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:

on them. In case

at that moment, so he simply nodded. The first point

'No Nightmare Creatures, yet..."

change at any

fact, he had taken a risk by allowing his soldiers to sleep and leaving the Rhino, even if one of his shadows

the Antarctic Center, it was Nightmare Creature country now. Hordes of them moved through the mountains, many spilling down onto the

transient swarm could have stumbled on the cohort's camp at any moment, so it was

a thing of the past

choices that were safe, and choices that were dangerous. But after leaving the protection of LO49 and its thick walls, he could only choose between different degrees of danger. It

Attribute, such calculations were

covered his face with a hand and then rubbed it. He was

I am going to take a nap, then. Wake me up

bed was currently occupied by Professor Obel, Sunny climbed into one of

risky was it to fall

of darkness, he summoned

all

***

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

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

did not

Sure that his shadows and Saint did not perceive any threat, he left

Belle, Samara -

some long-awaited rest. Their exhaustion and desire to sleep were so overwhelming that they did not even linger to listen to the report that their colleagues had brought from the Dream Realm. A minute later, all

they had yesterday. Even though one night

broken instead of rested himself. However, that feeling would

"So?"