Shadow Slave

True darkness was different from light and shadows.

Shadows existed in places where light was obscured or could not reach. If the shadow was vast and deep enough, people mistook it for darkness. but all it truly was was the absence of light.

True darkness. however. was more than that. it was an elemental force of its own. one that was both independent turd opposed to light. Instead of a simple lack of light, pure darkness was its rival.

And. since light and shadows always went hand in hand, it was also the enemy of shadows... strange as it may sound.

That was why Sunny suddenly felt the cold touch of unease when he discovered its presence.

True darkness was exceedingly rare and mysterious. He had only encountered it once before, in the ruined cathedral of the Dark City. where it had been born of and controlled by the cathedral's guardian... the Forsaken Knight. The bastard that had gutted him like a pig.

In fact. that unfortunate encounter had been the fault of the darkness that the Fallen Devil wielded. if not for its veil, Sunny might have not allowed the black knight to get so close.

That was because his eyes. which were capable of peering through any shadow. were, as blind in true darkness as that of a mundane human. Sunny had not seen the approaching Forsaken Knight in the Shroud of darkness, and now, he could not see into the depths of the tunnel.

Worse still...

The Fallen Devil ot' the ruined cathedral had only controlled a modest amount of true darkness. Here in the tunnel, however... there was a whole ocean of it.

Sunny grimaced.

goes the hope that there are

sentries for a minute or two, then turned around and

for a few

vehicles needed to be repaired, and the wounded

the Dcvouring Cloud moved on? They had to wait until the swarm passed

was exhausted. as

he fell on one of the seats

like we jumped out of the frying pan straight into the

came from going underground... every time Sunny had, something nasty had been waiting for him

the tunnel

Sunny tried to empty his mind and concentrate on circulating what little essence he had left through

next,

***

the injured soldiers. Kim and Luster were performing field repairs on the civilian transports. The Sleeper was creating a new batch of poisoned bullets to replace those expended during the

Dorn had nothing to do. which was why Sunny chose them to accompany him on a scouting mission. He wanted to find out how far the exit from

the terrain was too uneven to build straight roads. Whenever a road met a mountain outcropping that was too wide to go around, though. people had often chosen to simply

tunnels varied greatly. from several dozen meters to ten kilometers or more. Most of them had been created during the Dark Times. Later, when the constant wens, environmental cataclysms, and the descent of the Nightmare Spell had reduced human population and concentrated it inside a

or stretched forward for a dozen kilometers. Considering

Sight, he glanced at Belle

"Are you ready?"

They nodded.