The Center of the Nightmare

In the darkness of the evening, Theo's men faithfully cleared a path through the palace. With the soldiers carefully transporting the five large shards, it was slow going, especially by lamplight.

Most of the castle was still standing, but the Tyrant's breaking of the uppermost towers and the many earthquakes had left the building in disarray.

Caution was key. They didn't want to risk the building collapsing when they were so close to their goal.

Noble let the soldiers do their work. She was done leading the way just now.

There was something more pressing on her mind.

While they made their way through the halls, the Queen imparted as much wisdom as she could to Theo.

"You are in charge while I am gone," she told him. "Do what is best for the kingdom."

Noble was pretty sure that nothing would exist once the Nightmare ended. But just in case she wanted to leave a plan in place.

"I will keep Crestfall safe until you return," Theo assured her.

"Here's a list of troublemakers in the city." Nickel passed over a list of names. "You may want to have these arrested or at least thrown out of the Kingdom. They have been trying to kill Her Grace almost nonstop."

"What?!" Sarai, who was leading the group, turned around in shock, tripping over a loose rock.

Nickel rolled his eyes. "Don't worry. You survived, didn't you?"

Sarai puffed out her cheeks. She had no retort. 

The rest of the instructions were hastily given before the group reached the underground arena. Plans for food and water rationing, rebuilding, and even what to do with prisoners who survived in the dungeon. "Put them to work as the ditch-diggers and have them run new plumbing lines." 

'If this works, it's all pointless,' Nickel reminded her through [The Other's Voice]. 'They all died thousands of years ago.' 

'And yet you handed over a list of traitors to Theo.' Noble rolled her eyes internally. 'And what do you mean IF? It will work…'

Aloud, she gave her final royal edicts.

"You will need to block off this entrance. Fill it with stone and make it look like the rest of the castle. Once we go in, don't let anyone enter ever again. Thank you for your service," the Queen said to the general as they came to the stairs.

"Understood, Your Majesty. We will guard from here." Theo ordered his soldiers to stand at intervals along the wall.

"It's clear!" Sarai announced from the arena. The fire on the end of her spear flicked uncertain light across her face.

Noble addressed the men holding the Terror's soul shards. "We'll take them from here."

After Nickel and the Queen each took one directly, the other three floated into the air on their own. Carefully, Noble maneuvered the floating shards into the passageway.

"Best of luck," Theo gave one last bow. "We await your return, Your Majesty."

Unwilling to agree or disagree, Noble simply dipped her head. "Be well, General."

With Sarai's spear-torch to guide them, the three entered the dark arena. Without the enchantment, it sat silent as a tomb.

The world went black for a moment as Sarai used her torch to pry open the stone door. Before it had only been wide enough for a human. Now, the precious cargo would be able to get through as well.

"Are you certain I can't just crush one of these?" Nickel asked idly. "Pretty sure that would saturate my core."

Noble thought about it for a moment and shook her head. "We cannot chance it. When we get home, I'll find a way to make sure you get all the shards you need."

Nic grunted. "You better." 

Noble summoned the [Bread Crumbs] and passed it to Sarai. With it as their guide, they moved confidently but carefully forward. 

In all the shaking, only one of the tunnels had collapsed, but it took both Sarai and Nickel a considerable amount of time to clear the rubble.

Noble would have helped, but she was tasked with keeping all their cargo safe instead.

It was a good thing too. For as soon as they passed under the cleared space, the passage sealed once more with new debris.

"That's…unfortunate." Noble tried not to show her worry at how close she had come to being crushed.

At least they weren't planning on going back to the surface. This was a one-way trip.

Or so they hoped.

The lower they got, the warmer the air became.

"Are you sure that the lava didn't make it into the chamber?" Nickel asked, wiping his brow.

Sarai chewed her lip. "I don't think so…but I'm also not positive that the place we are going didn't fall into the abyss with half of Crestfall."

"It didn't," Noble answered confidently. "I have seen it before in the Dream Realm. It houses the gate in Ender's Deep."

The other two seemed only slightly surprised by the news.

When Noble had told them of their location before the battle, she hadn't explained in-depth. That piece of information made her revelation make more sense.

Noble wished she had seen the signs sooner, but at least she hadn't missed them altogether.

"We're here," Sarai slowed down as they entered the chamber.

Although it was night, Noble could see a bit of light coming from her left.

It was either the glow from the cooling lava below or somehow the starlight was reaching down from above.

Either way, the edge of the Heart's Chamber was only half of what it had once been.

"The tablets?" Nickel sounded just a little too eager. Sarai pointed and his eyes lit with interest. "Give me five minutes." 

"It will probably take a few more than that to get set up," Noble dipped her head. 

She could do the work faster, but they only had one chance and she wanted to do it right. A little extra time would let her focus fully on her task. 

The man in black raced through the jagged teeth of the cavern to the far side. He called forth a Memory that resembled a flashlight and read feverishly. 

Meanwhile, Sarai led her friend and the shards through the perilous path to the vertebrae near the center. Noble was even more certain that the rocks around her were actually ancient bones.

Hitting one of the shards against the razor-sharp teeth might crack it. 

So they were careful to pick the widest path to the center. 

At last, they reached their goal. 

"What do you need from me?" Sarai took a deep breath. 

"I need you to keep the light bright and steady while I measure this circle." Noble used her hovering feet to mark off the distance around the pedestal, then placed each shard an equal distance apart around the circumference. 

'This step might not be necessary, but I want everything to be perfect.' 

A short while later, Nickel returned with a rubbing of some of the tablets in his hand. Noble could see the runes marked out in the dim light.

"Well?" The Queen looked at him expectantly.

"It is as you suspected. The runes are not a complete circle. They repeat to make two halves. So as long as the runes on the northern part of the kingdom are not too damaged, that part of the array should still function."

The librarian rolled up his paper tightly and handed it to the redhead. 

"Put this in your Memory so it gets back home...please," he added belatedly. 

Sarai nodded and added the small paper to the Keepsake. It barely fit alongside Noble's ring and the swatch of fabric from Emira's dress. 

The beautiful baker sent the Memory back into her soul sea. 

"Are you ready?" Noble asked them both. 

She felt their emotions spike, but they nodded. 

It was time. 

There was only one thing missing. 

The Portcullis Key. 

Noble took a deep breath, held out her hand...

And summoned the Memory at the center of this entire Nightmare.