Shadow Slave

A ravaged underground hall. Split concrete, old machines turned into piles of scrap, broken walls. Deep darkness chased away by the bright light of electric floodlights.

The stench of blood permeating the air.

And bodies, of course, scattered on the cracked floor. Dozens of them, all bearing terrible wounds. Bodies of the Awakened of Valor, the Awakened of Song... and one more, a ghastly hill of grey flesh that had been a Nightmare Creature before.

Morgan studied the scene of slaughter with a neutral expression as she walked among the corpses. She would linger for a few moments near one of the corpses, then indifferently move on to the next. Her vermilion eyes were cold.

Saint Gilead, the Summer Knight, was more expressive. He was kneeling in front of one of the bodies with a mournful expression on his gallant, handsome face. A heavy sigh escaped from his lips.

"Amiran..."

Morgan turned around and looked at the Transcendent.

"Oh. I am sorry, Sir Gilead. I have forgotten that the two of you were once members of the same cohort. Please accept my condolences."

Her voice did not seem too regretful, though.

Summer Knight looked down.

"Sometimes, I forget..."

She raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

The Saint lingered for a few moments, then offered her a calm gaze.

"How much I loathe you and your family."

Morgan smiled slightly and looked away.

"Well. What can I say? We are a loathsome bunch."

With that, she used her armored boot to turn one of the bodies over andasked:

"Does this make sense to you?"

Summer Knight stood up with a sigh and walked over.

"The result is outside expectations, but the sequence of events seems clear. We severely underestimated the opposition. By all accounts, Amiran should have been able to achieve a clean victory... but the presence of a Corrupted Tyrant changed things. Our estimation of Beastmaster's power needs to be adjusted. Still... he slayed the beast, even if the price was his life."

Morgan shook her head.

"Seems clear, huh?"

wound that had killed the Awakened in front of

remained motionless for a few

"...What a beautiful cut."

away and called out to one of the specialists that had been casing the scene. The man walked over and

at him

the diviners discovered

looked away in

"...Nothing, my lady."

appeared on

me that six cohorts of Valor's best, armed and armored with forged Memories, lost to

lowered his

what the evidence tells, my lady."

while, then turned and addressed a delicate young

about you, Cassia? Do you see

shifted slightly and answered in a calm

"...I see nothing."

Morgan tilted her head.

don't see anything, or that you

princess was mocking

Morgan grinned.

"Ha!"

to the Saint and pierced

least someone is not useless

Then, her expression darkened.

at the corpse laying at her feet once again and

a few moments

it the House of Night? No,

cut... just

side, Cassie swayed, struggling to catch her balance after her rapier was shattered by Morgan's

the

one. They gave a good fight, cooperating with each other so flawlessly that it almost seemed as if they shared one mind. But, in the end, the princess mercilessly drove them both

it almost unnecessary to

was little need to pretend, really - and

that was a good fight, Lady

nicked all

You did well,

catching his breath for a couple of seconds, he slowly straightened and glanced at her with a

you troubled by something? Your technique seemed

stared at him for a few moments, her face turning cold.Eventually, she said