Shadow Slave

'Well... that's new...'

Sunny had lived through many unthinkable disasters, managing to survive in the most dire and seemingly inescapable situations. The improbable tales of his close brushes with death could probably fill a book.

However, he had definitely never had a titan fall on his head.

'What the hell is this?!'

The great scaled beast was plummeting to the ground, its body riddled with terrible wounds. One of its three long necks was severed, the other hung lifelessly, held by only a few threads of flesh. Of its wings, only one remained. A cloud of vile miasma trailed behind it like a harrowing cloak.

The creature was maybe two dozen seconds away from crashing into the ground.

Sunny froze for a moment, stunned by the frightening visage of the titan that had been cast down from the skies. He wasn't the only one - Nephis was looking up, too, and so were the soldiers. Even the Nightmare Creatures halted, raising their bestial heads to witness the fall of one of their lords.

'Not good.'

Neph was the first to react. Her voice rolled across the battlefield, pulling the Awakened out of their shocked inaction.

"Pull back! Fighting Retreat! Move if you want to live!"

she sent

I am going to stall the horde to cover the retreat. You... you do as you

words was clear. What

Help me.

the nature of their bond, she

Sunny hesitated.

Those who remained doubled their efforts to resist the flood

of those who had stayed behind to retreat. Like that, alternating between running and fighting, the Fire Keepers, the Wolves, and the Nightsingers started to move away from the perceived impact

battle, you were risking your life, after all. But with the help

the fire seemed to be absorbed into her radiant figure. Clad in black armor and wreathed in

Sunny sighed.

I wish,

was going for was that of someone who would never retreat from a trivial nuisance like a plummeting

the gate of the Shadow Lantern, he called forth all the shadows that were stored

off a wide swath of the battlefield. The tide of Nightmare

same time, far to his left, Nephis unleashed her flames. The wrought fire that she had wrapped tightly around her armor and

fan. It swallowed many ranks of Nightmare Creatures - some were torn to tiny pieces and turned to ash,

abominations - half of the

both of them had spent the lion's share of their remaining essence to produce this wide-scale effect. The wall was already cracking, and the wave was already