Shadow Slave

The caverns were a Corrupted Terror's territory.

A Corrupted Terror... it had not been that long ago that Sunny would have shuddered from a mere thought of fighting a creature like that. He was still apprehensive, of course, but not nearly as much as a wise person would have been.

An abomination of that Rank and Class was not something a lone Master should have the ambition to kill - or a cohort of them, really. Sybil of the Fallen Grace, for example, had not only wiped out the entirety of LO49 and the enormous battleship sent to rescue its personnel, but also almost ended the lives of Sunny, Naeve, and Saint Bloodwave at Falcon Scott.

A Corrupted Terror was a walking disaster of chilling proportions.

...Of course, just like all people were not the same, Nightmare Creatures weren't either. One Terror could be much more dreadful than another, even within the boundaries of a same Rank. How one's Aspect countered the creature's powers, or was countered instead, also played a large role.

Sybil of the Fallen Grace, for example, had been a harrowing being even among Terrors. She had also possessed an especially insidious kind of power - the power to twist minds and subjugate living beings.

The creature hiding in the caverns of Wind Flower was entirely different.

This Terror did not possess powers that allowed it to play with its prey's mind. Neither could it destroy the prey's soul. Instead, it was viciously strong and covered by nearly impervious armor.

Or maybe it was not nearly, but absolutely impervious. At least Sunny had not been able to break it yet.

As for powers...

He wasn't sure, but it seemed like the incredible toughness of the creature's hide was a part of them. Sunny also suspected that the very existence of the underground caverns had something to do with the Terror.

If not for the fact that time on Wind Flower only encompassed a single day, who knew... perhaps, in the near future, the whole forest would have been swallowed by the growing chasm beneath it. He could also imagine entire cities turning into ruin as they collapsed into the maw of devouring earth... continents, perhaps, given enough time.

tense about clashing with the Cavern Terror. There

was clearly out of its element. Not only was it trapped on an island and surrounded by water, with no time to let its dreadful influence spread, but it was also without an army of minions. Things would have been much more dreary if the system of caves was flooded with hundreds, or even thousands, of lesser abominations with

physical defense directly countered the most threatening trait of the powerful Terror. As long as they lived long enough for her to

meant to

the cohort moved deeper into the caverns, Sunny explained all these points to

to

at her

"Why?"

pointed

this Terror now, we'll still have to face it again in the future revolutions. Her insights are much deeper than what any of us can learn from pure

for a moment, and

fact, in your place, I would have brought Cassie with me everywhere. To learn about every abomination on this

for a while, then turned

'Actually, she's right.'

dying over and over again, slowly learning more about the dreadful prisoners of Wind Flower with each death. Bringing Cassie along would have sped up the process dramatically, and even allowed him to learn things he would have never learned

Cassie would die

of being cruelly killed, watching

despite the fact that the delicate blind girl had proven her strength over and over again, she was

was quiet and unassuming, so it was not easy

and

to involve her, regardless. My progress is

large cavern. The darkness here seemed especially deep and oppressive, barely retreating from the light

moving ominously behind the thick rock