In front of her, the sky split as reality itself was torn open between worlds.
A Dream Gate.
And not just any Dream Gate. It was the Dream Gate belonging to the King of Swords, and it was situated in the manor of Clan Valor. With renewed hope, the remnant of the House of Night rushed toward the beacon in the sky.
It was very lucky that the Gate was active just now. They only hoped it would remain open for Lord Anvil to take note of the seriousness of their plight.
Of course, just because the gate was open did not mean that the King was present, but the refugees could not worry about that just now. All that mattered was making it to their goal.
Unfortunately, with only one vessel still in pursuit, Mordret had not given up on his prey. If anything, he had channeled the energy from his other two vessels into the third to increase its effectiveness.
Not all transformations were equal, and Vorn's was particularly problematic for Aether and Noble. Noble couldn't use her transformation at all in the middle of the city, but even if she could, the flailing arms were likely to find her by coincidence even if she were invisible simply due to their volume.
Aether's transformation was better suited to night. So while he could fight during the day, his human form was better suited to the current landscape.
Thus, the two Saints fought off their pursuer, stalling him just enough to keep the people ahead of them from being crushed or swept away. It was a frustrating dance to always need to be backing up while still defending.
Noble had fought many people over the years in the Dreamscape, but never had she needed to be constantly retreating. It felt wrong and against every fiber of her training, but she knew that staying where she was and standing her ground would potentially leave the refugees exposed.
Even now, Helios was monitoring every reflection for signs of a sneak attack. However, none came.
'Either I don't fully understand how that man's power works, or he was too weak from all his other attacks today to come at us from all sides...'
There was little doubt in Noble's mind that Mordret wasn't using his full strength. And if it wasn't because he was already exhausted or limited, then the other options were concerning, to say the least.
'Could it be that something else is his focus? Or maybe...this is all a trap!'
The floating Saint shook her head. She refused to believe the last part. Mordret's anger and ire were genuine. If he were leading them somewhere to kill them, Noble was certain he would be feeling more glee as he hunted them down like animals.
Two of Vorn'scountless arms came from both sides at Noble. She flew higher in the air and stabbed down as they collided. The tip of the Paradox Fang pierced the porous membrane of the water and spread inky blackness across the surface.
Tainted liquid poured out as the limbs receded for another attempt.
Beside her, another tentacle threatened to come down from above and squash Aether like a roach. The young Saint took his blade of starlight and swung it above his head to intercept the coming doom. Like a burst bubble, as soon as the limb was breached, its integrity faltered. Liquid soaked Aether, but he remained unharmed for now.
"How does he have so much essence?" The polite man could not help but note the discrepancy. "This has to be costing him dearly!"
Aether had only ever seen the Saint have two or three of the watery columns at one time. Having almost one hundred would have been far beyond Vorn's normal limit.
"Who knows? Maybe Mordret is siphoning it from elsewhere!" Mordret had been all three of the vessels, so sharing resources was a given. How deep was the well of Mordret's essence?
'I don't want to test that limit!'
Noble lifted him and herself to the back of the group again. She glanced over her shoulder and saw the Dream Gate growing closer and larger.
They were almost there!
The people were wide-eyed and weary, but the sight of safety gave them the hope and determination to carry on. Helios helped, too. He now had four of the mundane people on his back and showed no signs of slowing down.
'That's my good boy!' Noble would have to thank him later. Without her echo, she would have to monitor those people herself.
As they rounded the final curve in the street, Naeve's emotions spiked. Unlike most days when the Dreamgate was present, the gates to the manor were shut.
Of course they were; this part of the city was on lockdown...because of the very people who wanted to get inside.
Noble was still trying to figure out if it was safe to breach the walls by going over the top when the loud click of a latch sounded. The massive gates rumbled and slowly began to open.
"They are letting us in!" Rhode squealed from Helio's back.
The Symncus pressed into his speed, leaping past Naeve and slipping into the narrow opening. The gates paused, leaving a wide enough space for the rest of the humans to come through.
Naeve followed quickly after the echo, with his wife hot on his heels.
The rest of the group lagged behind, but the hope that the crack in the gates provided, along with the fear that they might close again at any moment, spurred them to even greater speed.
"Incoming!" Aether warned his clansmen as an extra-long limb seemed to block out the sky; it flew over the Saint's head and aimed for the gate, determined not to let anyone else enter safely.
Noble soared upwards as she released the Fang for her longer blade. The Zenith fell into her hand as if it had always been there, and together they shot towards the Saint's outstretched limb.
Unlike before, this arm solidified as she drew near, looking more like a pillar of stone than water.
'That's not stone. That's sand!'
Noble swung her blade to sever the connection, and the consequences of her actions spilled over her.
Sand sifted into every part of her armor, stinging her skin like countless needles. Sand filled the street as Aether tried to keep his footing against the strange rain.
'Forget this!' Dismissing her armor, Noble picked up Aether and forced them through the gate. Then, with a combination of her Light as a Feather and levitation, she helped close behind her.
The next tentacle crashed against the gate, but rather than cause the wall any damage, it was the limb that was damaged instead. A pulse went out from the wall as the protective mix of spelltech and aspects activated.
Two more of the powerful tentacles confirmed that beating against both the visible and invisible wall led to immediate disintegration.
The Saint let go of his Transformation, approaching the gate with leisurely steps.
The vessel of Mordret stood outside the manor with his hands folded.
He surveyed the wall with a lazy smile, seeming to remember something that was otherwise forgotten by time.
Then, in a blink, he disappeared.
Feeling the weight of his presence leave, Noble exhaled in profound relief.
That was, at least, until she turned around.