Clarity

Lightning had been coming at regular intervals to mark the advance of the Lord of the Mountain. King Kraai had been traveling at an incredible speed, but also a predictable one.

At least, they became predictable once Noble got enough points of reference. Her map skills might have been questionable, but thanks to one of her Attributes, her mathematical ability was excellent.

That was how she knew that if the Tyrant continued on his path of destruction, his bolt would land just beyond the palace. Unfortunately, Noble had not been able to get there in time.

Counsel and his minions had blocked their path.

So rather than bring Ender to the Lightning, Noble had used the [Law of Attraction] enchantment to bring the lightning to him.

On cue, the streak of electricity raced toward the ground. It headed straight for the Ruby Tear but encountered the blockade of Sentinels first.

The Tyrant's power was far too great for the beasts. Their thinly stretched skin caught fire and melted before becoming ash.

The entire bubble around the humans became an electrified fence for a moment before the charred flesh and ashes blew away in the breeze like they had never existed. Only the creatures' shards remained, dropping to the ground in a crystal rain.

Noble lowered Sarai to the ground, unharmed. The ladies had had no contact with the earth during the catastrophic hit, and the tightly packed abominations had made the perfect conductor for the electric bolt.

Counsel was not as fortunate. His knees quivered slightly as the earth shook. His shoes melded with the ground.

But the bulk of the energy was taken by the deceased Sentinels, and the new Master was already recovering his wits. 

Noble quickly pulled her sword from the dirt and slashed at Ender. But with his newfound strength and speed, he was just a hair faster, leaving his melted shoes behind as he dove out of the way.

The ball disappeared from his hand as he hit the ground, melding with his palm like his footwear had become one with the earth.

Ender pulled a sword from his side to meet the next blow. It was not his usual blade. He must have picked it up during the chase toward the palace.

The two blades met. The Ruby Tear hit the mundane metal with an impressive clang.

Being much stronger than the mundane metal, the enchanted sword sliced through its counterpart like it was made of butter.

But that was as far as Noble got. 

The black veins on Counsel's skin grew, sealing his body in its inky covering. The Ruby Tear hit Counsel's skin and glanced off his exposed shoulder without leaving a mark. 

Noble staggered back to avoid a wild punch by Ender's fist. He caught her blade instead, but she quickly dismissed it before recalling it farther away.

When the Queen was clear, Sarai blasted Ender with a large fireball. The man's skin turned red before blackening once more.

Counsel clicked his tongue. "Two against one? That's cheating…"

He lunged forward with the broken blade, ready to impale Sarai just above the leather cuirass of her favorite armor.

Sarai spun her spear and brought down the tip on the man's breastplate, prying the already weakened metal from his chest. The edge glanced off his skin just like Noble's sword.

The tunic below was almost completely torn or burned away. Counsel's skin shone like onyx. 

However, Noble immediately noticed a glaring flaw in his usually chiseled physique.

The ribs in his chest where his heart should be bulged out awkwardly to make space for the second heart. Unlike the rest of his body, the skin there did not look as hard as rock. It was soft and vulnerable. 

Sarai saw it too, and sent a ball of flame at his torso. Ender sneered, blocking the damage to his chest with his forearm. 

'Only a direct hit will do any good,' Noble circled to the back of Counsel to try another attack. 

At that same moment, a new set of abominations dropped from the sky. Geodes and beetles were released by their Sentinel couriers to land on the powerful Awakeneds' heads. Noble turned her blade on the one falling right toward her and sliced through it without missing a beat. 

[You have slain a Dormant Monster, Crag Beetle.]

"Stay back!" Counsel's words pushed like a command on her senses. 

The abominations did not have her resistance. Noble watched them become thralls of the Master as Counsel pried them from the Tyrant's influence. 

The Lord of the Mountain must have felt it too, for a groan overhead emanated like thunder. The Tyrant's movement slowed to a stop. 

"Now you've done it. He knows you are here..." Noble could feel the wind shifting as the powerful creature began to descend. 

"Let him come!" Counsel did not seem bothered. "I control his heart, it will be easy to entrance him like the others with my words." 

Noble doubted this was true. Neither she nor Sarai had blindly listened to him and they were less powerful than the being overhead. 

His Aspect worked on perception, and the Tyrant would consider him a thief. The Heart might sway the abomination slightly, but Noble did not think it would be enough.

Either way, she could not let that battle take place to see who would come out on top. If Counsel won, he would have a weapon that could wield untold destruction. 

And if the Lord of the Mountain won, Noble suspected that he would be able to reclaim his heart. The fierce creature was already almost impossible to kill, but if he was made whole once more, the Kingdom of Crestfall would certainly be destroyed, and Noble, Sarai, and Nickel with it. 

One way or another, Counsel had to die before the Tyrant descended from the heavens.

It was the only way to give herself and the kingdom a fighting chance.

She aimed her sword at the Master with a vicious gleam in her eye.

'Where are you?' Nickel's voice rang in her mind.

'I'm on the south side of the palace fighting Counsel.'

Noble slashed at her enemy, but he batted her blade away with his bare hand. A small chip came out of his palm. That was something.

'Hurry. And bring a few shiny, sharp things with you,' Noble sent the message through their link. 'I want to give Counsel the Thane treatment.' 

Nickel grunted. 'How long do I have?'

'Before the Tyrant gets here?' Noble calculated quickly. 'Seventeen seconds maximum...' 

'Got it.' The Other's Voice went silent.

Noble struck downward as she sent her final thought. 

In response, Counsel lowered his arm, leaving his chest open for a blast from Sarai's spear.

His hard skin scraped against the Ruby Tear as the fireball streaked across the sky.

Rather than suffer the blow, Counsel threw his body against Noble in another attempt to tackle her.

However, this move was one he had tried once before today. If there was one thing Noble could claim as a champion in the Dreamscape…

…she didn't make the same mistake twice.

Mimicking the agile Master, Noble opened her arms and twisted her body, using her levitation to overcome their difference in weight. 

While the thought of embracing the madman was repulsive, throwing him into the ground with prejudice was worth the price. She leveraged her weight and Ability to the extreme, pulling him into the air before slamming him into the dirt.

The coming crash was devastating to the already disintegrating ground, but Counsel simply brushed off the dirt as he climbed out of the hole.

That was just as well. As satisfying as the hit had been, Noble did not expect it to hurt the Master.

She just needed to stall.

When metal rained down from the sky, Noble was ready.