Shadow Slave

Sunny stared at the distant haze for a rew moments, then glanced at Kim, who was busy with repairs. The [Evil Eye] memory he nad given ner was supposed to make one capable of seeing things at a greater distance... however, there was an easier way.

He called out to Sergeant Gere, who happened to be hurrying past at that exact moment.

"Hey, Sergeant."

The man stopped and looked at the Captain... who was standing on top of the terrifying monster the Irregulars had recently received from the Nightmare Spell, for some reason.

Already accustomed to their leader's eccentric behavior, the soldier did not even bother to try and guess the reason.

"Yes, Captain?"

Sunny lingered for a moment.

"Do you have... what are they called... binoculars?"

Gere nodded.

"Of course, sir. We have several pairs, one per vehicle. Standard military issue."

Sunny gave him a tense look, then said quietly:

"Go bring me the best ones."

Slightly disturbed by that tone, Gere glanced at the bundle of blankets he was carrying, then dropped them into the snow and dashed toward the tail of the convoy. Very soon, he returned with a pair of modern binoculars and, not daring to approach the monster, threw them to the Captain.

Sunny caught them, brought the unfamiliar device to his eyes, and looked east. At first, the image was blurry and unclear, but then, something hummed softly, and it came into focus on its own.

Suddenly, it felt as though he was standing much, much closer to the slope of a distant mountain. Sunny could even see the individual boulders, as well as mounds of snow between them. Moving the binoculars, he searched for a stretch of open sky.

A few seconds later, he finally laid his eyes on the haze that obscured it.

Sunny remained motionless for around a minute after that, then silently lowered his hands. His face remained still, but his eyes were suddenly terribly bleak.

Feeling something, Sergeant Gere cleared his throat.

"Sir? What is it?"

The Captain looked at him with those bleak eyes, making the soldier shiver.

'What is it...'

Sunny repeated the question in his mind.

What he had seen was... was not a wall of swirling snow.

Instead, it was a ghastly creature that resembled a mix between a bat and a leech, with leathery wings, a long neck, and a head that seemed to be one giant, fleshy, circular maw.

In fact, he saw thousands, and thousands, and thousands of them.

The hazy veil that obscured the sky was not caused by the returning blizzard. It was a horde of flying abominations that was so vast that it resembled a rolling stormfront from a distance.

That vast horde of horrid abominations was swiftly moving in their direction.

Suddenly, Sunny's mouth was terribly dry. He glanced at the convoy that stretched along the narrow road, a few vehicles blocked from moving any further by the broken transport.

"..Sir?"

Sergeant Gere's tense voice caught his attention. Sunny forced himself to focus on it, pulling his mind back to reality.

'Dead, dead... they are all dead...

Throwing the binoculars back to Gere, he threw all unnecessary thoughts out of his mind and issued an order:

"Get these people out and load them into the infirmary transport. Do it as fast as possible... no, faster than that."

Gere blinked.

"The infirmary transport? But..."

Interrupting him, Sunny barked:

Interrupting him, Sunny barked:

"Now!"

The soldier flinched. This was the first time he heard the usually cool-headed Captain shout...

Understanding that something had gone terribly wrong, Gere ran toward the broken transport.

***

"...Move, move, move!"

A few minutes later, the frightened refugees were being hastily loaded into the infirmary vehicle. The soldiers were running around, preparing for a swift departure. The Irregulars were getting ready for a fight.

Sunny was in the middle of all this havoc, giving orders.

"Load the poisoned ammunition immediately, all of it. Empty the reserves entirely. Throw all non-essential cargo out, we need as much speed as we can get. Samara! You have three minutes to charge as many bullets as you can. Luster... prepare the Rhino for an all-out charge..."

'We're never going to make it... there's no chance... simply none...'

The enormous horde of flying horrors was traveling too fast. The fleet would never be able to outrun it, even if they were moving on a flat and well-maintained road. Of course, fighting it was not an option, either. If the appalling creatures descended upon the convoy, everyone would be devoured without seconds. Sunny might be able to survive by turning into a shadow, but the rest...

Everyone would die a gruesome death.

And yet...

The horde seemed to be traveling from east to west, while the fleet was heading north. If, by some miracle, they managed to escape from the path of the abominations... maybe, there still was a sliver of hope for them.

Perhaps there even was some shelter ahead, one that Sunny had missed when he was compiling the map.

In any case, he could not bring himself to just give up. No matter how small the possibility, he owed it to these people to make an effort to save them. He had taken them under his command, after all.

They were his responsibility.

"Move!"

Finally, the broken transport was cleared of civilians. Sergeant Gere ran up to Sunny.

"It's done! Captain, what do you desire to do with..."

Before he could finish the sentence, Sunny grabbed the massive vehicle by the front bumper, strained his muscle a little, and then tossed it over the edge of the road with his bare hands.

The transport plummeted into the deep, dark gorge with thunderous clangor. It was so heavy that the road under them quaked from the violent force of the first impact.

Sunny glanced at the stunned soldier.

"Get everyone inside and start the engines. Hurry!"

As everyone ran to their vehicles, Sunny stepped through the shadows and appeared inside the Rhino. Sparing a glance at Professor Obel and Beth, he lingered for a moment and said:

"Strap yourself in. It's going to be a bumpy ride."

They listened without asking questions.

Since most of the Irregulars were assigned to the civilian transports, the only other person there was Luster. He was already in the pilot's seat, ready to send the APC forward at Sunny command.

Sunny did not make him wait long.

"What are you waiting for? Go!"

The Rhino shot forward, plowing through snow as it cleared the way for the other vehicles. The fleet followed as they moved across the mountain road with reckless speed...

But not enough of it.

...On the roof of the APC, Saint was effortlessly holding her balance. Standing there like a statue, she slowly turned her head east.

Then, the taciturn demon lingered for a moment, and silently raised her bow.