Shadow Slave

He looked around, studying the barrier and the crowded pier that could be seen through the mesh. Then, suddenly, Sunny heard a familiar voice:

"Move back, damn it! Don't push! If you have a spot in the queue, present an ID! If you are a member of the First Army, come that way! Get a hold of yourself and behave like people!"

He looked around and saw a tall, handsome man with indigo eyes and hair that seemed somewhere between black and blue standing in front of the barrier, struggling to hold back the panicked crowd.

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

Pushing closer to the man, he called out:

"Naeve? What the hell are you doing here?"

The man — it was indeed Master Naeve of the House of Night — blinked a couple of times, then looked in his direction with a confused expression.

"...Sunny? Gods, it's you! What are... ah, doesn't matter. I'm now in charge of boarding, I guess."

Sunny led his group to the barrier, stopping right in front of the Nightwalker. Naeve gestured for a nearby Awakened to assume his position and took a step to the side.

He gave Sunny a somber look.

"That ship over there is where I'm assigned to. We are going to leave once we're at capacity… actually, we are already over capacity. But a few more people can still be squeezed in, so..."

Sunny frowned.

"What about Bloodwave?"

The Nightwalker sighed.

"He led the other ship away a few hours ago, with Saint Tyris aboard. There will be more ships tomorrow, and more the day after that… if the Winter Beast does not arrive sooner. But Uncle won't be coming back. He'll guard the strait until the… until the relocation is over. And then, we will resume evacuating people over the ocean, to the Northern Quadrant."

Sunny nodded.

'Figures.'

"Listen…"

Naeve spoke first, interrupting him:

"Do you need to get on the ship?"

Sunny grew quiet, suddenly ashamed for no reason. Strangely, he felt thankful to the Nightwalker for not forcing him to say it aloud.

few moments of awkward silence, Sunny shook his

I just need to

whenever they wished. Even if their tether remained in the Antarctic Center, a Saint would then be able to bring them back to the waking world, to a safer region. Granted, there were no Saints on

an instantaneous process. It required some time and absolute concentration, so doing it in the middle of a battle was usually impossible. Any Ascended that remained in the city would have to travel to the Dream Realm before the Winter Beast arrived, or risk

taking up a spot on a ship would

.

had long decided to stay and try to stall

He looked at Naeve.

one.

Professor Obel, and the members of his cohort. Naeve looked at them,

His face fell.

hesitated for a few moments, then

will give you those. Beyond that, however… I can get the rest of your cohort onboard, too. Members of the First Army have a priority right to be evacuated. But those additional spots, they will come at

paused, and then added

is going to be the last batch

his words, the mesh barrier suddenly slid into the ground with a metallic screech. The soldiers started

a moment. His

'So…'

His heart grew heavy.

this is what

spots... or having to displace civilians who had

turned around, looking at them. Kim, Luster,

was he supposed to

'Curse it all…'

faces of his soldiers, Belle, Dorn,

at

moment, Sunny felt as though his heart was pierced by a

man met his gaze, and the two of them remained motionless for several seconds, as if having a

Sunny looked at the mob of frightened refugees crowding behind the

He sighed.

Why the hell did I want to be an officer? Gods… no amount of the damned contribution points was worth

his back

Professor Obel. You go

gently pushed her forward. They moved past Naeve, the young woman

as she did, Professor

though, was not too gentle. The two stumbled past Naeve, ending up on the other

the last people to be let through. A moment later, the barrier rose with a screech, and a wall of alloy mesh cut off the pier from the rest of

and Belle remained on one

Beth were on the