Shadow Slave

After an eventful night, Sunny left the dormitory in a much improved mood. The air outside was frigid with bone-chilling cold, but it actually felt pleasant against his bruises. Sunny headed in the direction of the barracks, whistling a simple tune under his nose. As he walked, one of his shadows flew toward the distant ramparts to check if everything was alright there.

Apart from the fact that soldiers were miserable because of the heinous cold, even more so than usual, the situation seemed to be under control. Disparate groups of Nightmare Creatures were throwing themselves against the ramparts, some larger than the others, but it was nothing that the army could not handle.

'Everything seems fine, for now...'

Sunny was still hurting all over, but at least he was capable of walking without a limp now. The barracks were a considerable distance away, but there was no rush. He enjoyed this rare moment of peace a great deal, studying the city as he traversed it.

Falcon Scott... was much emptier now. Miraculously, the First Army had actually managed to evacuate most of the two hundred million refugees. Now, less than two tenths of that number remained, not nearly enough to make the city feel crowded. Even though countless people fought and sacrificed to make it happen, Sunny couldn't help but feel that this emptiness was the direct result of his actions.

It was nice to see his labor bear fruit.

Among the ancient heroes Nephis sometimes liked to talk about, there was one named Heracles, who had apparently accomplished twelve labors. Sunny wondered what that guy would think about defending this damn city.

Well, from the descriptions, Heracles seemed like no more than an Awakened with a moderately powerful physical Aspect... maybe a rather average Ascended. He would probably think that Falcon Scott was a hellish nightmare, and die in the first few days of the siege.

'Huh...'

As Sunny walked, a swift shadow fell from the sky, and a black crow suddenly landed on his shoulder. The crow stared at him for a moment, and then cawed:

"Sah-nee! Sah-nee!"

Sunny spared him a somber glance.

"What?"

The Echo waved its wings.

"Come! Come!"

Then, it jumped off his shoulder and disappeared in the direction of the government complex.

Sunny frowned, then quietly cursed and dove into the shadows.

It seemed that his good mood was not meant to last.

He glided forward with incredible speed, reaching the complex in no time at all. Emerging from the darkness near the guarded gates, he waited a few seconds for the security officers to confirm his identity - a useless formality, considering that pretty much everyone knew what he looked like by now - and entered the building.

Quickly finding his way underground, Sunny hurried to the conference room where the Irregulars usually gathered. As he was approaching, however, there was suddenly a loud bang, and the walls shook a little, dust falling from the ceiling.

'What the...'

Uneasy, he entered the room and saw Master Jet standing with her back to him. The wall in front of her was deformed, a net of cracks running through the armored alloy from the point where her fist had collided with it.

Soul Reaper remained motionless for a moment, then turned to him. Her usually calm face was contorted by an expression of dark, boiling anger.

As soon as Sunny saw it, his heart skipped a beat. He had never seen Master Jet lose control of herself in that way...

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes for a moment, then said:

"Sunny. You are here... good."

He glanced at the destroyed wall, then at her. Feeling a chill run down his spine, Sunny steeled himself and asked:

"What happened?"

Jet let out a long sigh. When she spoke, her voice was cold and glum:

"...It's Tyris. She finally lost a fight."

The two of them headed to the headquarters of the White Feather clan without wasting any time. While the elevator was taking them to the ground level of the government complex, Sunny tried to keep his voice even as he asked:

"What do you mean, lost a fight? Is she alive?"

Jet gritted her teeth.

"I don't know. I've been notified that something went wrong just half an hour ago. Roan sent me a message personally right before you came... but he didn't go into detail."

Sunny's face fell. If Jet's only source of information was Master Roan, that meant that Army Command had chosen to keep it a secret for now. And if Army Command was keeping secrets from someone like Soul Reaper... things couldn't be good.

As they emerged from the underground complex and hurried to the White Feather compound, Sunny shivered again and noticed that it had gotten even colder outside. Before, he had not paid the cold any attention, but now, the fall in temperature seemed foreboding.

'Curse it, curse it, curse it all...'

The guards of the compound seemed to have received instructions, and almost immediately after Sunny and Jet arrived, a familiar young woman appeared to guide them inside. He briefly felt glad to see that she had survived the battle with Devouring Cloud, but then his thoughts turned grim and tumultuous once again.

Sunny was... shaken.

He couldn't help but think about Saint Tyris, silently wishing for her to be alive. At the same time, he had to think about what her fall would mean for the evacuation... with no one to stop the Winter Beast, what would happen to the city?

The two worries competed against each other, pressing down on his heart with terrible weight.

Finally, they reached an isolated room in the depths of the compound. The young Awakened spared the door an anguished look, then stepped aside, gesturing for them to come in.

Inside, they saw an empty hall with some medical equipment and a lonely operating table standing in its center. The table, and the floor around it, were marred with blood. On it... Saint Tyris was laying, her eyes closed.

Sunny let out a relieved sign when he saw that her chest was slowly rising and falling. Sky Tide was still breathing... she was still alive...

However, she looked like a corpse.

Her whole body was covered in blood and blemished by severe frostbite. Tyris was unconscious, breathing shallowly. Her face was terribly pale, and her lips looked blue. And that... that was, without a doubt, only after the healers of the White Feather clan had tended to her. Sunny could not imagine how the fearsome Saint had looked before.

Roan was standing above her, not looking much better. He had been severely injured while luring the Devouring Cloud toward the city - even now, the charismatic Master was yet to recover from his wounds. One of his arms hung limply in a sling, and his usually lively face was dark and lifeless.

When Sunny and Jet entered, Roan slowly looked away from his wife and gave them a dull glance.

Soul Reaper gritted her teeth.

"Roan. What the hell happened?!"

He stared at them for a few moments, then turned back to Saint Tyris.

"Isn't it obvious? She lost. Actually, it's a miracle that she was able to hold back that monster for so long. It's also a miracle that she survived."

He remained silent for a while, then added evenly:

"You are asking the wrong question, though."

Master Jet's icy blue eyes widened slightly. She hesitated, then asked coldly:

"...What the hell is going to happen, then?"

Roan lowered his head. Then, he straightened his back, and looked at them once more.

"I think you know."

His eyes were bleak, and tired.

"The Winter Beast is coming, and there's no one to stop it. It's over. Maybe tomorrow, or the day after that, anyone who still remains in this city will die. I'm sorry, Soul Reaper... there's nothing else we clan can do."