章 16: The Adventures of Sunny: Sunny's Magic Carpet
Ragged breaths echoed across the golden sands, where multiple wraiths lay unmoving, their hideous cloaks bearing sizzling wounds.
Sunny was spent.
[You have slain a Fallen Beast: Shadow Wraith]
[You have received a memory]
With a deep breath, Sunny smiled in satisfaction as he turned to look at Saint, who stood with her sword impaled through a wraith's chest.
'A Memory! It's about time!'
Sunny's excitement was cut short as a large shadow fell over him, shrouding the area in darkness. Despite this, his vision remained clear.
'...Is the eclipse back already?'
He tilted his head up, squinting at the sky in search of the eclipse. Instead, he found a streak of shadow partially obscuring the sun. It was strange - the streak was moving and growing larger, not creating a true eclipse but rather casting Sunny alone in darkness.
His eyes widened in recognition.
"That's not the eclipse."
They were birds of sorts - an enormous flock, only Sunny had just noticed them as they flew in synchronicity, emulating the image of one giant shadow. The horrifying part was their size - each one as large as Jet's PTV - and they were growing larger by the minute as they descended toward him.
Shaking himself from his stupor of horror, Sunny dismissed Saint and turned incorporeal in the flock's shadow.
A roar echoed as multiple humongous birds descended. They resembled eagles, but were tenebrous, with menacingly jutting beaks and eyes that glowed red with malevolent hunger. Instead of feathers, their bodies were covered in smooth overlapping obsidian plates. Their wings were abnormally large, likely an adaptation to counteract the oppressive gravity, the ends fitted with multiple serrated tips that resembled spear heads.
Each bird glided down with thunderclap-like wing beats, sending golden sand spraying in all directions as their sharp talons plunged into the earth. They each seized a wraith's corpse, soaring back to the skies with majestic indifference, as if the dangers that plagued Sunny were beneath their notice.
As the flock's shadow diminished, Sunny materialized. A shiver traveled down his back as he shuddered violently, struggling to calm himself.
He could tell from their presence alone that each bird was at least of the Corrupted rank and likely possessed higher intelligence than the average nightmare creature. Their arrival had not been coincidence—it was learned behavior.
They had evolved to understand the reclusive nature of Shadow Wraiths, typically waiting for the sun to emerge so they could pick them off as they helplessly sought cover. Even after the birds had departed, unease clung to Sunny as a terrible realization dawned on him.
The Shadow Wraiths were merely mice in this vast desert, while more terrifying creatures like the eagles he had just seen were the true predators.
So what was at the top of the food chain in this land?
He looked skyward once more to ensure his safety and spotted one of the eagles still circling his position. Divine aspect or not, he had no business fighting these mighty creatures.
Sunny would have preferred to avoid fighting a creature of such caliber, unfortunately for him, he wouldn't get a say in the matter...
Sunny's lips curled upward into a small, self-deprecating smile.
'...Right. What did I really expect?'
As if responding to his silent thoughts, the eagle folded its wings tightly around its body and dove with terrifying speed, its beak aimed at the ground at a ninety-degree angle as it shot downward like a bullet. If Sunny hadn't known what it was planning, he would have thought the creature was aiming for a quick, horrifying death.
And just as he predicted, right before it would have shattered against the dunes, the eagle spread its wings wide. A thunderous clap echoed across the desert as the resulting shockwave exploded outward, the sheer force obliterating an entire dune and spraying golden sand in all directions.
"Jeez... I swear I'm not that tasty."
The eagle exploded forward in Sunny's direction, bringing its talons to bear. Right when his fate seemed sealed, Sunny's shadows wrapped around him as essence surged.
As if he had lost his mind, he darted straight at the eagle with immense speed, his legs digging into the golden sand. Despite his limp, he moved with surprising swiftness in what appeared to be a suicidal charge.
Just before the talons could plunge into his body, Sunny dove left with all his strength. He narrowly brushed past the eagle's talons, feeling the cool wind whip through his hair.
Unable to change course or catch its prey, the eagle glided past helplessly. Sunny had used the creature's own speed against it - simple physics and inertia.
But he wasn't done yet. As his body was about to slam helplessly into the ground, an invisible string jerked with violent force, pulling Sunny along in the eagle's direction.
Sunny had known he couldn't pierce the creature's hide without essence, and he wasn't foolish enough to think he could match its speed in battle. Instead, he had used its momentum against it to dodge safely - and more importantly, he had intentionally let Prowling Thorn tangle in the creature's talons during the maneuver.
Despite the sheer ingenuity behind his actions, he couldn't afford to revel in his own ability. What came after mattered more.
Sunny dangled helplessly as the eagle soared skyward, feeling its murderous eye boring into the side of his head with dark satisfaction. It was probably pleased that it would still get to eat him.
With an exasperated sigh, he willed Prowling Thorn's invisible string to shorten, gripping it with his right hand to reduce the force exerted on his left as the string bit into his palm, drawing blood.
As soon as he reached the bird's talons, Sunny summoned the Moonlight Shard and plunged it under the bird's side. Red blood trickled down to his cheeks, yet the creature made no sound, flying majestically as if unaffected.
'Tough bastard. But the blood... Well that's interesting.'
Sunny had found himself something to eat, though hilariously enough, he was incapable of killing or hurting it. That fact was now inconsequential - he hadn't planned on hurting the bird anyway. The Moonlight Shard was simply a handhold for climbing to where he needed to be.
He gripped it with a dark smile, climbing with a combination of Prowling Thorn and Moonlight Shard.
The moment he reached its back, the bird sensed his intentions and thrashed wildly, desperate to dislodge him. But Sunny refused to be thrown.
With clenched teeth, he drove the Moonlight Shard deep into the creature's tough hide. Using it as his lifeline, he thrust Prowling Thorn forward and hauled himself along, only to dismiss and resummon the Moonlight Shard further ahead. Step by step, stab by stab, he clawed his way toward the beast's neck, each movement a battle against the howling wind.
The creature sensed his intent and went ballistic, its massive body barrel rolling through the air as it unleashed chaotic bursts of wing beats, desperate to shake the persistent insect from its back. In its mounting panic, it tucked its wings tight and plunged into a terrifying dive.
The air pressure crushed against him as Sunny's grip on the Moonlight Shard failed. He was ripped from the beast's back, now dangling by only the string wrapped around his palm connected to Prowling Thorn, as the creature dragged him toward the rapidly approaching ground.
A scream of agony tore from his throat as the string bit deep into his flesh, but refused to be thrown.
Coursing essence through his body, he reached out with his free arm and seized the string, hauling himself back inch by excruciating inch toward the embedded Moonlight Shard. The moment his fingers found purchase, he ignored the creature's wild thrashing and resumed his relentless crawl toward its neck.
There, still gripping Prowling Thorn, he dismissed the Moonlight Shard and summoned the Midnight Shard in its place.
A dark smile curved Sunny's lips as he channeled every drop of essence he could muster, his shadows coalescing around the tachi like living darkness.
Brutally he plunged the tachi into the creatures neck, it was like cutting solid rock but Sunny pushed as the blade lodged itself into the creatures hide.
The eagle roared in pain and spread its wings, releasing them from the free fall. Even if this attack was devastating Sunny knew it wasn't enough to kill it and even if he could Sunny hadn't planned on killing the creature anyways.
Sunny knew it was only a matter of time before the ancient wraith recuperated and had attacked him, so he had to take this chance. To Sunny this bird wasn't a curse but an opportunity.
An opportunity to escape.
With more essence, Sunny twisted the tachi and wrenched it diagonally, using it as a crude rudder. The bird steered in pain, unwillingly obeying his oppressive command, powerless to resist. Its once regal presence had vanished, replaced by desperate and graceless struggling as it flew toward the molten river.
Whoosh!
Something sliced through the air somewhere ahead of Sunny, followed by a 'thunk', that caused the eagle to cry out in pain.
Then Sunny saw it—something that made his blood run cold. There, mere inches from his position, a black arrow protruded from the eagle's neck. Worse still, a dark rope was bound tightly around it.
The Wraith wasn't giving up its prey.
***
You're not seeing the memory today kek. But a better fight next chapter fr.
Also does the eagle have aura? should it aura farm more?
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