"Seriously?!" Noble felt like crying.
"Yes, I am quite serious," Red mumbled, unsure of why the monarch was suddenly angry.
"Not you…" Noble gritted her teeth. "Hold on!"
'Put up a barrier! Make a perimeter! Stop anyone else from jumping!' Noble screamed at Nickel.
Every doubt in Noble's mind about the identity of the monster behind the whispers was now extinct.
This had to be the same creature that the Saint fought in his Nightmare. The similarities were just too uncanny!
But according to the Saint, it took months from the point of his entry until the citizens started to leap into the abyss.
That didn't line up with what she was experiencing right now. With Red in her arms and two others on their way, the timeline of events had somehow changed.
Why were so many people taking the tumble so far ahead of schedule?!
What had changed?
Everything…
Noble was pretty sure the barrier had not been broken or disabled before the attack in the original timeline. And the people would have had no way to know that they should evacuate the southern half of the city. And since there was no huge mass of bones outside of Ender's Deep as far as she knew, the Tyrant must have died elsewhere.
Perhaps even in the crevice…
If that were true, then half the people of Crestfall and the Lord of the Mountain would have been food for the newly released creature in the deep.
Noble had robbed the abomination of his feast and thus accelerated its need for food.
Who knows how long it had been since the last time the monster had been fed?
There would be time to contemplate that later.
Right now, Noble had bigger problems.
She looked up where two spots blocked out the minimal light above her. For the moment, Noble was glad she had not called forth a light while falling into the deep. Not only would it have made it easier for whatever was below to find her, but it would have rendered her blind to the shadows now coming her way.
From their emotional signatures, the closer of the falling humans was male while the other was female. Both reeked of the same despair as Red before his jump.
Red looked up too, a moment of recognition dawning on his face. "Your Majesty?"
"I said, HOLD ON!" Noble shifted him to her back, having him wrap his arms around her neck. She wore him like a mundane cape.
There would be plenty of time for him to be ashamed later, but for now, he gripped the flying woman with all his might.
As Noble rose to meet the other victims, she called a Memory into being. Part of the [Staff of Sages] was still forming when she intercepted the second man. This time, she instinctively knew to avoid his fist.
As soon as she caught hold of his hand, the staff's chains became cuffs. Applying one to her left wrist and the other to the man's, Noble dangled him like a piece of human jewelry from her arm.
"Let me go!" he screamed, sounding just like Red had a moment ago.
"Tempting!" Noble responded as she dove toward the third thrall. While she had been securing the second man, the lady had unfortunately gotten past her guard and continued to fall. Noble picked up speed to try and intercept the final human before she met her unfortunate end.
With so much extra weight, the falling suddenly felt much more natural.
Clad in a simple frock that was in tatters, the lady looked even more pitiful than the other two.
But also more determined. She seemed to know that Noble was coming for her. So the woman did her best to avoid Noble's reach. She placed her arms above her head and tilted downward, like a diver about to break the surface of a pool.
"Get back here!" Noble cried out in frustration.
Suddenly the woman's head snapped toward Noble, sending a chill down the Queen's spine. The woman spread her body and came at the other three with a crazy look in her eyes.
'Uh oh!' Noble caught the lady's wrist before she could claw out the Queen's eyes.
The raggedy woman hissed and opened her mouth, ready to bite off her savior's nose. Noble instinctively pushed her away.
"Stop it!"
Sending out the same combination of fear and comfort, Noble jolted both the woman and the man hanging from her wrist.
Their expressions cleared, and the determination in the lady turned to unfiltered fear. The young civilian panicked.
That was why Noble had wanted to wait until she had hold of the lady before releasing her from her daze, but it was not meant to be.
"Come closer!" Noble said gently as she tried to guide the woman towards her. Thankfully when the mental bond was broken, the invisible tether was as well. The woman grabbed Noble's free hand and pulled herself into the Queen's embrace. Her sudden movement brought her face to face with Red, startling them both.
Noble could feel the woman's sudden interest.
"This is not the time or place, we need to get…"
Just then, three more bodies flew past them. Noble's face fell.
What could she do?
She wanted to help the people, but her arms were full.
She dove anyway, desperately hoping for an opportunity to present itself.
Noble gasped for breath. Her lungs burned.
Down this low, the air was unbearably hot and thick with noxious gas. While Noble could withstand the pressure and pain, she could feel the mundane humans around her struggling.
Noble was forced to slow down before Red passed out. He was still holding onto her shoulders but his grasp was loosening. If the queen pushed any harder, it was likely she would lose him as well.
There was no winning. Noble's heart broke with the decision she was forced to make.
Rather than lose sight of the others' final moments, Noble summoned the [Lucent Taper] and watched it fall into the abyss before hovering it below her.
Noble almost wished she hadn't.
They were closer to the base of the chasm than Noble had realized, about half of a kilometer away.
Further on, the debris from the collapsed kingdom littered the ground. But right below them, something far more harrowing lurked in the darkness.
Spanning the bottom of the gorge were thousands of tentacled vines surrounding a grotesque flower filled with seed-like teeth.
The corrupted blossom was poised to gobble the humans up. There was nothing anyone could do about it.
The pull of the abomination was just too strong.
The willing victims plunged into the spirals of teeth without a word. Noble couldn't help but watch the horror. How she wished she could have saved them!
The flower shivered for a moment and the earth around them rumbled.
Then… the black vines around the flower stretched and grew. They shot up straight for the queen and her cargo.
They were no longer out of the creature's reach!
Dismissing the candle, Noble pulled her crew through the darkness.
She only hoped it was fast enough.