Noble stood looking out on the edge of a cliff. Her view was very different from the one she had beheld for years at Ender's Deep. Instead of a chasm, she saw a beautiful valley stretch out before her.
A quaint village, a field of sheep– the whole countryside basked in the glow of the radiant sun. The world looked gilded with gold as if Midas himself had touched it.
But then.
It was subtle at first. A single black spot on the burning orb overhead.
Then the light dimmed. The sun faded. Night fell.
No, it wasn't night. It was just unending darkness. And it didn't just descend on the valley.
It devoured it.
It crawled over the rooftops, under doorways, into bedrooms and nurseries. Nothing was safe from its grasp.
Screams rang out across the valley. Cries for help. Cries for mercy. Cries for death.
Then the screams, too, were snuffed out.
Noble watched in horror as the valley below her was taken piece by piece from existence, leaving nothing behind.
She was the only witness to the world that was ending before her.
The thirst of the darkness was not quenched. It raced up the walls of the valley, chasing after the final being in the emptiness.
Noble.
She turned to run, but her feet were planted in place like a tree.
A tree! Above her, a lone branch hung from some ancient oak. Noble reached for it desperately.
The darkness curled around her ankle. It taunted her as it coiled around her leg.
She would meet the same end. She would be consumed. She would die.
"No!"
Pulling on the branch, Noble felt the wood collide with her head.
Her eyes popped open. Darkness was everywhere.
She gasped. Breathing was good. It meant she wasn't gone yet. She needed to escape before her breath was stolen from her like her sight.
Her hands met canvas.
Canvas?
Why was there canvas in the tree?
That is when she realized. She wasn't on a cliff trying to outrun an inescapable monster.
She was in the sleeping quarters of a wagon, having a bad dream.
Her tether to the bed must have broken in her thrashing, causing her to float to the roof.
Her head ached. Grabbing onto the branch in her dream had led her to hitting her head on one of the beams holding up the canvas roof.
She was very lucky that she hadn't busted through it.
The Master groaned.
The little bits of sleep that she had been able to manage were filled with similar grim images.
'That last one was the worst, though. It ate...everything.'
Rubbing her forehead, Noble turned away from the ceiling to apologize to her companion. Syrce had surely been disturbed by her sleepwalking–sleep floating?
"Syrce. I'm sorry, I..."
But the cot on the other side of the wagon was empty.
Noble furrowed her brow.
Where had the Saint gone?
Wiping the last bit of sleep from her eyes, the curious Master went to investigate. It was still dark outside.
With her second sight, it only took a moment for Noble to lock on to the other lady's emotions. She was barely twenty meters away on the other side of a wagon.
Syrce wasn't distressed or angry. If anything, she was wistful.
As she drew closer, Noble could hear the Saint's hushed whispers.
"I know. Not much longer. Soon, we will all be home again."
'She seems fine.' Noble began to back away.
"Where are you going, Bel?" Syrce called pleasantly.
'I should have had on my bracelets!' Noble pinched the bridge of her nose.
The Saint was just too observant!
The blonde came out of the shadow of the wagon with a chagrined expression.
"I wasn't meaning to eavesdrop on you and..." Noble paused. There was no one else sitting on the log.
The Master silently felt for anyone else in the area, curious who might not have wanted to be spotted with the commander. But only the people tucked snugly in the nearby wagon seemed close enough to have been by Syrce's side a moment before.
'She must have been talking to herself.' Noble wasn't a stranger to that. She dipped her chin.
"I am sorry for interrupting your musings."
"Nonsense. Your interruptions are always welcome." Syrce frowned. "What are you doing walking about at this hour? Not out for another stroll, I hope!"
Noble shook her head. "No, nothing like that. I woke and you weren't there, so I came looking for you."
Syrce tilted her head, observing her friend's disheveled state. "Are you having nightmares too?"
Nodding, Noble moved closer to her companion. "I guess you are as well."
The Saint relaxed and patted the log beside her. Her face filled with compassion. She sighed.
"Being this close to the Darkness does that. The more powerful the person, the worse the dreams are, or at least that is my theory."
The Master shivered. "Mine were bad enough. I can't even imagine what yours must be like."
"Don't try." Syrce's sad smile said it all. "Anyway, that is not why I am out here. The early morning hours are the only time I have to think."
"Think about what?" Noble hoped she wasn't prying.
The Saint didn't seem to mind. Leaning back, she stared at the sky.
"A bit of everything and nothing. I think about what we are doing, what we are going to do, what we have done. I think about what was, is, and can be. But mostly I think about my sisters." Syrce's grey eyes shimmered. "I miss them."
The effervescent aura from the Saint was missing. In the pale light of the waxing crescent, Syrce looked...fragile. So human and vulnerable that Noble had a hard time associating her with the commander who had been fearlessly leading the caravan through the wilderness.
"Is there anything I can do?" Noble laid her hand on the other woman's shoulder gently.
"You being here is enough." Syrce wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "You are like a gift from Imagination herself...though she is dead now, so I suppose that is impossible. I wish you could stay forever. Your presence soothes me."
"I will stay as long as I am able." The Master felt a pang of guilt. "But as far as forever..."
As soon as Noble found the rest of her cohort in the morning, they would most likely make plans to leave.
"Don't worry, sweet Bel. I know it is not meant to be. You are a Realm Walker. You must explore. It's in your nature. You cannot stay in one place." Syrce sighed.
"I'm sorry…" Noble wasn't sure what else to say.
The Saint clicked her tongue.
"No need for apologies. I, too, must get to the next part of my mission before the full moon. Neither of us is fated to be here for long. We must move forward."
"Time waits for no one," Noble recited the old adage. "It marches ever forward."
"Indeed," Syrce let her shoulders sag. "That makes the morning hours that much more precious. I can stare at the sky and remember the ones I have lost."
The Master folded her hands. "Then allow me to stay and remember with you."
The Saint smiled. "Thank you. I would like that very much."
"It's settled then."
Adjusting her position, Noble prepared for a little stargazing. It wasn't something she got to do often, even now that she lived full-time in the Dream Realm.
The Master was determined to make the most of the momentary respite.
She looked up at the glowing crescent. Her eyes opened wide.
"The moon! It's fractured!"