Sarai paced along the edge of the cliff with her hands behind her back.
"Are you sure it was Noble's voice you heard and not the monster trying to give you false hope?"
Nickel sat on a fallen piece of stone with a single dagger in his right hand. He lowered the wood that he was carving and gave the beautiful redhead a longsuffering look.
"I'm sure it was Noble. The critter down there wants to take away hope, not give it. Anyway, the intrusive thoughts have stopped. Either Noble killed it or she wounded it bad enough that it stopped attacking us…"
Nickel's voice trailed off. Even though she was looking at him, Sarai was distracted. He sighed and returned to chipping away at the wood he was holding.
"Women…"
After glancing at the barrier to make sure no other victims needed saving, Sarai returned to her pacing. Eventually, she let out an exasperated sigh.
"This is taking too long. Give me the Memory and I will try talking to her myself!" The lady paused and held out her hand.
Nickel raised one eyebrow at her. "Even if I did, you wouldn't be able to do anything. Her Majesty is out of range. And if by some miracle your words did reach down there, you would only be a distraction."
The man in black began whittling more intensely. Sarai's expression softened.
"You've already been trying to reach her, haven't you?"
"Only ten times!" Nickel defended himself. He winced. "Eleven times now... No response."
Pressing her lips together, Sarai peered over the edge. Was it her imagination or had the air gotten warmer?
"I am giving her another five minutes and then I am going after her!" Crossing her arms, Sarai dared her companion to deny her.
He grunted. "I'll come with you."
Their thoughts were cut short as the ground rumbled. That hadn't happened since before Noble's only message from the deep.
"Is it still alive?" Sarai squinted to look as if she could discern something new.
And surprisingly she could.
A small, almost imperceptible light pierced through the darkness.
"Laundry!" Sarai said, "Look!"
Nickel leaned over the edge and then his eyes opened wide.
With his lightning-fast reflexes, he took Sarai by the waist with one arm and pulled her away from the edge.
"Get back!"
The words barely left his mouth when a cloud of steam and smoke shot up from the canyon.
Ash immediately followed the burst of hot air, drifting down like black snow over the crevice.
Sarai moved away from Nickel despite his protest.
"I have a fire Aspect, remember?"
The redhead strode forward, desperate to find any sign of her friend.
But what she found when looking over the edge was not a fearsome queen.
It was a rising river of lava.
"Noble!" Sarai covered her mouth.
They were fairly certain that the poison would eat away at the earth if it managed to kill the ferocious flower, but Noble had been more worried about saving the Soul Shards before the vile liquid consumed them.
It had never occurred to them that they might release a volcano! Those were reserved for the mountains, not here!
In hindsight, Sarai felt like she should have seen it coming. But it did no good to lament the miscalculation now.
"The lava is coming up quickly!" She told Nickel as calmly as she could.
Despite the vast size and length of the valley, the magma was pushing up from the earth with enough speed to cause the molten fire to flow through the canyon and continue to rise.
Standing back from the edge, Nickel shielded his eyes from the heat. The wood in his hand seemed ready to catch fire from the temperature alone.
"Do we need to evacuate?"
By 'we,' Nickel meant himself and Sarai. There would be no way to save the people of Crestfall if the lava entered the city.
The redhead didn't answer immediately. She wasn't about to leave, and it turned out there was no need.
As soon as the molten rock rose above the solid obsidian walls, its progress stalled.
The first set of tunnels deep below the city opened like thirsty mouths. They drank in the lava greedily. The flow slowed, eventually reaching its height before leveling out and receding slightly.
Sarai continued to watch.
"Are we safe?" Nickel asked again when the redhead did not answer him.
"Two of us are…" Sarai wiped her face with her finger and thumb. "But Noble…"
Just then, a black dot appeared above the overwhelming light of the molten rock.
No, six black dots!
It was impossible to tell what they were at first, but as they grew bigger there was no denying that something was rising above the lava.
At last, a battered Noble breached the surface like a bullet from a gun. Her armor was battered and missing in places, but she was alive!
"Noble!" Sarai waited for the Queen to descend before wrapping her in a hug.
Noble screamed in pain. "Broken…ribs…maybe… more…" she rasped.
Sarai loosened her grip but did not let go. She draped the [Mindweaver's Tapestry] around them to block Noble's injuries from prying eyes.
The man with them shook his head.
"Hm, you made it, Noble. Late as usual but I suppose that is who you are now," Nickel clicked his tongue, but Noble could feel his relief wash over her.
He did care.
She smiled at him weakly. "Better late than never."
Around the queen and Sarai, soul shards slowly lowered to the ground. They were warm with the heat of the canyon but otherwise unharmed.
"I only got five. That will have to be enough." Noble coughed.
"You need to rest!" Sarai called toward the barricade for water and a healer.
"We need to finish this." Contrary to her words, Noble melted into her friend's embrace.
A few moments later, water, tonic, and Bramwell appeared beyond the barrier walking toward them. The healer's walk was slow and awkward.
He looked even older than he had two months ago when they first met. Sarai reluctantly released her friend for treatment.
Noble accepted the water and tonic but refused his help.
"You will kill yourself."
"I know my limit, Your Majesty."
Bramwell gingerly removed the woman's helmet and saw the scratches down her face.
They were deep and possibly infected, but the tip of his finger made them disappear.
His arm clasped her firmly on the shoulder and Noble felt her bones being knit together. Her Awakened body had already begun that process, but the gentle nudgings of the man before her sped the repair considerably.
New wrinkles appeared on Bramwell's face, yet he was smiling.
Taking a deep breath for the first time in an hour, Noble removed the healer's hand. "That is enough. Thank you."
"But…" Bramwell realized who he was speaking to and stopped. "Yes, Your Majesty."
Noble summoned the [Loyal Tabard] before dismissing her armor underneath. She felt much better.
Smiling at the other two members of her cohort, Noble nodded.
"How are things up here?"
"Same as you left them. Broken and Nightmarish." Nickel lifted his hands to indicate the destroyed city and dead creatures.
"What's that in your hand?" Noble furrowed her brow.
"My dagger…it's a weapon." The man rolled his eyes. When he could see that his sarcasm would not let him off the hook, he sighed and held out the carving. It looked like an animal mid-leap.
"It's supposed to be Kosi." Nickle looked away.
Noble, too, glanced to where the glass and Symncus had once been.
Now the only things left behind were the creatures who had tried to take a bite out of him and died when a drop of the poison barely touched their mouths.
Noble took the carving in her hand and stroked it gently.
"If not for Kosi's intervention, we would have used the poison on the Tyrant instead of the Terror. He saved us one last time."
Handing back the small statue, Noble's mouth formed a determined line.
She would make Kosi proud.
Looking toward the broken palace, Noble gave a firm nod.
"Come on, let's end this Nightmare once and for all…"