Noble studied the unexpected Fortress. The entire city sat in the cradle of a low, massively wide tree, perched among the branches like a house for a child. Its stone walls were many meters tall, protecting the occupants from the outside world. How had they gotten the boulders up so high? Noble didn't dare guess.
The fantastical place did not resemble any of the locations she had studied on her maps of the Sword Domain.
One thing she knew: there was no way it was Bastion.
While it wasn't exactly unexpected after all they had discovered, it was still disheartening. They were no closer to finding the rest of their cohort than they were before.
'Do you recognize this place?'
Surely a structure as grand as this would have stood the test of time. Or at least Noble hoped that was true.
Her hopes were dashed.
'I've never seen it before.' Flint cursed. 'And I wish I had never seen that ugly thing either!'
As they neared, the grotesque monster continued to thrash against the walls of the human stronghold.
Standing dozens of meters tall, the giant had the head and torso of a panther, but its lower legs resembled those of an ox, ending in two obsidian hooves.
Its muscular body was covered in matted, coarse fur of orange, black, and yellow. Sharp, broken shards of bone protruded from its back and tail like hideous spines.
Despite its animalistic form, the giant looked vaguely humanoid, standing on its black hooves while two massive front paws clawed at the stone wall.
For its part, the Fortress was holding up against the barrage. Deep gouges marked where the claws had marred its surface, yet the walls refused to crumble.
That did not mean they were not suffering. The chunks of stone and bark on the ground were a testament to the colossal struggle happening between the humans and the monster. Even though the giant could not quite climb the tree, he would eventually beat it and the fortress into submission.
The soldiers were not faring well either. They struggled to evade the claws that swept occasionally across the top of the wall, trying to injure the brute with any weapon they had on hand.
Most of the arrows bounced off the creature's hide, but a few sank deep enough to remain lodged in his belly. Unfazed, the monster snapped off the shafts like he was flicking away flies.
The broken shards of wood tumbled to the ground and joined the corpses of hundreds of smaller monsters and the people who had died in the first wave of the attack.
Now only the giant was left, and those on the wall standing against him were in ragged shape.
They needed help.
Thankfully, help was on the way.
Noble regarded Flint. She could feel the temperature around them change as he prepared for battle. In a moment, they would be in the chaos.
'We need a plan. If I set you down on the wall, will you be able to stay close enough to me?'
'Don't worry about me, Blondie. I can take care of myself just fine.'
Nodding, Noble turned to Syrce. The Saint was in her Transcendent form, and Noble had already concluded that her senses did not function the same when she was a ball of energy.
The blonde Master was about to motion for her companion to become human for a moment so they could talk when the Violet One dove from above.
It fell with incredible speed, aiming directly for the panther's neck.
Sensing the action, the giant turned and evaded the sharp beak and talons. A flicker of fear passed through the creature.
It was so brief that Noble questioned if it had happened at all. Before she could even process the emotion, the panther roared and swatted to remove the Violet One from the sky.
In the next moment, three things happened.
Syrce followed after the bird, Flint summoned his sword, and the monster turned to face them.
They had been spotted.
The time for planning was over.
The panther facing them was both a blessing and a curse.
They had lost the element of surprise, but at least the soldiers on the wall recieved a respite from the onslaught. Spears and arrows flew from the Fortress with renewed fervor from the exhausted warriors, but the implements had no meaningful effect.
'Are there no Awakened among them?' Noble furrowed her brow.
'Stop worrying about them and focus on yourself!' Flint scolded her. 'Or at least on me. Get me on that wall, Blondie!'
Noble pulled her attention from the men to the stone walkway. Finding the perfect spot, she aimed the determined Master towards his goal and, at the perfect moment, released him from her Ability.
Flint plummeted for a moment before a slide of ice guided him to his landing spot. He exited from the frozen path with a roll, startling the Captain of the guard with his heroic entrance.
The Master gave a half-bow before jumping off the wall toward the hideous beast.
But Noble didn't see any of the display. She trusted that Flint would stay close enough to keep the tether from hurting him. And if he didn't, that was on him.
Summoning her Zenith, Noble circled the monster as she drew low.
Between the protruding bones and thick fur, the Master saw no obvious weak points. While Noble hadn't tried her luck against the razored bone, somehow she felt that she would come out on the losing end of that altercation.
The Violet One had gone for the neck, and the monster had felt fear. That seemed like the most logical place to aim.
So Noble aimed for the same spot as the bird had done before.
Unfortunately, so did Syrce.
Their lack of coordination gave the monster a single spot of focus. The giant raised his arm, pulling a spike from its back. He threw the fragment of bone, causing it to shatter in a horrific display.
The pieces flew, pelting the two ladies with their full force.
Noble evaded the bulk of the spray, but she could not completely avoid the pulverized haze. Some of it slipped into her visor, cutting her face like a thousand knives. She barely shut her eyes in time to avoid her vision being battered as well.
The cuts formed were shallow and would heal quickly, but the sheer number of them in such a sensitive area was keenly painful.
Syrce did not remain unscathed either. The galaxy of energy did not fall apart, but shimmers of light fell from her circling orbs before dissipating into the air. The Saint retreated momentarily to regroup. Noble did as well.
Swinging wide, she opened her eyes just in time to see a second shard of bone be flung at the wall and the overzealous Master who was attacking from the rear.
The ice bridge he was using to reach the beast was obliterated, and one of the larger fragments pierced a joint in Flint's armor. The spearlike tip hooked into the man's shoulder before crashing into the wall, pinning him there momentarily.
'No!' Noble could see the tail prepare to finish the job that had been started. The monster would paint the wall red with Flint's blood.
She could not let that happen. Having gone through the Warrior's shoulder, the shard firmly attached itself to the wall, becoming essentially one with it.
The only way for Noble to remove the bone barb was to remove it herself.
Unfortunately, that was exactly what the monster was hoping for.
As soon as Noble and Syrce converged on their helpless companion, the panther opened his mouth…
And breathed.