Shadow Slave

Changing Star was in a watchtower near the outer edges of the camp, observing the ongoing battle. Her gaze was locked on the lustrous figure of Summer Knight, who stood like a fortress amidst the attacking Nightmare Creatures, cutting them down with his flowing lance.

Sunny approached and stared at the slaughter, as well, wondering how was it that the Saint had not gotten a single drop of blood on his armor. Was that a skill one could learn? The black silk of the Graceless Dusk always remained pristine, rejecting any kind of taint, but the same could not be said about his skin... and hair, especially hair. Washing blood out of his hair was a real chore.

Which was one of the reasons Sunny had enjoyed the few months of being a scout and never getting his own hands dirty, instead relying on shadows to do the killing for him.

"That guy, Summer Knight, is both deadly on the battlefield and nice in person. Makes me wonder if he really is a Saint... every other Transcendent I know is either the stern stoic type, vaguely sinister, or completely insane. He really doesn't fit."

Neph glanced in his direction and smiled with the corner of her mouth.

"Maybe you just attract these kinds of people."

Sunny coughed.

Come to think of it... stern and stoic, vaguely sinister, and completely insane were all words that could be used to describe Nephis, as well.

She looked back to the battlefield and added:

"But you are right. Sir Gilead is somewhat of an outlier among the Saints. He is too... straightforward. What you see is what you get. Honor, valiance, loyalty... and all that. He is the picture of a noble knight."

Sunny remained silent for a moment.

"Is that a bad thing?"

He certainly thought that it was. A person who proclaimed these virtues was either a hypocrite or dangerously naive - gods only knew which option was worse.

However, Sunny wanted to hear Neph's answer.

She shrugged.

"Not usually. But in the case of Summer Knight, it presents a contradiction. What is a person like that doing serving the King of Swords? And not just as a vassal, but as a direct retainer of clan Valor. A tool in their machinations."

a few

to do with his

looked at Nephis

are you doing serving the

little wider, and white

valiant, or loyal. I am

He scoffed.

I

framework of the alloy

the same time, he sent Neph

did Morgan want to talk to

the alloy bar by his

of them, at the moment, and keeping each one contained

for

Fire Keepers? Are they going

her head a

cohort will enter first, followed by two others. A month later, two more cohorts will challenge the Second Nightmare. The last two will go after... if... the first challengers

Sunny blinked.

command close to fifty Masters. Some might die

for this exact reason - not because they were powerful Awakened, but because each

had built had the potential to dramatically shift the balance of power between the great clans. No wonder Nephis seemed to be in a hurry to send the Fire Keepers into the Seeds... the emissaries of Song

great clans started in earnest, Beastmaster would without a doubt aim to destroy the Fire Keepers before they

'How complicated.'

while, choosing his words carefully. Eventually, he spoke... thought...

to eavesdrop on

Nephis glanced at him.

By pure

He smiled.

however, the smile disappeared from

forward, pretending to study