Mercy of Shadow

'What the…'

The shards of stone and the dancing flames moved, flying through the air toward the tall woman. Instead of crushing and burning her, however, they somehow assembled around her slender body, the pieces of stone levitating around it to form a strange armor, the fire shrouding her hands like incandescent gloves.

Sunny suddenly felt a deep, dangerous sense of unease.

"How dare you, vile shadow…"

The voice of the War Maiden thundered in the darkness that the Shadow Lantern had created, and then, two furious white eyes ignited in its depths, piercing Sunny with a murderous gaze.

"How dare you challenge War…"

A split second later, the Maiden disappeared from where she stood, the stone slab beneath her feet exploding into a rain of shards. Almost instantly, she was already upon him, a flame-wreathed palm shooting forward to pierce his chest.

'Damnation… what is it with women of War always going straight for my heart? This is already the third time this has happened!'