Since the encounter in the garden, Noble had been constantly feeling for the emotional signature of the stranger who was watching her. He came and went, especially when she was outside.
But no matter how much the soldiers searched, they could not capture the elusive being.
At last, Noble decided to take matters into her own hands. She would capture the man herself.
But first, she had to lure him close enough to get him inside the castle. The man was reluctant to go beyond the wall of the garden. It had taken hours for him to finally move into the courtyard and even longer to come closer to her window.
At last, he had made it and was staring up at her from the shadows, unseen by castle guards.
Taking a deep breath, Noble set her book aside and concentrated on the man. He was even more tense than she was.
Eyes shut, Noble locked in on the figure and tugged him upwards. She would bring him to her and hold him in the air until he gave her answers. Dangling feet had a way of making people talk rather quickly.
'Got you!'
The intruder lifted from the garden, only to slip onto the ground once more and break into a run.
'What in two worlds?' Noble had never experienced this before.
She locked onto the man twice more, only to have him slip like a fish through a hole in her net. He wasn't counteracting it. Somehow, he was avoiding its grasp purely through his own stealth.
'How is that even possible?' Noble knew the man was an Awakened. Was his Aspect evasion?
This was not how things were supposed to go. Noble needed to think fast.
The only option if she wanted to confront the man tonight was pursuit.
At least she had her mask. If anyone saw her, they would question who they saw instead of immediately knowing it was her.
Kosi felt the shift in her demeanor and was startled from his slumber. He was suddenly alert.
"I'll be right back. Don't let anyone in the room," she told him gently.
The Symncus whined softly, but Noble didn't have time to comfort him. There was no time to lose.
Noble whispered the True Name for light and growing less to dispel the moonlight entirely. Out of the window, the floating Awakened flew quickly in hopes of catching the man before he was gone again.
Keeping to the darkness of the wall, Noble made it to the ground from her tower before racing above the flowers after her target. The last thing Noble wanted was to be seen and raise the alarm.
'If someone sees me flying, they will have more questions for me than for the intruder.'
So she continued to pursue from the shadows.
Trying to stop the cloaked man by lifting him, Noble felt her Ability nearly catch him over and over again. And fail over and over as well.
'He is more slippery than a snake!'
And more elusive. The man reached the wall and scaled it with the rope he had used to descend. Somehow he kept to the darkness, making it impossible for Noble to see him using the visible light.
She was glad she had a secondary vision. Even though she couldn't hold him still, Noble was able to track him on his escape path.
Over the wall, the man went, faster than any person had a right to go. If Noble hadn't seen his effort to climb, she would have assumed he was floating just like herself.
'You aren't getting away that easily...'
Quickly checking for anyone who could be watching, Noble flew over the courtyard wall and entered the city streets.
This was only the second time that Noble had been in the sprawling world outside the palace. She had no idea where anything was. But she didn't have to know. Her goal was a person, not a place.
Summoning [Bread Crumbs], Noble made a furtive glance behind her to make sure the invisible crumbs were creating a trail.
They would be helpful to retrace her steps if she wandered too far. She tucked the stone in her armor and the translucent trail faded from her view for now.
'No getting lost tonight!'
This was too important. The floating woman quickened her pace.
Passing in front of the castle and the pristine stained glass window, Noble turned down a narrow alley between two buildings. She would not even have noticed the opening if not for the wraith she was chasing.
'I might not know the city, but he does.'
The entry was so narrow that Noble did not even notice the trip wire strung across the cramped space. Even though she was floating, the cord was high enough to catch on the toe of her sabaton.
A net fell from above, covering Noble with its tightly woven threads.
'You have to be joking.' Noble immediately summoned her estoc and sizzled the netting with its enchantment.
How could she have fallen for such a simple trick?!
Fortunately, she did not have to see the stranger to track him.
And now she was wary of his traps. So Noble silently followed as the stranger snaked through every crevice and switchback that the marketplace had to offer.
Once the man even cut through the attic of a house. Noble simply floated over it.
His traps were as numerous as his twists and turns. He had meticulously planned his escape.
If Noble had needed to follow more closely, she would have been caught at least another three times, but instead she evaded the snares of the back alleys and shoddy hideaways.
After the initial attempt, Noble had given up trying to use her Ability on the man. It was better that he believe that she was gone and stop running.
Except he didn't. He hurried through countless streets, never pausing for more than a moment to look over his shoulder.
Finally, Noble had had enough of this cat-and-mouse game. It had gone on long enough.
Taking a chance, Noble used the man's spike in emotion to mark his next sideways jog. This time, she was ready.
Cutting around the front of the building, Noble checked to see if anyone else was inside before bursting through the front door. The room was large and empty, looking like a threshing floor of some kind.
A blade whizzed toward her head. Noble's eyes swirled and the dagger froze midair. It spun around menacingly, ready to turn back on its owner before Noble grabbed it and tucked it into her belt.
She glared at her attacker.
Startled, the man backed up only for the shutters of the window to slam shut and lock behind him.
"Let's…" Noble raised her estoc to block a second dagger from impaling her eye.
In a surge of energy, the elusive man struck out like a cornered rat.
Having given him no place to run, the stranger attacked her with everything he had. He was capable, but Noble was far more equipped for this battle.
In her free hand, she called forth the [Staff of Sages] which she had used once in the Dreamscape. While it was still manifesting, Noble easily blocked one more of the man's vicious swipes. She effortlessly knocked the dagger wide using the [Unlikely End] before dismissing it.
With eyes like lightning, Noble took the segmented staff in both hands and released the two chains.
"Stop!" She ordered.
The man barked a laugh. "Why? So you can kill me?"
Noble calmed herself and sent as much of that emotion as she could into her opponent.
Assaulted by the alien feeling, he took a step back. Noble saw her chance. Activating the secondary enchantment, she bound the man's wrists within the chains of her staff.
"If I had wanted to kill you, you would already be dead," Noble said evenly. His hands relaxed for a brief moment, allowing Noble to wrest the dagger from his palm. It went sliding across the threshing floor away from the pair.
Taking the center piece of wood, Noble pulled her captive toward the center of the room.
Noble smirked behind her mask. "Now…let's talk."
Struggling against his chains, the man shook his head. "I will only talk to one person. And that is Lady Brenna."
'Well, that is convenient.' Noble let out a relieved sigh. She relaxed slightly. "You are in luck. I am Lady Brenna."
The man's countenance darkened as he looked her up and down. His expression darkened. "No, you are not..."
Noble froze. No one in the Nightmare had ever accused her of being from outside it. Did this man have some perception that allowed him to see? Her blood ran cold.
'Does he know?'