Shadow Slave

After an eventful night, Sunny left the dormitory in a much improved mood. The air outside was frigid with bone-chilling cold, hilt it actually felt pleasant against his bruises. Sunny headed in the direction of the barracks, whistling a simple tune under his nose. As he walked, one of his shadows flew toward the distant ramparts to check if everything was alright there.

Apart from the fact that soldiers were miserable because of the heinous cold, even more so than usual, the situation seemed to be under control. Disparate groups of Nightmare Creatures were throwing themselves against the ramparts, some larger than the others, but it was nothing that the army could not handle.

‘Everything seems fine, for now...’

Sunny was still hurting all over, but at least he was capable of walking without a limp now. The barracks were a considerable distance away, but there was no rush. He. enjoyed this rare moment of peace a great deal, studying the city as he traversed it.

Falcon Scott... was much emptier now. miraculously, the First Army had actually managed to evacuate most of the two hundred million refugees. Now, less than two tenths of that number remained, not nearly enough to make the city feel crowded. Even though countless people fought and sacrificed to make it happen, Sunny couldn’t help but feel that this emptiness was the direct result of his actions.

It was nice to see his labor bear fruit.

Among the ancient heroes Nephis sometimes liked to talk about, there was one named Heracles, who had apparently accomplished twelve labors. Sunny wondered what that guy would think about defending this damn city.

Well, from the descriptions, Heracles seemed like no more than an Awakened with a moderately powerful physical Aspect... maybe a rather average Ascended. He would probably think that Falcon Scott was a hellish nightmare, and die in the first few days of the siege.

‘Huh...’

As Sunny walked, a swift shadow fell from the sky, and a black crow suddenly landed on his shoulder. The crow stared at him for a moment, and then cawed:

“Sah-nee! Sah-nee!”

Sunny spared him a somber glance.

“What?”

The Echo waved its wings.

“Come! Come!”

disappeared in the

and dove into the shadows. seemed that his good mood was not meant to

seconds for the security officers to confirm his identity a useless formality, considering that pretty much everyone knew what he looked like by now

Irregulars usually gathered. As he was approaching,

‘What the...’

him. The wall in front of her was

Her usually calm

beat. He had never seen Master

her eyes for

are here..-

a chill run down his spine, Sunny steeled himself

“What happened?”

When she

She finally

***

While the elevator was taking

you mean, lost a fight?

Jet grit her teeth.

hour ago. Roan sent me a message personally right before you

meant that Army Command had chosen to keep it a secret for now. And if Army Command

things couldn’t be

Feather compound, Sunny shivered again and noticed that it had gotten even colder outside. Before, he had not

it, curse it,

let arrived, a familiar young woman appeared to guide them inside. l-le briefly felt glad to see that she had

Sunny was... shaken.

to think about what her fall would mean for

each other, pressing down

compound. The young Awakened spared the door an anguished look, then stepped aside, gesturing for them to come in. Inside, they saw an empty hall with some medical equipment and a