Shadow slave:The Forgotten Spawn

Chapter: Shadows in Motion

The ruins loomed around them, silent and watchful. The presence of the two strangers—figures clearly experienced in surviving this world—made every second feel heavier, every breath measured. Eryth could sense it: the weight of unspoken knowledge hanging between them, the feeling that whatever was happening now had already been set in motion long before this moment.

Nyx prowled beside him, the creature's dark fur bristling as its glowing eyes tracked the strangers' every movement. There was no outright hostility, but the tension was unmistakable.

Tessa crossed her arms. "Alright, you two are clearly not just some random wanderers. Who are you?"

The armored man gave a small, almost amused smile. "Names won't mean much right now. But since you insist… call me Sunny."

Eryth's eyes narrowed. He had never heard of anyone by that name, but there was something about him that felt… significant. Dangerous. The way he carried himself, the way his sharp gaze missed nothing—it was clear he was no ordinary survivor.

The woman beside him, the one with platinum hair and a gaze as sharp as a blade, finally spoke. "Nephis." Her voice was calm, but there was a weight behind it. A quiet authority.

Tessa exhaled sharply. "Great. More cryptic survivors with mysterious pasts."

Sunny chuckled, but there was no humor in it. "You'll understand soon enough."

Eryth glanced between them. "You said something changed. That there would be consequences. What do you know?"

Sunny's expression darkened slightly. "Something is waking up. I don't know exactly what, but the world just shifted. And when the world shifts, the things buried deep within it tend to rise."

Eryth felt a chill crawl up his spine. He had felt it too, hadn't he? That moment in the nexus, when everything seemed to bend around him—when the power inside him became something… different.

Nephis tilted her head slightly. "Something has already begun to hunt you. It's only a matter of time before they reach you."

Tessa scoffed. "So, what? We're supposed to just sit around and wait to get ambushed?"

Sunny shook his head. "No. You need to be ready. Because when they come, it won't be a simple fight. It'll be war."

The Rising Threat

Far from the ruins, deep within the remains of an ancient battlefield, something stirred. The air itself trembled as dark figures moved through the desolate landscape, drawn toward an unseen force.

A creature knelt at the center of the devastation, its body an unnatural fusion of bone and shifting darkness. Its hollow eyes gleamed with intelligence as it tilted its head, sensing the disturbance in the world.

"The balance is breaking…" it murmured, its voice like a whisper carried by the wind. "He has awakened."

The figures surrounding it did not speak, but their forms pulsed with anticipation. They did not move like mindless beasts; they moved with purpose. With hunger.

The kneeling creature slowly rose, its skeletal frame stretching unnaturally. It turned its gaze toward the ruins where Eryth and the others stood, as if it could already see them across the vast distance.

"Soon," it whispered.

And then, they began to march.

Back to Eryth's Group

The fire crackled quietly as the group settled into the ruins, but none of them truly relaxed. Eryth sat near Nyx, running a hand absentmindedly through the creature's thick fur as his mind raced.

Everything was happening too fast. He had barely begun to understand the power within him, and now it seemed as if the world itself was reacting to his presence. The idea that something—someone—was already hunting him made his blood run cold.

Tessa sat across from him, sharpening her blade. "So, what's the plan?" she asked without looking up.

Eryth exhaled slowly. "We prepare."

Sunny, leaning against a broken pillar, smirked slightly. "Good answer."

Nephis studied him carefully. "You have power, but you don't understand it yet. If you don't learn to control it, it will consume you."

Eryth met her gaze. "Then I'll learn."

She nodded, as if that was the only acceptable response.

Sunny pushed off the pillar and stretched. "Then I hope you're ready. Because whatever's coming for you?" He glanced at the darkened horizon. "It won't stop."

Eryth tightened his grip on his weapon. He didn't intend to run.

Whatever was coming, he would face it.

And he would survive.