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.

with the missing cohort buying the infiltrators time with their blood,

was desperate. And

she faced was none other than

enough to withstand the sharp edge, but it was forged out of the best of Valor's steel - should the strike land,

a shield of invisible force 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

Awakened of Valor descended on the formation of the infiltrators like a steel tide, threatening to overwhelm

of Song were not so

***

'Damn it...'

a fountain of blood. His armor was shattered, and the

King of Swords fell, too, his back tore

her people had avenged their brother. It must have been a ranged attack, since no one was close enough

A good shot, then.

Bright smiles bloomed on their faces. The humming was not an expression of some Awakened power or a harbinger of a devastating sonic attack... it was

A song of slaughter.

has a tough

the formation. Of course, the dog was also preventing her from massacring the attacking

also arrogant and rigid. Morrow had already landed half a dozen blows on his armor... the problem was that the armor was too tough. It had to be a Transcendent Memory created by the best forgemasters of Clan Valor, since even her blade - bestowed by

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

just a matter of time before he

Morrow was confident...