Shadow Slave

Well, actually, it was black. Shrouded in the darkness of the long night, Sunny rode north through the wailing hurricane of snow. To his eyes, which could see through any shadows, the snow appeared as light-grey, bordering on white.

The way back was not long enough to deal with thoughts and emotions raging in his heart, but luckily, Sunny had too many worries about the future to drown in the regrets of the past.

'...Doesn't matter, anyway.'

Verne was dead, and everyone else was also dead. None of the people Sunny had come to know in the past weeks survived. Now, all he could do was make sure that his soldiers, Professor Obel, and Beth did not share their fate.

That was not going to be an easy task.

Soon, the wreckage of the old war machine appeared in view. Sunny dismissed Nightmare, walked into the rusted metal frame and lingered for a few moments in front of the Rhino.

Then, he opened the hatch and climbed inside.

Quentin, Samara, and Belle were keeping watch, each of them tense and ready for battle. Noticing him, the Irregulars sighed with relief.

"Captain. You're back."

Sunny nodded.

"Did anything happen in my absence?"

Quentin shook his head.

"There were no Nightmare Creatures yet. Professor Obel and Miss Beth were both exhausted, so they're sleeping. We settled the Professor in your quarters. I hope you do not mind."

He remained silent for a moment, then added with a hint of melancholy in his voice:

keeping an eye on them. In case one or both have become carriers of

moment, so he simply

'No Nightmare Creatures, yet..."

could change at

the Rhino, even if one of

it was Nightmare Creature country now. Hordes of them moved through

on the cohort's camp

thing of

protection of LO49 and its thick walls, he could only choose between different degrees of danger. It was

then, with his [Fated] Attribute, such calculations were more or

it. He

a nap, then. Wake

Sunny climbed

was it to fall asleep

embrace of darkness, he summoned Saint and ordered her

all Sunny could

***

The raging blizzard enveloped the world, obscuring the cold dark sky. He had been pulled out of his dreamless slumber by the

panel on the wall of the Rhino slid away, revealing a sleeping niche hidden behind it. Dorn's massive figure could be seen inside. The giant man had drawn a short straw when they were assigned the transport vehicle, since standard pods were a little bit too small for his prodigious body. Watching him climbing out of one was slightly comical, every

did not smile,

that his shadows and Saint did not perceive any threat, he left his niche. Soon, Luster and Kim

Samara

even linger to listen to the report that

studied Kim, Luster, and Dorn. They looked much better than they had yesterday. Even though one night of rest was not enough to remove all the accumulated fatigue, Awakened

felt utterly broken instead of rested himself. However, that

"So?"