Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at the silhouette of a departing battleship, deep in thought.

October was now behind them, and November was in full bloom. Well... not that many things ever bloomed in Antarctica. It was still summer here, the day never ended, and although the weather was chilly, it could not even be called cold.

The evacuation continued at a steady pace. Hundreds of millions of refugees had already been carried across the ocean, and millions more were leaving every week.

The situation on the continent... was dire, but also strangely manageable.

The Chain of Nightmare was escalating without end. There were more Nightmare Gates, more abominations, more threats and problems that had to be solved... but, at the same time, the forces of humanity were also growing stronger.

Despite the losses they suffered and the increasing strain on logistics and supplies, they were becoming more steadfast and efficient in dealing with the endless tide of Nightmare Creatures.

Well, it was not that surprising, really.

The greatest strength of humans was their adaptability. They were masters of absorbing and utilizing information. They learned.

At the start of the Antarctica Campaign, the Evacuation Army had been thrust into a new and seemingly impossible situation. Faced with an unprecedented cataclysm, they suffered bitter defeats... and yet, they endured. Then, slowly, they learned how to deal with the enemy better.

Their tactics and strategy improved. Their well of knowledge about the types of abominations coming through the Gates grew deeper. The inexperienced soldiers became grizzled veterans.

It helped that there were countless soul shards to be harvested, as well. Although Sunny was somewhat sad that the price of the shards on the global marker was going to plummet, cutting off one of the major revenue streams for the Brilliant Emporium, he was also glad.

By now, most Awakened soldiers of the Evacuation Army had ample chances to saturate their soul cores, thus vastly elevating their power. Something like that had probably never happened in history, at least not on that scale.

There were plenty of Memories and Echoes to go around, too.

There were also more and more Sleepers who had survived their First Nightmares. There were so many, in fact, that the approaching winter solstice would most likely become a breaking point in the entire campaign.

In a matter of weeks after that fateful day, the number of Awakened in the Evacuation Army was going to tremendously swell, perhaps even double.

In the meantime, though...

In one of the three defensive sections of East Antarctica, government forces were stubbornly holding against the endless assaults of Nightmare Creatures under the leadership of Wake of Ruin.

Effie and Kai were doing great for themselves. The Wolves and the Nightsingers, as well as their commanders, were known as the hammer and anvil of the Evacuation Army by now. Their fame and reputation were growing with each passing day... even though each victory was made a little bitter by the casualties that the two companies suffered.

In the second defensive section, Clan Song was quietly creating one miracle after another. Strangely enough, it was Seishan's name that was mentioned most often - the three Saints might have had overwhelming battle power, but Seishan seemed to be the one actually managing the war effort.

Jet periodically updated Sunny on what was happening in Song's territory, so while he did not know all the details, he at least knew that the situation there was mostly under control.

And then there was the third defensive section, the one where the great clan Valor - and Sunny himself - were located.

Things were manageable here, too.

Morgan and Nephis had become like two goddesses for the refugees crammed into the siege capitals. Their fame had outshone even that of the Saints... two beautiful sisters, one wisely leading the soldiers from the back, the other never leaving the frontlines. It was a compelling image.

While forces of Valor were strong enough to resist most attacks, it was Changing Star and her Fire Keepers that were always sent into the most dire and important battles. For now, they had not failed to secure a victory once.

Their numbers had diminished a lot since their arrival to the Southern Quadrant, but not because of casualties - instead, several cohorts of the Fire Keepers had already ventured into the Seeds, aiming to become Ascended.

Unknown to most people, there was also a third pillar to the success of the Valor contingent... Cassie. While no one except for a select few knew of the importance of her role, the quiet oracle was indispensable in building the strategy of the defending forces. Her ability to gather and swiftly analyze information from a multitude of scattered sources, keen mind, and supernatural intuition were tools that allowed Morgan to drastically increase the efficiency and effectiveness of her command.

Meanwhile, the House of Night was doing its part, as well. From rare messages sent by Naeve, Sunny knew that the naval convoys traversing the oceans had faced many difficulties. There had been several tragedies, but overall, more and more refugees were reaching safety in the other three Quadrants.

So... the situation was dire, but things seemed to be going fine in Antarctica.

Of course, Sunny knew that it was only a facade.

Behind that facade, the bloody feud between Valor and Song was growing more and more violent, threatening to spill into utter disaster.

The forward scouts of both great clans were hunting each other in the Dream Realm. Out here in the waking world, there were more and more ambushes and attempts at sabotage. Powerful Awakened warriors were killed by other humans, instead of Nightmare Creatures. Most of it happened far away from the siege capitals, for now...

And yet, Sunny had been pretty busy in the past few weeks.

It was hard to do the things he wanted to do while remaining unnoticed, but he managed with the help of Shadow Step and Shadow Manifestation, somehow.

He could traverse great distances swiftly at night while riding Nightmare. As such, his hunting grounds were not limited to a single siege capital... in fact, Sunny had made an effort to limit his activity to a minimum there, as well as in any area where he showed his face by following Morgan.

He ambushed the ambushers. He assassinated the assassins. He killed members of both Valor and Song without distinction, leading both forces to believe that it was the enemy who had possessed hidden forces in the region.

Sunny had struck several more times after the massacre at the underground factory... he had thought that it would make him feel good, but it didn't.

The things he did were not pleasurable. There was a rush and a satisfaction of a clean kill, but at the same time, there was disgust and an overwhelming sense of what a waste this whole mad disaster was. It was just something that had to be done.

And even then, as time passed, Sunny was starting to lose sight of why he was even doing these things.

Was it all futile?

It sure seemed that way...

And so, every time he happened to be near a port fortress, Sunny liked to watch the ships depart.

This, at least, was something obvious. A palpable result. With each vessel that sailed away, more refugees were taken away from this hell.

He climbed the walls of the fortress to watch the ships leave today, too.

This time, however... something felt different.

It was as though a sudden tension permeated the air.

Sunny sighed.

He felt as if things were about to change.