Shadow Slave

Sunny crawled onto the shore and lay on the cold stones of the pebble beach for a bit, breathing heavily. It was incredibly nice to lie on solid ground again, but at the same time, his body felt heavy and cumbersome. A part of it had to do with spending some time in the depths of the ocean, and a part of it was simply because he was still tired and low on essence.

'Curse it...'

He had enough sense left, at least, to let one shadow slide off his body and take a look around to make sure that there were no enemies in his immediate vicinity.

There were none, at least not close by. There was only Naeve, who seemed to be doing a little bit better than Sunny. The Nightwalker took a few deep breaths, then slowly sat up.

"We... we actually made it. Gods, I really did not expect to live through this one."

He glanced at Sunny, receiving a vague gesture of confirmation. Sunny shared the feeling.

Naeve grasped his shoulder for a moment, then asked with a hint of morbid curiosity in his voice:

"I low did you manage to kill that horror, anyway? Such a devastating mental attack... even Uncle failed to resist it."

Sunny remained motionless for a few seconds, pushed himself off the ground with a tired groan, and glanced at the scion of Night somberly.

Spitting out the Essence Pearl, he then grimaced and said: " I guess it was just fate... that fiend was fated to die by my hand, and so, fate helped me kill it."

Naeve smiled weakly, then looked away.

"Never took you for a fatalist."

That was when a third figure rose from the water. Bloodwave walked onto the shore, his eyes glinting with shades of deep blue and indigo. Drops of water were rolling down his smooth ebony skin, contours of steel muscles clearly visible under it.

looking into the distance. Then, he sighed, and suddenly disappeared. A strong gale threw a scattering of pebbles into the air, making Sunny cover his

is that

the direction where Bloodwave had

"No..."

Naeve's voice sounded defeated.

as they fell from the empty sky. There were. no brood beasts in sight, and the roar of the distant cannonade was much

All good signs.

one saw the

the battlements were. now dark. There was movement in the breach, silhouettes who looked like people walking between the rubble with unsteady steps. Beyond that, Sunny could see nothing else. lіghtnоvеlwоrld․соm ѕhоuld nоt bе іgnоrеd ․․․ Remembering the

been rampaging among the remaining abominations. The ships anchored near the fortress were intact, as well. Whatever damage had been done

Pearl and the Nimble Catch. Black

the crestfallen

"Lets go."

made their

they approached, more details

protecting the Terror — thousands of them, all slain despite their dreadful power. it

former residents of LO49, who had finally found their final resting place thousands of kilometers away from the distant research base. Perhaps they would have been glad to lay on

the bodies of the First Army soldiers among the dead thralls, too. Mundane humans, Awakened... there were too

bitter

part of

been drawn away by the defenders of the port. While Sunny was fighting the Sybil in the depths of the ocean, these men and women were dying here on the shore to give

accomplishment... however, it did put it in

once, years ago, while driving him

survive in the