Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Sunless dreamt of chains.

They rattle around him, loud as they are dragged to the rough, uneven ground. The sound echoed in the vast darkness surrounding him. He tried to see, but there was nothing, only emptiness stretching infinitely.

’Where am I?’

Before he could piece together a thought, something cold and heavy hit him hard. They wrapped around him like iron serpents, tightening with an unnatural force. He felt suffocated, but he couldn’t tell if it was the crushing weight or the darkness itself that suffocated him.

He tried to breathe, even just a bit of air, a bit of relief. But none came. He couldn't even struggle, the chains kept him firmly in place. He strained against the binds, muscles burning, desperation clawing at him. Yet, no matter how much he struggled, the chains would not yield. He was trapped.

And then from the void, he heard a sound, a muffled whisper, distant yet undeniable. He could not tell where they came from nor who they belonged to. But he heard them. even so quiet.
Sunless jolt awake.

His eyes snapped open to the sight of a dark cramped room. Instinctively, he shot upright, only to be pulled back with the sound of clicking metal. He felt something cold touching his skin. He looked down to see chains encircling his neck and arms, though they were far looser than in his dream. From his side, he heard muffled voices. The world around him swayed and shifted, and he frowned.

"You're in a caravan, idiot."

Sunless looked up and found himself staring at a familiar face. His own face, twisted into a smirk. The apparition mirrored his appearance, down to the chains.

"This look suits you. It shows what you truly are," it sneered, amusement gleaming in its eyes. As always, it took pleasure in his suffering. But Sunless barely reacted, too accustomed to its relentless torment and too tired and disoriented from his dream.

'To hell with this.' Determined, he gripped the metal chains around his wrists and pulled with all his strength. Nothing happened. He tried again, straining until his muscles burned, but the chains remained unyielding. Frustrated, he reached for the one around his neck, only to meet the same result.

Sunless ordered his shadow to augment him to break the chains, but to his surprise, he did not feel the usual power he was accustomed to. 'What?' He tried the chains again, but he produced the same result.

He then attempted to step into the shadow, but he realized he couldn't teleport outside. What's more, his shadow couldn't go beyond the confines of the walls, an invisible force repelled it, as if an unseen barrier prevented it from escaping.

"Damnation." He gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath. "You finally realized, huh?" the apparition smirked, its amusement clear. Ignoring it, Sunless shifted his focus to the voices outside, listening carefully. Hoping to learn something, anything. But he could only hear muffled voices, so he tried to get closer to the 'wall' and lean his ear to hear better.

"This mountain pass is usually much warmer this time of year. Looks like we’ve got bad luck." He heard a man chuckle. 'Mountain?' Sunless scowled. 'Damn it, they can’t be serious.' He is reminded of why he is currently in this predicament.

"Well, that’s probably because of the thing we’re hauling. Look at those markings—those are runes." An older voice chimed in, one that carried the weight of knowledge, blaming the caravan Sunless was riding. 'I control shadows, not winter, idiot.'

"So what? Probably just there to protect some treasure. Might be gold or something." A third voice joins, this one sounding annoyed.

"No… those runes, they aren’t meant to keep people from getting in. They’re meant to keep whatever’s inside from getting out." The old man’s voice darkened, filled with certainty. 'Oh,' Sunless thought. 'So destroying the caravan isn’t an option. Shame.'

"Tsk. Why do we have to walk beside this thing? Shouldn’t the knights be guarding it?" The annoyed man complained again, his voice laced with unease.

Sunless finally decided to join in. His voice is smooth and almost playful, though muffled by the thick walls. "I would not like that. After all, I think I prefer your company over theirs."

The three men shackled together in a long row of slaves suddenly fell silent. Even the others, who had been listening passively, turned toward the odd-looking caravan. For a moment, nothing but the wind filled the silence. Before the conversation resumed.

"Hey, who the hell are you?" The annoyed man, sharp and suspicious, demanded.

"What the hell are you doing?" another voice hissed. "He could be dangerous."

"He’s trapped inside. What’s he gonna do, yell at me?" the first scoffed.

Sunless chuckled at the remark. 'What an ill-tempered man.'

"I am Sunless, just a normal citizen before I ended up here." He spoke the truth, Sunless was acting as a normal citizen before he was ambushed and imprisoned in this place.

"Oh? Then why are you locked up there instead of suffering in the cold with us?" The ill-tempered man asked again, not out of curiosity but annoyance.

"Who knows? The ones who put me here didn’t give any explanation to me either." He was only told what to do to reverse his mistake, they didn't give any other explanation.

The apparition scoffed and crossed its arm, “You know why you're here, because you can't keep your hands to yourself” Sunless continues to ignore it, especially when it tells the truth.

"And who put you there?" This time it was the old man, asking out of curiosity.

"The King of Swords himself chained me." Sunless answered as if it were normal to have a king chain you. The apparition roll its eyes aware of what Sunless is doing.

Silence.

"The King?" a voice question.

"Why would the king personally chain you? What did you do?" This time it was the first voice to finally ask.

"Oh, you know, I was just looking for treasure, like the adventurer that I am, when I encountered a mythical creature. I killed the thing, and in return, it left me with a talking mirror." Sunless leaned closer against the cold interior of the caravan.

"At first, I kept the mirror for company. It was pleasant to talk to at times, compared to the rock I often talk to, or the apparition of an old dead divine god that is constantly trying to drive me insane. But then I reached one of the temples ruled by a vassal of the king… Really, all I wanted was a place of refuge, that’s all I asked for. But then…"

He let out a slow breath, his tone shifting to something deep and dangerous.

"Turns out, the mirror was actually a vile fiend trapped inside that very temple. The moment I brought it there, I unknowingly freed it."

A pause.

"That deceptive bastard slaughtered everyone in the temple in the most gruesome, terrible ways, I mean blood covering the walls, corpses littered the halls, heck sometimes he even wears the skin of the dead and pretends to be one of them. And just like that, I became its accomplice. So here I am now, chained up like a criminal." He smirked, despite himself.

"The end."

Once again, silence fell over the group outside.

"So you're just some idiot who fell for a monster’s trick? Doesn't seem so scary to me," The ill-tempered voice scoffed. Sunless’ eyes widened at the remark ‘My how brave! I will kill this one first.’

"I bet the king put you there just to make sure you never escape," he added. Sunless chuckled softly. 'Oh, if only they knew.'

"If you must know," Sunless smiled wider, "I fought seven of the King’s Transcendent Servants and defeated them before the king caught me off guard after I became tired and wounded, and chained me himself. If I had been better prepared, I wouldn’t have ended up here."

A tense pause followed.

Before anyone could respond, a sharp voice cut through the air. "Hey! What’s going on here?" A guard stormed over, whipped in hand, and struck one of the slaves, causing them to yelp. "Get away from that caravan! You are not allowed to speak with it, do you understand?!"

The whip cracked again, this time against the wooden surface of the caravan. "And you—shut up and stop talking!"

Inside, Sunless sighed as the apparition beside him chuckled. "I like his advice," it mused. Sunless shot it a glare before refocusing on his chains. He needed to find a way to remove them.

Despite all his efforts though, hours have already passed and nothing else changed, he wished the inside of this damned caravan was at least a little less cold, but he is happy not to be outside like the poor fools he talked to earlier.

“Well, what now? I guess you'll have to do the bidding of the king then. Like a slave commanded by his master” it smiles ominously as Sunless slowly lose his temper.

“What? A rat like you should feel proud! You serve a king, something you will never be” This time Sunless got close to the curse apparition and stared it to the face.

“I will never be anyone's slave, nor will one bow to anyone’s crown” Neither of them blink or move, Sunless continues to glare at the apparition and it mimics him like a mirror.

“Once I found that angel, I will kill it” Sunless finally leaned back and kept a great distance from the apparition. “I will give him its head on a sword” The apparition though remains glaring before it laughs aloud.

“Or that angel will bring you to the heavens, who knows.” After that the apparition lean back his expression shows that he had finally lost interest pissing him off.

For a few minutes after that, Sunless was in a dark mood.

The silence weighed heavily on him. The mocking voice of the apparition had long since faded into a dull irritation at the back of his mind. What truly gnawed at him was the unnatural absence of his power. He could not summon his shadows. He could not extend his senses beyond the wooden walls that imprisoned him. Even his shadow sense, a constant presence in his mind, was gone.

He felt blind

The caravan swayed with a nauseating rhythm, creaking as it was dragged up a slope. Every sudden jolt sent him bouncing against the metal floor, the chains around his body rattling softly in protest. Yet he remained still, his expression blank, completely focused on his surroundings.

Then, a distant shout.

The caravan came to a halt, nearly throwing Sunless forward. He braced himself, steadying his breath as his ears strained to pick up the outside world. The faint clinking of chains reached him, accompanied by orders of soldiers.

"Move!"

Sunless exhaled sharply. 'Where are we?.'

For minutes, there was nothing, no voices, no chains, no footsteps. The cold remained his only companion. The eerie silence pressed against him like a suffocating weight. The outside world had gone completely still.

As much as Sunless wishes to know where they are, he is completely cut off from the world. He is surrounded by silence and the occasional mockery of an apparition. But still he remained silent, listening to whatever his ear could pick up.

As if to answer his thought, a thundering noise came from the outside. Something massive crashed to the ground outside with a tremendous impact, shaking the caravan violently. The floor vibrated beneath him, the chains around his neck rattling from the sudden force.

Sunless tense.

Outside, something was happening.

And he had no way of knowing what.

Chapter Text

There was a moment of silence after the crash, but that silence did not last long.

Sunless heard a chorus of screams, so loud he could hear them clearly from the inside. Panic bled into every cry, accompanied by the frantic clatter of chains dragging across the ground. They screamed for help, for mercy, for salvation. But Sunless couldn't yet see the cause of the chaos.

“On your feet, fools! Get to the wall!” The voice, similar to the one who whipped his caravan a few hours ago, shouts angrily to get the slaves to move toward safety.

However, shortly after his command, something massive came crashing down again, sending tremors to the ground beneath. This time, it felt closer to Sunless’ caravan, tipping it to fall on its side. Sunless slammed into the cold metal wall, the weight of his chains crashing down on his head. He felt a sharp pain flare, and he groaned. Outside, the ground trembled under heavy, deliberate footsteps. Whatever was out there was enormous.

Then came another sound, one he recognized all too well.

The air split with a vicious slash, followed by the wet, sickening tearing of flesh. The screams of the slaves turned from desperation to agony.

Sunless didn't want to miss the opportunity, he stood up and gathered all the chains around him and began hammering them on the walls. “Hey! I'm right here! Don't you want something delicious!” He yells aloud, hoping to get the attention of whatever abomination is outside.

“I'm very delicious, you know! A lot of your kind has been trying to eat me!” ‘And die for it’.

He kept slamming the chains against the walls while listening to the movement outside. He needed to draw the beast in, but he had to be ready not to be crushed. He wanted freedom, not death. After relentless pounding on the metal walls, Sunless finally felt something coming. Instinct took over, and he jumped to the edge of the caravan, away from the center. The moment he shifted, something massive slammed into the walls.

The impact tore the caravan apart, the wall was shattered in half, and the cold wind immediately greeted him. Sunless was now free, though the cold bite of iron still clung to his wrists, ankles, and neck. He hit the ground hard, coughing as dust and ash filled the air. He peeked through what remained of his caravan, eyes scanning the chaos outside.

He saw what looked like a lump of dirty snow, roughly round in shape and as tall as a mounted horseman. However, as he focused his eyes, he saw long limbs tower over him.

‘That thing must be at least four meters tall,’ Sunless thought, not amused. ‘I've seen worse’

The creature has a hunched torso, and its four limbs are disproportionately long and multi-jointed. The first set has horrifying bone claws, while the other two have eerie human-like fingers. What caught Sunless’ eyes though, were not the yellowish-grey fur that barely camouflaged itself with the snow nor its half-open maw, ready to tear into anything.

It was its five milky white eyes that were all looking at him.

It wasted no time, lunging at him with its massive claws in unnatural speed. 'Come at me, bastard.' He glared at the abomination and raised his hands, instinctively trying to summon his shadows into a sword. But the shadows didn't move, his hand remained empty. His heartbeat quickened.

‘Shi-’

The next moment was a blur. The abomination disappears from his view, and instead, he sees snow and rocks. He let out a pained groan as he hit the jagged ground and rolled into the other slaves' trap in their chain. The creature struck. A colossal force crashed into him, sending him hurtling toward the edge of the battlefield. He forced himself upright, the chain of the other slaves entangled with his own, limiting his movements.

'What?' He is already out of the caravan, but it seems it isn't the ruins that are keeping him from using his abilities. 'Tsk Tsk, Did you forgot your chained? I guess you're used to it you didn't even realize.. or you're just dumb' The apparition appeared in front of him, but he ignored it yet again.

Just then, he suddenly noticed unnatural movement from the group he had now become one with. They are crawling on the ground, desperately trying to run away, but the chains hold them together, pulling them from safety. Just then, one of the slave jolt up. His hands are limp beside him, his torso leaning on his side where one of his leg carry all his weight. He is shivering, and some sort of liquid is dripping from his hands. Its movement is erratic and unnatural.

Right before their eyes, the corpse changes. Strange bone growths pierce its skin, extending like spikes. Its muscles bulged and wriggled as though changing shapes. Its fingernails grow to sharp claws. lastly, its face cracks and splits, bearing open a twisted mouth with one too many rows of bloodied, needle-like fangs.

A puppet, its lifeless eyes locked onto him of all people. It rushed forward, threatening to devour him. Sunless snarled, yanking his chains taut. With a swift movement, he dodges the creature launching at him by mere inches, his tangled chains holding him in place. It hit the ground beside him, breaking a few chains. Before it could come at him again, he looped the iron chains around its neck and twisted. He pulled with all his might while pushing its body with his bare feet. He was so close to the abomination, it could easily eat his face if it turned to him. But he pulled hard enough that he heard the sickening snap of bones before it could retaliate.

Once the creature went limp, he slowly let go of the chain and lay back on the ground. He knows he is not safe though, so he stands back up again and goes to work with the chains, again trying to free his own from the chains linking the slaves. While doing so, he did not forget to scan his surroundings. He looked around, scanning for more puppets, but mostly for the abomination responsible for this mayhem. From afar, he saw a towering bonfire casting an eerie shadow. Just beyond the flames, the creature attacks the soldiers trying to put an end to it.

For now, the abomination was not his concern, but it did now make his position any better. More corpses were rising now, the other slaves fought desperately, barely clinging to life against the endless tide of death. But their tired and battered bodies cannot compete with these mindless corpses of wrath overwhelmed with bloodlust and the need to devour. Most of them have died, but a few manage to run away. Sunless is still trying to untangle his chains, he is making progress, but the erratic movement of the other slaves chained with him makes his life harder.

While trying to pull his chain one more time, his attention was pulled by one of the maimed bodies moving on the ground. One after another, four more corpses slowly rose to their feet. Each look as disgusting as the first one and just as deadly. The nearest was mere meters away from Sunless. The clicking of chains prompted one of the beasts to turn his head toward Sunless group. The other slaves froze in their place, one of them whispering prayers.

Sunless eyes darted to the ground, trying to find anything that could be used as a weapon. But there was nothing he could use, so full of indignation, he grabbed his chains again and wrapped a length of chain around his knuckles. He fought abomination barehanded before. Even without his shadows, he is confident he could at least take one of them. 'Come at me, you bastards!'

With terrifying speed, the beast, full of bloodlust and sharp claws, dashed toward him. Sunless hardly had any time to react, however, before he could, a figure swiftly moved behind the beast. A single flash of steel cut the air, and just like that, it fell to the ground. Its momentum carried it forward, rolling lifelessly to Sunless’ feet, blood pooling beneath its twitching corpse. With one strike, the beast was decapitated.

From the fray, a knight in shining armor riding a stallion emerged.

For a moment, hope flickered in Sunless’ mind, then fury crushed it. 'No, the King’s knights are posers. I wouldn't have to experience this if they didn't put me here!'

The knight stood among the carnage. His stance is chivalrous, upright, and unwavering despite the chaos surrounding him. He looked calm and collected, not a speck of dust nor blood stain his leather armor. The knight did not waste any time and faced the remaining beast. But before taking a step, he gave Sunless a long look and, with a swift motion, took something from his belt and threw it at him. Sunless reflexively caught it as the knight go.

He lowered his gaze and studied the item given to him. A key.

His heart began to beat faster than before, this time with hope. With one last glance at the fierce battle, Sunless dropped on one knee. He began adjusting the shackles around his ankles, attempting to free them first since it would be the easiest to remove. After several tries though, the key refused to work. He moved to his wrist, putting the shackle between his knees to get a better position to insert the key, but the unfamiliar lock didn't work either. Finally, he grabs the collar on his neck and feels for any lock to insert the key into.

Nothing.

His patience shattered, and he tossed the key to the other slaves trap in the same chain he is tangled in. And yell in resentment.

“Damnation! That bastard King!”