Shadow Slave

Eventually, Sunny climbed out of the sleeping niche and went about the business of managing the caravan. They had made it far into the mountains and were already moving north, toward their true goal.

The blizzard was still raging, reducing visibility to almost zero. The landscape was as grim and foreboding as ever.

Surrounding areas needed to be scouted, maps needed to be updated, reports needed to be received, and a hundred other things demanded his attention.

Before getting down to it, Sunny spared a few moments to stare at the grey fabric and lusterless black leather of the Puppeteer's Shroud.

Who could have thought that he would be reduced to seriously using it again, after all that time?

'It sure is much more comfortable than walking around in a full plate of steel armor. Ah, the old me had it good...'

Actually, not really.

Sunny was ready to climb to the roof of the Rhino when he noticed Beth staring at him with a strange expression. He lingered for a moment.

"What?"

She blinked a couple of times, then pulled her gaze away.

"No, no... nothing..."

Sunny frowned.

"Just say it, will you?"

Beth remained silent for a second, then asked hesitantly:

"Are you... uh... are you wearing makeup?"

time, it was his

No! Why would

him a dubious look and shook her

look a

Sunny grinned.

of a marble statue, no makeup

away with a sigh

how

top of the Rhino, sighing as the

His passive resistance to the elements

the shadow he kept with himself around

comfortable. Sunny still sensed a slight chill, but it was in no way bothersome. Additionally, the winds were powerless against him. It was

Huh.

sat down on the

can get used

Antarctic Center was still hard and dangerous, but with Naeve assisting Sunny in defending the caravan, things became a little

was stationed at the

an especially dire threat demanded both of them to fight side by

'Ah. Finally, a professional...'

bone harpoon and a net woven out of unnaturally durable threads to herd and

obvious that he was not entirely comfortable fighting on land, and his Aspect powers seemed to be under severe restriction, though, so the scion of the House of Night

more

Sunny to notice the difference between the two of them. It was understandable... after all, the

a bit new to Sunny, and made him think about things that he had never

survivors joining it. By then, Sunny was secretly starting to thank the gods that Naeve's ship had suffered catastrophic damage. Without the additional supplies looted from its holds, he would have to

was, though, he had enough to feed everyone and arm those who could and knew how to fight, for

the only other person other than Beth who showed any reaction was Kim. At some point, she gave