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…"

his feet and froze for a

now behind the city. 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 defensive armaments… granted, most of the First Army forces were currently

of the House of Night were also there, protecting the anchored ships

to put a dent in

LO49, the black water seethed and boiled, releasing even more thralls. Nightmare Creatures… thousands of

involuntary step back, then steeled himself and raised the

more already on the ships. Thankfully, the elevator platforms leading to Falcon Scott were empty, the evacuation stopped

spotted the new threat. Powerful beams of light fell from above, illuminating the quiet horde. A instant later, a hail of bullets was supposed

But it didn't.

obliterating onslaught

on the wall of

a chill run

'The hex…'

a chance to finish the

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

'Curse it…'

enemy's power based on how powerful the thralls had been before falling prey to the Terror. Whatever the creature had done to them… had made them into… was much more dangerous than their

neglectful

already known that the hexed residents were capable of showing

or so Awakened, close to a thousand mundane soldiers, several hundreds of

seemingly blind to their

was not

true fear for the first time in a long while, Sunny forced himself to rise once

'No, not everyone…'

their rifles. That meant that the creature's hex was not absolute. With so many residents around, it