in time to see the mountain king appear in the doorway, and then, he clutched his chest, convulsing over a tortuous sequence of coughs, his blood spraying across the altar.
[You have offered yourself as a sacrifice to the gods.]
[The gods are dead, and can not hear you.]
[You soul bears the mark of divinity.]
[You are a temple slave.]
[Shadow God stirs in his eternal slumber.]
[He sends a blessing from beyond the grave.]
[Child of Shadows, receive your blessing!]
Once again, the great shadows in the temple surged into the Tyrant's body, tearing him apart effortlessly.
[You have slain an awakened tyrant, Mountain King.]
[Wake up, Sunless! Your nightmare is over.]
[Prepare for appraisal...]