"The bracelets!" Noble gasped.
Ender looked down as the gold bands continued to glow softly.
"Helpful little things. They give so much power. I understand why your aunt was so attached to them."
Counsel circulated his essence, and whispered a few words. The tenebrous Heart pulsed in his hand. Wisps of darkness began to sift through the outer membrane of the ball.
The ominous mist floated up to Counsel's face and circled it. The man's eyes clouded with darkness before clearing. Inhaling the smoke deeply through his nostrils, he smiled.
'Nickel, I'm not sure where you are right now, but…HELP!'
Noble dashed forward to dislodge the ball and stop the sinister process Ender had begun.
Whatever happened, Noble could not let him be successful in his quest to control the Tyrant.
Sensing the move, Ender evaded her attack.
"You don't want to fight me." He said calmly.
The words almost rang true, but Noble silenced them before they could take root.
"This is madness. You have to stop! No good can come from what you are trying!"
She tried to lift the ball from his hand, but Counsel tightened his grip.
Under the pressure, haze poured from the ball like water from a sieve. Ender was enveloped in ominous darkness, yet he remained calm.
"Trust me," he crooned, his voice silky smooth.
The words coiled around her like a snake, yet somehow she slipped through their grasp.
"Trust you?" She barked a laugh. "Never again!" As tempting as his communication was, her mind was not going to fall under his control. Her emotions were too strong to be swayed by his honeyed words.
'Two can play at that game,' Noble sent a strong wave of confusion towards him. She needed to break his connection to the spell he was casting. Or at least his concentration.
But the smoke around Counsel seemed to protect the man from her machinations. He easily resisted the battle of invisible wills.
'Blast it!' Switching to her second sight to pierce through the dark smoke, the queen dashed forward.
Striking twice more, Noble's blade went wide first before hitting against the armor with the return stroke. Although she did not catch him with the tip of her blade, the hit clanged against his shoulder guard.
Before Noble could follow up with an upward slice towards his neck, Counsel kicked his metal boot against the stomach of the woman he claimed to love.
The sudden force overcame Noble for a moment and she went down, brushing the seat of her armor against the ground before she could regain her flight.
Pain surged up her spine.
She screamed.
A blur of golden fur jumped between them. Kosi snarled at Counsel, protecting Noble with his body.
The large creature had been confused by the strange interaction between them. They had many sparring matches, but never outside.
The Queen's scream finally spurred him into action.
"Sweet Brenna, did I hurt you?" Counsel's voice was filled with curiosity but not concern.
He stepped to the side only for Kosi to block his path a second time.
"Get out of my way, you foolish Symncus!" Ender ordered.
Kosi faltered, looking at Noble with a dazed expression. He stepped aside with a whine.
Counsel's powers of persuasion were confusing to the young demon.
When exactly had Ender mastered his Aspect? Was it this morning when he convinced Pen to take the Heart?
"No! Kosi!" Noble begged. "We have to get the ball. We have to stop Counsel!"
"Stay!" Counsel glared at the demon. "It's for your own good."
The Symncus struggled for a moment and then sat as if forgetting his previous thought.
"Kosi, listen to me, please!" Noble tried to break through the mental barrier, but it was no use.
Prodding the creature's emotion only got a concerned look from the beautiful cat-like eyes. Noble was wasting time. Time she didn't have.
Once again on her own, the Queen lifted Counsel from the ground. The thick smoke became solid, sticking to his skin like tar. The sight was startling, but it did not stop Noble from shaking the man to try and dislodge the ball from his hand.
The sorcerer chuckled.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you! Put me down or I might drop this..." From his armor, Counsel brought a familiar vial.
A small drop had eaten away the bulk of the garden courtyard. How much of the city would be destroyed by the whole container?
Noble continued to dangle the man in the air. "That is for the Lord of the Mountains!"
"We won't need it when my plan works. So I may as well dispose of it now to free up one of my hands." Ender smiled congenially.
If he broke the vial, Noble could stop all of the droplets from reaching the ground, but then what?
Her mind raced, trying to discern all the possibilities.
Where were Nickel and Sarai? Surely they would have an idea!
Part of her wanted them to arrive immediately. But what if Counsel could persuade them like he did Kosi?
That would give her opponent easy hostages.
A whisper of fear made its way into Noble's consciousness, but she shook her head.
No, Nickel and Sarai were not that weak! They were allies, not liabilities!
'Hurry!'
Oblivious to her thoughts, Ender was already chanting the next part of his ritual.
This was different than using True Names. The power fueling the process came from within Ender and the bracelets on his arms.
The sky darkened overhead.
The horde was almost here.
Ender glanced toward the coming cloud, and Noble saw her chance. She lifted from the ground and raced at him with her weapon.
He twisted his head at the last moment, and the esctoc raced across his cheek, creating an angry, sizzling gash.
But before the Unlikely End's enchantment could take hold, the cut on his face was already being sewn shut with tenebrous thread.
In Ender's hand, the Heart continued to pulse, growing visibly bigger and smaller with each beat.
'No!' Noble's eyes opened wide. She could not stop her forward motion fast enough.
Counsel welcomed her advance with open arms. Gripping the vial tightly in his hand, he ran his fist down her arm forcefully to knock the sword from Noble's grasp.
In all his sparring with Noble, Counsel had mostly played defense. He had become very skilled at deflecting and changing the angle of Noble's hits.
Because he had not wanted to injure Brenna and incur Emira's wrath, the man was an expert at absorbing Noble's strikes and using that momentum to keep them both safe.
Now he used that same skill, but for a slightly different purpose.
After disarming his opponent, Counsel wrapped his arms around the Queen's chest. With a twist, he shifted their speed into a downward spiral.
Keeping the ball and vial out of reach, Ender pinned Noble's arms as he hugged his body against hers. The breath was forced from her lungs. When her body seemed close to breaking, Counsel pressed his knee against the Queen's chest to throw her to the ground.
Unable to slow herself in time, Noble's back hit the courtyard before she could buoy herself again. With a groan, she scrambled away from Counsel, who landed on his feet beside her with a contemplative expression.
Sweat poured down Noble's brow as her vision blurred.
"Very interesting..." Counsel regarded her as he stoked the Heart.
Noble dismissed her estoc and summoned it again, but it would be precious seconds before the weapon materialized. She righted herself. Her head ached.
Smiling darkly, Ender approached. "I never would have thought the ground was your weakness, but here we are. It seems I don't need to destroy the earth, I just press you against it."
"Don't!" Noble had hit the earth twice, but only for short amounts of time. She had built up enough immunity to recover from the contact, but not if she kept being subjected to new pain.
Ender came close, ready to test his theory before the queen's strange sword could come back into existence.
Brenna had more power than he previously thought, but she was also more fragile. If he could keep her subdued until he was through with his transformation...
A roar interrupted his thoughts as a body collided with his own. Ender barely avoided the teeth that accompanied the newly-regrown mane.
"Stop it, you fool!" Counsel pushed as much essence into his words as he could, but there was none to spare. The process he was undergoing was taking its toll even with the bracelets.
Kosi roared again, his massive jaw opening wide. Noble didn't need a translator to know what the Symncus was saying.
'How DARE you hurt the Queen!'
Counsel tried to defend himself with his words, but they fell on deaf ears.
No matter how convincing Ender's Aspect could be, for Kosi, injuring Noble meant death. He pressed his paw against the offender's face and prepared to rip the man in two.
"The Heart!" Noble hurried forward before Kosi swallowed the tenebrous ball along with the traitor holding it.
"Get back, you stupid whelp!" Counsel screamed.
Noble made it halfway to her goal when a tinkling sound of glass cut off Kosi's sound mid-growl.
Only it wasn't the Heart that had shattered.
It was the vial.
The Symncus staggered, turning to face Noble with uncomprehending eyes. His mouth foamed.
Drool dripped from his mouth and sizzled against the ground, eating a small patch of earth.
Kosi whined softly.
Then fell to the dirt.