Noble had studied the movements of the Tyrant in depth. Both old writings and in-person interviews had shed light on the habits of the Lord and his deranged court.
Most people had only seen the Tyrant once or twice– at least and lived to tell about it. But each small piece of information painted a greater picture.
That research was how the Queen knew about the intervals between the lightning. One of the kings of old had noted it and documented it in great detail. While the Lord could strike more often if he chose, he seemed to need to release the built-up energy periodically when he traveled.
Her studies and her own observations had also given her insights into the Tyrant's movements. Just like King Kraai was as a human, the massive Lord preferred to let his minions do the fighting for him.
The Tyrant could easily drop to the ground and annihilate everything in sight with the force of his six legs alone, but he seemed unwilling to land. His only brush with the ground thus far was trying to capture Counsel.
By leading him away from the city, Noble hoped to keep it that way. As she fought her way close to the body of the Tyrant, a smile formed on her face.
'Let him cling to the safety of the air...'
Not that it was safe...at least not anymore.
Beside Noble, Sarai was holding her own. She refrained from using her fire aspect to conserve her essence and was still managing to hold back the creatures as she rose through the air.
The Tyrant was moving toward them at incredible speed. Even though it was massive, the landing spot which Noble had in mind was rather limited.
Its long, thin body was connected to the head by a flattened neck. To reach this spot, Noble would need to avoid the tremendous mouth of the abomination as well as the proboscis that sat above it.
The second problem was solved by Nickel.
Having seen the [Portcullis Key], the Tyrant was using the full extent of its lightning rod to reach the fleeing phantom.
'There is enough fear that you should be able to go through inanimate objects.' Noble sent the message to Nickel, hoping he could still hear her.
'Figured that out right after you left.' Nickel's eye-roll was apparent.
If she had been looking below, she would have seen him phasing through one building after another on his mad dash toward the city's exit.
It had caused a bit of destruction because of the Nightmare Creatures barreling after him, but no one could bother with that detail just now.
Nickel didn't speak again. Noble left him alone to avoid the Tyrant's reaching grasp.
While she and Sarai needed to avoid his teeth!
Noble had accounted for many things, but she had no way of knowing of the intense currents she would experience when she got near to the colossal body.
No one had ever gotten this close before.
As the Lord breathed in, Noble felt like the entire world was going to be pulled into his gaping maw. Up close, it seemed big enough to swallow half the kingdom whole.
Or all of it in its current condition.
"Noble!" Letting go of her friend's hand, Sarai had no way to resist the current.
She was fully at the mercy of the forces acting on her. Unwilling to trust her telekinesis, Noble dove and grabbed her friend around the waist.
They dipped below the bottom jaw so closely that Noble's hair was nearly sheared off by one of the impossibly long jagged teeth.
'Not today!' Noble breathed a sigh of relief, but not for long. She would only have one shot to get this right before Nickel would have to face another of the Tyrant lightning bolts...or worse.
She followed the line of the neck, waiting for the moment to break free from the protection to surface.
That was, until she felt something coming at her from below with blinding speed.
Even though Noble had hoped to escape the Tyrant's notice, that was an impossible task. A woman sporting black and yellow armor and another one with fiery red hair did not exactly resemble any of his minions.
The front right of the Lord's six legs curled on itself to capture the delicious prey as a pre-dinner appetizer. If not for Noble's extra sense, he would have gotten his way.
Noble shifted to the far side of the neck to avoid the swipe. Instead, she encountered a different obstacle.
The wind.
As massive as the creature was, it needed four large wings to keep itself in the air. It couldn't float magically like Noble, and so each wing needed to overcome an almost insurmountable amount of gravity with each flap.
While it was something she might have been able to contend with alone, there was no way that she could manage two people in the gale-force winds.
They plummeted in freefall.
"Loop it! Quick!" With one hand on her friend and the other holding the estoc, Noble had no way to call another Memory into existence.
But Sarai did.
The redhead must have foreseen the difficulty for she already had a ball of twine in her hand. Taking one end in her palm, she threw the other at the creature's neck.
"Oh No!" The small ball was not impervious to the current of air any more than the two women. The string fell short of its goal.
Or so Noble thought.
Activating the [Spider's Web] enchantment, Sarai caused the thread to stick in front of the joint of the Tyrant's primary left leg and instantly harden.
With the anchor in place, Noble sped them up the makeshift pole-ladder with all her might.
Feeling the sticky substance, the Tyrant adjusted the movement of its leg to remove the offending object from its skin. The web shattered and dissipated into a rain of sparks.
But it had done its job. They made it to the Lord's back.
"Grab hold!" Noble dug her fingers around the edge of an uneven scale as she held on for dear life. Noble sheathed her sword.
If by chance one of the Tyrant's minions could reach her, she would have no angle to fight them off anyway. It was better to have both hands for the climb.
Although the animal was nearly the size of a small island, it thankfully did not count as ground.
Scraping against the scales of the Tyrant's mountainous side, both ladies quickly pulled themselves onto the Kraai's back.
Once they got behind the head and between the massive wings, the wind was inexplicably calm. If not for the ground moving swiftly below them, Noble might have forgotten that they were flying.
She looked at the Lord's neck.
Unlike the underside, the top of it as well as its inhuman shoulders were covered in a blanket of black feathers. Some were small like the one that had been trimmed to fit in Emira's hair, but others were longer and wider than the two ladies combined.
Noble's theory had proven correct so far.
"We made it!" A smile crept onto the queen's face.
Unfortunately, that was the easy part.