Shadow Slave

While the people of the convoy were settling in to rest, Sunny observed them with a dark expression on his pale face. Finally, he winced and headed back into the Rhino.

There, the Irregulars were waiting, unsure what to do. It was not like he had answers, either, but Sunny had to decide what their next steps would be.

He hesitated for a few moments.

"Luster, Samara, and Dorn. Go to sleep and report our situation. Perhaps Army Command has some. idea about what we are dealing with here."

Despite the ominous nature of the dark tunnel, things weren't as bleak as they seemed. The convoy was cut off from the First Evacuation Army in terms of actual support, but information still flowed between the cohort and their superiors.

Somewhere in the government databases, there had to be a hint on how to escape the endless darkness. Even if no one had ever encountermi its source before, people would have clashed against something similar in the past.

...If not, Sunny would venture into the Dream Realm himself and seek out Cassie. With her powerful divination abilities, she was his best bet. More than that, he could transport food and other resources from the Ivory Tower with the help of the Covetous Coffer, so his people were not going to starve.

For now, time was not their enemy. They just had to find a way to solve the puzzle, and escape.

He sighed.

'Unless something changes for the worse...'

to any case, there was no point in panicking yet. Sunny watched as three of his soldiers climbed into the sleeping pods, then sent the rest to keep watch over the refugees.

The oppressive veil of darkness that muted his senses was still there, grinding on Sunny's nerves. He was tired, too.

'At least there is no Call here.'

at all. Everywhere else in the Antarctic Center, it kept whispering quietly into the ears of Awakened, but here in the dark tunnel, the whispers were gone. lie was not sure

'We'll see soon.'

temporary camp, Sunny climbed into a sleeping niche himself. Things were going to get better after he slept... if nothing else, his reserves of essence would be somewhat

***

of the ditch that he had crawled into after being gutted by the Forsaken Knight, and of cold, overflowing darkness. That was an unpleasant surprise, since he had grown accustomed to sleeping peacefully - ever since the Kingdom of Hope, his dreams were usually guarded by Nightmare. If a bad dream appeared, it was promptly destroyed or subjugated

slumbering after receiving

'...Too bad.'

to, Sunny went to the command suite of the Rhine and studied the monitors to get a glimpse of the convoy's camp. Everything seemed to be in order... the shadows would have woken him up if anything happened, but

brew himself some coffee. Some time later, carrying a steaming cup, Sunny returned to the living area and leaned on a bulkhead. With nothing else to do, he simply stared at the closed panels that hid the sleeping

sent to the Dream Realm were going

panels slid away, revealing the insides of the

with a startled expression on

are you

the cup to his lips and look

drinking coffee, fool. What does it

opened his mouth, then closed it He seemed to

I mean, what are you doing in my

finally looked around, realizing that he was inside the Rhino. However,

is not

the young man's

you think that you are inside a

a couple of

You go to sleep in the real world, and are sent

Realm."

'Don't tell me...'