With Noble in control of the warriors, they no longer had to worry about the molten ground. That was already a huge relief.
It had been difficult to fight the enemy from the ground with such a small force, and they were mentally and physically exhausted. Now, with a new plan in place, the two men and Noble drew closer to the Remnant.
Having found no sign of the humans on the ground, the Prince found them in the heavens when he became quiet enough to hear their speaking.
Now he watched them descend like angels from the clouds, and he planned to treat them with a fiery pit. But that was easier said than done. They were airborne, and his glorious wings were horribly mangled.
The Prince flamed.
From above, Noble noticed something shifting in the Dragon Prince. His reptilian eye blinked, and the anger in his belly became more acute. More sinister. More destructive.
Noble had sensed that particular emotion too many times.
The Prince no longer just wanted to reclaim his territory. He wanted to consume her soul.
Noble's blood ran cold. She could hardly believe what she was witnessing.
"He…he's succumbing to corruption!"
"Are you sure?" Roan's face was suitably shocked.
He knew they had worn down the Remnant, especially by releasing his own copy in a fight to the death.
But it had not occurred to the cohort leader that they might break the creature's mind before breaking his body.
"Pretty sure!" Noble raised the men higher into the air to avoid the Remnant's less predictable movements.
There seemed to be a war going on within the beast. He was no less conscious of what was going on around him, but he was losing control of his response to it. The two forces had likely been at war in the Remnant's body for years, and its weakened state had finally tipped the balance in favor of the invading influence. The Prince had been fighting a two-front war this whole time, against the humans and against the darkness lurking in his own soul.
A moment of awe settled over her as she watched the scene.
'So that's what happens.'
There were many theories about what had happened to the Noble Creatures of old. As far as Noble knew, she was the first to witness the struggle take place.
Her wonder was quickly replaced with fear. The process may have been fascinating, but it was also incredibly volatile.
Would the transition be like when corrupted creatures evolved? Noble had read that they were often in a weakened state when that occurred.
Or would the Prince be suddenly more powerful with the infusion of an invading force?
Noble wasn't sure.
They were in uncharted territory.
'What else is new?' Child of Promise shook her head.
She could marvel at the historic moment later. Noble didn't want to find out the strength of a corrupted version versus how the Prince had been initially.
They needed him dead.
"No time to waste," Roan was beginning to see the signs of what Noble already felt.
The Prince clawed at the ground and then jumped at them, a haphazard move which was filled with intent but not forethought.
His wings spread to soften his fall, and he glided after the trio as they headed for the lake.
The prince was rabid, but he wasn't completely dumb. He landed at the water's edge with a puff of smoke.
'Ready?' Roan signaled to Aether and Noble as they hovered over the glassy lake.
With affirmation from the rest of his cohort, Roan held up three fingers in front of the dragon's face. The creature stretched his neck to attack his prey, but the man was simply out of reach.
Roan's hand closed, leaving only two fingers and then one.
'Now!' Noble thought. The timing had to be perfect, and she had calculated it to the millisecond.
The air crackled above them. Noble felt her blonde hair stand on end.
The sky seemed to split as three different arcs came from different spots in the east, each aimed at the dragon.
Roan had given it his all, his face drenched with sweat.
The world lit up almost like day, but the Remnant was not bothered.
The Dragon viewed the electric storm with derision.
Even in his frenzied state, the Prince's crown began to extend to absorb the hits. But this was a bigger current than he had dealt with before. The Dragon tilted his head to align with the bolts, leaving his neck open to the west.
'Come on…come on!' Noble chanted silently.
Just when she thought her timing had been off, she felt a presence racing toward her at an unprecedented speed. The arrow was large, much larger than the woman who had launched it. It soared across the sky like a dreadful comet.
It was an impossible shot from an unfathomable distance. Helie should have been too far beyond the trees to see the dragon, no less aim her weapon at it.
And yet, it hit its mark.
'Not even Dar could make that shot…' Noble had witnessed the insane aim of that man a few times in the Dreamscape, but Helie easily put him to shame. Where had she been hiding that talent?!
The arrow lodged in the Prince's shoulder joint, exploding with tremendous force. The blast seemed to rip at the fabric of the night sky, throwing the already off-balance dragon and pinning him temporarily to the beach.
Aether took his cue.
The stars seemed to shoot from the heavens like countless silver strings. They wrapped the dragon, covering him with their ethereal light.
Focusing, Noble gave the strings weight. The small strings flickered, struggling to become solid.
Aether screamed. Noble took her eyes off the Remnant to check on her companion. He was in utter agony from the strain, yet he did not give in.
Noble felt her control on the strings lessen. The cords themselves were becoming solid.
The Prince recovered himself too late, pushing back the corruption long enough to thrash against the bonds. His head hit the water. A long, tentacled arm snaked out of the water and wrapped around the Dragon's neck like a noose. The creature of the deep began to drag the forsaken Prince into the lake.
But Aether was not willing to let the monster take him captive. The horrors in the water had already been defeated by the Dragon before. Now it was his turn.
As the Prince splashed into the water, Aether's bonds only tightened. Just below the surface, the dragon thrashed, unable to escape the predicament he was in.
Aether's resolve became absolute, and with each passing moment, his starlight grew stronger. The water began to glow like a lake of stars.
Aether, too, began to glow.
The young man seemed to embody the starlight until at last he was light himself.
The thrashing in the water slowed and then became still. The netting covering the vermillion body slackened and released the Prince to the waiting monster.
Soon, blood filled the water in a crimson cloud.
Noble didn't need to hear the voice of the Spell. Aether's visage and the sight before her spoke louder than the strangely familiar voice ever could.
The Dragon Prince, the last Remnant of the Doom War, was dead.