Shadow Slave

The woman standing in front of Sunny was tall and slender, with long hair that fell down in a gentle cascade of pale gold. Her posture was perfectly straight, and her cold face was dazzlingly beautiful.

Sky Tide was wearing a suit of light steel armor, with pauldrons and greaves decorated with stylized feathers. The gaze of her stern amber eyes was piercing and heavy, while her strange vertical pupils resembled that of a bird of prey.

Snowflakes swirled and danced in the air, as if trying to get closer to her.

Sunny was rather startled to see the familiar Transcendent.

"Saint Tyris? What... what are you doing here?"

Sky Tide glanced at him

"Master Sunless... it is good to see you again. I am glad to find you in good health. As for why I am here, isn't it obvious? I have come to hunt the beast."

He shifted awkwardly.

"No... uh... I meant why are you here, in Antarctica?"

She stared at him expressionlessly

"White Feather clan has been tasked with supporting the evacuation effort in the Southern Quadrant."

Oh...

Suddenly, a few things clicked into place. Back when Sky Tide had killed Saint Cormac to protect Sunny and Cassie, she told them that she would be punished by the great clan Valor. She had also told them that they would not dare to penalize her too severely.

It seemed that having the Chained Isles taken away was not enough of a punishment for the willful Saint. Valor had to make a gesture by sending a token force to Antarctica, and so, the White Feather clan had drawn the short straw. It seemed that they had lost their idyllic demesne and were banished to the cold reaches of the war-torn continent, at least for the time being.

Looking around, Sunny suppressed a sad sigh. The dark and inhospitable land surrounding them was a far cry from the empyrean beauty of the Sanctuary of Noctis. He felt a bit guilty about the whole thing.

mind, though... or at

meanwhile, looked

you know each other. In any

Soon, the gaze of her striking amber eyes drifted to the

we know about

shook her

"Not much..."

looked at the youngest member of the

Sunny, do your

***

thing... do your thing? What kind of request

grumbled silently, his shadows nimbly scaled the slopes of the mountain. By now, the range of Shadow Control had

to spy on the Corrupted

of the Nightmare assaulted his mind. Now that he was observing a Category Three Gate,

wide crack that had almost split the

dark rift of the Gate pulsed inside the cavernous schism, and there was stone debris littering the immediate area around it. Many shards had rolled down the steep slopes, while a few giant boulders had even reached all the way down, smashing large parts of the outpost the Irregulars were currently hiding in and decimating the road that led to

did not notice the Nightmare

the creepy shadow, true to its name, crept closer that a sudden shiver ran through his body. Sunny noticed hundreds of shapes resting between the

as the snow covering the top of the mountain, and had a texture that resembled rock. They looked like giant

compare to the enormous abomination hiding in the shadow of the shattered peak, however. With its smooth milky-white chitin and unmoving black eyes, the jade creature resembled an oversized,

Sunny suddenly felt an

Master Jet, and Winter with a

an insect. There are around five hundred drones under its command, many of them Fallen. I've noticed at least two dozen

for a moment, and

"Kimmy!"

activated her Aspect Ability, allowing him to see the swarm of stone beetles in a new

tough carapaces, Sunny slowly listed a few vulnerable points. then shifted his gaze to the