The second swath of unconventional fabric was slightly easier than the first. She had found one length of thread that was exceptionally long, making it so she didn't have to knot multiple strings together as she went.
That didn't mean the task was easy. Noble wanted to place her hands on the thread to manipulate it, but her head told her that was a mistake. Like the mist, she was wary of the silk.
Just because it was no longer obliterating the ground did not mean it was safe to handle. So she was forced to use her ability, stretching it to the extreme.
Beads of sweat formed on her brow as she focused. This level of precision was beyond anything she had done before. There could be no gaps in her work, and she had to work at a pace that would make a mundane person's nose bleed.
Even cutting down and stripping the trees had not tested her mental fortitude like this. Noble felt her essence leave her as she continued the unusual stitching.
The second tapestry began to take form, but not quickly enough.
Below, Syrce was getting pummeled.
The bear ignored the searing pain in her paws as she pulled another of the orbiting balls away from the nexus of Syrce's body. Mae tried to crush it, but the orb managed to rip apart the Other's claws to escape. Instead of the skill of swords, the two Saints were wielding brute force. It wasn't pretty, and Noble had to push the terrifying images from her mind as she worked.
The floating Master could feel herself wasting time as she knotted one thread to the next to continue the weave.
'Come on, faster!' She chided herself.
'I am trying! You know how hard it is to talk when you don't have a mouth?!' Syrce's voice responded icily.
'I didn't mean you.' Noble paused. 'And keep trying. Even if you cannot speak, you can exert your desire in other ways.'
'Perhaps, but speaking is the easiest!' Syrce responded with a grunt.
Below, her main body was butted with the bear's head, sending it over the water. Waiting tentacles tried and failed to grasp her in their clutches.
A high-pitched hum filled the air as Syrce hurried back to the shore for another cataclysmic collision.
'That almost sounded like something!' Noble nodded.
'I want to tell her how much I hate her!' Syrce glowed a little brighter.
'That won't work,' Noble insisted. 'You need to deny her. Anything else will be fueling her existence.'
Just like words, feelings had power. Noble knew that better than anyone.
Syrce was quiet for a moment as she flipped Maelys onto one of the few walls left partially standing. Dust filled the air, obscuring the two Saints from Noble's view.
'I'll try. Ugh, I just want her gone. She never should have existed!'
'That's a sentiment I can get behind.'
As the floating Master moved to construct the third tapestry, her mind began to relax into the rhythm of the movement.
It would be a little longer before they would be done. Noble needed to stall.
"Pretty strong for an imaginary bear," the floating Master clicked her tongue. "Too bad you aren't real."
Maely's head snapped upward. A snarl escaped her lips like an unearthly curse.
"Be gone," Mae's voice was gruff and full of malice.
Noble ignored the change in the pressure around her. Refusing to look at the Other, she shrugged.
"Funny, I don't buzz off that easily."
Maelys opened her mouth to respond, but another shrill hum emanated from the ball of energy.
Mae froze and shivered. Noble could feel a change in her demeanor. But it lasted only a blink. The bear shook, ridding herself of the dazed expression.
'You aren't real,' Syrce persisted, her cry leaking into Noble's mind.
That was what she was trying to say, but the sentiment had come across. And Maelys had felt it deeper than any blow.
The mist came to her with greater urgency, trying to shore up the intangible hole that Syrce had ripped open.
"Stop it!" Maelys warned. She looked up at Noble with fire in her eyes. "Tell her to stop it!"
The bear ripped at the cores of light.
'Keep going! She is agitated now.' Noble passed along the opposite message.
It was possible that killing Syrce would lead to mutually assured destruction. Mae had lost all sense of reason. But Noble suspected that it might actually set the Other free from any influence, making her even more dangerous.
Noble did not want her friend dead anyway, so the worry forced the Master to redouble her efforts.
She could not let Maelys win, not when they were so close!
"You…"
The largest orb of energy crashed into the bear, knocking out multiple teeth and snapping Mae's head to an impossible angle.
'Are not real!' The second part of Syrce's thought could only be heard by the floating Master.
But the first word, distorted as it was from her usual beautiful timber, was clear as day!
Mae staggered. Her fur lost some of its luster. Her claws appeared less sharp.
The bear opened her mouth, breathing in a large swath of the black mist lingering in the air.
Noble could feel the rage burning within the Other.
"I will destroy you!" Maelys's roar reverberated through Noble like a shockwave. Her armor strained against the pressure, deflecting most of the blow. A smile came to the woman's face as her eyes swirled behind her visor.
'Keep going! You've almost got it!'
Hearing Noble's encouragement, Syrce fortified her resolve.
"You…are…" The words were clearer this time, but still not complete.
'Just a little more.' Noble promised herself just as much as Syrce.
The mist permeated the air now, flowing from the battlefield where Helie and the soldiers must have given up on trying to contain them.
Noble couldn't blame them; the humans were heavily outnumbered, and containing was harder than killing.
Noble was about to have to do both.
The last thread was pulled into place. Relieved, Noble took the three cloths and connected them with her levitation in a crude cylinder. With more time and planning, she could have figured out the dimensions of a perfect dome and sewn the structure accordingly. But with so little time and her minimal ability as a seamstress, the cylinder would have to do.
She lifted the awkward structure into the air. Now that it was three pieces instead of a myriad of individual strings, it was more manageable on her mind and easier on her essence usage.
'I…can't get it out! My emotions, they won't cooperate.' Syrce's voice sounded faint.
Even with all that the fake Mae had done, Syrce could not get her heart to cooperate. Part of her wanted the Other to live.
'You have to end this. End her!'
'I am trying to…' Syrce shot her orbs of energy down like a meteor shower.
Noble felt the Saint's desire and latched onto it.
'Want it with all of your being. For yourself and your people. We have to finish this.' Noble gritted her teeth.
'For my people,' the words emboldened Syrce.
A loud hum filled the air, but no words came.
Noble continued.
'Do it for Lyra. She doesn't want to lose both sisters!'
'Lyra.' The feeling became stronger. The balls of energy crackled, arcs of light passing between them.
They began to spin around their host, making them difficult for Mae to knock them out of the air. The bear furrowed her brow. "It's no use! Give up now!"
'The Other wants you to give up. But you have to stop her. For Mae—the real Maelys! That thing is walking around with her face and hurting people your sister loved.'
'Mae. My Mae!' All at once, Syrce's outrage coalesced with all the other emotions. 'She is not my Mae! She is fake, a counterfeit, a falsehood!'
'Yes! Tell her that!' Noble readied herself.
Syrce's body tilted forward, and three words shot from her form like arrows.
"You...are…nothing!"
At that moment, Noble dropped her trap.