Noble shut her eyes for a moment and then heaved a sigh of relief. "You all are clear."
"How can you be sure?" Roan asked. "The fake Flint got past you, at least for a time. Looking back, we all should have been more suspicious when he was acting overly polite this afternoon."
Noble pushed back the guilt gnawing at her stomach. "My Kingdom Keeper Attribute would not connect to the false Flint, but it has no trouble extending to all of you."
"Kingdom Keeper?" Aether tilted his head.
Noble bit her tongue. That had been more than she wanted to reveal, but in a moment like this, trust was vital.
"One of my Attributes helps keep people safe whom I care about. While it obviously cannot stop everything, it seems to help best with close calls and increase the chance of them becoming near misses."
"And you care about us?" Helie's anxiety was momentarily quelled.
"Of course! How could I not? You are my cohort. And I can feel the connection with all of you right now. My emotional sense may be skewed, but that one is not so easily fooled."
"That is truly touching. Still…we should have a backup: a way to check that doesn't depend on you." Roan furrowed his brow. "If we get separated, we need a way to identify friend from foe. But first, dismiss all your reflective surfaces."
There was a risk in dismissing the weapons and armor, but the greater risk was that the enemy might somehow overhear their plan. If mirror people could steal faces from reflections, then they might also be able to hear through them.
Noble also suspected that the request was a test.
Having full trust in the other three, Noble dismissed her armor and her Zenith. She wrapped Mirage's cape around her to hide any tears in her clothing that might have come from her most recent summoning of her Memory.
Helie let her bow and arrows dissolve, and Aether let the watery reflective outer covering of his armor disappear, leaving only the dark skin-tight layer underneath. The cut on his shoulder was not too deep, thankfully. They no longer had a healer to help them if they were mortally wounded.
Seeing the others comply with his request, the cohort leader relaxed and dismissed his weapon as well. "Those creatures enter the world without clothes. If our Memories go with us, then they cannot appropriate them, at least I doubt they can, otherwise the fake Flint would have been wearing his armor and not those tattered clothes."
The rest of the group nodded.
"We can't exactly expect each other to summon and dismiss Memories in a battle. There has to be a better way." Noble pictured the chaos that would cause.
"I agree. We need a sign. Only one we will know." Roan thought for a moment.
"You mean something outside the Nightmare, like when we first met. When you sought me out in the Dream Realm?" Aether asked.
The cohort leader frowned. "I found your ship in the harbor in the waking world when you were resupplying."
The young man looked relieved. "Good, I was just making sure. But when we met, you used the name of Naeve to get my attention. If he was willing to tell you my location, I figure you were worth hearing out."
"So, a name? What name?" Helie furrowed her brow.
"Your sister's?" Aether asked the brunette.
"I have no sister…but you already knew that." Helie allowed a small smile. "I guess I passed your test?"
The young man nodded. "You did."
"Any name will do. As long as it's someone from the waking world we all know." Roan decided. "It should not be the same name twice. The monsters will catch on."
None of them dared to give any names just then. They all had a good idea of the common bonds they shared as members of the walking world.
They stood in silence for a moment, the gravity of the situation hitting them each differently.
They were up against an enemy that could take human form, any human that had looked within a mirror. The face-stealers were imperfect reflections, not having the full context for the person they mirrored. Noble wasn't sure if their knowledge was collected corporately, like the Skinwalker, or if each individual had their own knowledge.
Or perhaps there was some middle ground? She would probably never know. At least, Noble hoped she would not be sticking around long enough to discover all the secrets that the mirror people had to offer.
And on that note…
"We have company." Noble's voice was flat, her violet eyes staring steadily across the water.
Her three companions all turned their heads. Across the mirror lake outside the wall of the palace, the monsters had finally found their prey.
They looked less human than they had before. Dozens of empty eyes stared across the water, devoid of any emotion except destruction. If there was any doubt about the intention of the people from the mirror, it was erased from existence by the expressionless faces turned toward the Masters just now.
The creatures watched in silence, waiting.
"Well, that is unfortunate. Do you think they mean to come over here?" Aether glanced at the coming night with a stalwart expression.
"I don't think so. If they meant to come, I doubt they would have revealed themselves. Either they cannot swim or do not want to." Noble hoped it was the former.
The group reluctantly moved beyond the treeline, hiding once again from the alien expressions of the enemy.
Placing the protective Memory around them, Roan nodded that it was safe to speak.
"So what now? Are we still leaving to find…you know who?" Helie tilted her head toward the sea.
"No," Noble answered before their leader could. "We do what Flint wanted. We stand and fight."
"I am as sentimental as the next person, but we cannot do what he wanted just because he is dead." Helie hated how calloused the words made her sound.
"It has nothing to do with honoring Flint. Knowing what we do now, we cannot leave. By the time we return, the whole caravan could be replaced. The sooner we act, the better." Roan furrowed his brow, the feeling of time slipping through his fingers all too evident on his face.
"This is also the final night of the full moon." Noble looked at the coming darkness grimly. "I am not sure, but something tells me that we will have a hard time ridding ourselves of those creatures once the sun comes up."
The stars were already beginning to peek out overhead. Soon the moon would rise, and the fake world would be bathed in its unbroken light.
The group hurriedly planned, trying to prepare for as many eventualities as they could conceive. Though the likelihood of any of it being useful was low, it still got their minds in the right place for the upcoming battle.
"Is that it?" Roan looked around at his companions.
"I'm sure it isn't, but it's as good as we will get," Helie answered.
"I am ready. Whatever comes, we will handle it." Aether balled his fist.
"Don't say that! The Spell will hear you," Noble hushed him.
With that, they headed out in search of Syrce. But first, they had to evade the creatures waiting for them on the other side of the lake.