The object was small, smaller than Noble's slender palm. Snatching it from the air, she held it out for Flint and her to see.
The piece of ivory was stunningly crafted. It was a replica of Bastion carved in relief. At the base of the castle was a second palace cast in silver, only it was upside down.
"It's beautiful." Noble breathed.
The picture looked like it could be its own world. The more she looked, the more detail she saw. It was as if the picture was coming alive before her eyes, even though she was sure nothing in the carving was moving.
Flint scratched his head. "Sure, but what is it?"
"I'm not sure." Child of Promise frowned. "It looks like part of a bigger piece."
"Hmph. I was hoping for something better than a broken piece of art," Flint grumbled.
Shaking her head, Noble frowned. "I don't know. There is something about this. Look at how the silver flashes."
The second building is what had caught the attention of the two Masters in the air. It shimmered with the same mirrorlike magic as the thread in Flint's belt, the fringe of Noble's cape, and the filigree in Syrce's magic teacup.
She could feel the power of the ivory cameo pulsing subtly in her hand. Her cloak pulsed softly, too.
As she brought the object close to the fabric, the reaction only intensified. The flash had not been an accident. It had been a reaction to the garment that Noble wore.
"This item belonged to Mirage."
"How can you be sure?" Flint was handed the ivory. He felt the hum of the image as it moved closer to Imagination's cape. "I see. That is something."
"Very strange. What is it doing out here?"
Taking back the picture of Bastion, Noble turned the delicate piece over in her palm.
The back of the oval was smooth, except for a small indent in the shape of a flame and two parallel scratches across the surface. She ran her index finger across the flame.
"This looks like a keyhole."
"You think there is a key around to unlock it?" Flint looked around on the ground.
"I doubt it. Whoever carried it this far seems to have abandoned it. It is very unlikely that they would have done that if they had some way to use it." Child of Promise reasoned.
"Unless they lost it." The man dropped to his knees, searching around where the cameo had been found.
While he looked, Noble continued to look at the other marks. The parallel scratches were not done by the maker, but seem to have been made sometime much later. It was as if someone had been clutching the object too tightly and had scratched their nails into the surface.
"I found something, but it's not a key." Flint held up a gilded comb. "Do you think it belonged to Mirage also?"
"The cloak didn't react to it, so who knows?" Noble came over to look, but the other Master was already casting it aside.
"It looks too plain for something that would have been kept in Bastion. So does this hair brush and pewter plate." Flint rummaged around in the grass.
"Wait, just how much stuff is here?" Noble activated her second sight again, this time studying the ground more carefully. "Whoa! There are so many treasures!"
Hidden in the grass around them were hundreds of objects, many of them half-buried. How had Flint not stumbled on one of them when he was looking before?
"Do you think someone lived here?" Flint pointed to the stone enclosure. There was no roof, but the sides of the rocks could have functioned as walls.
"Not someone...something..."
Child of Promise viewed the scratches on the ivory in a new light. Her guess had been right. They were nail marks.
She paled as she realized what they had stumbled upon. It was not some long-forgotten place that was once inhabited by a wealthy hermit.
This was a hoard! Dropping the ivory, the floating Master looked up at the sky.
Flint picked it up. "What's wrong?"
"We need to get out of here. Now." Noble lifted them off the ground a moment before Flint took control of his own flight.
But they were too late. The owner of the nest had returned.
Dripping from a swim in some hidden spring, the turquoise wyvern seemed more like a rain cloud as it blocked out the sun.
Spotting the two humans in its lair, the Tuquoise One snarled. His eyes were filled with hatred for the interlopers.
"We are sorry!" Noble tried as she avoided his snapping jaw. "We didn't know! We will leave your nest in peace."
But the creature either did not understand her or didn't want to. In its fury, murder was its only option. No one who found its nest could leave alive.
The pair of Masters tried to flee, but the Turquoise One would not let them leave. It was fast, agile, and swift, cutting them off at every turn to hem them in. It was like there were two of them, appearing at just the wrong moment to prevent any escape.
'We have to fight him.' Noble furrowed her brow.
Spinning just out of the creature's grasp, Noble passed her companion the second half of The Other's Voice while her sword finished manifesting.
'Where's the hot spot?'
'Like those blasted Pink Ones, there's not one!' Flint's exasperation was justified. Why couldn't just once things be easy?
'I guess we try for the heart and go out from there.'
Neither of them had any desire to go for the head with the rows full of teeth. The chest and its scrawny arms seemed like much more manageable targets.
Weapons in hand and a plan in mind, the pair split up to evade the beast. It was large, but Noble could sense that it wasn't intelligent. Speed was its greatest asset, and it relied solely on that facet to carry it through the altercation.
Flint went left while Noble went right. The wyvern followed Flint, snapping his jaws at the Master as ripples of water traveled along his scales.
"You like water?" The man mocked. "How pedestrian!"
As the Turquiose One descended, it sneered at the blade, prepared to eat it and the human in a single bite.
The dragon bit down, but there was no flesh for him to consume.
Only a large block of ice where the man's body had just been. It took less than a second for the wyvern to bite through the frozen cube, but that was long enough. Flint dashed below the creature, stabbing his blade deep into its stomach.
On cue, Child of Promise came from above, digging the Zenith into the wyvern's back. The two united actions dealt a devastating blow to the Turquoise One.
Or at least it should have. The beast didn't bleed. Water seeped out of the holes before closing them entirely.
'We are in big trouble...' Flint backed away, pulling his blade with him.
'Can you freeze it?' Noble reeled back to avoid the creature's wings and tail.
'No.' The surly Master didn't need to explain. The living creature was not willing to bend to his Ability. 'Maybe I can freeze the air around it, and then...'
'We have company.' Noble's words surprised and unsettled her companion.
Flint looked at the horizon and saw a second creature coming toward them. It was a Violet One.
'Is it...'
'THAT'S NOT MILTON!' Child of Promise screamed in his head.
As the large pidgeonlike bird drew near, the pair of Masters had to abandon their fight in favor of a dive.
The Violet One crashed into the wyvern at full speed, digging its beak into the other creature's neck. The spine of the Turquoise One snapped. Its head dangled at an unnatural angle.
The Violet One did not wait for the other beast to recover. Its mouth opened frighteningly wide and swallowed the enormous wyvern like a snake swallows prey too large for its body.
Noble and Flint were frozen in place near the ground, unable to move as they watched the sickening display.
When the Violet one had finished his meal, he came towards them.
Under the command of his rider, he came alongside the two Masters and landed lightly.
The stunningly beautiful woman sitting in the saddle smiled brightly at them, her dark hair fluttering in the breeze.
"Did someone call for a rescue?"