Shadow Slave
After a life of poverty leaves him expecting little from the world, Sunless is chosen by the Nightmare Spell and thrust into lethal trials where supernatural power, binding fate, and fragile alliances reshape his struggle to survive.
- Author
- Guiltythree
- Status
- Ongoing
- Chapters available
- 2,882
About the novel
Shadow Slave follows Sunless, called Sunny, a sixteen-year-old orphan from the outskirts who expects his first Nightmare to kill him. Instead, cunning and a willingness to question every apparent rule carry him into the Nightmare Spell's lethal progression. His Aspect grants authority over shadows while his True Name creates a supernatural condition of servitude, making the pursuit of strength inseparable from a pursuit of freedom.
The Forgotten Shore, chained Nightmares, Antarctica, the Great River, and wars among Sovereigns force Sunny into alliances whose importance conflicts with his instinctive distrust. Nephis, Cassie, and the cohort become people he wants to protect even when fate and memory make closeness dangerous. His attempts to escape enslavement eventually challenge fate itself, with consequences that require him to rebuild identity and relationships rather than simply recover lost power.
World and the Nightmare Spell
The Spell infects people, sends them into Nightmares, and rewards survival with Aspects, Attributes, Memories, Echoes, ranks, and access to soul essence. Sleepers enter the Dream Realm and seek Gateways back to waking civilization, while Awakened, Masters, Saints, Sovereigns, and higher beings undergo transformations that affect both power and existence. Flaws accompany Aspects, ensuring that supernatural gifts impose personal constraints.
The Dream Realm contains regions formed from lost civilizations, divine lineages, corrupted creatures, and histories only partly preserved by the Spell. Domains turn authority and collective recognition into power at the Sovereign stage. Sunny's multiple shadow cores, Shadow Dance, incarnations, and bond with shadows provide unusual versatility, but knowledge of Names, fate, and the Void reveals forces older than the system that measures him.
