The next few seconds were a blur—simultaneously happening fast and stretching out for an eternity.
As soon as the two warriors separated, Noble unleashed her fury on the horde. Her desire to keep the camp safe fueled her determination, and Noble felt deep down that it somehow slowed the soldiers' response to the alarm, buying her time.
The time was precious. She needed to act swiftly.
Glancing down, Child of Promis noted the two blades' disparate lengths. She shrugged, taking that difficulty in stride. She was the Queen of the Dreamscape. Adaptability was one of her strong suits.
With one of their targets disappearing into thin air, the wights were even more unruly than before. They crashed into one another, trying to avoid bouncing into their holes as they sought out Aether.
In the chaos, Noble made her move. Using her ability to keep the cloak against her armor, Child of Promise did something she never thought she would do in a fight.
She flipped upside down. She released her sword.
Around her body, the Zenith began to spin like a top, poised to demolish everything in its path. She dove into the wights, and shrieks filled her ears as they fell under the might of her dastardly blade. Limbs flew in every direction, and the voice of the spell combated the haunting screams of her kills.
Under the hurricane of steel, Noble sought out those who evaded the deadly helicopter. The Zenith tore down many and wounded others, but controlled by Noble's levitation, its haphazard swing was less than precise.
Seeing one of the creatures try to retreat into its home, the elusive warrior lunged down, her dagger flicking out like a serpent's tongue. A moment before the dagger struck, the wight lurched to one side as if caught in a trap. When the blade hooked into its crooked arm joint, the branch was already cracking as if it had been torn through. And when she pulled the blade back forcefully, the limb was already severed and hitting the ground.
The splitting bark revealed the soul shard within, giving the floating Master a target going forward.
In retribution for its fallen brethren, the wights went after the flying sword with new fervor. They bounded toward the Zenith and the warrior hidden within its protection.
'That's right. Over here.'
Child of Promise aimed her dagger at the visible knot on the willowy wight's chest. She thrust down, the monster shattering just in front of her blade.
It was a powerful feeling.
Noble checked on her companion with her second sight. Aether was still alive and fighting, his blades of starlight flashing across the dark landscape.
Like Noble, he was using two weapons to fight.
As soon as a wight leapt toward him, the man slashed his blades diagonally away from each other with a slicing snap. The resulting marks cut the monster like firewood, barely giving the creature time to hiss in pain.
Like a skilled lumberjack, Aether seamlessly moved on to the next wight. His determination was absolute.
So was Noble's.
Even while watching her companion, she had managed to kill two more of the monsters and injure a third with her dagger. Following up on her unsuccessful kill, Noble plunged the Fang into the open wound, then plucked her sword from the air as it finished a spin. The Zenith pushed from the opposite side, cleaving the creature in two.
The death cry seared into Noble's soul, but she ignored it. That wasn't all that she was ignoring. As she flitted around the battlefield, the tether was constantly being brought taut before loosening again.
Child of Promise couldn't worry about the surly Master attached to the other end. She had left their connection open if he wanted to float. It was his own inebriation that had caught him lacking.
With the stunning speed of the two Masters, the crowd of demons thinned. Almost a quarter of them fell to the two warriors in under a minute.
Coming upright, Noble moved to the edge of the battlefield. The soldiers of Syrce's army were beginning to answer the call to arms.
"Stay back!" she ordered them. "Only go after those that breach the camp!"
The soldiers looked around to see who had spoken. All they could see reflected by their torches was a floating sword and a flickering dagger. Were the weapons two of the abominations or friendly forces? They hesitated.
Coming behind them, Syrce surveyed the field. She nodded slowly.
"You heard the order. Fortify the camp. Don't let them get to our wagons. And for everyone's sake, move back the torches!"
Relieved, Child of Promise returned to her work. She had no intention of letting any of the demons get into the caravan. The people of the camp were safe.
Upright and with her blades firmly in each palm, the floating Master continued on her deadly rampage. The wights bounced at her, their gaping mouths trying to take down the blades and their elusive wielder.
Noble slashed above with her Zenith as the dagger tore into one below. The twin kills were so simultaneous that not even the Spell could dissociate them.
[You have slain two Awakened Demons...]
Before the words were halfway finished, another three wights were trying their luck at taking down the phantom. A gash appeared on one of the roots before the dagger moved. The second found itself cleaved by a blade as long as its body, and the third demon, seeing that its companions were distracting the blades, lunged low where it suspected the culprit of the slaughter must be.
But it was all for naught. From beneath the cloak, a boot of steel slammed into the wight's open mouth, hitting the back of the throat as the powerful kick punched through the wooden shell.
A mist of sawdust filled the air, yet the monsters continued their onslaught.
With each second, the screaming of the wights intensified, bringing fear to the people of the camp. They waited for one to pass the line of the two defenders, but so far, the pair had worked seamlessly together. That only made the sounds around them more unbearable.
One of the servants, unable to stand the childlike cries for help, nearly bolted for the forest. Catching her, Roan tackled the woman to the ground.
"Cover your ears and keep vigilant!" he called.
Entrusting the lady to a soldier, Roan stood and drew his sword. His cohort members were doing an admirable job on their own, especially in the dark night. But even with Syrce's order, the man could not stand idle.
Avoiding the others, he would pick off those around the edges and stop their retreat into the woods.
"I'm here." Flint pulled up beside the other Master. He rubbed the large bump on his head and wiped the blood from his nose.
"Stay back," Roan ordered. "I'll return in a moment."
"All this fuss is about those little wooden things?" Flint squinted through the darkness. "I can fix that."
He stepped through the protective barrier, his toe lighting like Aether's before him.
"Take this, you saplings!" he slurred.
He pulled a black rock from his tunic and lifted it unsteadily in the air. "BURN!"
"NO!" Roan's eyes opened wide. He lunged to tackle the other Master, but it was too late.
The spark was lit.