Shadow Slave

The mighty griffin landed in front of the caravan, a cloud of snow rising into the air around it. A moment later, a human figure jumped off its back, landing not too far away from Sunny and Naeve.

The man in front of them was tall and had broad, powerful shoulders. His light armor was crafted from the adamantine scales of an unknown monster, with a blue scarf wrapped carelessly around his neck. His hair was the color of straw, as was his thick beard.

The stranger's eyes were bright blue and piercing.

...Master Roan had not changed a lot since the last time he and Sunny met. Sky Tide's husband seemed a little more rugged and weary, but other than the length of his bear, everything else was exactly the same.

'How the hell is he even more handsome now?1 Sunny blinked a couple of times, then smiled a little.

It was good to see Roan alive and well.

In retrospect, his sudden appearance made sense. Since the whole of the White Feather clan had been banished to Antarctica, where else would Roan be?

The man in question, meanwhile, studied the caravan for a few moments, and then headed toward Sunny and Naeve. As he approached, he paused slightly and stared at them with a strange expression. Then, a surprised smile appeared on Roan's face.

"Sunless? Wait... it's you? You're the famous Devil of Antarctica?"

Sunny shifted a little, then cleared his throat in embarrassment.

"Uh... yes? That's what people call me these days, I guess. Anyway, it is very nice to see you again, Master Roan. Really."

Roan remained silent for a few moments, then suddenly laughed.

"Ah... why did nobody tell me? It makes sense, though! You do love striking deals with people... in exchange for soul shards..."

looked at

"You know each other?"

a little

of the House of Night. The two of

Ascended briefly studied each other, then exchanged nods. There was no real tension between them, but Sunny noticed that they were not entirely at

vassal clan of Valor, while Naeve came from the great clan Night. Politically, there was somewhat of a wall between them...

the sidelines,

to Naeve, then glanced

many people

over, and they were about to discuss business. Sunny was extremely motivated to get his people out of the open and to

Looking back, he said:

one hundred Awakened and around twenty Sleepers, as well as my own cohort of Irregulars. Oh, and a dozen

Roan's griffin were currently having a staring contest,

Master gave him a long

brought these people here all the

Sunny smiled bleakly.

them, yes. A few hundred were with me from before that, though. These poor souls

for a moment, then briefly grasped his shoulder.

but his tone was

how hard it was to escort such a caravan across the ravaged expanse of

were more survivors than those gathered by Sunny, who had found their way to Falcon Scott or other siege capitals on their own, but the loss of life must

a sigh,

I suspect that