The general feeling of unease had halted work on the wall. Those up there stared out, trying to discern the source of the disturbance.
The air felt different as if a malevolent presence had entered it without being bidden.
Hamish's Aspect had to do with blood: both his and others'. He had been shy about that fact back at the Academy, but the young man now realized that his intuition was a valuable asset.
Just now Hamish could sense blood, non-human blood. And a lot of it.
There was only one problem: the pink part of the wall.
It was even more shimmery than the picture from Lance's murder scene or the small piece that Noble had on her desk at work.
It was positively blinding.
Jet put her hand up to shield her eyes. "Do something about that Harlow. Now."
"It will take some time. I have to fundamentally change the stone." The shaper argued.
"Then get to it," the Saint turned her attention back to the plains, missing Harlow's momentary glare.
She walked over the dividing line and touched her handiwork. The area around her hand dimmed, slowly spreading outward.
"I will tell my brother about this treatment. And after I was so kind to help you! He will not be as gracious as I am." Harlow muttered.
Jet ignored her, instead turning to Noble. "What can you see?"
Noble sent her senses far and wide, first feeling for any emotions out in the wilderness.
There were things out there. Many of them. She switched to her second sight to observe them more closely.
The creatures were long and thin, moving across the ground rapidly.
She relayed the information to Jet. "It looks like we are about to have an infestation. The creatures are wriggling toward us. Possibly some kind of nematode?"
The icy Saint cursed.
"Send the signal," Jet ordered a sentry, "Every Awakened to the wall."
A horn was blown, and for a moment Noble felt a wave of nostalgia. Big or small, they were about to go into battle.
"I thought the government and the Queen of Worms were on good terms. Why would she send her pathetic minions after you?" Harlow snipped in a sugary sweet tone.
"Watch how you talk!" The first troop coming up the stairs challenged her. "You don't get to be disrespectful here even if it is government territory."
"Chip, stay out of it," Jo chided him. "We are reporting for duty!" The Awakened woman glanced between Jet and Noble, looking for instructions.
She and Coy, who was beside her, saluted properly while the disgruntled Master continued to glare at Harlow.
"We have a horde incoming." Jet told them and the others beginning to gather.
Noble focused on the creatures' movements. They were undulating side to side, not inching up and down.
"Correction: I believe they are snakes, not worms," she added so that everyone could hear.
"Gear up to defend the wall! We can't let some pesky reptiles ruin our nice new settlement." Jet wore a crooked smile, and the people around her snapped into action. Word quickly spread.
By the time the creatures grew near, Sarai was on the wall as well.
"Snakes," Noble said simply. "Thousands of them."
Sarai squinted. "Why can't we see them?"
"Either they have a method to cloak themselves or they are the color of the ground." Noble couldn't say for sure which. The pink stone was becoming less of an issue for those perched on the regular white stone, but those on the pink marble were still struggling against the sheen.
"Faster, Harlow, we don't have time!" Jet screamed down the wall.
The shaper rolled her eyes. "I'm going as fast as I can, it's not easy, and it's using up my essence!"
"They are getting closer." Hamish could feel the bloodlust growing.
"Agreed," Noble felt her heartbeat quicken. "A few minutes and they will be here."
"Be ready," Jet sent the order down the battle line.
Icy vapor came off of her body, forming a deadly scythe. The world around them felt suddenly colder as if all the heat had been pulled into the dastardly blade.
Being the foremost expert on Memories, Noble had heard about the soulbound Legacy Relic from people who wanted her opinion on it.
What opinion was there to have? It was astoundingly cool!
On her mark, all manner of weapons were pulled from their wielders' Soul Seas.
Jo brandished a spiked club and shield while Chip gripped a Kama Yari tightly. Though Noble couldn't look directly at him, the Master's face changed, his nose becoming unusually long while his eyes disappeared almost completely.
Coy seemed blurry for a moment before calling forth a fan with razored edges that would double as a shield.
Sarai and Noble summoned the Amber and Zenith respectively.
All along the wall, a torrent of sparks gave way to thousands of unique, powerful weapons.
The most notable for Noble was from the man to her left, whose weapon, like Jet's, was not accompanied by tiny sparks as it came into existence.
Hamish's crimson greatsword reflected the sun. It was as wide as the man's body and almost as long.
And crafted from his blood.
'How is he still alive?' Noble wondered.
Jet noticed it too. She pulled her eyes from the coming battle to nod in the young man's direction. "Cool sword."
"You too," Hamish responded calmly, though he was anything but calm.
Noble could almost read his thoughts.
'SAINT JET LIKED MY SWORD. I CAN DIE HAPPY!'
Noble smirked in spite of herself.
"Um, I don't mean to be a problem, but how do we fight something we cannot see?" Catphine asked.
Instead of following Harlow to watch her work, the young lady had remained with the people she knew.
Her Aspect did not give her strength or speed; that was why she used an MWP in Antarctica to fight.
Unfortunately, that spelltech did not work in the Dream Realm.
"How close are they?" Jet asked the Floating Master.
Noble checked and her eyes began to swirl uncontrollably. "They're almost here."
"Mark!" Jet yelled to two men along the wall. "Now!"
The first man blew up the dust of the plain while the second pulled moisture from the air. The result at the base of the wall was a thin layer of mud for the creatures to pass through.
Caked in dirt, the snakes suddenly became visible.
Even though Noble had seen them with her second sight, seeing their bodies with her regular vision still made her heart clench.
'Why'd it have to be snakes?'
Seeing their element of surprise lost, the reptilian monsters no longer tried to hide. All at once thousands upon thousands of serpents revealed their sleek bodies in the afternoon sun.
The action was so perfectly coordinated that it was like the creatures were sharing one brain.
'Or one master.'
Noble's blood ran cold. On the horizon, beyond where Noble could use her second sight, a figure cut the blue sky with its hideous profile.
Suddenly the coordination of the serpents made sense. They were being controlled.
And their boss was intent on one thing.
Annihilation of all human life in the citadel.
"A Corrupted Titan! That's a Corrupted Titan!" Someone screamed.
The words hung in the air like a death sentence.
Because for most of them, it was.
A moment later, the first casualty was claimed.
Before anyone could react, the foremost snake breached the wall, unhinged his massive jaw, and snapped it around Coy's body.
The creature gulped.
Coy's head was gone.