Shadow Slave - One Shots

i legit dn't feel like rereading fs so i did this to the best of my memory

As the last key clicked into place, the entire world seemed to hold its breath. Then, with a sound like a thousand tons of stone grinding against itself, the gates of the Crimson Spire began to shift. 

Sunny barely had a second to register it before everything changed. 

The cursed black water, the wretched Dark Sea that had loomed over the Forgotten Shore like an inevitable doom… started to vanish.

It didn't drain, or go back.

It simply ceased to exist, as though it had never been there in the first place.

One moment, the dark abyss was clawing at the Spire's base, rising to consume all in its path, and the next, it was gone. 

The battlefield seemed to freeze. 

The Nightmare Creatures hesitated. The Sleepers, bloodied and exhausted, lifted their heads in shock. 

And then- 

Light. 

Blinding, searing, merciless light erupted from abovE.

The sun, the very same sun they had lost to the endless night of this cursed world, shone down upon them once more. 

For the first time since arriving at the Forgotten Shore, the Dreamer Army stood beneath its light. 

And they screamed. 

Not in triumph, not in joy. 

In agony. 

Sunny staggered, clutching his chest as something was attacking his soul directly.

In the distance, he heard Kai cry out. Heard Effie curse through gritted teeth. Heard the sound of warriors collapsing to their knees as the sun's light seared into them - not their skin, but their very souls. 

He had banished the Dark Sea. 

But in doing so, he had awakened something worse. 

The survivors moved on instinct, dragging themselves toward the only place left untouched by the sun's wrath - the yawning darkness of the Crimson Spire. 

They ran. 

And the siege was over.

The silence stretched, heavy with exhaustion and unspoken despair. No one wanted to admit it, but they all knew - there was no stopping here. 

Nephis was right. The Terror of the Crimson Spire was still waiting for them. 

Sunny forced himself onto his feet, biting down a groan as his body screamed in protest. His armor was dented, his wounds still weeping, but it didn't matter. He couldn't rest. None of them could. 

Kai stood next, rolling his shoulders with a wince. "So, uh… where exactly is this thing?" 

Nephis turned toward the great hall ahead, where the twisting coral and stone columns led deeper into the Spire. Beyond those dark corridors, at the very heart of this accursed place, something ancient and terrible was waiting. 

"We'll find out soon," she said. 

Effie groaned, but pushed herself up as well. "Great. Love that." 

The remaining survivors, ragged and beaten, began to stir, pulling themselves together. Those who could still fight gathered what weapons they had left. 

The Crimson Spire loomed around them, silent, watching. 

Sunny adjusted his grip on his sword, then turned to Nephis. "Lead the way." 

And so they moved forward. 

----------

The chamber was heavy with tension, the distant howls of Nightmare Creatures echoing through the ruins.

The Dreamer Army stood ready, battered but determined, their numbers thinned by the relentless battles leading up to this moment.

The gateway loomed ahead, their only path forward, guarded by the Terror.

Nephis turned to Sunny, her silver hair streaked with blood and dust. Her blade, still burning with white-hot flames, cast flickering shadows across her face.

"We can't fight our way through it head-on," she said, voice calm despite the chaos around them. "We need to push past, reach the gateway before it wipes us out."

Sunny studied her expression, then turned his gaze toward the battlefield. The Terror loomed near the entrance, shifting in and out of the shadows, its elongated limbs rippling with unnatural movement.

Behind it, Nightmare Creatures clawed at the walls, ready to strike at any moment.

"You're saying we distract it?" he murmured.

Nephis nodded. "You'll lead the charge. Take the main force and push through to the gateway. I'll hold the Terror's attention."

He exhaled sharply. "You want me to lead the Dreamers?"

She said, stepping closer. "You know how they fight, how they think. You know how to keep them alive."

Sunny let out a quiet chuckle, shaking his head. "I also know how to get them killed."

Nephis didn't flinch. "So do I."

Silence stretched between them. Around them, the Dreamers shifted, watching, waiting for orders. The battle would not wait much longer.

"Fine," Sunny muttered, rolling his shoulders. He turned, scanning the weary fighters at his back. "Kai, Effie, Cassie, you're coming with me."

They all nodded.

Sunny stepped forward.

"Listen up," he called out. "Nephis is going to buy us an opening. The rest of us-" he pointed toward the gateway, a battered archway barely visible through the shifting darkness, "-are getting through that door."

A murmur rippled through the ranks, mostly likely with fear.

Sunny took a slow breath, forcing steel into his voice. "We don't have time for doubts. We move fast, we move hard, and we don't stop until we're on the other side." His onyx eyes swept across the faces of the survivors. "Stay together, cover each other, and don't look back. We survive this, or we don't. Either way, we do it together."

The fear didn't vanish, but their spines straightened, their grips firmed. A few nodded. That was enough.

Nephis turned toward the Terror, sword raised. Flames licked along the blade's edge, her stance unwavering. "Go."

Then she lunged.

The Terror reacted instantly, a mass of writhing shadows shifting toward her. With a single slash, she cut through the darkness, light bursting from the strike. The creature recoiled, its attention fully locked onto her.

"Move!" Sunny shouted.

The Dreamer Army surged forward, running toward the gateway as the battle erupted around them.

-----

He led the Sleepers through the Spire's winding corridors, his grip tightening around the Moonlight Shard.

Every step they took was another step away from the carnage outside.

Another step toward survival. 

The group moved as fast as their battered bodies would allow.

Some were limping, others barely standing.

But they kept going, driven by the desperate hope that there was still a way out.

Sunny had fought too hard, bled too much, to let them falter now. 

The Spire was eerily silent. The deeper they went, the further they left behind the sounds of battle.

In its place was an oppressive quiet, broken only by the ragged breaths of the Sleepers behind him. The Spire had always felt like something ancient and watching, but now, in the absence of chaos, it felt like it was holding its breath. 

'Where is this damned gateway?!' Sunny was panicking, desperately trying to find it.

Till

They found the Gateway.

A murmur of relief passed through the group. Some Sleepers stumbled forward instinctively, reaching out as if afraid it would disappear if they waited too long. Others hesitated, casting uneasy glances back toward the battlefield. 

"This is it," Sunny said, turning to face them. His voice was steady, leaving no room for doubt. "Get inside. Now." 

Some were already moving, but others hesitated. Effie instantly shot back.

"Doofus, what about you?" 

Sunny exhaled sharply. He had expected the question. 

"I've got something to do." 

His fingers flexed around the hilt of the Moonlight Shard. Without another word, he turned on his heel and disappeared into the Spire's depths.