Shadow Slave

There was a furious battle. Saints and Titans clashed, making the ground shake and the sky shatter. A boundless horde of Nightmare Creatures flowed like a sea of darkness, assaulting the formation of human soldiers. A massive tortoise Echo towered above the battlefield, with a stone fort standing on its impregnable shell.

Mordret fought in the battle. Limited to the power level of an Awakened, he drowned in the tide of abominations, slaying one after another as he protected the lives of his fellow warriors. Thanks to his swift sword, none of the members of his cohort fell. They were victorious.

After the battle, awash in the blood of Nightmare Creatures, his companions looked at him with triumphant glee.

"Warren! Gods... I almost lost my arm. If it wasn't for you..."

"We showed them, didn't we?"

"I thought I would die there, for a moment..."

Mordret looked at them and shook his head.

"Get a grip and act with decorum worthy of the warriors of Valor. Especially you, Varo! Lady Morgan and Saint Madoc are with us. Of course, we won..."

He returned to the temporary camp with the rest of the Valor Awakened, washed the grime of the battle off himself, and attended to his duties. There was a lot to be done.

At some point, Mordret found himself ascending the carapace of the tortoise Echo to deliver an important message to his commanders. A beautiful young woman with black hair and vermilion eyes appeared to guide him through the wards. He stood a little straighter at the sight of her. It was Morgan, of course. His sister.

His uncle was also there, as domineering and dangerous as he remembered.

"Is there news, Squire Warren?"

Mordret pretended to be starstruck by the fact that Morgan knew his name as he imagined slowly dismembering and killing her. That was a nice thought.

He bowed, and then said with deep respect in his voice:

"We received word from Knight Shtad, my lady. His cohort had survived the second night and secured a fortified position. Their report indicates that the divination seems to have been correct."

His sister sighed and asked:

good news... what about the rest of the

of Valor as he hoped that their

now that we have secured several entry points... the next

His uncle finally spoke:

most important thing right now is to reinforce Shtad. His mission might very well decide the outcome of this phase of the conflict. Warren... tell your men to prepare. Once we return to the siege capital, I

the

His sister smiled.

much like

sharp blade, and his comrades are the

'Oh... well said...'

an expression of zealous devotion on his

me, Lady Morgan! Sir Madoc... we won't let you

struggled against the desire to rip them

Uncle... let's

continued to play the role of Squire Warren faithfully. He had communicated with Seishan through the mirrors, but other than that, his time was spent pretending to be a loyal warrior of

course. Well... spending

was that it made him vulnerable. Not only was Mordret's own power as a Master restrained, but the meager powers Warren possessed were not nearly enough to protect

exactly what his family was expecting, so settling for a powerless Awakened was a form of camouflage in and of

such a vessel

any kind of body is

remembered the long years he had spent as a disembodied reflection

playing

politely on the hatch of the vehicle and cleared

inviting you

familiar faces

His sullen disposition seemed to have turned more reserved, but at the same time much darker. Mordret had to

had tried to kill him on several occasions, the devious little waif somehow managed to survive. Sunless had even ruined

Shadow. Sunless was such an interesting fellow... and

wanted to rip the young man apart because of what had happened in the Ivory City, he also felt

the crimes of