Dust, Ash and Fire

The biggest problem with the plan was knowing what to do next.

The sun obviously bothered the Tyrant, but no one had any idea why.

Noble would have to discover the reason behind the aversion to light soon or else.

They had already spent too much time. Slowing down slightly, the Tyrant loomed over Nickel with his minions close behind.

Lightning struck the ground.

'Nickel!'

She received a maniacal laugh in return for her cry. "Hahaha I can't believe that worked! Looks like you aren't the only one who can make a lightning rod, Noble! Wrapped that chain around those Fallen fools' horns and let nature take its course! Smells like a cookout!"

'Just make sure you aren't the next course.' Noble was too relieved to be amused by Nic's enthusiasm.

She went back to the problem at hand. 

How would she figure out what the weak point was and exploit it? 

The bulky creature shifted to one side. Nickel must have changed directions after his Barbeque below, and the Tyrant was chasing him once more. 

Since she could float, Noble had no trouble remaining on the uneven surface, but Sarai reached down to take hold of one of the scales. The sudden tilt also affected the creatures blocking out the sun. One massive wing knocked a swath of them out of the air, causing a beam of sunshine to break through the gloom. 

It touched the Tyrant's scaly skin...

and nothing happened. The Lord didn't even seem to notice that it had happened. Had he suddenly grown immune to the sun?

If that were true, then why was the Lord of the Mountain still hiding under a canopy of his followers? 

'Hmm...'

Something shiny in the blanket of feathers caught Noble's attention. She stepped forward to examine it more closely. 

'What is, oh!' Unused to actually walking, her foot slipped on a large feather almost as soon as she stepped between the Tyrant's shoulders. She fell unceremoniously on her rump. 

'Just like a toddler...' It would have been comical if it weren't so frustrating. 

Sarai gasped.

"I'm fine!" Noble assured her over the growing buzz of yet another electric charge. 

Sarai shook her head and pointed. "You're covered in blood!" 

Noble rose to her feet and then floated over the spot where she had just been. The lower part of her armor was dripping with shiny red liquid. 

But the blood wasn't hers. 

Dropping quickly, she stamped on the feathers with both feet. More fluid spilled out. 

The Tyrant roared in pain.

Noble's eyes widened. 

"Help me move these feathers!" 

The two ladies plucked and pushed aside the large black plumes to reveal a hole in the Tyrant's chest. 

Counsel had had two hearts before he died, causing his chest to bulge.

This abomination no longer had a heart at all. Only a gaping wound where a heart should have been. 

The blinding heat of the sun would aggravate the injury. That was the method that Emira had used to chase off the already weakened abomination. 

With the Heart utterly destroyed, surely the bleeding Tyrant would soon follow.

Yet here he was reigning down terror on the kingdom of Crestfall. 

"If he refuses to die, then we should give him a little nudge," Noble looked at Sarai, who nodded. 

While Noble held back the feathers that they could not remove, Sarai blasted the inside of the Tyrant with balls of her flames. 

The Lord convulsed. Tilting to try and get the offenders off of his back. He did a barrel roll, forcing Sarai to stop her onslaught and hold tight to the abomination's back. 

When the Tyrant righted, Sarai tried again. 

"It's no use, she said after a moment. I'm not strong enough." 

The Tyrant turned its head and saddled them with one of its swiveling eyes. They had been spotted. 

Soon enough, the curling proboscis would be there to wipe them from their perch once and for all. 

"Do that tunnel of flame that you did before. The one where you hit the wall. I know you can do it. Cook him from the inside out!" Noble saw Sarai's horrified expression. 

"I can't. I was only able to do that with the bracelets!" 

Noble looked down at her wrists and stripped them of their jewelry. "Take mine! This will give you what you need." 

"They don't work anymore." Sarai shook her head sadly. 

"Prove it," Noble challenged. 

The redhead hesitated. What other choice did they have? She took the bracelets and slipped them on her arms.

Then, with one last push, she swirled fire around herself and tried to compress it. Sweat poured down her brow, not from the heat, but from the concentration. 

Noble concentrated too. "Tell me when..." 

A tense silence passed between them before Sarai let loose her compressed firestorm. 

Simultaneously, Noble spoke the verse for 'light' and 'getting brighter.' 

The fire intensified, giving an ethereal quality to the blaze. 

The column of flame, which was already blinding, lit up the sky like the tail of a comet before streaking into the Tyrant's chest cavity. An explosion of light and immolating fire erupted through the hole, sending a wave of blood to wash down the Tyrant's back.

Noble wanted to see the results, but the ladies had already worn out their welcome. 

"Watch out!" Noble grabbed hold of Sarai as the proboscis raced to trap them in its grasp. 

The creature was too fast. They wouldn't make it to the edge in time.

Eyes swirling, Noble dug deep into her reserves of essence. She pushed the trunk with all of her might.

There was no way she could actually stop the tube of lightning from its swift movement. But that was not her goal. She just needed to slow it down a split second. 

"Time to go!" 

The plume of Noble's helmet was brushed by the proboscis, knocking the head covering from her head. But the queen didn't care. 

No longer over the main torso of the corrupted lord, Noble's body was suddenly still. 

She and Sarai were left behind by the incredible speed of Tyrant, before being blown down and back by the wind from its wings. 

Finally stopping her and Sarai's freefall about halfway between the Sentinels and the ground, Noble held her breath as she watched. 

Had the fiery beam and resulting explosion been enough? 

The black feathers were now smoldering, but that was the only residual evidence that any damage had been done...

Until... 

At first Noble thought she had imagined it, but a few moments later, the fact was undeniable. 

The Lord of the Mountain was losing altitude. His wing beats were slowing, no longer able to support the massive weight of the rest of his body. 

The legs spasmed in awkward directions, further complicating the Tyrant's strange fall. Then, the massive being went completely still. 

[You have slain a Corrupted Tyrant, The Raven Lord, King Kraai.]

Noble's heart skipped a beat. Corrupted?! From the look on Sarai's face, she had heard the voice of the Spell as well. Had they both gotten credit for the kill? 

Rather than get cocky, the duelist got serious. The Raven Lord, as the Spell had called him, was already weakened considerably by the lack of a heart.

His rank was surely closer to Fallen with the handicap involved. Wait, why was she splitting hairs like this? 

What did she care what the rank was? As long as he was dead! 

'Nic! We did it. We defeated the Lord of the Mountain!' 

Noble lifted higher into the air to watch the final fall of the tyrannical lord. 

Her heart skipped a beat for a second time. 

She had done it alright. 

The Tyrant's final resting place...was directly over Nickel's head. 

Noble barely had time to scream before the cataclysmic crash covered the battlefield in dust and ash.