'Worms. Why did it have to be worms?'
Noble's stomach lurched. Not only was the back side of the Terror now covered in millions of tiny worms, but the creepy crawlies had also coated the loose soil with a translucent slime.
And that slime was now coating her body as well.
'Ew!'
Pushing down the nausea created by the smell, the warrior wiped off the coating from her armor.
Where had the minions even come from? They hadn't been there before!
Noble shivered.
There were more important things to focus on, and the smell of the worms was clouding her thinking. Coming at the creature from the back would be inconvenient. It was better to return to her comrades before they began to worry.
Coming around the side of the flat creature, Noble gained a full picture of the scene before her.
Roan and Aether soared through the air on the back of the griffin. By the way they carried themselves and their confidence, there was no doubt they were proud leaders in legacy clans.
As the griffin rose into the air, a spark of electricity arced between Roan's fingers. Then the glowing ball grew, joined by thousands of small streams from the sky. The electric charge coalesced, and as the griffin tilted downward, the beam shot straight for the Terror.
At the same moment, Aether stood behind his companion on the lion's back. With a tip of his head that looked more like a formal bow, he dove from the back of the Echo toward the grassy monster.
The sword in his hand began to glow like a celestial beacon, its edges seeming like they were made of pure starlight. The sword sliced the air, appearing to split reality as the night sky appeared in his wake.
Roan's lightning hit the Terrestrial Giant a second before the Nightwalker's blade. The bolt was not powerful enough to affect the entire monster, but the dark grass caught fire while the dirt below it melted like lava before cooling.
The incandescent soil dripped away, revealing another of the strange cores of the Fallen abomination. Leaping into the breach, Aether plunged his blade into the core three times at opposing angles. Then, like a rock skipping on the surface of the water, he took three vertical steps before pushing off of the fiery clifface.
Roan caught his companion, and the two soared away just as the core gave in to the strain. Shimmering liquid poured out of the sphere, spilling onto the lava and mixing with it.
A second core was destroyed.
Below, Flint was managing to avoid the falling rocks and lava. A string of curses escaped his lips as he tried not to be buried under the debris.
Noble noticed the dark patch of grass closest to Flint was tinged with pale blue.
'Not just blue. It's ice!'
The angry Master had power over ice?!
Another layer of frost covered the emerald plain. The grass, frozen in place, was unable to reach for the human as the giant lumbered forward. Still, it was hard to stay in front of the moving island without being crushed.
Yet somehow, Flint was managing.
After dismissing his slingshot, Flint timed it perfectly to create a set of frosty stairs for him to climb.
His movements were not as agile or beautiful as Aether's, but they were full of menacing power.
Reaching the center of the ice, Flint called forth a mace with diamond tips. The harrowing weapon crashed into the permafrost, shattering the grass and ground like it was made of glass.
But Flint was not through.
Navigating the frozen shards, the disgruntled warrior endured thousands of tiny cuts to reach his goal.
Then, like a master gemcutter, Flint went to work on the core. There was purpose and precision in his movements, making him look more like a machine than a man. The diamond spikes of the mace scratched against the nebulous surface, etching a path of destruction as it moved.
Flexing his fingers, Flint fled at the last moment.
Instinctively, Noble reached for him to soften his landing. But before she could latch onto him, the older man made himself an icy slide to the ground.
While two cores were almost simultaneously obliterated, a third was still under attack. As Noble neared the floating stranger, the brunette was already letting off another bolt in her barrage of arrows.
The quiver on her shoulder was filled with different fletchings, and new arrows manifested as soon as they struck their target.
Every shot rang true, slowly creating a massive hole in the landscape. Even with Noble having to constantly move the other woman to keep her far away from the Terror, the archer did not struggle to aim and fire.
'Not bad!'
The work was paying off. While not every arrow was doing much to the tough surface of the giant, the collective force was carving a canyon in the rocky hide.
'Quite an arsenal!'
Seeing Noble, the woman called out to her. "Lift me higher!"
The two women headed upward, racing through the air at a diagonal to keep ahead of the towering beast.
The archer never stopped shooting, making steady progress as they neared.
"Stop here!" the brunette ordered. "You have a bow?"
Noble nodded, calling on the Memory as they paused their ascent.
The lady passed her blonde companion one of her arrows.
"On my mark, we both shoot at the crack. Now!"
Noble barely had time to nock her arrow before the call came. Immediately, she knew her aim was off. Fortunately, she did not need to rely on the air to guide her shot.
At the last moment, Noble used her ability to adjust the trajectory of the arrow to land in the same spot as the first.
When the tips touched, the two arrows entwined and became one. They sizzled before burrowing deep into the core. Golden liquid poured out like a waterfall before dissipating into nothing.
"I've always wanted to do that!" The woman's hood fell away from her face, revealing two shining eyes.
This was the first good look that she had gotten at her companion. She was likely around Noble's age or a little older. Not that ages were easily discernible for Awakened beings. And with the dirt streaked across her face and the cherubic grin, she appeared little more than a child.
Her words echoed in Noble's mind.
"You mean you've never tried that before?" She blinked.
"I've only ever shot both myself. It works much better with two people." The woman beamed. "Thanks!"
Noble felt the woman's genuine delight. It was oddly heartwarming in the heat of battle. Noble smiled at the stranger, glad that she was so pleased with the success.
That happiness, however, was short-lived.
Another earthquake disturbed the ground below.
The Terrestrial Giant swayed. With only two of its cores still intact, it no longer had the energy to stay upright.
That didn't mean it was less intent on destroying the humans that were inflicting so much pain.
If it couldn't chase them down, it would do the next best thing. The island stopped moving, teetering on the thin edge of its feet.
Then it leaned forward, ready to block out the sun for the humans forever.