Sunless was chained with the other slaves to march on the black mountain. He looked at his companions and recognized two of them: Shifty and Schoolar.
The slaves, followed by the War fanatics on their horses, marched along the path towards the mountain.
During the walk, Sunless overheard the soldiers's conversations. It seems the fanatics had decided to plunder one last temple along the way before returning home.
Looking around, Sunless recognized the War Champion in front of everyone, his severed arm was completely bandaged.
A little further back stood another familiar face, Auro of the Nine.
At one point, he stumbled on purpose, tugging at the chains that bound him to the other slaves.
Immediately, the shifty guy behind him screamed:
"Whore's bastard! Watch where you're going!"
A moment later, Sunless was once again walking steadily, however, not before 'inadvertently' pulling on the chain one more time.
"You little shit! I'm going to kill you!"
The broad-shouldered man in front of Sunny chuckled without turning his head.
"Why bother? The weakling will be dead by sunri..."
Ignoring the idle chatter of Shifty and Scholar. Sunless turned his attention to a soldier on a white horse who was approaching him.
"What is going on here?"
There was no particular menace in his voice, even something resembling concern.
When everyone hesitated, the gentle-voiced slave answered:
"It's nothing, sir. We are just all tired and cold. Especially our young friend over there. This journey is truly too hard for someone that young."
The soldier looked at Sunless with pity.
Sunless looked back at him with a neutral expression.
The soldier sighed and took a flask from his belt before extending it to Sunny.
"Bear with it a little more, child. We will stop for the night soon. For now, here, drink some water."
But instead of reaching for the flask, Sunny slapped it away and grabbed the soldier's wrist, pulling him closer.
"You really think the gods aren't aware of your little game, huh? Auro of the Nine?" Sunny whispered to him, keeping his eyes wide and his devilish smile visible only to Auro.
Auro was taken aback, to the point one could see his blood run cold with pain.
"Y-you... how did you...?"
but before Auro could ask a full question, a whip hit Sunny in the back, knocking him to the ground.
Another soldier, this one older and angrier, stopped his horse a few steps back. The whip that sliced the back of Sunless's tunic open and drew blood belonged to him. Without even glancing at the slaves, the older soldier pierced his younger colleague with a disdainful glare.
"What do you think you're doing?"
The young soldier's face darkened.
"I-i was just giving this boy some water."
"He'll receive water with the rest of them once we camp!"
"But…"
"Shut your mouth! These slaves are not your friends. Understood? They're not even people. Treat them like people and they'll begin imagining things."
The young soldier looked at Sunny with dread, then lowered his head and went back on his duty.
"Don't let me catch you making friends with slaves again, newbie. Or next time it will be your back tasting my whip!"
As if to illustrate his intention, the older soldier cracked his whip in the air and rode past them, radiating threat and anger. Sunny watched him go with well-concealed malice.
Nobody noticed that during the entire act, he had stolen a dagger from the younger soldier.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sir! We have found another."
"Course it all!!! Where is hiding the bastard?"
"If this fu***** killer doesn't come out we will all have trouble to contain the slaves."
"I'll tell you!!! This is a course the Shadow God brought upon all..."
"SHUT. THE. F***. UP. YOU BLACK SHEEP."
"Just because i'm black doesn't mean you can call me black, you racist!"
Chaos ran rampant among the ranks of the War soldiers.
As they ascended the mountain, Sunless thinned the ranks and secretly incited the slaves to rebel.
It all started with a little revenge on the old man who whipped his back.
At the beginning the work did not bear fruit immediately, but little by little the results began to show.
Sunny looked at his runes.
***
Name: Sunless
True name: -
Rank: aspirant
Soul core: dormant
Memories: [silver bell], [fanatic's dagger].
Echoes: -
Attribute: [???], [Shadow weave], [spark of divinity], [Shadowspawn], [the Heart].
Aspect: [Empty Chalice]
***
Imagine: you're traveling with a group of friends and unbeknownst to you, a serial killer is hiding among the group.
Add to this the fact that the murderer can make his weapon appear and disappear out of thin air and himself is indetectable in the dark.
This is what's happening to the caravan.
Sunless watch all this in a corner with a satisfied smile.
hiding the corpses wasn't so easy with his little height, but his hardship pay back.
All his current memories were of the dormant rank but he was making a great use of it.
While smiling, Sunny couldn't help but notice the way Auro looked at him as if he was his executioner.
Which in fact he was, or at least was about to become.
Night fell.
The other soldiers got busy forcing the slaves into a tight circle, who showed a more rebellious attitude, and lighting up a large bonfire in the center of the camp. The heavy wagon carrying food, water and other cargo, to which the main chain was firmly affixed, was pushed forward to block the wind.
Soon, the bonfire was blazing. The stronger slaves tried to find their way closer to the fire, while the weaker ones were forced to sit at the outer end of the circle, with their backs freezing in the cold.
Thanks to his [Shadowspawn] attribute, Sunless seems had no problem with the freezing climate of the snowy mountain. So he didn't join in the fight for some warmth.
The soldiers walked among the slaves, giving them water and food. Sunny, just like everybody else, received a few sips of icy water and a small piece of rock-hard, moldy bread, but he neither ate nor drank anything.
It seems that thanks to the same attribute, Sunless felt as if he could go for days without eating, drinking, or even sleeping.
'Really the premium edition of [child of shadows].' Though Sunny.
ignoring Shifty complaining about the food, Sunny look to a few steps away from them, where the paved road ended and sharp rocks began, a scattering of bright-red berries were growing from the snow.
'If I'm not wrong these berries are poisonous. Mmm! How should i use them?'
His plan already was working, but nothing stopped him from taking some countermisures.
Finally looking around, he recognized the site of the camp as the place where, in his vision at the start of the Nightmare, the bones of the slaves were buried under the snow. And he was willing to bet that the mountain king or whatever it will be that killed them all was going to happen soon.
As if to answer his thoughts, a thundering noise rang from above.
At this, Sunny smiled. His plan could began.
And in the next second, something massive came crashing from the sky.
"Take up your weapons!" the War Champion shouted, his Ascendant senses already perceive the enemy approach.
At his command, the soldiers immediately ran to take their weapons.
The mountain king's minions immediately attacked the camp.
The two side clashed, a fierce battle take place, the pair were evenly matched.
"Sir, the slaves are rebelling!" one of the soldiers shouted to the War Champion at one point during the battle.
The enemy attack was becoming more aggressive; not only the dormant beasts but also some awakened were present among the enemy's ranks.
The first soldiers were starting to give up and even the few awakened among them were losing ground.
The War Champion turned to Auro: "Hey newbie! take a dozen men and go quell the revolt."
Auro obeyed immediately, yet that wasn't what more worried the Ascendant; if the front was losing ground, it was mainly because the archers were slowing to cover them.
But not only that. From the beginning of the battle, the War champion noticed a presence wandering around the battlefield, it never entered his field of vision, but from time to time his senses managed to perceive it.
The mongrel appeared from one side of the field to the other, striking when least expected and disappearing immediately afterward.
At one point, it even managed to wound the War champion's leg while he was fending off an awakened demon.
The mongrel must have used poison, but how could simple poison harm a valiant ascended of War like him?
Auro wasn't faring any better either. The few men he had brought with him were unable to stop the rebellious slaves, who were also taking the weapons of their fallen comrades to defend themselves.
Furthermore, another sensation was screaming from the back of his mind since the battle had began.
From the beginning of the clash, he hadn't seen that child again.
The child who for some disturbing reason knew his name and his mission, making his blood run cold just by looking at him.
The battle continued until the sunrise.
All three sides were suffering heavy losses, but the War's followers were still gaining the upper hand.
But as the battle was almost over, a mighty roar came from the mountain.
The mountain king and his generals had finally joined the conflict.