"No, no, no, no…" Noble couldn't fathom what she was seeing. Her eyes must be lying to her.
"Flint!"
The others looked in shock at their fallen comrade. Flint's head floated above his body, the look of horror from his final moments filling the others with dread.
"How?! Who?!" Roan looked at the door, his hand coming to the sword at his side.
Beside them, the body of the woman suddenly vanished into dark wisps. Noble had no time to understand the implications.
All at once, the ceiling began to cave in. A terrible force pressed upon it, while beings climbed in through the windows and rushed the door with swords drawn.
The four Masters were too stunned by the developments to react at first.
Aether cried out as a sword pierced his armor and dug into his shoulder. The attacker wielded one of Mirage's enchanted relics, no doubt having stolen it from the place where they were stored. A loud boom accompanied the hit as more of the building cracked and gave way. The attackers rushed forward in a swarm.
"Get Back!" Learning from her previous error, Noble repelled the armor of the closest soldiers, preventing a second attack.
"How many?" Roan brandished his blade.
"Dozens that I can sense. Probably many more that I cannot." Noble could feel the movement all around the building. They were descending on them like ants from a disturbed hill. In the absence of Syrce, Mae had sent a force against them to destroy them.
Noble now wished she had not departed from her friend so unceremoniously, though she had her reasons. In her shrewdness, Maelys had been lying in wait to finish springing the trap that she had baited with Flint.
The Awakened under the elder sister's command had the tactical advantage, not to mention the numerical one. They knew how the building was structured and were not afraid to bring it down on the Masters' heads just to complete their mission.
Well, Noble could help with that last part.
Pulling back to the center of the room, she pointed up. "Helie!"
The brunette glanced toward the crack in the ceiling. Getting her control of her emotions. She aimed her bow at the roof. "Now!"
The arrow flew ahead of her words. Infused with some of her essence, it touched the stone overhead and immediately dissolved it into sand.
Noble lifted herself and the other three Masters through the sand and falling bodies. One of the soldiers managed to catch her leg as he fell, but she kicked him away before he could fully take hold.
They lifted through the building's roof.
'Thankfully, this building was only a single story…' Noble hadn't bothered to think about it possibly being more than one since the roof was already coming down, but one of the taller structures could have buried them alive. Instead, they came out into the open air.
As she suspected, the soldiers were far more numerous than her initial estimate, and they were ready to shoot her and her companions out of the sky.
Arrows whizzed by, but Noble deflected their mundane paths. If the arrows had been enchanted, she would have had a harder time. They did not need to suffer any additional injuries in their mad dash.
In response to the barrage, Helie summoned a large arrow, but before she could decide how best to use it, Noble pulled her cohort away from the scene.
"We need to get out of here!"
It was a vicious attack. An ambush. While standing their ground was sometimes necessary, there was no reason to remain in a death trap. Just because she had successfully avoided their initial volleys did not mean that they were safe. They needed to retreat and regroup.
The mob pursued but could not keep pace. Noble headed for the waterfront, not coming down for a rest until they were on the opposite side of the mirror lake. The sun was giving its last rays, painting the sky a blood red. Noble looked at it with a sullen expression. Her eyes welled with tears.
"I can't believe it. It's my fault. Aether, are you alright?" Noble looked at the blood coming from the young man's shoulder.
"I am fine, My Lady. It's merely a scratch." He placed his hand on his chest with a wince.
Noble shook her head. "This shouldn't be. None of it should. I'm supposed to feel when people are in danger…"
"You cannot blame yourself. None of this is your fault." Roan assured her.
"Really? I'm the one who drew Maelys's ire. Without me, she wouldn't hate all of you." Noble rested her face in her hands, her eyes stinging with hot tears. "And now because of me, Flint is gone."
Flint was dead. There was no doubt that the head she had lifted was his. How could she not have been there to help him in his final moments?
She had let him down. Because of her, Flint had failed the Nightmare. That was a heavy burden to bear.
Helie grabbed Noble and pulled her into a hug.
"You didn't do this. They did."
"If anything, you are the reason we discovered the imposter at all. He was very convincing." Aether added.
"He even fooled my Ability," Noble wiped at her eyes. "Though that is not as hard as it used to be."
The man had managed to mimic Flint's emotional signature.
It was only her Attribute that had played him false in the end. He could fake a lot of things, but he couldn't recreate Noble's genuine attachment to the real Flint.
Her friend was no more.
"We will have to mourn him later," Roan spoke as a veteran of war. "No doubt they have already gotten rid of his body if they want to keep up the illusion."
"What should we do? Will we tell Syrce?" Aether looked over the water at the beautiful white fortress.
"So Maelys can disprove us yet again? I don't think so." Noble shook her head. She had already played into her hand before with accusations. "You saw how that woman disappeared. Either the dead are illusions or they have a way of making them vanish."
"They?" Helie raised one eyebrow.
"Maelys may hate me, but her advisor is hiding. I cannot think that one acted without the other." Noble shook her head.
"Are you proposing we wait out here until things die down?" Roan stroked his chin.
"I'm not too keen on returning to a city full of enemies with unknown powers, are you?" Child of Promise let the bitterness of their situation creep into her voice. "If our actions get misunderstood, we will have the whole caravan against us, not just Maelys's crew."
The rest of the group looked at each other. They wanted to avenge Flint. Feeling their frustration, she sighed.
"That doesn't mean we have to stay here either, though. The only way to get justice for Flint will be to plead our case before the only person who might listen." Noble glanced at Helie, whose eyes opened in recognition.
"You mean Lady Lyra?"
Child of Promise nodded. "You are the only one who has spoken with her. You are one of her closest counselors. Do you think she will be reasonable and willing to hear us out?"
Helie thought for a second. "Lyra is an exceptional leader. Even with the recent tragedy, she has managed to keep a level head. As long as the court has not led her astray in my absence, I think she will hear our case and judge fairly."
"It would be very hard to do so when family is involved," Aether politely disagreed with his companion.
"That may be, but I don't like the idea of just waiting to see what will happen. After the display of power Lady Mae just showed, I doubt the few days of separation that the commander requested will do any good."
"Agreed," Noble pursed her lips. "I have no intention of causing a coup, so someone needs to talk some sense into Syrce—and Maelys, if that is even possible. Surely Lady Lyra's arrival will help ease the tension and bring some restoration among the three sisters."
"You mean the two sisters." Helie corrected her with a frown.
"I mean, I guess the conflict is between the two sisters. Maelys and Syrce seem to be at odds with one another, so hopefully their other sister can act as an intermediary and broker peace. Is Lady Lyra also a Saint?"
Helie held up her hands. "Wait! Wait, hold on a second. Lyra is Syrce's sister, but Maelys is not."
Child of Promise blinked. They called each other sisters on more than one occasion, but Noble couldn't remember if Helie had been there. It seemed that was not the case.
"Yes, they are all sisters. Lady Mae is the eldest sister. Though I suppose Maelys doesn't deserve that title after all she has done…" Noble conceded.
Helie furrowed her brow. "I am confused. I thought there were only three sisters. Is Maelys adopted?"
Tilting her head, Noble pursed her lips. "No. There are only three sisters as far as I know."
"The three sisters are Lady Em, Lady Syrce, and Lady Lyra." Helie tilted her head.
"Lady Em?" Noble furrowed her brow. "Oh, I see your confusion. I think whoever said that meant Lady M—like the beginning sound for Maelys."
"Maelys cannot be the eldest sister? That's impossible." Helie turned paler than a ghost.
"What do you mean?" Roan asked.
Helie stared at him in horror. "Lady Em—Maelys…is dead."