As Noble continually shot her bow at the Drifters, she wondered at how easy the kills were. Was it because she was a Master now and not a mere Awakened as before? Or were these creatures just less formidable than others she had faced?
'Probably a combination of the two.'
The overwhelming number of creatures was more problematic than their powers, though. Noble had a suspicion that the caustic smell of the liquid leaking from the burst heads was at least mildly acidic. Already, many of the trees looked more sickly than when they had started the battle.
Having lost track of the number of abominations, Noble felt the repetition in her arm become automatic. She barely had to aim because the tide of creatures was so thick. Each arrow hit a dozen or so of the escaping monsters.
Helie's arrows were far more potent. The large array of them was on full display as she summoned one after another in a never-ending line. Perhaps only Saint Kai could rival her skill and marksmanship.
That kind of talent should not have gone unnoticed. Noble wondered why she had never heard of her at the Academy. The woman should at the very least be a guest lecturer.
'Think about that later,' Noble refocused her attention. The number of creatures had reached critical mass.
Any more and they would no longer be able to contain them all. They would bubble out like suds over the side of the bathtub.
Noble quickened her shot, giving up even more of her accuracy in search of speed.
Soon, she would need to give up her superior position and dive into the swarm to deal with them more quickly. But she would wait until Roan could no longer hold the line on his own.
"How many waves do you think there will be?" Noble asked as she continued her barrage.
Without their communicators, the warriors had only their instincts to determine the category of the gate until the guardian appeared.
"I am not sure about the total," Helie frowned, "but it looks like the next one is coming right now!"
The feeling around them changed. In the midst of the Drifters that continued to pour through the gate, a new form took shape. It was large, with charcoal skin and a fin on its muscular back. Its legs and arms were vaguely fin-shaped as well, and its two heads were filled with rows and rows of triangular teeth.
"That's…a shark?!" Flint couldn't believe his eyes. "I thought they had only grown two heads in our world because of pollution!"
"This one didn't seem to get the message that sharks are extinct and that they cannot walk on land," Noble gritted her teeth.
Whatever this shark abomination did or did not know about their world was irrelevant. All that mattered to it was the pursuit and destruction of human souls.
Closing its red, beady eyes, the pair of noses sniffed at the air. Then, with predatory determination, it headed directly for the human camp.
The arrows that flew through the Drifters bounced uselessly off the shark's skin. The colossal guardian of the gate marched forward, crushing any Drifter too slow to move out of its way.
Noble sighed. It seemed like the only way they would be able to rid themselves of the guardian would be through a direct confrontation.
"Cover me!" Noble told Helie. "I'm going down."
"Wait! I have one more I want to try before you go," the brunette Master called. "I don't want you to get caught in its spray."
Helie motioned to Roan to back away as well. The leader of the cohort lifted high into the air.
But before the arrow could fully manifest, a new presence ripped its way through the forest with a mighty roar.
Noble turned her head and frowned.
"Hold your fire!"
Helie looked at her with confusion, but lowered her bow. The trees continued to bend and splinter as a mass of white fur pushed into the clearing formed by the gate's minions.
It reminded Noble of something she had once seen on an ancient documentary. What was the name?
"A polar bear!"
The oversized bear ripped into the hoard of drifters, quickly coating its fur in the pungent liquid. But it didn't seem to notice. As it cleared a path, it reared back on its hind legs and released a mighty roar.
Flint held his slingshot against his head and scratched his helmet. "Is that a Noble Creature or a monster from another gate?"
"Neither. Look." Noble pointed to the forest.
The human army was coming. Rather than being afraid of the bear, they were bolstered by its presence. They traveled in the path carved by the bear, ready to take on the monsters with swords drawn.
"The people are following it...her," Noble corrected her thinking as she felt the bear's emotional signature.
"That's a human?" Flint felt his heart race.
"A Saint." Helie nodded. "I feel it too."
Roan seemed to understand what the others knew as well, for he did not attack the newcomer. They all watched for a moment in strange fascination.
Oblivious to the audience, the bear leapt at the shark and raked her massive white claw across her enemy. The grey skin was no match for the deadly claws.
Blood spilled onto the battlefield.
Continuing her forward momentum, the bear dug her teeth into the left neck of the two-headed abomination. Chunks of corrupted flesh were torn and flung through the air.
The Saint pushed her back legs against the shark, sending him careening toward the gate. The slick ground was too much to overcome. The shark tumbled to the earth.
That was the last time Noble saw either of the shark's gruesome faces.
The two beings were momentarily buried in the drifters, many of them popping as the battle raged.
With her second sight, Noble saw the bear maul the monster until it was both headless and heartless. When the Saint rose once again from the Drifters, her white fur was covered in crimson blood that was not hers.
"I-it's dead?" Helie felt her breath catch.
"Seems so," Noble nodded slowly.
"You mean that's it?!" Flint pursed his lips.
"Are you unhappy that the guardian is dead?" Child of Promise furrowed her brow.
"Of course I am! Imagine the Memory I could have gotten from that Nightmare Creature. Once again, it was stolen by a wo—" Flint's word was cut off as Noble smacked his helmet with her bow. "Ouch!"
"Deserved." Helie shrugged. "Now, shall we finish cleaning up this mess?"
"I don't think we are needed." Noble pointed to the army.
The first of the warriors was finally reaching the clearing and diving into the fray. The people fought valiantly and fearlessly, taking down the rest of the Drifter with frightening speed.
Noble and the other Masters barely had to lift a finger to track down the stragglers.
The whole operation was seamless, magnificent even. The ancient warriors had done their duty and defeated the gate without a single man dying in the process.
There was only one problem.
Out of all the soldiers who had come from the caravan to defend against the gate…
Noble recognized none of them.