A man rode proudly atop the single humped creature as it lumbered forward.
Noble recognized him immediately.
"Drusus?!"
The man looked so drastically different that she could hardly believe it was him.
Unless it wasn't!
"It is very good to see you, Lady Syrce and Lady Bel. I know last time we parted, it wasn't under the happiest of circumstances." Drusus bowed his head from the back of his mount.
Syrce furrowed her brow. "And those circumstances would be…"
Drusus tilted his head. "I left you from the Fortress and went home to my parents. I was in a bad state after the run-in with those moths."
'I didn't tell the copy that, did you?' Noble asked Syrce.
'Indeed, I did not.'
Noble smiled. "You look quite majestic on that mount. Does this mean you have regained some of your mobility?"
The question was a delicate one, but the man took it in stride.
"Indeed, I have not," he indicated the wooden circle around his waist that was attached to the saddle. "I am well supported by this contraption, and Champ is very good at following my lead."
Drusus patted the creature below him. Champ made a noise that sounded halfway between a squawk and a grunt.
The young man chuckled. "He may not be as majestic as your violet companion, Lady Bel, but he is every bit as reliable."
Noble's shoulders relaxed.
'It's him.'
"It's really you!" Syrce exclaimed. "It is very good to see you!"
Lyra furrowed her brow. "Are you certain? A moment ago, you both were staring at him like you had seen a ghost!"
"That's another long story... or part of the same one as before." Syrce rubbed the back of her neck.
Noble held up her hand. "Wait, Lyra gave you credit for everyone's speedy travel. Drusus, were you the one behind the invisible bridges?"
The young man beamed with pride. "I awakened my aspect at last! I didn't think it would be possible after the accident, but after days of silent contemplation, I decided I would not let my life be wasted. I owe that to her..."
Noble did not need to ask who he meant. Drusus continued.
"When we decided to set out, I found I could cause the road to be smoother and help the carts have less trouble on their way. I never dreamed that I could also make a path where there shouldn't be one!" The young man turned to Orrin with a gentle dip of his head. "The Shieldbearer may be a way-finder, but it turns out that I am a way-maker!"
That would be a very useful skill for travelers of the Dream Realm. Noble had seen how it served Lyra and her people to give them safe and speedy passage to their goal.
"I wish you well in all your endeavors." Noble was happy to see the young man had turned his life around.
He seemed quite pleased, too, leaning back to sit up straighter against his saddle. "I will do my best. Who knows? Perhaps I can eventually make a way for my lower half to heal. Seeing that palace, I feel like anything is possible."
Noble felt a tinge of sadness. She had bought them some time to live in this world, but how much? No one could say for certain. In the original timeline, this Realm was assimilated into the Dream Realm. But that was a problem for another day.
Just now, she would revel in the victory.
"You did well, Drusus." Child of Promise felt Lyra's eyes resting on her.
"So did all of you." The youngest sister nodded in approval. "Thank you, Realm Walker."
Syrce caught her sibling up in another hug, causing Noble to step back. The elder sister asked after the status of a half dozen people that Noble didn't know. Orrin joined her as she looked on.
"Like two peas in a pod, those two." He commented.
Noble smiled. "So I see."
Orrin sighed, "I wish you could have met the eldest. Lady Maelys completed the set. If only you could have seen her."
"In a way, I have." Noble looked at the two chatting women. She could imagine a third in their midst, the real Maelys, joining in the happy reunion. "I am sure she was wonderful. She would be ecstatic to see all of this."
"That she would," Orrin agreed. "How were things in my absence? I hope my mistress there did not give you too much trouble."
"I heard that!" Syrce glared at the old gentleman over her shoulder. "I would say we did pretty well for ourselves, didn't we, Lady Bel?"
"We managed," Noble answered, amused.
"Well, I for one am very glad to be back with my real, true sister, and now she has gotten to meet my dearest friend at last!" Syrce took both Lyra and Noble's hands and squeezed them tightly.
The azure-haired woman tilted her head curiously. "Of course I am real. What else would I be? You don't have a lot of fake sisters hidden away somewhere, do you?"
"Ha, that is amusing." Syrce's smile became strained. "There is much to tell you, Lyra, but it can wait. First, let's get you across the lake. With Drusus's help, it should be quite easy."
The energetic Saint tugged the women along, but Noble removed her hand.
Syrce looked at her, confused for a moment. Then recognition dawned on her face. "This is the end, isn't it? Now that I am settled back with family and my people, you are leaving?"
Child of Promise nodded slowly. "I am being called away as we speak. I cannot stay any longer."
"I understand. Be well, Bel." Syrce hugged the woman a final time.
"Be well, Syrce." Noble felt her eyes sting. The quirky Saint, whether real or not, had left an impression on her that would never be removed.
'One question, though...'
Noble was startled by her friend's voice in her head. 'Yes?'
'When you asked the group the question about Titus to confirm their identities, you used the word Nightmare. Why was that the name you chose?' Syrce seemed deeply troubled by the term.
Noble thought for a second. This was a Nightmare, but how could she explain that? 'What would you have called it?'
The Saint's grey eyes twinkled. 'What else? An adventure.'
Syrce removed the Memory and handed it to Noble with a smile. Then she turned and took Lyra's arm to head back to the carts.
There was no more to be said. Dismissing The Other's Voice, Noble gathered herself and prepared to exit the Nightmare. Was there anything she was forgetting?
'Perhaps I could try to take the cape with me. If I can manipulate it small enough, it might fit...'
Noble looked down at the cape and prepared to unclasp it. Her face went pale. Her right hand, the one that had been touched by the advisor and dragged through the mirror, was shimmering.
It resembled the Paradox Fang, seeming to both be there and not be there at all. Her skin there had felt strange ever since her run-in with the Advisor, but she hadn't had time to pay it much attention.
Now, as the Nightmare came undone, the strange sensation was running up her arm and infecting her whole body. Something was very wrong.
First her arm, and now her body felt like they would disappear in a gust of wind. This was not the pull of the end of the Nightmare. It was something far more sinister.
She looked toward the palace and spotted a figure on the far edge of the lake.
"Roan!"
Noble lifted in the air and raced toward the mirror lake in hopes that he might know what to do.
All around her, the world unraveled.