章節 265: Six Feet Under
'Nickel!' Noble's message was matched by her external scream.
Sarai saw it too. Silent tears streamed down her face. "Drop me and go!"
Noble mechanically obeyed the command, lowering the redhead and then racing across the once verdant field.
The ground was now ripped apart from the impact. Across the landscape, the blood of countless abominations soaked the ground.
Nickel had been busy.
One spot was charred black and still smoking with monster meat. The only recognizable part of the goat-like creatures was their entangled massive horns.
But Noble had no time to admire the man's handiwork. She was far too focused on the destruction in the distance.
With no one left to protect, the sentinels broke formation. Sun sifted through, shining light on the broken ground.
'Nickel!'
No answer came.
Surely he could hear her in this range so why wasn't he answering?
Looking for any sign of her friend, Noble's heart sank.
Out on the field, the creatures who had managed not to be crushed by the fall were already gorging themselves on their master's carcass.
While the scaly skin covering most of the Tyrant's body was too tough for the lower-class beasts, the combined strike by Sarai and Noble had ripped open the chest for the minions to feast.
Seeing them, Noble felt sick to her stomach. She retched, wiped her mouth, and then raised her sword.
Nickel's clever lightning strike had dealt with the most powerful monsters. Noble made quick work of the scavengers left behind.
By the time Sarai caught up to the crash, Noble was wiping her blade.
The redhead searched the landscape and then her friend's face. "Laundry?"
"I-I can't sense him." The Queen felt tears sting her eyes. "You saw...he was right under the Tyrant..."
"No. No, it cannot be! Laundry! Laundry!" Sarai became frantic.
She pushed against the Tyrant as if she could roll away his body. Not even a dozen Awakened would have come close to completing that feat. Yet Sarai did not stop.
Noble could feel Sarai's anguish but she had no comfort to give. Her own spirit was in tatters.
Nickel had come into the Nightmare to help her. And she had let him down. To Noble, that was a fate worse than if she had died herself.
Noble wanted nothing more than to wake up. Maybe this had been a dream while she slept in the Nightmare. That was unheard of but not impossible, right? She had been wishing so hard for company that she had conjured Sarai and Nickel up in her mind...Maybe they were still back in the real world...
Deep down, Noble knew she was only fooling herself. The reality of the events around her would haunt her for the rest of her days.
She gripped her head, whispers of doubt and condemnation coming without welcome.
'Why won't this blasted Nightmare end!'
'Why are you so quick to go? Are you trying to leave me behind?' A voice unlike any of the others broke into her consciousness.
Noble froze in the middle of her self-loathing and focused.
'Nickel?' She didn't dare believe it. She had seen him be crushed.
'Do you have another guy talking in your head? You really should get that checked out, Noble.'
Stretching out her special sense across the plain, Noble again tried to feel Nickel's emotional signature. It was nowhere to be found.
'Where are you? Are you hurt?' Noble glanced at the carcass.
'Worse. I'm…dead.'
'WHAT?!' Noble's eyes went wide.
Laundry laughed. 'Dead gods, you are too easy. I'm fine.'
Giving up her attempt to move the Tyrant, Sarai turned around, defeated.
She opened her mouth to speak when she saw the strange expression on Noble's face.
"What is it?"
"It's Nic. He's alive. For now at least. I might kill him when I find him." Noble continued to scan the ground for any sign of the unusual wraith.
'I give up...tell me where you are so we can get you.'
There was a pause. 'I'm not sure where I am to be honest...it's too dark to tell.'
That was...unhelpful.
'But you aren't hurt? How did you escape getting squashed?' Noble rubbed her forehead, trying to wrap her head around the turn of events.
'Well, you remember how I couldn't use the Key to go through the wall and see the cave drawing because I had no fear? It turns out I have a whole lot of fear when the body of a deranged Tyrant is about to come crashing down on my head.'
Nickel paused and waited for the words to sink in.
'You used the Portcullis Key to escape?' Noble gasped.
It suddenly made sense. Extending her colorless sight in a different way, Noble confirmed her thought. Nickel's mention of darkness could only mean one thing.
'You are underground!'
'Yeah...I might have overdone it. I've been working my way up through the caverns ever since the fall.'
Sarai waited patiently trying not to disturb the silent conversation. Noble decided not to leave both of her friends in the dark about the situation.
"He's below us somewhere. Nic used the Key to go through the earth..." Noble shut her eyes, trying to get a better read on where the third member of the cohort was.
"Through the ground? That's brilliant!" The redhead clapped her hands.
Noble had to agree. While it wasn't something she would ever try–she was pretty certain the pain of the ground would be intensified as her body passed through it–the quick thinking and ingenuity had pulled Nickel from the jaws of death.
'Literally...'
'Literally what?' Nic was confused.
'Uh, nothing. Hold still. I think I am getting close.'
Noble motioned for Sarai to come close. "Stomp right here."
'Can you hear that?'
'I can...it's knocking debris on me.'
'Back up...' Noble summoned a Memory called [Past Regrets]. The tool Memory had a wide bottom edge that was good for digging. It was one of the few ways Noble could garden effectively without causing herself pain.
"We haven't much time. As soon as the Sentinels get organized again, they will come to this area first."
"So will those many of the creatures still alive in the city. Free meat is irresistible." Sarai pursed her lips. Tell Laundry to stay back. I've got this."
'Uh, when I said back up...I meant waaay back.'
Sarai blasted the ground with a small column of fire.
The molten earth exploded.
When it settled, there was an opening in the ground very similar to the opening in the Tyrant.
Only instead of death. This one brought forth a single life.
"Fire, are you trying to kill me?!" Nickel asked as Noble floated him out of the hole.
"No, that's Noble..." Sarai laughed.
She and Noble caught Nickel in a hug, and for a moment all three of them hovered above the broken ground.
"Okay, okay. that's enough touching." The man squirmed.
"I thought we lost you!" Sarai cried.
With a sigh, Noble released him to stand on his own two feet. "Sarai even tried to push the tyrant to get you out."
Fireshing's cheeks turned red. "It was the least I could do."
"We are glad you are not dead," Noble smiled.
Nic's eyes opened slightly. "Don't jinx me, Noble…"
"We would never! We are just happy that you are still with us." Sarai refrained from a second hug.
Nickel nodded slowly. "Thanks guys." He said softly as he brushed the dirt from his black cloak.
The wraith looked toward Crestfall, his expression becoming serious. "Now, come on. We have a Nightmare to finish. I don't know about you, but I could use a real shower!"
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