Sunny fell to his knees, breathless. His whole body felt as though it just went through a meat grinder: even large amounts of adrenaline could not wash away all the pain and exhaustion. And yet, he was exhilarated. The satisfaction of killing the larva was so vast that he even forgot to be disappointed about not receiving a Memory - the special item tied to a Dream Realm inhabitant's essence, which was sometimes awarded by the Spell to the triumphant Awakened. A magic sword or a suit of armor would have come in handy right about now. Damn, he would even settle for a warm coat. 'Three seconds. You can rest for three more seconds, Sunny thought. After all, the nightmare was far from over. A few moments later, he forced himself to come back to his senses and looked around, trying to ascertain the situation. The larva was dead, which was great. However, he was still tied to it by the damn chain – the shifty slave and the scholar, both pale as death, were busy untangling it to buys the three of them at least some freedom of movement. Further away, torn bodies and pieces of flesh were lying on the ground. Many slaves were killed. A few had somehow managed to escape and were now running away. 'Fools. They're dooming themselves.' The chain, as it turns out, was at some point broken in two - that's why it suddenly slackened when Sunny was being dragged by the mass of panicking slaves. If their shackles had a less sophisticated locking mechanism, he could have tried to free himself now. However, each pair was fixed to a specific link: without unlocking them, no one was going anywhere. The tyrant - Mountain King, presumably was hidden from sight by the bright glow of the bonfire. However, Sunny could feel its movements due to the subtle tremors spreading through the stones, as well as the desperate screams of those slaves who were yet to perish. An angry bellow or two could also be heard, indicating that some of the soldiers were still alive. desperately trying to fight the monster off 

 What pulled his attention the most, though, was the fact that several of the maimed bodies were starting to move. 'More larvae?' His eyes widened. One after another, four more corpses slowly rose to their feet. Each beast looked as disgusting as the first one had, and not a bit less deadly. The nearest was mere meters away from Sunny. 'Damn it all!' he thought. And then, weakly: 'I want to wake up.' As strange clicking filled the air, one of the beasts turned its head toward the three slaves and gnashed its fangs. Shifty fell on his ass, whispering a prayer, while Scholar just froze in place. Sunny's eyes darted to the ground, trying to find something to use as a weapon. But there was not a single thing he could use: full of vitriol, he simply wrapped a length of chain around the knuckles and raised his fists. 'Come at me, you bastard!'

 The larva dashed forward with incredible speed in a flurry of claws, fangs, and terror. Sunny had less than a second to react; however, before he could do anything, a nimble figure moved past him, and a sharp sword flashed in the air. The monster, beheaded with one strike, fell gracelessly onto the ground. Sunny blinked. 'What was that?' Dumbfounded, he slowly turned his head and looked to his left. Standing there with a valorous expression was the handsome young soldier who had once offered him water. He looked calm and collected, if a little grim. There was not a speck of dirt or blood on his leather armor. 'He is. Awesome, Sunny thought before catching himself. 'Poser! I mean he's a poser!' With a short nod, the soldier moved forward to face the remaining three larvae. But after taking a few steps, he suddenly turned around and gave Sunny a long look. Then, with one swift motion, the young warrior took something from his belt and threw it to Sunny. 'Save yourself!' With that, he was gone to fight the monsters. Sunny reflexively caught the item and watched the soldier go. Then he lowered his gaze and studied the thing clutched tightly in his hand. It was a short and narrow iron rod with a straight bend on its end. 'A key. It's a key. His heart began to beat faster. 'It's the key to the shackles!' With one last glance at the fierce battle starting between the young soldier and the larvae, Sunny dropped on one knee and began to maneuver the shackles, trying to get his hand into a suitable position to insert the key. It took him a few tries to understand how the unfamiliar lock worked, but then, finally, there was a satisfying click, and he was suddenly free.

 The cold wind caressed his bloodied wrists. Sunny rubbed them and smiled with a dark gleam in his eyes. 'Just you wait now.' For a moment, visions of violence and revenge filled his head. "Boy! Over here!" Shifty was waving his hands in the air, trying to get his attention. Sunny briefly considered just leaving him to die, but then decided against it. There was strength in numbers. Plus, despite Shifty's previous threats to kill him and overall unpleasantness, Sunny would have felt bad leaving a fellow slave in chains especially since freeing him would not cost anything. He hurried over to the other two slaves and quickly unlocked their shackles. As soon as Shifty was free, he pushed Sunny away and did a little dance, laughing like a maniac. "Ah! Free at last! Gods must be smiling upon us!" Scholar was more reserved. He squeezed Sunny's shoulder in gratitude and smiled weakly, casting a tense look in the direction of the ensuing fight. Two of the three larvae were already dead; the third one was missing an arm but still trying to tear its opponent apart. The young soldier danced around it, moving with a graceful fluidity of a natural-born warrior. "What are you waiting for?! Run!" Shifty made a move to run away, but was stopped by Scholar. "My friend, I would..." "If you say "advise" again, I swear to gods, I will bash your head open!" The two slaves looked at each other with open animosity. A moment later, Scholar lowered his eyes and sighed. "If we run away now, we will surely die." "Why?!" The older slave simply pointed at the tall bonfire. "Because without that fire, we will freeze to   death before the night is over. Until the sun rises, running away is suicide." Sunny did not say anything, knowing that Scholar was right. Actually, he realized it right after strangling the larva. No matter how terrible Mountain King was, the bonfire was still their only lifeline in this frozen hell. It was just as what the broad-shouldered slave, may he rest in peace, had said. There was no need for anyone to kill them, because the mountain itself would do it if given a chance. "So what?! I prefer freezing to death than being eaten by that monster anyway! Not to mention... ugh... turning into one of those things." Shifty was pretending to be brave, but there was no conviction in his voice. He glanced at the darkness surrounding the stone platform and shivered before taking a small step back. At this point, the third larva was long dead, and the young soldier was nowhere to be seen. He had probably gone to join the fight at the other side of the bonfire - leaving the three slaves alone at the mountainside part of the stone platform. Scholar cleared his throat. "The monster might be satiated with those it had already slain. It might be defeated or driven away by the Imperials. In any case, if we stay here, we have a chance to survive, however small. But if we run away, our doom will be certain." "So what do we do?" Unlike Scholar, Sunny was sure that Mountain King would not be satisfied with killing just most of the slaves. Neither did he believe that a bunch of mortals would really be able to defeat it. Even if they were not normal people but Awakened, a fight with a tyrant was not something one could easily survive, let alone win. But if he wanted to live, he had to get rid of that thing somehow. "Let's go take a look." Shifty looked at him as though seeing a lunatic. "Are you insane? You want to get closer to that beast?!" Sunny stared at him blankly, then shrugged and headed in the direction of the rampaging monster.

Sunny was off to face against a Nightmare Creature. And not any creature, at that, but one of the fifth category a dreaded, fearsome tyrant. The odds of survival were so low that anyone would have laughed in his face if he were to ever suggest attempting to fight it. If they weren't an Awakened two or three ranks above the creature, of course. Which Sunny certainly wasn't. And yet, he had to deal with this Mountain King somehow to avoid an even more miserable death. The ridiculous degree to which the odds were stacked against him from the very beginning of this delayed execution had gotten old a long time ago, so he didn't have any more energy to think about it. What was there to fear, after all? He was already as good as dead. It's not like he could get any deader. So why worry? On the other side of the bonfire, things were turning from bad to worse. Most of the slaves were already dead. A few soldiers were still desperately trying to fight the monster, but it was clear that they weren't going to last long. Right in front of Sunny's eyes, the tyrant picked up a dead slave, dragging the chain up with him, and opened its terrifying maw wide. With one crushing bite, the slave's body was torn in half, leaving only bloodied stumps inside the shackles. Mountain King's five indifferent, milky eyes stared into the distance as he chewed, streams of blood flowing down its chin. Seeing that the creature's upper arms were busy, one of the soldiers screamed and lunged forward, brandishing his long spear. Without turning its head, the tyrant extended one of its shorter lower arms, caught the soldier's head in an iron grip and squeezed, crushing the poor man's skull like a soap bubble. A moment later, the headless body was tossed over the cliff and disappeared into the abyss below. Shifty doubled over, puking his guts out. Then he shakily rose to his feet and glared at Sunny. "Well? We've taken a look, now what?" Sunny did not answer, pensively observing the tyrant with his head slightly tilted to one side. Shifty stared at him some more, then turned to Scholar. "I'm telling you, old man, the boy is sick in the head. How the hell can he be so calm?!" "Shhhh! Lower your voice, fool!" Blood drained from Shifty's face as he slapped himself, covering his mouth with both hands. Then he cast a fearful look in the direction of the tyrant. Luckily, the abomination was too busy feasting on the slaves - lucky ones who were already dead and unlucky ones who were still alive - to pay them any attention. Shifty slowly exhaled. Sunny was preoccupied with thinking, measuring his chances of survival. 'How do I get rid of that thing?' He didn't have any special powers, nor did he have an army ready to bury the tyrant under a mountain of bodies. He didn't even have a weapon to at least scratch the damn bastard. Sunny moved his gaze and looked past the creature, into the endless darkness of the moonless sky. As he was watching the night, a bright flash streaked in the air and collided with one of the tyrant's arms, bursting into a rain of sparks. The young soldier - Sunny's heroic liberator - had just tossed a burning piece of wood at the monster and was now defiantly raising his sword. "Face me, devil!" 'A distraction! Just what I needed!' Because there was no way for Sunny to kill the Mountain King with his own two hands, he had decided to enlist some help. A human wouldn't be up to the task, so instead, he was planning to use a force of nature. 'Since I can't do the bastard in myself, let's make gravity do it for me.' He was in the middle of thinking over the details of the plan when the young hero's foolish bravado presented an opportunity. Now everything depended on how long the pompous idiot would manage to stay alive. "Come with me!" Sunny said as he started running toward the far end of the stone platform, where the heavy wagon was perched dangerously close to the edge of the cliff. Shifty and Scholar shared a dubious look, but then followed, perhaps confusing his calmness with confidence, or maybe divine inspiration. After all, it was a widely known fact that crazy people were often favored by the gods. Behind them, Hero nimbly ducked under the tyrant's claws, slashing it with the sword. The sharp edge slid ineffectively across the dirty fur, not leaving even a scratch on the creature's flesh. In the next second, the tyrant moved with frightening speed, throwing all four of his hands in the direction of its new, irritating foe. But Sunny had no way of knowing. He was running with all his speed, getting closer and closer to the wagon. Once there, he hurriedly looked around, checking if there were any larvae close by, and moved to its rear wheels. The wagon was left at the upper end of the stone platform, where it narrowed and turned back into the road. It was turned sideways to block the wind, with its front facing the mountain wall and its back facing the cliff. There were two large wooden wedges placed under the rear wheels to prevent the wagon from rolling backward. Sunny turned to his companions and pointed at the wedges. "When I tell you, remove both of them. Then push. Understand?" "What? Why?" Shifty stared at him with a dumbfounded expression on his face. Scholar just looked at the wedges, and then at the tyrant. Hero, miraculously, was still alive. He was weaving between the creature's limbs, always just half a second away from being completely eviscerated. From time to time, his sword flashed in the air, but to no avail: Mountain King's fur was too thick, and his skin too tough to be harmed by mundane weapons. There was a hint of apprehension on the young warrior's face. All the other soldiers, as far as Sunny could see, were already dead. So he really needed that one to live a little bit longer. 'Don't die yet!' he thought. To Shifty, he simply said: "You'll see." The next moment, Sunny was running again, trying to follow the chain from the brace where it was affixed to the wagon. The thing he was searching for was hard to notice due to all the bodies, blood and viscera littering the stone platform, but for once, luck was on his side. A short amount of time later, he had found what he needed – the torn end of the chain. Finding the nearest set of shackles, complete with a horribly disfigured body of a slave locked in them, Sunny plopped down on his knees and started to fumble with the key. There was a muffled scream, and with a sideways glance, he noticed Hero flying through the air, finally caught by one of the tyrant's strikes. Incredibly, the young soldier managed to land on his feet, sliding several meters across the stones. All of his limbs were still in place; there were no terrible wounds on his body, either. Without skipping a beat, Hero rolled forward, picking up his sword from where it fell on the ground, and then rolled once more, this time sideways, narrowly avoiding a heavy stomp from the creature's foot. "Rolling?! Who the hell rolls around in this situation?!" Without any more time to waste, Sunny finally managed to unlock the shackles. Shaking the dead slave out of them, he then promptly locked them once again, this time around the chain itself - ending up with a makeshift slipknot and a loop. Now everything depended on his resolve, hand-to-eye coordination... and luck. Turning to Shifty and Scholar, who were still waiting by the wagon, he screamed: "Now!" Then, picking up a sizable length of chain, Sunny stood up and faced the tyrant. Hero spared him half a glance. His eyes lingered on the chain for a moment and then quickly followed it to the wagon. Then, without showing a hint of emotion, the young warrior doubled his efforts, drawing the creature's attention away from Sunny. 'So he's smart, too? What a scam!' Clearing his head of all unnecessary thoughts, Sunny concentrated on the weight of the chain in his hands, the distance between him and the tyrant, and his target. Time seemed to slow down a bit. 'Please, don't miss!' Gathering all of his strength, Sunny spun and threw the chain in the air, as though a fisherman casting his net. The loop opened as it flew, closing in on the position of the fight between Hero and the tyrant. Sunny's plan was to place the loop on the ground close enough to them that, once one of the tyrant's feet landed in the trap, he could pull on the chain and tighten it around the monster's ankle. But his plan... failed spectacularly.

 Which is to say, it was literally a spectacle. In the last moment, Mountain King suddenly flinched back, and instead of falling on the ground, the chain loop landed perfectly around its neck. A second later it tightened, acting as an iron noose. Sunny froze for a moment, not believing his eyes. And then clenched his fists, holding himself back from triumphantly shaking them in the air. 'YES!' he screamed inwardly. Moments later, the wagon would roll off the cliff, pulling the tyrant down with it. Sunny looked back to make sure, and instantly turned even paler than he usually was. Shifty and Scholar did manage to remove the wedges from under the wagon's wheels and were now desperately pushing it to the edge of the road. However, the wagon was rolling slowly... very slowly. Much slower than Sunny had anticipated. He turned to the tyrant, panicking. The creature, surprised by the sudden weight pressing down on its neck, was already raising its hands to tear the chain apart. Sunny's eyes widened. In the next second, Hero crashed into one of the tyrant's legs, throwing it off balance and buying them some time. Sunny was already running to the wagon, cursing loudly in his mind. Reaching it, he threw himself onto the damp wood alongside Shifty and Scholar, pushing with all the strength left in his rather small, but terribly beaten and enormously exhausted body. 'Roll! Roll, you creaky piece of shit!' The wagon sped up a little, but was still rather slow in reaching the cliff's edge. At the same time, the tyrant finally managed to get a hold of the chain tied around its neck, ready to free itself. Now whether they lived or not was just a question of which thing would happen first. 

Sunny pressed himself against the wagon, pushing with all he had. Four powerful oxen that used to pull it were now dead, and instead of them, three tired slaves were trying to do the job. Even with the slope of the road helping them, the speed of the wagon was agonizingly slow. The tyrant, in comparison, was moving much faster. Pushing Hero back with a deadly swipe of his lower arms, he raised the other two to its neck and tried to grab the chain that was wrapped around it like a noose. However, this time Mountain King's fearsome physique turned into a disadvantage: its long, terrifying bone claws were perfect for tearing flesh apart, but they weren't the best tool for precise manipulations. It took the tyrant some time to get a hold of the chain without slicing its own neck open. By then, the wagon was nearly at the edge of the cliff. 'Come on! Just a little bit more!' What followed happened very quickly. The wagon's rear wheels finally slid from the road, hanging over the dark, seemingly bottomless pit beneath. The creature turned, staring expressionlessly at the three slaves with its five milky, dead eyes. The wagon careened, throwing Shifty and Scholar off their feet, and then froze, balanced precariously on its middle axis. Sunny was the only one left standing. He cast a last glance at the towering monster, and then slammed his shoulder into the front of the wagon, putting all of his weight behind it. The wagon finally lost its balance and rolled over the edge, scraping its underside deafeningly against the jagged rocks. Sunny fell forward and landed on his knees, narrowly saving himself from tumbling down the cliff with it. Turning his head to the tyrant, he gave it a wicked smile. Mountain King made a move to lunge at the scrawny slave, but it was already too late. A moment later, the chain on his neck drew tight, and he was yanked back with tremendous force, flying over the edge of the cliff like a rag doll. The creature fell into the

darkness snently, as though refusing to believe that it was defeated by a tiny human. 'Go and die, bastard.' Sunny thought. Then he took one deep, ragged breath and dropped to the ground, utterly exhausted. 'Is this it? Did I pass the trial?' He rested on the cold stones, staring at the night sky, and waited for that faintly familiar, but elusive voice to announce his victory. But instead of that, wave after wave of pain that he had earlier chosen to ignore finally started to catch up with his abused body. Sunny groaned, feeling hurt all over. The skin on his back, slashed by a slaver's whip and pierced by the bone spikes of a newborn larva, especially, was in agony. He was also starting to shiver, once again consumed by the dreadful cold. 'I guess not. His thoughts were slow and muddy. 'What else am I supposed to do?' A dark figure appeared above him. It was Hero, looking calm and as handsome as ever. There were dirt and scratches on his armor, but otherwise, the young soldier appeared to be fine. He extended one arm to Sunny. "Stand up. You'll freeze to death." Sunny sighed, accepting that his First Nightmare was not over. Then he clenched his teeth and slowly rose to his feet, ignoring Hero's helping hand. Around them, there was a scene of utter carnage. Except for the three slaves and Hero, every member of the caravan was dead. Their bodies were littering the ground, horribly maimed or torn into pieces. Here and there, a repulsive carcass of a larva could be seen. Shadows cast by the bonfire were dancing happily across the stone platform, seemingly unperturbed by this morbid view. Sunny was also too tired to care. Shifty and Scholar were already up, looking at Hero with weary apprehension. With or without shackles, they were still slaves, and he was still a slave driver. Noticing their tense gazes, the soldier sighed. "Come closer to the fire, all of you. We need to warm ourselves and discuss what to do next." Without waiting for their response, Hero turned around and walked away. After hesitating for a few moments, the slaves followed. A bit of time later, the four of them were seated around the bonfire, soaking up pleasant heat. Shifty and Scholar were close to each other, maintaining a safe distance from Hero. Sunny sat apart from everyone not because he had a specific reason to distrust one more than the others, but simply because he didn't like people in general. Growing up, Sunny was always a misfit. It's not that he had never tried to become close with someone, it's just that he seemed to lack the ability. Like there was an invisible wall between him and other people. If he had to put it in words, Sunny would say that he was born without a small, but important gear in his brain that everyone else seemed to possess. As a result, he was often baffled and stumped by human behavior, and his attempts to imitate it, however diligent, inevitably fell flat. This strangeness made others uncomfortable. In short, he was a bit different - and if there was one thing people hated, it was those different from them. Over time, Sunny simply learned to avoid getting too close to anyone and settled comfortably into his outcast role. This habit served him well, since it not only made him self-reliant, but also saved him from being stabbed in the back by shady characters on multiple occasions. That's why he was not thrilled to share the rest of this Nightmare with three strangers. Instead of trying to start a conversation, Sunny sat quietly by himself, lost in thoughts. After a few minutes, Hero's voice finally broke the silence: "Once the sun rises, we will gather whatever food and water we can find and go back down the mountain." Shifty gave him a defiant look. "Why should we go back? To be put in chains

The young soldier sighed. "We can go our separate ways once we leave the mountains. But until then, I'm still responsible for your lives. We can't continue up the road since the way over the mountain pass is long and arduous. Without the supplies that were stored on the wagon, your chances of making it are not high. That's why going back is our best hope." Scholar opened his mouth, planning to say something, but then thought better of it and remained silent. Shifty cursed, seemingly convinced by Hero's rational words. "We can't go down." All three of them turned to Sunny, surprised to hear his voice. Shifty barked a laugh and glanced at the soldier. "Don't listen to him, your lordship. This boy is, uh, touched by the gods. He's crazy, is what I'm trying to say." Hero frowned, looking at the slaves. "The two of you are only alive thanks to this child's bravery. Aren't you ashamed to badmouth him so?" Shifty shrugged, showing that he wasn't ashamed at all. The young soldier shook his head. "I for one would like to hear his reasoning. Tell me, why can't we go down?" Sunny shifted, uncomfortable in the center of everyone's attention. "Because the monster isn't dead."