Darkness on the Horizon

The Titan's emotions shifted a moment before the hydra let out an unnatural groan. The sound did not come from any of the heads but from the inmost part of the colossal beast.

It lurched, taking an uncertain step forward as it pulled up to its full height. Then, like a puppet whose strings had been suddenly cut, it unceremoniously began to fall.

The tumble took many seconds, seeming to happen in slow motion.

The earth shook and cracked, sending shards of rock in every direction.

Pelted with flying stone, Noble drew back as her flaw activated.

Her mind was in a daze. It seemed like the world around her was coming to an end.

That was the effect a Titan had over its environment. And now that the monster was vanquished, the hold it had was being released.

Noble focused on the hydra. The creature clung ferociously to life, but it was no use. Noble felt the last flicker of rage snuffed out into nothingness.

The Corrupted Titan was dead.

Noble gasped, feeling like she could breathe for the first time since the battle began.

Not that it was over. There was still much to do.

The first of which was to check on her battlemates including…

'Jet!'

The Saint had fallen with the Titan and had not reappeared. As the dust settled, Noble looked frantically for any sign of Soul Reaper.

Her heart clenched.

'The exit!'

In the fall, the flap had closed, sealing off Jet's way of escape.

Noble felt for Jet's strange signature.

It was weak, but present.

Was she unconscious? Was that why she wasn't answering through the Memory?

She sank to the level of the hydra's tail, using the Zenith to bang against the hatch.

But she had no essence to put into the beautiful sword or to use her levitation to open the flap. Even Helios's claws were no match for the hard skin.

The way remained blocked.

She hurriedly flew toward the other end of the Titan. The heads were only of the Fallen rank. Even without essence, her sword should be able to cut one of them out and make a path for the Saint.

Noble had to try, and quickly.

Before Jet ran out of air.

She fought the adders as she flew above the surface of the Titan's body. There were still thousands of them, and the death of their master had only disoriented them momentarily.

They were drawn to human souls. Their siege persisted.

The warrior queen cut down scores of them. Her blade dropped with their blood.

'We have to kill them all.'

Noble's vision darkened.

She blinked. Was the sun going out?

Looking, she saw a dark cloud coming from beyond Crestfall's palace. Was a storm coming?

'One problem at a time…'

Noble lowered herself tentatively onto one of the crimson necks. She felt no pain from the contact. Even though the creature was dead, her flaw graciously did not activate.

Weighting her sword differently, Noble made the Zenith as heavy as possible. Her sword struck true, hacking away at the dead flesh.

'This is taking too long. It will take forever to hack away…'

Behind her, Helios was keeping all of the lesser serpents from bothering Noble. Perhaps if they switched places, his claws would be more effective at digging.

Flapping interrupted her thought.

A black bird landed on the Titan's body, snapping up one of the smaller snakes and crushing it in its beak.

Helios lunged to attack the newcomer but Noble held up her hand.

"Wait."

The bird looked at her.

"Crow Crow?"

Noble had heard of Jet's echo but never had seen it.

"Jet is inside. Can you help?"

A second bird landed next to the first. That's when Noble realized the black cloud beyond the palace was not a cloud at all.

It was a murder of crows.

Catphine had been successful in getting help for the sieged citadel.

Wake of Ruin had arrived.

Scores of crows landed and began pecking at the scaly skin of the hydra. Alone, none of them would do much good. 

But together?

The skin began to weaken, and Helios could stand it no longer. He leapt into their midst and began clawing as well.

Noble held her breath. She had called out to Jet so many times with no answer. That could only mean a few things.

Noble reached out desperately to sense the Saint.

Jet's fractured emotional signature was still present.

'It's moving!'

Noble felt a spike.

"Back up!" She screamed.

Helios and his raven-feathered companions listened almost instantly.

The spot where they had been digging seemed to glow. A misericorde pierced through the flesh with a ghostly mist surrounding it, and the Saint in her transcendent form exited the tear.

The misericorde glowed with a supernatural aura. Jet guided what Noble could only describe as a shimmering soul into the weapon, locking it in place.

Satisfied, she returned to her human form and clicked her tongue.

"I was sure I would be able to pass through that thing once it was dead, but even then it blocked me!"

"Saint Jet! You are alright! I was worried you couldn't breathe…" Noble wanted to hug the woman but Jet's icy persona along with all the crows watching made her stop.

"A little thing like oxygen won't stop me." Jet smiled fiercely at the crows around her. "Good to see you, boss. Right on time."

Gripping her scythe, Noble looked at the remaining part of the wall and the battle still being fought.

The birds all turned in unison, opening their wings to take flight and join the thousands of others who were part of Saint Cor's transformation.

"Time to finish this," Jet nodded at the other Saint. She winked at Noble. "Thanks for the assist. See you on the other side!"

With that, the two Saints took off for the other humans.

Noble looked at Helios. "Are you up for joining them?"

The golden Symcus shook his mane. He was always ready!

"Good. Because I'm running low on essence."

Helios knelt for Noble to climb on his back. She sat on her mount and let him loose.

They had work to do.

The Symncus raced along the broken landscape toward what was left of the battlement. Some of the adders had filtered into the city, making the humans on the wall have to fight from both sides.

Because the width of the wall was only a couple of meters, Noble had not called Helios when she had fought there before.

So their entry was a bit of a surprise to the few that noticed them.

"We have to defend the wounded!"

Through the debris of the wall, Noble guided Helios toward the medical camp. A few Awakened were defending their fallen comrades, but they were spread very thin.

Helios leapt in with claws drawn and mauled the closest abomination.

While he ripped and tore with his massive paws, Noble followed up by taking down the rest with her trusted sword.

By the time the crows swept down the wall to help them, the situation was under control. Blood covered the ground.

Crestfall was covered with the bodies of both Awakened and their corrupted enemies.

The world grew eerily still as each person took in the solemn scene.

Noble understood.

The battle was over, but the real work was just beginning.