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:

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

about the accommodations at that moment, so he simply nodded. The first point of Quentin's short report

'No Nightmare Creatures, yet..."

could 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 had stayed back to observe the surroundings and be

in the wild expanse of the Antarctic Center, it was Nightmare Creature country now. Hordes of them moved through

on the cohort's camp at any

security was a thing of the

had choices that were safe, and choices that were dangerous. But after leaving the protection of LO49 and its thick walls,

Attribute, such calculations were

and then rubbed it. He was too tired and numb to care right

a nap, then. Wake me up if there's movement

Professor Obel, Sunny climbed

to fall asleep right

into the comfortable embrace of darkness, he summoned Saint and ordered her to guard the Rhino from

all Sunny could

***

been before. The raging blizzard enveloped the world, obscuring the

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,

not smile,

not perceive any threat, he left his niche. Soon, Luster and Kim

Belle, Samara - you

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

one night of rest

felt utterly broken instead of

"So?"