The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

The fresh air was glorious. Noble had never been so happy to see the sky—well the clouds.

"Hold on!" Lifting Helios and his passengers into the air, Noble also grabbed onto Coy for them to make the flight together.

"This is amazing!" Teran held out his arms as if he were the one who was flying and not his golden steed.

Lonzo held his son in place, making sure the young man did not plummet to the ground in his excitement. The Symncus was wide and strong, but he could not prevent the wind from pushing against the humans as they soared toward the clouds.

Fir dismissed his bow and used his bloodied hands to hold Helio's middle in a vicelike grip.

"I am not afraid of heights. I am not afraid of heights…." The Awakened scout mumbled as they left the earth behind.

Noble inhaled deeply as she focused.

It was a lot of people for her Aspect to handle, but she was too delighted with their upcoming freedom to care. Against the odds, they were going to make it!

"Endo, open the dome. We are on our way!" Noble spoke into her radio.

A moment of silence followed.

Noble had guarded her radio carefully, even to the detriment of her injured leg. Had it gotten damaged in the blast?!

Or had the Skinwalkers found a way to jam the signal?

There was a more terrifying option.

Perhaps somehow the group had been underground much longer than they thought and the army had given them up for dead.

"Noble! We hear you loud and clear. Getting in position now." Endo's voice was music to Noble's ears.

A moment later, Noble felt a tangible shift in the air around her.

And if she could feel it…

"Noble!"

Coy's frantic cry brought the woman's attention back toward the ground.

The streets below were exploding with activity. Like a hill of disturbed ants, every vessel in the city was converging on one spot.

'What in two worlds?!'

Coy was staring too, his eyes wide with panic. 

"Don't look down!"

Noble wasn't sure how the creatures worked or to what range their power extended, but she didn't want to lose another one of her people when they were so close to salvation. 

That didn't mean she wasn't concerned about what was going on below. It was very concerning indeed.

In the center of the city, one figure stood on a raised hill above the rest and pointed toward the sky.

A deafening cry erupted as a million voices joined in a discordant howl.

A woman climbed next to the first figure, scaling the original vessel and climbing on his shoulders.

She wasn't the only one. Another piled on from the horde.

People crawled across and over each other, grappling to reach the top until a column of possessed humanity formed. It widened and lengthened like a plant spouting from the ground.

Through her second sight, Noble watched in horror as the vessels became cells of a single living organism. Together they formed a monstrous hand.

And that hand was heading straight for the uncorrupted humans.

Everything happened in seconds and before Noble could even process what she was witnessing, the hand comprised of corpses was coming straight for her little band.

The floating Master would have been able to outrun them on her own. She had years of experience outmaneuvering opponents. But with so many living beings in tow, the experience did not exactly translate.

Not only was she trying to keep Helios steady as he held others on his back—keeping them separated would have posed a greater though not impossible challenge—Noble was also running through her remaining essence at a frightening pace.

Pressing into her speed would come at a high cost and Noble feared she might not make it to the top before her reserves ran dry.

If that happened, the fall from the air would kill the humans before the Skinwalker could. 

Her efforts to reach freedom would require threading a very thin needle between expedient travel and use of resources.

Before, they were just going to make it. With the Skinwalker chasing them, things were about to get more complicated. 

Noble brandished her Zenith, her mind racing. The monsters were coming too fast. They would catch her before she reached the rim of the barrier. 

Assaulted with all of their hatred, Noble struggled to focus. 

"Prepare to fight!" She screamed at Coy and Fir.

Helios's claws extended from his soft paws, ready to defend his passengers with all his might.

Fir's bloodied hands were in no shape to continue shooting arrows even if he had the essence to do so. He summoned a mace, wincing as the wooden handle touched his bandages. 

Coy divided in two, an illusory copy of himself appearing in the air beside the first. The false Master would not only provide a decoy for the monsters to chase, but it would also give Coy the eyes to see without compromising his original form. 

Thankfully it did not require extra effort from Noble to support. Since it was merely a copy, Coy could make the image do anything, including fly. 

Pressing her lips together, Noble prepared for the onslaught. 

In a perfect situation, she would have dove down to meet the enemy while those she was protecting could escape. However, she was just as eager to get out of the dome as the others. So up they traveled together, hoping against hope that they would not have to meet the Skinwalker in an aerial battle. 

Their hope was in vain.

The monstrous hand opened, human vessels making up each of the fingers of the grotesque palm. Noble could hear spines breaking and reforming as the distorted faces of the monsters moved at disturbing angles to support their unnatural movement. 

It was sickening. 

As the column reached the humans, it split in two. A second hand shot out to swipe Helios and the others out of the air. Despite Noble's best efforts, the mass of possessed corpses crashed down on their heads as the hand lost shape. 

The Zenith sliced a path through the falling bodies. Hands and feet grazed her body, ripping and tearing at anything they could get their hands on. Noble's helmet was pulled from her head as she turned to cut off the offending monster's hand. In her moment of distraction, a man took hold of her leg, hanging from it and throwing her off course.

Her broken limb screamed in pain as she stabbed the man to dislodge him. He fell, taking with him her shattered brace. Another took her radio, crushing it as it came loose from her belt.

All around her, people were falling like rain. 

Yet, the Skinwalker didn't seem to be putting its full effort into bringing the humans to the ground. 

Sure a portion of the people had come for them, but the vast majority were still comprising part of the main column. 

The macabre tower grew, reaching ever higher with each passing moment. 

'Oh....oh no!' 

Suddenly everything came into clear focus.

The reason that a few people had been left alive while the vessels all went about their lives like nothing was wrong... 

The logic behind leaving the rescue team alone until they had reached their goal...

The Skinwalker's systematic cornering of the humans as they made their mad dash to freedom...

This had been its plan all along.