Shadow Slave

For a moment or two, Sunny's mind was empty. He crawled back, looking up at the familiar figure towering above him.

Verne… it was Verne. There was no mistake.

…Or something wearing Verne's corpse, at least.

His shadow was much more vast and dreadful than a human's shadow was supposed to be.

The hollow gaze of the dead Master pursued Sunny, his face still and unmoving like a mask. Behind him, the dark waves stirred, and more figures rose from the water. Men, women… dozens of them, hundreds even. They marched forward like an army of the dead, silent and emotionless, their eyes drowning in darkness.

All their shadows were wrong.

The people of LO49 that Sunny had left to die. He recognized all of them, staring at the undulating surface of the ocean in horror.

'The… the Terror…'

Strangely, it was the contemptuous laugh of the cursed sword that shattered his paralysis.

"Look, Lost from Light… your sins have come to haunt you!"

Sunny shuddered, coming to his senses.

'What sins, you bastard? I did everything I could to save them!'

The insidious voice laughed again, then whispered, its hissing words falling like drops of poison:

"Weakness is also a sin, you pitiful worm… it is the greatest sin of them all…"

snarled, then rose to his feet and froze for a split

There were tall cliffs between the ocean and the northern wall of Falcon Scott, so nothing could escape the shore without being torn to shreds by the

garrison. Bloodwave and the Awakened of the House of Night were also there, protecting the anchored ships and overseeing

enthralled corpses were not going to put a dent in the defenses of the port. As for the

through Sunny's mind, he saw something that made his blood run cold. There, behind the slowly advancing figures of the drowned residents of LO49, the black water seethed and boiled, releasing even more thralls. Nightmare Creatures… thousands of them… were rising from the waves, all moving with the same silent,

step back, then steeled himself and raised

of refugees were currently there, with even more already on the ships. Thankfully, the elevator

threat. Powerful beams of light fell from above, illuminating the quiet horde.

But it didn't.

obliterating onslaught of heavy rounds, all that came were a few sporadic streams

of the

chill

'The hex…'

a chance to

trying to deflect the incoming attack, but his reaction was too slow. A devastating blow sent him flying backwards, the

'Curse it…'

been before falling prey to the Terror.

neglectful fool,

the hexed residents were capable of showing unnatural strength. Why would the slaves be

of civilians… and thousands upon thousands of

everyone seemingly blind to

situation was not

Sunny forced himself to rise once

'No, not everyone…'

were still firing their rifles. That meant