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..."

coughed, Naeve looked at them

"You know each other?"

a little startled,

of the House of Night. The two of us

each other, then exchanged nods. There was no real tension between them, but Sunny noticed that they were not entirely at ease with each other, unlike how they

while Naeve came from the great clan Night. Politically, there was somewhat of a wall between them... which was probably only made taller by the fact that Valor and Song

it continue to stay on the sidelines, though? That, nobody

Roan offered a handshake to Naeve, then glanced at the column of battered

many people do

extremely motivated to get his people out of the open and to

Looking back, he said:

twenty Sleepers, as well as my own cohort of Irregulars. Oh, and a dozen

and Roan's griffin were currently having a staring contest, so the

Master gave

really brought these people here

Sunny smiled bleakly.

them, yes. A few hundred were with me from before that, though. These poor souls have crossed more than three thousand

his

words were encouraging, but his tone was

how hard it was to escort such a caravan across the ravaged expanse of the Antarctic Center... but there had been tens of millions of people in Erebus

their way to Falcon Scott or other siege capitals on their own, but the loss of life

a sigh, he looked

to do this? I suspect that fighting our way to the city