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

then, it would most likely not be

"...Go faster."

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

silent was too nerve-wracking, even for

'Curse it...'

to find a way to escape. He already knew the optimal route to take, but had a sinking feeling that it

but judging by how fast the distant sky was being devoured by it,

shape lunged at it from the darkness. Abomination's powerful jaws closed

Monster dashed forward, followed by the smaller Echo. Soon, they reached a fork in the road and stopped, unsure of where

however. His shadows had already explored both roads, confirming the information reflected on the

the Rhino reached the fork,

"Take the right path."

they wanted to have even the tiniest hope of getting out of the path

hundred meters ahead, it was blocked by

Luster saw

what

back of the

"Just plow through them!"

could they

the Rhino was already lowered. The abominations were Awakened, at best... tons of swiftly moving metal were bound to make short work of them, or if not, at least toss them off the

hint of slowing down or trying to avoid a direct collision... not that it was possible to maneuver around the abominations on

creatures had time to properly

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 armored glass, looking through it