"That!" Theo wanted to say more, but the sheer shock of seeing someone willingly plummet to their death was beyond his comprehension.
"That" was the strange report he had received—that someone had leapt into the breach.
The general had assumed the person had actually fallen in, but then a second message from a different part of the ledge brought the same story.
Theo wasn't sure if it was the same story or two different instances, and he wanted to question the people directly. Unfortunately, he hadn't immediately found the sergeant who had sent the original report, and then the strange whispers confronting his ability to command and lead had thrown him off balance.
The stalwart general was just coming back from that significant moment of self-doubt when young Red had decided to try to fly.
Theo was slow to react, but he reached out to grab the boy to pull him to safety. His fingers brushed against Red's dented armor but could not gain purchase.
The sudden act of heroism threw him off balance for the second time in so many minutes, only this time it was physically.
Just as he was about to plummet, he felt himself being pushed back safely on the ledge by invisible hands.
That would have been astonishing enough, but then something even more astonishing happened.
After a short cry of frustration, the Queen pressed her lips together and dove after the falling man. Theo tried to dive after her, but Nickel caught his arm.
What in the name of the Beast God was happening?!
——-
Noble felt the soldier push her as he passed. He was filled with overwhelming despair.
The Queen assumed he was coming to report something or air his grievances to her until she looked at his face.
Sorrow filled the creases of his forehead, but his eyes were filled with grim determination.
'No!'
The next things happened in a flash.
As the soldier plummeted into the deep, Noble heard Theo exclaim that this was the problem.
Why hadn't he said so sooner?!
It didn't matter. What was done was done.
Noble immediately reached out with her ability. She steadied Theo before he could tumble over the breach, but the other man...
She had him for a moment, but then he suddenly continued to fall. A force other than gravity had taken hold of him, and he was ripped from her grasp.
Painfully! It was very different than when Nickel used a Memory to overcome her powers. The force countering hers was vindictive.
"Ow!" Noble cried out. But she was undeterred.
She instinctively flew into the breach. If she couldn't grab him with her Aspect, she would capture him with her arms.
'What in the Spell are you doing?!' Nickel's voice pounded in her head.
'Saving someone!' Noble rolled her eyes.
Even if the man wanted to end it all, the Queen wasn't about to let her do it in front of her eyes!
There was a short pause. 'His name is Red.' Nickel's voice was more subdued.
"Red!" Noble screamed. "Red, can you hear me?"
The wind whipped past her as she dove, stealing her voice away from the man below her.
Pressing into her power, she pulled her body tight and sped her fall to catch up with Red.
'Almost… there...'
Noble reached out her hands. Her fingers wrapped around the man's arm.
She took hold of his left bicep and slowed her descent. Red twisted his body to face his rescuer.
And pumped his right fist into her face.
"Oh!"
Noble released the soldier.
Even though the man had no armor on his hand, the hit still shocked her. She was tempted to leave him to his doom just to prevent her nose from getting another knock from his knuckles.
But that would have been wrong. The man was clearly not in his right mind.
Diving again, Noble took a firm hold of the back of his breastplate and pulled up.
"Let me go!" Red screamed. He tried to elbow Noble, but this time she was ready.
Shifting her weight, Noble swung him to one side and let his arms flail.
"Stop squirming!" The Queen sent a jolt of fear and then calm into the man.
'Please work!'
The first was the stronger emotion, meant to break Red from the overwhelming despair permeating his being.
The second was, in theory, to stop him from trying to thwart her efforts to save him.
You won't save him, or yourself. Why don't you just relax and let the darkness take you?
Now that Noble had identified she was being influenced by an outside source, she had no trouble differentiating it from her own thoughts.
Either the creature relied on the victim not knowing that the thoughts were foreign or it was just casting a wide net to see who would listen to its sinister lies.
Noble guessed it was the latter. After all that had happened, the abomination didn't need to work too hard to find people in despair. Noble had felt the younger man's hopelessness.
A small nudge was likely all that was needed to persuade the soldier to plunge into the breach.
It was heartbreaking but understandable. However, understandable did not make his sacrifice acceptable. Noble would not let Red be the monster's lunch.
'Let me save you, blast it!'
After the emotional invasion on Red's senses, the young man spasmed and went still.
And not a moment too soon.
'Blast it, it is hot down here.'
That made some sense. The volcanoes that had formed the ash in the mountains had also created a bed of obsidian below the caverns of Ender's Deep.
If Noble had turned on a light at this depth, she was sure that she would find the smooth, black stone.
But there was no time to practice her geology skills just now.
Whatever had tempted Red to end it all was still down there somewhere.
Noble pulled the limp man to his chest and shot upward.
'I've got him!' She told Nickel through [The Other's Voice].
'Good.' Nic was relieved to hear Noble's words. 'Hurry back so we can figure out what to do.'
'On my way.' Noble sped up her flight.
Thankfully, the man easy to carry. He remained still in her arms, making her worry that she had fried his brain by breaking him free of the monster's grasp.
The creature had some sort of invisible hold on him that Noble had been unable to break with her levitation alone. What if the hold was on his mind as well as his body and severing it did permanent damage?
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," Red's timid voice was barely audible. "I was weak."
"It wasn't your fault. You were tricked." Noble sent another feeling of warmth into him.
Now that she knew what was causing the discomfort in her soul, she was able to not only fight it but help others as well.
'At least it was only one person…' Noble knew as soon as she thought it that it was a mistake.
A moment later, her worst fear was confirmed.
Two more bodies came plummeting her way.