Shadow Slave novel Chapter 2938

Chapter 2938: Vile Spawn

Sunny and Nephis glanced at each other. So, Ananke had encountered the Thieving Bird. That vile creature was indeed here, in the Tomb of Ariel. It had not left after escaping the Nightmare, choosing to make a nest instead.

A nest to nurture its fledgling spawn, perhaps.

‘That thing is alive, huh?'

Actually, he was not sure if calling the Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn "alive" was appropriate. It had been a Great Devil back on the Forgotten Shore, having yet to hatch from the egg. Sunny had destroyed the egg, and the shade of the Vile Spawn spent numerous years in the dark flames of his soul.

In the end, the Thieving Bird stole it back at the same moment it stole his fate.

And now, the Vile Spawn was somehow here, in the Tomb of Ariel, seemingly hatched and good as new.

‘Is that damn thing... a Shadow Creature?’

The probability was quite high. It had been a shade, after all.

Suddenly, Sunny froze and stared into the distance with a dumbstruck expression.

‘Wait. If the shade of the being from the egg was in my soul, kept warm by its dark flames, and then hatched after leaving it...’

Did that mean that he had involuntarily... brooded the Vile Spawn like a mother hen? Or had his soul actually been the egg that nourished the Vile Spawn until it was ready to hatch?

‘What the hell, I am going insane here...’

Sunny had heard about a parasitic bird — long extinct now, thank the gods — that would lay its eggs in another bird's nest and abandon them. The owner of the nest would unknowingly brood the alien egg along with the rest, and then feed and nurture the peculiar hatchling like its own.

Not only that, but the impostor hatchling would destroy the other eggs and push newborn chicks out of the nest to monopolize the food and attention of the parent bird.

Sunny shivered in disgust.

He did not know if the Vile Thieving Bird had anything to do with that extinct bird from Earth — most likely not — but he still could not help but feel used. Hearing that the Vile Thieving Bird's Spawn was out and about in the Tomb of Ariel, doing gods knew what, made him quite unsettled.

Not to mention that there was now also a Great Devil they had to deal with. However... at least one of the questions that had bothered Sunny seemed to have been answered. He had often wondered why the Vile Thieving Bird remained in the Tomb of Ariel after escaping the Nightmare, and now, he thought he knew.

It looked like that damn thing had stayed put, for a while, to nurture its fledgling. Once the Vile Spawn was ready to spread its wings and leave the nest, though... the Thieving Bird would most likely abandon the Tomb of Ariel and escape into the Dream Realm, as well.

So, Sunny and Nephis would have had to deal with it someday, anyway. A creature like that was going to wreak all kinds of havoc if allowed to roam the same realm where humanity was desperately trying to build a new home — they'd have to confront it eventually.

He sighed.

“The Vile Thieving Bird, huh?"

Remembering the feeling of its talons piercing his body, his soul, and his very being made him want to shudder.

He remained silent for a few seconds, and then asked:

"What do you know about it, Ananke?"

Ananke shrugged.

“Not much, Lord Sunless. After all, people don't usually survive for as long as I have by having a habit of getting close to Cursed Terrors. I've seen it from afar a few times — and every time, I turned back and rushed in the opposite direction as fast as I could."

Her expression soured.

"Still. Despite all that, I found myself missing quite a few items. I had a gorgeous vanity made from gold and ivory right there, in that empty corner — complete with a polished bronze mirror, no less. It was a relic from the world outside the Tomb of Ariel, passed down among the priestesses of Fallen Grace through generations. One day, though, it was simply gone."

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify