Shadow Slave

There were food rations in one of the carts, but Lady Tamar had also slain an Awakened Monster in the morning. There had been enough time for Rain to harvest a slab of meat before the survey team continued on Its Journey, so now, she was ready to cook a delicious supper.

Although the team wasn't big, there was a clear separation between people. The Awakened mostly kept to themselves, the survey specialists did the same, and the porters generally stuck together.

Right now, they were gathered around a fire, watching Rain roast meat with gleaming eyes.

«Wait, wait, everyone… it will be done soon! We're having a feast tonight!»

She grinned and turned the juicy strips of meat, making the melted fat sizzle. A delicious aroma permeated the air.

One of the laborers laughed.

«Rani, kid… if I was thirty years younger, I would have married you right here and now. No questions asked.»

One of the tough women from the road crew gave him a disdainful look.

«Old goat, what makes you think that you would have been worthy of marrying our Rani? Dream on!»

She put her hand around Rain's shoulder protectively.

«On that note, though… I know for a fact that you have a bottle of arak hidden in your pack. Come one, bring it out…»

The mood was light and warm. Rain was the youngest of the laborers, so they treated her with a bit of affection. The women especially tried to take care of her like concerned aunts.

So, feeding them today was her way of returning the favor.

While the man went to take out the bottle of moonshine from his pack, the woman let go of Rain and looked at the sizzling meat hungrily.

Then, she said in a tone of confusion:

«I must say, though… that's a peculiar pan you have there, Rani.»

Rain grinned.

think

the blade of

to use in battle and too precious to discard. However, it was just large enough to place over a fire… the green metal was slow to heat up, but cooked meat

Rain clicked her tongue.

— doesn't rust, easy to wash, and I can split

The laborers laughed.

the time the first portion of the meat was ready, even the survey specialists were looking at them with envy. Rain passed the strips of meat around and placed the second portion on the green

alcohol, and a warm fire. The three moons shone beautifully in the night sky, and the mundane humans huddled together in the circle of light, trying to distract themselves from the

we departed

with harsh eyes scratched the back

back in Antarctica. No need to filter air in the Dream Realm, though, so

then

one of the smaller cities, before they really developed. How great would it be, to have a store in a central location? But it's not easy to

The others laughed.

a civil engineer

ran a small

floor cleaner in an

«What about you, Rani?»

opened her eyes wide and

I went

laborers stared at her for a

«Gods, she's a baby…»

a precious girl end up

you mean, our Rani is tough as nails… tougher

died down, the woman who had hugged her before looked at the

news in Ravenheart, by

so the common folk had no way

of the Song Domain recently, Pill was understandably the center