Shadow Slave

The Rhino flew forward, somehow navigating the twists and turns or the narrow mountain road without plummeting off its crumbling edge. There was nothing but darkness anead, with snow swirling as it melted in the powerful beams of light that shot from the roof of the heavy vehicle. For once, Luster seemed serious and completely concentrated, his fingers wrapped around the yoke so tight that they had turned white.

The convoy did its best to keep up. The civilian transports were sandwiched between the APC and the military vehicles, shaking precariously as they rolled forward at high speed.

Sergeant Gere and his soldiers were hastily loading the poisoned ammunition into the feeding mechanisms of the turrets, turning their barrels east and aiming spotlights at the sky.

The veil obscuring the horizon was getting closer and closer.

'Damn, damn, damn...'

Sunny was standing behind Luster, perceiving the world through the eyes of his shadows. They were gliding far ahead, scouting the path in search of serious obstacles and possible shelter.

Shelter... there was none to be found.

And the devouring swarm was too fast to outrun.

Suddenly, his head jerked sideways. A dozen or so meters ahead, a swift silhouette lunged at the approaching Rhino from a deep crack in the cliff's face. All Sunny had time to see was a powerful body, a glint of madness burning in a pair of frenzied eyes, and dozens of sharp claws that shimmered as if made of metal.

Before the attacking Nightmare Creature that had laid in ambush received a chance to collide with the APC, a black arrow pierced its neck, throwing the abomination back and nailing it to the stone slope. Standing on the roof of the Rhino, Saint drew the string of Morgan's Warbow again as the pinned corpse flashed by.

Luster flinched, but kept the vehicle steady.

"...That was a close one, sir."

Sunny had nothing to answer.

they could muster, but advancing in such a reckless manner brought its own risks. Not being able to discover ambushes in advance was one of

then, it would most likely not be

"...Go faster."

unnatural. They would not be able to see the flying horrors with their

was too nerve-wracking, even

'Curse it...'

his mind was the image of the map of the mountains. Studying it, Sunny was feverishly trying to find a way to escape. He already knew the optimal route to take, but had a sinking feeling that

by how fast the distant sky was being devoured by it, their chances

jaws closed on the monster's throat, and then, the Echo threw it into the abyssal darkness of the gorge with a

by the smaller Echo. Soon, they reached a fork in

explored both roads,

before the Rhino reached the fork,

"Take the right path."

even the tiniest hope of

was blocked by the

saw them,

what do we

back of the pilot's seat and leaned

"Just plow through them!"

could they

best... tons of swiftly moving metal were bound to make short work

followed the instruction, accelerating toward the fearsome Nightmare Creatures without even a hint of slowing down or trying to avoid

had time to

blood and mangled flesh. Without skipping a bit, Luster prevented the vehicle from lurching sideways with a small shift of the yoke and moved his gaze to the screen showing the feed from the external cameras. Until the wipers managed to clean the