Shadow Slave

'Damnation!'

Sunny scrambled to his feet, hastily dismissing the Midnight Shard and grabbing his bow. On the screen of the communicator, Jet's face disappeared, replaced by an incoming message that named the section of the wall he and his cohort were supposed to go to.

'South...'

This time, they were meant to fight right above the main gates of the city, on the part of the defensive barrier that faced inland - and where the battle was going to be the fiercest. It seemed that Army Command was finally done holding the Irregulars in reserve.

Sunny glanced at the clock. It was just past the earliest time the members of his cohort could return from the Dream Realm, if they had chosen to sleep tonight.

'That's good.'

He dashed to the pilot's cabin of the Rhino and ran the vehicle through the startup procedure. The APC sluggishly came to life, making many sounds that were probably not a excellent sign.

As Sunny waited, he mentally went over each member of his cohort, thinking about what task he would assign them and whether their Flaws would be detrimental in this particular battle. The chances of that were low, but he still needed to check.

No one with an especially crippling Flaw would have made it through years of service, and soldiers were not required to disclose them - sharing something that personal and potentially dangerous could only be done voluntarily. There was nothing about the Flaws in the dossiers Sunny had read, but after spending months fighting side by side with his people, he deduced most of them.

The Flaws of the Irregulars were indeed not too dire, and most of his people were mature Awakened who had had at least a decade to learn how to deal with them. Quentin, for example, seemed to be unable to break a promise. Kim was naturally unassuming. Samara had a leisurely rate of soul essence regeneration. Belle had to work especially hard on his impulse control. Luster... well, that one was beautiful apparent.

Dorn's Flaw was the cruelest, but it would only become detrimental years from now. His body was slowly, but constantly growing... and would most likely collapse under its own weight one day, some time in the future.

Nothing that would play a role in today's battle, though.

'All good.'

the Rhino opened, making the eerie wailing of the sirens much louder. The members of his cohort rushed in, summoning their

"Captain! Everyone's here!"

get to the cabin, Sunny lowered himself into the driver's seat and sent the Rhino forward. His driving skills were not really top-notch... or any good,

ready. You all remember the plan,

stage in the battle against the Devouring Cloud, the Irregulars had come up with a few strategies in

"Yes, sir!"

Sunny nodded.

Gods know we're going

his comrades, Luster crossed his arms. "Hey! That thing really

five most deadly Nightmare Creatures in the region... you call that

And I survived meeting

concentrated on controlling

Rhino sped through the streets

by now - the air raid sirens had sent the refugees scrambling to get inside. He could see

him a sandwich. Hopefully, his family had a room below ground... if not, surviving the Devouring Cloud might

'Concentrate.'

the wall. Not bothering to park it

of perpetual, organized chaos - more so today than it had been before. A tense, anxious mood hung in the

thought that he could already hear the distant, low hum

"Look alive!"

through. Sunny made sure to put on the most calm and arrogant expression he