The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

'An earth shaper?'

Noble's blood ran cold.

'Could it be?'

This was the second person she had met who was associated with Clan Valor and could alter stone.

'Could she be related to Harlow?'

While affinities occasionally ran in families, especially among the clans, it wasn't guaranteed.

"I wouldn't consider myself any kind of shaper, no. At most, I can move earth. So maybe earth-shifter is a better term." Helie explained.

"Wait wait wait…" Flint gritted his teeth. "You mean to tell me that you had literal earth powers and you didn't use them on that dirty monstrosity back there?"

"Why didn't you use your powers to freeze the cores when you located them?" Helie shot back.

The elder legacy frowned. "My powers don't work on living beings. The most I can do is cool the air around them. Even if I somehow managed it, those cores were too big and the giant too powerful. It would drain my essence before it had any effect."

"Same for my powers," Helie brushed back her braid. "The Terrestrial Giant is a being, not a mound of dirt. Its control over the world around it was much stronger than mine. It wasn't until the third core cracked that I could wrest any control, and even then, it was only clearing the silt that was stuck between the living particles."

It made sense. Certain creatures had absolute control of the world or part of the world around them, especially when they got to higher ranks and classes. Helie was not holding out on them; she just couldn't use her powers because they were being suppressed.

But in other arenas, like the Nightmare, that suppression would not exist.

'If she finds out my flaw and wants to harm me, I could be in real trouble! I have to find out if she– or any of them–are connected to the woman who killed my father. I don't think I could live with myself if I helped someone who might have been involved in his death.' 

Roan and Aether were unlikely to have had dealings with the vile assassin, but the other two seemed more closely tied to the infamous clan.

Noble forced a smile.

"Earth power! That is fascinating! You don't happen to know a woman named Harlow, do you?" Noble had directed the question towards Helie, but she carefully monitored the emotions of everyone in the circle.

As she expected, the two from the House of Night and the White Feather Clan showed mild curiosity in the topic. Helie furrowed her brow, but it was Flint who had the strongest reaction.

"Don't tell me you knew that little weasel!" He balled his fist. "That hussy never had an honest day in her life. I'm not sad she is gone. She and her brother tried to push Steel out of the way in a power grab, but it ended up imploding on itself. Her family doesn't have half the prestige it did even a couple of years ago."

'Just when I think I hate this guy, he says things that make me like him again...it's like I'm riding a yo-yo.' Noble rubbed her head.

"Flint, that was unnecessary. What if she were this 'Harlow's' close friend? It isn't nice to speak ill of the dead," Helie spoke in her most matronly voice.

"No, it's fine. We were not friends. I just remember that she had an affinity for stone shaping and wondered if you might be related, that's all." Noble did not want to be mistaken.

She and Harlow were the farthest thing from friends. Harlow's death was the only good thing to come out of the Skinwalker invasion.

"I see. No, I don't think we ever met. Uncle taught me what he knows about how to control the earth. He never introduced me to a stone shaper."

Helie's words were true. She had no reason to lie anyway. Unlike Noble, 'Master Bel' had a neutral connection with Harlow. So there was no wrong answer.

A weight lifted from Noble's shoulders. Whatever scheme had led to her father's death years ago, she was relatively certain none of these people were remotely involved.

She floated a little closer to her seat, digging into her stew with gusto.

Battles make for a very hungry stomach!

"Tomorrow we will do a little training together, before we head out. We worked as a team much better than I anticipated with no prep time, but there are a few things I think we could tighten up." Roan informed them as they finished their meal. "Tomorrow afternoon, we continue on our journey toward the Seed. Depending on how things go, we will be there in a day."

"It's that close?" Helie tilted her head.

Roan nodded. "It has been festering for a while and appears very close to blooming. That's why Anvil would like it taken care of and didn't ask too many questions about who I might be taking with me."

With a war looming on the horizon, Anvil wanted as many Saints on his side as possible, but he also couldn't afford to send off all of his best Masters into the same nightmare.

So he was spreading out his champions instead.

Lord Anvil didn't care about the others who succeeded. He had the lineage of the War God. If anyone stood in his way—even a Saint—the Sovereign of Valor would have no issue making the problem disappear.

Just like his clan had done to her father.

'I won't be another of his casualties.' Noble placed her hand on her heart. She had too much to live for. Too much to protect.

After a little more planning, the team decided to retire for the evening. They set up a schedule to keep watch and selected their sleeping space.

Noble summoned Helios, and after explaining that she tends to float away while sleeping, she called forth a lasso Memory to lash herself to him.

If anyone thought it was a strange solution, they didn't say so. Soon, everyone but Flint, who was taking the first watch, was settled around what used to be the fire.

The lack of tents meant everyone would be sleeping under the stars, which Aether seemed particularly happy about.

"The stars in different parts of the Dream Realm are fascinating," he commented as he stared steadily upwards. "I don't notice as much in the day, but I can feel keenly at night how different this sky is from the Stormsea and the Waking World."

"I've felt the same about the different suns," Roan answered him in a wistful tone. "I have often wondered how so many different skies came to exist."

"What else? Magic…" Helie chuckled, resting her head gently on her hands.

"I once heard Magic was just science we didn't understand yet," Noble sighed.

"Some things are not meant for human understanding," Roan yawned. "People have gone mad trying to peek into the mysteries of the moon. Imagine how insane we would have to be to comprehend the whole of the Dream Realm."

"I suppose…" The professor shut her eyes.

She didn't want to go crazy, but the academic in her thirsted for the answer to the strange mishmash of the different regions. 

There wasn't time just now to contemplate the riddles of the universe, so Noble reluctantly let her thoughts drift away like clouds. 

Tomorrow there would be more time for thinking.

Just now, she needed sleep.