Shadow Slave

Amiran lunged forward, calling upon his Aspect and bringing down an avalanche of destructive force upon the formation of the Song infiltrators. Two waves of crushing power rolled forward from his weapons... only to shatter against the invisible bulwark of a sonic boom.

The concrete floor was shattered as the whole factory trembled.

A moment later, a swift silhouette shot toward him from the cloud of dust - Morrow, her calm eyes full of cold murderous intent. Her shabby civilian clothes were torn, revealing glimpses of a slender enchanted armor hidden beneath.

In her hand, there was a narrow blade that seemed too fragile to be used in actual combat.

Amiran raised his sword, batting the blade away. At the same time, his hammer flew forward, the spike protruding from its top aimed precisely at the enemy's unprotected throat.

However, as soon as his sword met the steel of Morrow's weapon, there was a melodious ring. That ring suddenly magnified, crashing into him like a stone wall. Grimacing from pain piercing his ears, the Knight of Valor was thrown back.

He rolled over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of his warriors. They were advancing, ready to clash with the Awakened of Clan Song... even though Amiran only saw them for a tiny sliver of a second, he noticed two things.

First, the blood spilling from the breach in the roof of the main production hall. Second, the fact that only four of the six cohorts seemed to have made it down.

Wrath ignited in his heart.

'Treacherous worms...'

One of Morrow's cohorts was missing, and now, two of his own had failed to descend. It was not hard to understand what had most likely happened - the damned witch must have sent some of her people to ambush the warriors of Valor on the upper levels of the factory. To sacrifice their lives so that the rest could escape.

was of no use. Even with the missing cohort buying the infiltrators time

was desperate. And

faced was none other than Amiran. The sword of

instant. Landing on his feet, Amiran calmly looked up and saw the slender blade falling on his head. His helmet was probably strong enough to withstand the sharp edge, but it was forged out of the best of Valor's steel - should the strike land, there would be a ringing, and that ringing would be turned into another sonic

that appeared in the air above Amiran. He also wrapped both his weapons with thin layers of force - he was a fast learner, after all. After that first strike, Morrow would find it hard to

lethal battle, so did their soldiers. The Awakened of Valor descended on the formation

the Awakened of Song were not so easily

***

'Damn it...'

one of her soldiers fall to the ground in a fountain of blood. His armor was shattered, and the wretched warrior

the King of Swords fell, too, his back tore

Morrow missed which of her people had avenged their brother. It must have been a ranged attack, since no one was close enough to deliver a melee strike. There, at

A good shot, then.

the Song's messengers. Bright smiles bloomed on their faces. The humming was not

A song of slaughter.

has

fight with Knight Amiran, preventing him from devastating the formation. Of course, the dog was also preventing her from

tough. It had to be a Transcendent Memory created by the best forgemasters of Clan Valor, since even her blade - bestowed by the Queen herself - was powerless

more frustratingly, the Knight was using his Aspect to wrap himself in a thin layer of protective force, stifling all

was just a matter of time before he made a

Morrow was confident...