The Noble Queen-A Shadow Slave Fanfic

"I am sorry to hear that, Director Luna." Noble was finally able to place the face and voice with a name. 

The professor had only heard the Director speak a couple of times on a screen and had never seen her in such a rugged state. 

'I've also never seen anything below her shoulders.' 

"Not as sorry as I am," Luna rubbed her cheeks. "I should never have let them go without me. I had planned to be back from the NQSC before they left, but I was delayed and told them to go without me. I was getting on the train to go to them the day before yesterday when Lonzo contacted me to say that something was wrong." 

"I'm impressed he knew."

Noble assumed that Lonzo was mundane. It was only the professor's Aspect that alerted her to the presence of the malignant Skinwalker. To be able to sense something was wrong without that power would have taken a keen sense of observation. 

"Lonzo wants to see the best in people, so when he was suspicious, I was concerned enough to return to headquarters. I told my boys to sit tight and that I would get someone to investigate. If I had known what was the source of the problem and how things would transpire..." Luna's bloodshot eyes were on the brink of tears. 

"As soon as we confirmed the Skinwalker, things moved rather quickly. Who knows what would have happened if the monster had realized what we were up to and suddenly went on the offensive?" 

Gui also looked sleep-deprived. When was the last time the Chancellor and Director had slept? 

"But you trapped my family inside!" Luna banged the table. 

"They are not the only ones. The mayor and his wife are holed up in their mansion. We also lost contact with our military scout, Fir, when the barrier activated." Cor's stoic response was devoid of sympathy.

"Could there be more stuck in there with the Skinwalker?" Noble broke in. 

"We don't think so." Gui tried to sound more confident than he felt. "The mayor reached out after the barrier was in place. We have no idea why the Skinwalker left him and his wife alone, but based on our conversations with them, they are not corrupted." 

"You mean out of a million people, the skinwalker left two untouched?" Noble raised her eyebrows skeptically.

Just when Noble didn't think the Nightmare Creature could get any weirder, it did something even more bizarre.

Did it consider the two people playthings to be toyed with? Perhaps it enjoyed fooling the unsuspecting city's leader. 

'That's twisted.' 

There was always the chance that the Skinwalker had become an even better pretender, passing their tests by deception. If that were the case and the mayor was taken also, then any attempt to save them would be a trap.

"It is very suspicious," Cor answered. "Which is why I am against any rescue mission." 

The Saint's words made Luna take in a sharp breath. 

"I take it you don't agree," Noble looked at Gui, "Otherwise I wouldn't be here." 

"My opinion is moot at this point." The Chancellor deflected. "Saint Jet is there and is going in with or without our support." 

"She is taking the loss as a personal failure when she shouldn't." Cor crossed his arms. 

Wake of Ruin was the one who had brought back Master Yosh to the Waking World.

The fact that Jet was willing to save a few victims from the Skinwalker when he was not must have weighed heavily on his conscience. 

Cor wasn't the only one against the extraction. Noble had walked in on an argument about the viability of a rescue. 

"Has anyone other than Jet agreed to go in on this excursion into a dome of death?" 

"Not at the present time, no." Gui rubbed the back of his neck. 

The professor couldn't exactly blame any of them. 

The risk of entering a place swarming with Skinwalkers was too high, and the perceived reward much too small.

Too small for everyone except for Jet and Luna.

"Let me get this straight. You want Jet and I to take on an entire city of Skinwalkers by ourselves to rescue four people?" 

While Noble supported the women in their desire to help the helpless, she didn't like those odds.

"Five people," Luna corrected her. "I hired an Awakened bodyguard to accompany my family to the city. Harry is stuck there too." The director chewed her lip. 

"That's an even bigger problem, and not one I can help you with." Noble tried not to sound relieved. "Even if I helped Saint Jet reach your family and the mayor. There is no way for her to transfer five people to the Dream Realm. I doubt she could even do four. I am not a Saint. I can only bring myself to Ravenheart." 

Gui scratched his beard. "Since Crestfall is not under the Domain of either Sovereign, taking mundane people there would infect them. We are looking for a way around this since the mayor and his wife have agreed to start fresh in the Dream Realm. We hope to have a solution soon."

"Just the Mayor and his wife? What about the others?" 

Noble had been working on the assumption that the mission would be a one-way trip. Transferring the survivors and themselves to the Dream Realm made the most sense. It was the safest way—if diving into a den of Skinwalkers could ever be considered safe. 

Noble watched Director Luna's mouth form a firm line.

"No matter what happens, my family isn't going to the Dream Realm."

Noble furrowed her brow.

"Why not? I know it may not have been your plan, but I'm sure the Chancellor would be willing to transfer you to wherever they end up. My husband, Fort would welcome the help in the Song Domain. If the government can get a second Saint to help then…"

"No." Luna shook her head.

Noble frowned.

"Have you tried every Saint? I know you are pressed for time but I can make a few calls…"

"Even if we found one, it wouldn't change anything." Luna stared steadily forward. "My family cannot leave the Waking World. My son cannot go to the Dream Realm for one simple reason. He'll die."

"Die?" Noble looked to the men for confirmation that she had heard correctly.

"Teran was born with a rare condition. We have tried every treatment that money can buy. We've been to nearly every doctor and healer in the EQSC. Not even the best Awakened can fix what is wrong. We thought we had finally found the answer, but when Lonzo arrived with Teran at the facility and started asking questions, things weren't adding up."

Director Luna looked down as she continued.

"The man didn't sound like the competent doctor that Lonzo had spoken to a couple of months before. My husband managed to get my son and himself to a government bunker. That's where they are now. But Teran is only living due to Spelltech which helps his body function. If you take him to the Dream Realm, that technology will fail. Teran might make it a week, maybe two. But he will die."

Luna reached forward and took Noble's hands.

"So I ask you as one loving mother to another. Will you help me?"

What Luna was asking was impossibly huge. She was putting the fate of her family in Noble's hands.

Which left Noble with the nagging question:

"Why me?"