Past the Point of No Return

Noble barely made it a couple of meters when a low growl sounded behind her. Getting up on his three good legs, Kosi raced after Noble. His tail wrapped around her waist, pulling her back from her desperate quest. 

"Let me go! I have to help them!" Noble wriggled against the Symncus's grasp. 

But Kosi only pulled her farther away. 

Noble didn't want to use a mind attack on the creature, so she did the next best thing. She lifted herself and the creature into the air. 

Kosi whined. His claws dug for the ground which was suddenly just out of his grasp. His body contorted to adjust to his weightless state, giving Noble enough slack in his tail to get her body free. She released the Symncus to gravity. 

"I'm sorry!" she exclaimed as he landed on the ground on his injured leg. "Stay here! I will make it up to you!" 

No matter how sorry Noble felt for causing Kosi pain, she still felt compelled to get out of the safety of the runes. 

And into the killing field. 

From the sky over the battlefield, Noble could see the horror drop from the skies.

Four translucent wings a half kilometer long flapped faster than the human eye could see. Pushing the remaining bats aside, six raven-colored legs stretched slowly outward, ready to encompass the entire countryside in its grasp.

Noble steeled her nerves, pushing into her speed to get to the others before the creature could attack. She needed to get them out of harm's way. 

But as Noble drew close, she found the Queen and Counsel were arguing. 

"I do not want your help. Go back." Emira shot a ball of fire which the warrior easily dodged. 

"You may not want it, but you'll need it for what you want to do," Counsel would not leave. He puffed out his chest. 

The two were pulled from their bickering by the arrival of the third person.

"Brenna!" They yelled in unison before giving each other a frustrated glance.

"My Lady, it is not safe here!" Counsel pleaded.

"Insolent girl! I already told you to go back with Counsel and let me deal with this," Emira flicked her hand dismissively at both of them, sending a spray of sparks across Noble's armor which were immediately doused by the growing wind.

The force from each massive wingbeat began to whip around them. The Tyrant was getting closer.

"We all need to go!" Noble's eyes swirled, ready to pick up the pair when she saw the grim determination in Counsel's eyes.

"I am staying," the man gripped his sword. "Someone has to protect the barrier or the city is lost." 

"That's what I'm doing, you dimwit!" Emira shot back.

Noble felt something deep inside her stirring.

More so than any time she had been in the Nightmare thus far. This mighty creature had something to do with the conflict she needed to resolve.

And running away would rob her of the chance to possibly end this once and for all. 

"I am staying too!" she announced over the howling gale. 

"See? Your wild nature had infected my niece! Be gone, both of you." Emira looked up and tried to ignore their presence

A smile crept onto Counsel's face. "It's too late and you know it. Accept our help or let us die."

Noble knew which option she preferred.

Emira grunted. "Brenna, protect the breach. Any creatures still around will try and make a divot in the gap to please their Master. And Counsel…you know what to do…"

At first, Noble thought the order was just a babysitting job, but then she looked around to see that two of the goats were already butting the weak spot in the wall. The soldiers were trying to attack it from inside the safety of the array, but their flimsy arrows were not able to penetrate the thick grey fur.

Racing toward the invisible dome, Noble pretended to jump and landed on the first creature's back. The Ruby Tear sang through the air as it plunged deep into the neck of the deranged goat. Its head reared back, ready to plunge all seven horns backward into the floating Awakened.

Noble was just a hair faster. Instead of impaling its enemy, the hairy creature sank its horns into its own hide.

The longest lodged in its back. Stuck with its head pointed skyward, the goat tried to lean toward Noble and make her pay for the pain.

It was a fatal move. The crimson sword slashed across the creature's neck and finished the job that it started.

[You have slain a Fallen Demon, Mountain Regent]

'I am getting a little too comfortable going after Fallen Creatures...' Noble tried to push down her elation at the victory. There was still a second Regent to put down.

And this one was the largest she had seen.

Ignoring her dead companion, the Regent dug her horns deep into the stone runes. Unlike the bat who had lost its leg, the goat's horns were merely repelled. Noble wasn't sure if it was due to the power difference between the creatures or some special property of the horn.

What she did know, is that pieces of the stone circle were being chipped away.

A small pulse of energy came from the invisible wall, and suddenly it could be seen. A translucent net in the shape of a half-circle blinked in and out of view.

'That's not good.' A few more hits like that and the Regent would succeed in doing what no one had done in over a hundred years.

She would break the kingdom's defenses. If that happened, the Tyrant would have easy access to the mundane humans within the city's walls. All would be lost.

'Not on my watch,' Noble was already in motion to stop the grey-haired menace from breaching the defensive array.

She was so focused on stopping the creature that she did not even register how loud the humming around her had become. Her sole focus was keeping the people who trusted her safe.

Keeping poor Kosi safe.

'You can do it!'

The Regent saw Noble coming and spun around to cut off the Awakened's path.

Noble was ready. Remaining behind the goat as it spun, she cut at the tendons on the back legs. The fur was too thick to let the slice open a wound, but the pressure caused the goat to kick feverishly in the air.

Which was just what Noble wanted.

She leaned back to avoid the kick and then flew forward with her sword pointed upward. The fur there was much thinner, and the Ruby Tear did what it was made to do—tear.

With the contents of the Regent spilling onto the ground, Noble received another notification of a kill.

Her mind was already elsewhere.

The Tyrant had not been just hovering in the air. He had moved closer and become even more menacing.

She covered her ears. 'That sound is coming…from him?!'

Indeed, what had started off as a soft hum and was now assaulting her ears was coming from an impossibly long proboscis sticking out above the creature's hooked mouth.

The hum grew to a crackle, then to a roar.

Then, without warning, Noble was blinded by a bolt of lightning. It shook the ground.

'The Queen! Counsel!'

A direct hit from such force would have proven fatal before the Awakened even knew what was happening.

Squinting against the assault of light. Noble prepared for the worst.

But when the energy dissipated, Emira still stood with her fiery red hair waving in the breeze. Scorched, broken earth lay behind her, leaving another small chip in the stone runes. Yet the Queen stood unfazed.

Emira looked up at the creature with disdain. "Is that all you've got?"