No Sunshine in Hell

[Shang Tsung]

No Sun.

The paladin groaned into the dusty red earth and tried to wait through the ringing in his head. When he could finally lift his head without feeling as if it would explode, he saw that he wasn’t in Silent Hill anymore.

No… This was far worse.

With his knees planted into the barren soil, Argento Camarinos shifted into an upright position. Memories flashed into his mind—a lab, the sorcerer, and then …a terrible pain in his neck. Although he knew the vile truth, there was a part of him that would be unwilling to accept the fact that he may have been betrayed by one of his allies. What would motivate a man to stab his friend in the neck when his back was turned?

Metal fingers clenched and unclenched as Argento tried to wrap his mind around it. There was no world in which he could fathom allies betraying one another. His codex of morals had no space in it for betrayals of any sort.

But this wasn’t just any betrayal…

This was the Underverse.

“Sorcerer, what have you done?” Argento whispered as he looked up at the red skies. Black and gray clouds filled what would otherwise have been a sea of crimson. In the distance, a thunderstorm was brewing near what appeared to be a settlement of some sort. A naked fist reached behind his back and grasped only at air. The paladin was without shield or hammer, and most of his armor was gone, having been discarded after suffering gross damage at the hands of Tyrant.

Have I been forsaken? Argento thought to himself as he stared back up at the sky. There was no sun up there, yet the skies were not pitch-black. Would the paladin have to endure this trial without his beloved one?

For the first time in a long while, the Champion of Darkshire felt entirely too human.

He felt afraid.