Shadow Slave

The Fire Keepers had retraced their steps, returning to where they had left the vehicles. The mood among the veterans of the Forgotten Shore was neutral... it was as if they had fought a mundane battle, not one that would become the opening act of a bloody confrontation between two great clans.

Sunny, however, felt slightly dejected. He had no pity for the Awakened of the great clan Song - they would not have any pity on him if the situation was reversed, either. And yet, all of it was such a shameful waste. Valor and Song were wasting the lives of skilled warriors, and in the middle of the Chain of Nightmares, no less.

That was both odious and the reason for why those who followed their orders did not deserve his pity... or his mercy.

The armored vehicles moved across the desolate landscape of Antarctica, returning victorious to the camp. They navigated the treacherous expanse of countless rivers and lakes and rejoined the main force of the Valor clan close to dawn - which was not much different from night and day in Antarctica.

Their return did not cause much fanfare, mostly because few people knew of the impending ambush. Those who did or were smart enough to figure things out on their own, however, paid the small column of vehicles close attention. Their faces changed slightly when they saw that none of the Fire Keepers seemed to be missing, or even bear any wounds.

The skilled Awakened of the great clan were begrudgingly impressed, if not envious.

Sunny left the APC with the rest of the Forgotten Shore Awakened to stretch his legs. Nephis and Cassie left to make a report to Morgan, but he stayed behind.

There was no point in being there personally, anyway... one of his shadows was going instead, hidden within Neph's.

The conversation went more or less exactly as he had expected. Morgan seemed both pleased and disappointed by the easy victory the Fire Keepers had achieved. She had expected more from the forces of the famed Clan Song. Madoc offered Nephis mild praise with a polite smile.

Both were impatient to get to the real bloodshed.

Changing Star herself remained impassive. She did not even seem moved by the boon she must have received for wiping out three cohorts of elite Awakened... if their cores were fully saturated, the bounty of souls she had collected had to be close to a thousand fragments.

Sunny did not summon the runes to check since he saw no reason to.

Not long after their return, the command to break camp was given, and the soldiers prepared to continue the march. Soon, the convoy started to roll forward...

sudden halt not a

on stopped so abruptly that

'What the hell?'

of disturbance outside, with soldiers exiting the vehicles and looking around in confusion. The shouts of commanders echoed in the air,

of the disturbance became clear - one of the APCs had failed to start and rejoin the convoy. It just stood there, unmoving, isolated from

chill creep up

its hatch opened, and Morgan emerged, her vermilion eyes radiating such a sharp

the convoy, her red cloak trailing behind her like a river of

Madoc and Nephis followed.

used Shadow Step to quietly appear next to

'...This should be interesting.'

silent APC, which was already surrounded by a ring of Awakened soldiers. One

please, it

sliced through the armored alloy of the vehicle's hatch as if it was paper, and a moment later, the dark entrance to the interior

a second behind. Sunny and Nephis glanced at each other,

not know what he had expected to see inside the silent vehicle - a scene of revolting butchery or a hidden abomination, perhaps - but what he had

no signs of the struggle... and

over to the pilot's cabin and reached behind

mistaken. There was something left inside the APC, and she

with dull-colored fletching and an arrowhead

teeth, her

hiss of a

"Silent Stalker..."

around the empty vehicle