Noble hurriedly ducked as a giant halberd whooshed past her head, sweeping through the air where her skull had just been!
Without any time to breathe, another assailant appeared to her right, slashing a sword at her torso, trying to split her in half. She lunged forward, barely missing the swing, only to find a woman on her left stabbing at her with a rapier.
The end of Noble's blonde hair testified to how sharp the blade was as it snipped one of her golden locks.
Evading them hadn't been easy, and it was only her impossible reaction time that had saved her from the initial ambush.
Noble wasn't sure exactly what tipped her off a moment before the four people came at her from all sides. Perhaps it was a slight shift in the wind.
Maybe it was just a premonition or something related to her clarity and quick study Attributes.
What she did know was that her emotional sense had not alerted her. She saw the first person come at her in the exact same moment as she felt his murderous emotions.
It was like the people had appeared out of thin air to pursue her. A moment before, there had been no emotions at all. There had been nothing.
How was that possible?
'Did they teleport?'
The last man came at her with a sword made of black steel. Noble shifted her body, but she could not completely evade him without putting herself in the way of the other assassins. They had laid a perfect trap for her, and she was not armed to defend herself. She pushed the people away from her with her powers, but it was not fast enough.
The black blade cut a gash in her left arm. Despite the shallow wound, blood gushed from it.
Noble gritted her teeth.
Why couldn't her body just keep the blood inside? Now that was a power that would be handy in a battle like this!
As the man continued forward after his strike. Noble adjusted the angle of her elbow. The helmet he was wearing smashed against her bone, but the satisfying crack that accompanied the metal clang was not from her.
He wanted to make her arm bleed? She would make his nose join the party!
Noble's leg shot out to kick the woman beside him, pushing back both assailants. She turned to face the remaining two men, spinning quickly to keep her back from being stabbed. Her wild kick tripped the first of the pair, while the final one haphazardly aimed his blade for her neck.
'Not today!' Noble had worked too hard to keep her head attached to her shoulders, and no phantom assassin was going to take that away from her.
Using levitation, Noble controlled the man's arm and the sword. The blade redirected over her head before becoming heavy as a boulder. The sudden change in weight threw off the balance of its wielder, causing the man to stumble. His sword dug into the dirt, missing the fallen assassin's neck by a fraction of a centimeter.
The man on the ground tried to roll away from his companion, only succeeding in embroiling them both in a mess of arms, legs, and armor as the second man collapsed upon the first.
They grunted, temporarily distracted from their mission as they disentangled themselves from the human heap.
The chaos bought Noble a moment to breathe. Sparks formed around her body and manifested in her right hand.
Noble set her back against one of the walls to take in the scene. Using her second sight, Child of Promise scanned the surrounding area. Her emotional sense had failed her once; she did not want to be surprised again.
It seemed like only these four had set out to attack her. But who were they? Noble was certain that she hadn't seen them or felt their emotions before.
How had they snuck past all the troops and crossed the lake without her noticing? How long had they been lying in wait for some poor, unsuspecting person to come along so they could lay ambush to them?
"I need help over here!" Noble cried out, hoping to get the attention of the soldiers that she had heard before.
"Ha!"
The woman who had been kicked slowly stood and retrieved her helmet with a wicked smile on her face.
"Yes, call for assistance. I'll be delighted to see who comes."
The woman was too confident, making Noble wary of yelling a second time. Something was wrong. Her scream surely should have reached the voices she heard not too long ago, but there was no answer to her plea. There was only silence.
Noble narrowed her gaze and looked more closely at the armor of her foes.
They were the same cut and design as Syrce had handed out to the island refugees. The pieces started to fall together.
"Maelys…" Noble muttered under her breath. These must have been some of her soldiers that Noble had not encountered.
"Don't blame our Lady for this. You brought it upon yourself." The man with the broken nose gripped his sword to return the favor.
The other two disentangled themselves, soon to be ready to fight her as well.
She was almost ready, too. Her blonde hair became covered by shining metal, and her bloodied arm became encased in the embrace of her armor.
'Time to get serious.'
If reinforcements were unlikely, Noble would have to deal with the problem herself. She could fly away and leave the would-be assassins behind. But Noble didn't like that option. That gave them the chance to escape and plot again from the shadows. The floating Master would never be able to sleep again until the culprits were found.
And if they were after her, they could go after anyone associated with her, which included the members of her cohort.
'The solution's simple. I'll bring them with me.'
She had carried four people before. Granted, those people were not trying to murder her, but the same principles applied.
"Sorry to disappoint, but I think you have a date with Lady Syrce, not me."
The Saint would obliterate them as soon as Noble brought them to her, but hopefully not before they outed their mistress for giving the order. Noble had known the long-lost sister was jealous of Syrce's affection for Noble.
But enough to kill?
'I did not see that coming…'
Well, she knew now, and she would not be caught unaware again.
In a strange unison, the four attackers lunged at Noble.
Focusing on their forms, she took hold of them and lifted them into the air.
Their eyes opened wide as their bodies involuntarily rose from the ground. Flint would have called them fairies, but Noble preferred to call them hostages.
They stared at her, disoriented, trying to make sense of their sudden change in height and position. Noble shrugged. If they hadn't wanted to become human balloons, then they shouldn't have picked on her.
She smiled sweetly.
"Now that I have your attention, let's go visit the commander. I am sure she will have plenty to say about your behavior."
At the mention of the impending reckoning, the four faces suddenly changed to visages of wrath. Noble was filled with horror as one by one her levitating grasp on the four figures slackened and disappeared. They slipped to the ground. Landing safely on both feet, the humans cocked their heads at their victim in unnatural synchronicity.
Although Noble could not see their faces, she was sure they wore crooked, hideous smiles.
Noble tried desperately to regain control of her captives, but to no avail. It was like they were no longer there, even though she could see them with her own eyes and feel the heat of their gaze.
It was exactly like she was grasping at…nothing.
But how?!
As the first soldier took a step toward her, Noble knew one thing.
She was in big trouble.