Shadow Slave

'Damnation!'

Sunny scrambled to his feet, hastily dismissing the Midnight Shard and grabbing his bow. On the screen of the communicator, Jet's face disappeared, replaced by an incoming message that named the section of the wall he and his cohort were supposed to go to.

'South...'

This time, they were meant to fight right above the main gates of the city, on the part of the defensive barrier that faced inland - and where the battle was going to be the fiercest. It seemed that Army Command was finally done holding the Irregulars in reserve.

Sunny glanced at the clock. It was just past the earliest time the members of his cohort could return from the Dream Realm, if they had chosen to sleep tonight.

'That's good.'

He dashed to the pilot's cabin of the Rhino and ran the vehicle through the startup procedure. The APC sluggishly came to life, making many sounds that were probably not a excellent sign.

As Sunny waited, he mentally went over each member of his cohort, thinking about what task he would assign them and whether their Flaws would be detrimental in this particular battle. The chances of that were low, but he still needed to check.

No one with an especially crippling Flaw would have made it through years of service, and soldiers were not required to disclose them - sharing something that personal and potentially dangerous could only be done voluntarily. There was nothing about the Flaws in the dossiers Sunny had read, but after spending months fighting side by side with his people, he deduced most of them.

The Flaws of the Irregulars were indeed not too dire, and most of his people were mature Awakened who had had at least a decade to learn how to deal with them. Quentin, for example, seemed to be unable to break a promise. Kim was naturally unassuming. Samara had a leisurely rate of soul essence regeneration. Belle had to work especially hard on his impulse control. Luster... well, that one was beautiful apparent.

Dorn's Flaw was the cruelest, but it would only become detrimental years from now. His body was slowly, but constantly growing... and would most likely collapse under its own weight one day, some time in the future.

Nothing that would play a role in today's battle, though.

'All good.'

At that moment, the hatch of the Rhino opened, making the eerie wailing of the sirens much louder. The members of his cohort rushed in, summoning their armor and weapons as they did.

"Captain! Everyone's here!"

Without waiting for Luster to get to the cabin, Sunny lowered himself into the driver's seat and sent the Rhino forward. His driving skills were not really top-notch... or any good, really... but he could get the APC to the wall, at least.

"Get yourself ready. You all remember the plan, correct?"

Since Winter was going to take center stage in the battle against the Devouring Cloud, the Irregulars had come up with a few strategies in advance.

"Yes, sir!"

Sunny nodded.

"Well, then, go rub Luster's lucky charm. Gods know we're going to need some luck today."

Hearing the laughter of his comrades, Luster crossed his arms. "Hey! That thing really works!"

"Four out of the five most deadly Nightmare Creatures in the region... you call that luck?"

"Exactly! And I survived meeting every one!"

Chuckling, Sunny concentrated on controlling the massive APC.

The Rhino sped through the streets of Falcon Scott.

Thankfully, they were mostly empty by now - the air raid sirens had sent the refugees scrambling to get inside. He could see a lot of frightened people still hurrying to reach their assigned dormitories, but mostly, there were only military transports in sight.

Briefly, Sunny wondered about the man who had gifted him a sandwich. Hopefully, his family had a room below ground... if not, surviving the Devouring Cloud might not be effortless for them.

'Concentrate.'

Finally, the Rhino reached the staging area under the wall. Not bothering to park it properly, Sunny picked up Morgan's Warbow and headed for the exit hatch. His soldiers followed.

The army camp was in a state of perpetual, organized chaos - more so today than it had been before. A tense, anxious mood hung in the air. Everyone had a grim expression on their faces, sometimes glancing south with fear hiding in their eyes.

Sunny thought that he could already hear the distant, low hum of the approaching swarm.

"Look alive!"

His shout seemed to energize the soldiers. Glancing at him with hints of recognition and reverence, they parted, letting the Devils march through. Sunny made sure to put on the most calm and arrogant expression he could manage, as if the vast swarm of flying abominations was nothing more than a little annoyance.

His performance seemed to have worked, since some of the tension dissipated.

Even the members of his own cohort seemed to relax a little.

'What... why the hell are you relaxing, idiots?! You of all people should know how damn terrifying the Devouring Cloud is! I mean, even I am scared!'

...But he wasn't, not really. Mostly because the brood monsters had no means of attacking incorporeal targets, so his personal safety was not at risk. And because the Devouring Cloud was the least dangerous of the enemies converging on Falcon Scott.

It was still supremely dangerous, however.

The Irregulars entered an open elevator that took them to the top of the wall. Falcon Scott looked strangely empty from the moving platform, its usual liveliness gone. It seemed as if the whole city was holding its breath, hoping that the predator would not notice the prey.

'Zero chance of that happening...'

Stepping onto the wall, Sunny looked around and noticed a few familiar figures some distance away.

A minute later, he was standing side by side with Jet, Winter, and Dale, looking south over the battlements. The four of them remained silent for a while, until Soul Reaper finally spoke, her voice measured:

"Wow. That is... a lot of abominations."

Below them, in the distance, the ground was slowly disappearing behind an immense wall of swirling haze. It looked as if the world itself was being devoured, erased from existence by the approaching cloud.

...Suddenly, Sunny caught himself missing the calm darkness of the underground tunnel.