Shadow Slave

In the morning, Rain crawled out of her tent feeling rested and refreshed. The sun had barely shown itself, rising above the distant horizon in all its pale glory — the world was still shrouded in darkness, but at least one could see where they were going.

One of the first things Rain had noticed after coming to Ravenheart was how darker the nights were in the Dream Realm, compared to NQSC. Out there in the waking world, humanity had long defeated and banished darkness from their homes, but here, it was still a tyrannical enemy.

«Ah… how cold.»

The main construction camp was already a hive of activity. The dead continued to toil silently in the distance, the sound of their tireless work reaching the small tent settlement like a persistent tide. By now, the road had extended far beyond the defensive palisade, so the whole camp would have to be moved soon — the road crews were nomadic in nature, following the roads they built.

The night shift laborers were returning to their tents, while those assigned to the day shift, like her, were waking up. The Awakened warriors guarding the camp were out on patrol, Food was being prepared, and oil lanterns were being put out.

Everyone was getting ready for a new day of work.

Rain yawned, rubbed her eyes, and walked slowly to the communal washroom.

Mercifully enough, the female laborers had a separate space to maintain hygiene, and since most of the hired laborers consisted of men, it was not too overcrowded. Still, there were whispers behind her back — Rain's body, after all, was a sight to behold… meaning that it was a bit scary to see, since she had never gotten the chance to visit a healer after slaying the Huntsman.

The bruises had mostly faded by now, but during her first few days on the road crew, her skin was as black and blue as it was fair and white. The bandages she wore to cover the cut on her side weren't bloody anymore, either. lіght\nоvel\cаve~c`о/m. The female laborers were more relaxed around her, but still a little wary.

Rain washed her face, brushed her teeth, and shivered miserably from the cold for a while. Then, wide awake, she returned to her tent and put her jacket on.

The breakfast was just as tasteless as the supper had been, but at least it was prepared from actual ingredients, not synthpase — the volcanic soil around Ravenheart was extremely fertile, so the harvests from the fields were enough to not only feed the entire city, but also supply the other settlements of the Song Domain with food.

Rain ate in solitude, since no one was brave enough to approach her. The male laborers often threw furtive glances her way, but shyly kept their distance. She did not know what was so frightening about her, really… maybe it was the sharp and feral aura of an abomination hunter, or the dark circles that were constantly under her eyes because of the lack of sleep.

canteen, anyway. At least it gave

frowned upon. But if you want to strangle the sorry excuse for a cook they have in charge of the camp kitchen, I won't

a tin cup, hiding her lips

you should be teaching your student, teacher?

shadow remained silent for a while, then asked in a tone

wrong with a

Rain exhaled slowly.

the

meal, she walked out of the canteen and headed for the crew management

corpses who were carrying sacks of gravel, once again feeling as if she had somehow

found its way onto

as a road crew laborer out of necessity, but after

he liked it here

nowhere in the dreadful wilderness of the Dream Realm. Like

an engineering marvel,

logistics that went into making it function. He rarely brought his work home, and yet, she had a better understanding

Dark Times, humans often admired the so-called wonders of the world — grand structures that defied imagination. However, Rain was of

that used to connect all the cities of the waking world, enveloping it like a planet-sized spider web. The scale of it was almost unfathomable… and that was just the physical scale. The role it played for the infrastructure of the world, the amount of goods and people being transported over

that era was long gone. Most of the waking world had been lost, and most of the roads that the humans had built were destroyed. These days, only a scattering of reinforced

of them being

joined the road construction camp. The road was being built right in front of her eyes, and she found herself deeply excited by the building process. The engineering, the logistics, the problem solving… all of it was both fascinating and