Noble stared at the runes for a long ti. The words were not hard to fathom, yet they took the professor by surprise.
Is this what Cor wanted her to find? Or had he never ventured this far along the chasm?
After reading the ssage once more, Noble shifted her gaze to the figure beneath it.
Despite the heat, the world below the surface had been eerily preserved. The flesh may have rotted away, but the bones and armor of those who had fallen were pristine.
Sitting directly below the fateful markings were the bones of a warrior. Unlike the others, who had been laid to rest, he sat staring death in the face in the end.
'He died holding his sword.'
The general's emblem on the breastplate left no doubt about who this warrior was.
"Theo." Noble's heart sank.
She thought of the humble but capable man she had seen just the day before. Noble had left him in charge at the end of the Nightmare. Theo had been healthy, full of life, and ready to serve. The world had been broken in two, but most of the people's lives had been preserved.
With the stalwart general to lead them, Noble had so hope that those people might turn out alright.
The truth, sadly, was not anything like what the two forr Queens had left behind. It was impossible to guess how much ti had passed between the breaking of the earth and the battle of the deep.
Theo could have lived many years before his tragic end. He could have married and had children even. He could have been quite happy for a ti.
Or he could have co down much sooner without a soul to miss him in the settlent above.
Both options left Noble with heartache.
And that was not even considering that the n down here had tried to escape their fate.
Noble scanned the lines again, her eyes stopping on one particular point. 'They ran out of water.'
In the spring and sumr when it rained, one of the streams that fed into the River of Tears would shower its excess into the chasm in a glorious waterfall east of the city. It was coming up on winter soon, and any sign of water was long gone.
Noble doubted the snow made it down this far, but even if it did, would it have been enough to sustain the n?
Probably not.
Of all the ways to go, a slow death by starvation and dehydration was one of the worst.
"Why does it seem there are no happy endings in the Dream Realm? The good die in despair while the evil thrive and live a long life. Theo deserved better than this."
Noble felt Sarai's hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry," the redhead wasn't sure what else to say. What else was there to say?
Nothing. There was only one thing to be done.
Carefully, Noble took the sword from Theo's grasp, careful not to harm the man's fragile bones.
"What are you doing?" Sarai furrowed her brow.
"I am honoring his dying wish, at least the last part of it. I am placing this by the palace's gate for anyone who passes it to see. His suffering will be known." Noble nodded slowly to the remains of the dead general. "Your Nightmare is over."
It felt strange saying it to a resident of the Dream Realm, especially one she had never technically t.
Yet, down here alone would have been a true horror. The words were still true.
Wanting to be alone with her own thoughts, Noble dismissed the Other's Voice. With a nod from the baker, the return trip began.
The trek to the surface was spent in solemn silence. In the light of Sarai's spear, the ladies could see holes bored into the rock along with hooks and even the occasional tattered rope. Noble recognized the signs of the system of pulleys and ladders that had lowered the n to the bottom far from the Bloom of Doubt's reach.
While either ti or Ender had destroyed most of it. Pieces of the track still remained a testant to human ingenuity.
After reaching the surface, Sarai decided to walk back to Crestfall while Noble floated beside her. Thankfully the arid ground was easy to traverse, and the pair was back before the afternoon was through.
Entering the palace, Noble took Theo's sword and leaned it against the ethereal gateway.
She would have to construct a proper way to display it later, but there was sothing about the way it rested against her way ho that brought her comfort.
Ender had done a lot of things but at least this one had not remained hidden forever. Noble sighed.
"I better be going," she told Sarai. "It will be ti for dinner soon and I don't want to worry the kids or Fort."
The baker nodded. "I should get ho to my loved ones...and return the table. I'll probably have to do that first."
"We'll talk soon." Noble hugged her friend.
It was ti to return to the waking world.
Passing through the starry void, Noble soon found herself in the comfort of her dojo. She took in a deep breath of filtered air. It wasn't the crisp atmosphere of the Dream Realm, but it was familiar and for that, she was grateful.
"It's nice to be ho."
Dismissing her secondary armor, Noble put on comfortable clothes. There was sothing soothing about having real clothes in the real world. She felt connected to humanity again. She felt connected to her real self.
Gathering the rest of her things, Noble hastily picked up her communicator. A few ssages were waiting for her, but the one that interested her most was a communication from Teddy.
Fort's personal assistant had co through and sent her the report she requested.
The accident report of Lance's death.
"Here you go, Master Noble. Have a bee-utiful rest of your day."
Noble winced at the ssage, but not for the pun. It occurred to her that when talking to Saint Cor, he had ntioned her fighting at the Nightmare Gate. That ant he also knew she was Queen Bee.
How many others had the clearance to read her interview and connect the dots? She would have to ask Fort this evening.
But before that...
Noble hesitated, her finger hovering over the attachnt icon on her screen.
Part of her wanted to dive in and absorb every little bit of information. That would take hours though, and she didn't have that ti just now.
There would be the opportunity to look more later. Perhaps just a cursory glance would satiate her burning curiosity.
But the other part of her was conscience sounding alarm bells in her head. She had enough on her plate without adding to her emotional pile. It would be better to clear so of the other problems in her life before resurrecting an almost twenty-year-old wound.
What was wrong with her, inviting trouble like this? She almost wished her mother had never divulged her suspicions at all. That would have been simpler.
But now that the box was open, there was no putting back the sneaking suspicion of foul play.
Taking a deep breath, the professor ca to a decision. Before she could talk herself out of looking at the docunt, she pressed down.
The tale of her father's death ca up in full display.
She wasn't prepared for what she saw.
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