Shadow Slave

As the naval convoy moved closer and closer to Antarctica, Sunny had to accelerate his attempts to weave new and better enchantments into the Memories of his soldiers.

Although his rudimentary knowledge of sorcery was not nearly enough to create something truly powerful, he did manage to comprehensively upgrade the cohort's arsenal. Even if the modifications he had made were mostly modest, they were all targeted and suited the tasks facing the First Irregular Company.

While Sunny failed to make the Memories considerably stronger, he succeeded in tailoring them to the situation and, more importantly, to their users.

This was already enough.

Now, many of the Memories that his subordinates wielded looked rather peculiar to his eyes. If he were to touch them and peer deep inside, he would see strange weaves that combined the usual strings of ethereal light with the lightless threads made of shadow essence. The sight reminded Sunny of himself and Nephis.

And speaking of Changing Star…

A few days before the fleet reached Antarctica, the world was shaken by an emergency announcement transmitted by the government. Of course, the propaganda machine managed to present the approaching cataclysm in an easily digestible and inspiring light.

It was almost as if the Chain of Nightmares was going to be a glorious stage for heroism, valiance, and human triumph… instead of a bloody, unmitigated disaster.

However, no matter how hard the government tried, people weren't that easy to fool. Although nothing much changed for the soldiers of the First Evacuation Army, Sunny was sure that a wave of panic was spreading through the rest of the world.

The population centers of the Southern Quadrant were, of course, hit the worst. He could not even imagine what the people living there were going through… but other continents had to be consumed by fear, as well.

If something like that could happen in Antarctica, then it could happen anywhere else. The infrastructure was bound to come under terrible strain when hundreds of millions of refugees from the besieged continent arrived… if they could even be saved. What if the evacuation failed?

How did people living in South America feel, knowing that they would soon be cut off from the rest of humanity?

…No one was left unaffected by the shocking news.

of the cohort had to have seen the announcement,

going to be extremely turbulent, Sunny retreated into his cabin, spent some time establishing a new tether, and then closed

him several minutes of intense concentration to grasp the elusive sensation of the

All that remained was a slight, eerie feeling of coldness

***

months since Sunny

what did he expect? The great pagoda remained the same for thousands of years, so why would it suddenly change now. The Fire

itself, however,

large garden surrounded by a neat and tidy wooden fence. Inside, various vegetables were growing in the soil. There were also several other

probably Kaor's and Shakti's

members of Cassie's former cohort had used to be Artisans in the Bright Castle. One was

looked much more… inhabited

of years that had passed since its former captain disappeared, the flying vessel remained

Sunny sighed.

graceful lines of the

plumbing, anyway. That's what

peace and tranquility of the beautiful island for a few moments, and then headed toward

did, a thundering voice boomed behind

"Sunny!"

down, and then cautiously

was traversing the green meadow with long strides. Her eyes were

'Oh-oh.'

shadow flew across the grass,

"Sunny…"