The street leading up to the Senate was a wreck. Uprooted bushes, gashes in the ground, lashes on the buildings, and upturned rocks and gravel everywhere. Scorch marks, splashes of water, and all manner of debris lay all over the place. Clearly, the fighting had started down here. I heard noises coming from up ahead. The battle had moved closer to the Senate. I hauled my body through the wreckage, and strained my ears to try to make sense of the battle.

It sounded like Kelser, Kezler, and Brol were all still in good shape. Noel wasn’t saying anything, which made sense considering how tired she must be. But judging by the way the humans were shouting, it was clear they were on the back foot. Kelser’s voice sounded especially raspy and haggard. He was barking orders, telling Kezler and Brol to go this way or that, cast a spell or jump out of the way. He was definitely the one keeping this final stand together. It was admirable, but definitely futile. Noel was clearly stepping closer and closer to her goal. Whatever it was that she had to do or that she was looking for, it was at the Senate.

Taoc came up behind me. The fairy soldiers wanted to join too. I rejected them instantly. My plan required stealth, and the fairies’ clunking armor and Taoc’s incessant chattering did not go well with a stealth mission. I had to go it alone.

Actually, Taoc managed to figure out why I was hesitating, and gestured that she would be quiet. She also signaled to the fairy soldiers to fan out, presumably to create a perimeter around the Senate. I doubted that would slow down Noel once she tried to leave, but I figured it was better than making the soldiers do nothing at all. I nodded to Taoc and she nodded back. We proceeded slowly up the final stretch of the main street.

The pillars of the Senate building loomed ominously over our heads. I stared grimly at the pillars, with their garish adornments and off-putting design, and moved to the side of the street. Taoc joined me, hovering carefully in the shadows. The storm clouds definitely helped, but I had to make sure Noel wouldn’t catch our movement in the corner of her eye or something. The thing I held in my hand may well be our final hope, after all.

After a few more steps, I could finally see the battle. And it was a terrifying sight.

A barrage of bubbles flew everywhere, blanketing the entire field in front of the stairs leading up to the Senate. Noel stood on the stairs, raining the bubbles at the humans below. And the humans danced this way and that, like marionettes being pulled by invisible strings. I knew the invisible strings were probably a network of magic hands that Kelser had set up in the area, but it was still an outlandish sight. Was this how strange and unnerving our battle had seemed to the spectators outside the city walls?

Kelser’s forehead was plastered with sweat. Kezler popped some balloons by digging up some insects from somewhere, but there were simply too many bubbles. Brol took a simpler approach, letting Kelser jerk his body around while Brol took potshots at Noel across an assortment of elements. He’d also somehow gotten a hold of one of those iron balls we were supposed to fire at Noel from a distance, and he was swinging it around by an invisible chain. The iron ball crashed into the stairs, forcing Noel to leap through the air and head towards Brol.

Brol smiled wildly as he was thrown to the side so quickly his face blurred in my vision. Noel stepped where he had been standing, a magic bubble phasing into the ground at her feet. Noel quickly drew up a wall of earth to block Brol’s swinging iron ball, but the ball was being thrown around with such incredible force that it shattered the earthen wall and forced Noel to jump back.

Kezler took advantage of Noel’s forced movement to summon a wall of flames in her path. Noel had her back to the flames and was moving through the air. It seemed as if she would inevitably jump right into the fire, except, at the very last moment her feet twisted mid-air and she made an incredible turn to her left. Noel had side-stepped the attack effortlessly.

But Kelser also wanted to have a go, so he gathered some of the debris falling through the air from Brol’s attack, and made it swoosh back towards Noel’s body. These rocks and pieces of earth were small but they were moving quickly, and Noel had no choice but to brace her body and let herself get pelted. Noel finally let out a cry as the rocks cut a few gashes on her skin, but ultimately, the attack hadn’t done much.

Except, it had distracted her enough to allow Brol to get into position again. Kezler also made the ground underneath Noel’s feet shake and crumble, messing up her balance as the iron ball whizzed towards her head.

Kelser pulled both elders to the side with magic hands, narrowly helping them avoid Noel’s magic bubbles as they slipped out of the shadows and passed by their bodies. Brol’s attack was messed up and his iron ball swung harmlessly through the air. Kezler still managed to make Noel stumble, although she corrected her stance almost instantly. Kelser had to swing himself out of the way to avoid a magic bubble. He pulled Brol and Kezler to the side again to avoid another barrage of attacks.

Noel rushed forward again, aiming for the stairs she had just jumped off of. The humans concentrated their attacks in front of her, anticipating her trajectory and hoping to catch her off guard. But Noel kicked the ground, jumping right over Brol’s iron ball, Kezler whip of water, and Kelser’s barrage of pebbles.

She did, however, land right into Kelser’s quagmire. He smiled as Noel stared at her feet, which had sunk into a piece of mud that Noel had not expected at all. I smiled as I got into position. Kelser had hidden a brick of earth in a broken section of the stone stairs, and Noel had jumped right on top of it. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kelser had put them all over the stairs, hoping to catch Noel’s feet in the mud, forcing her to stop for a moment.

Brol decided to take advantage of Noel’s stillness. He rushed forward, iron ball flailing wildly, and let out a wild cry. He swung his strange weapon towards Noel with enough power to knock her head clean off. Elder Brol was old, but he still had his muscles honed from a hard lifetime of hunting and gathering.

Kezler also joined the fray, this time with an assortment of spells all cast simultaneously. A ball of fire, a whip of water, a burst of air, and a slab or rock hurtled through the air towards Noel from different angles and aimed for different parts of her body. Even if she managed to break free and escape in one direction, at least one of the spells should be in her path.

Kelser had been anticipating this moment. He let out a deafening roar as a vein appeared on his forehead and his entire body became taut and strained. I watched with mouth agape as an entire slab of chiseled stone slid out of the top of the Senate building, leaving a massive hole above the pillars. The slab flew through the air at a frightening speed, coming down at Noel from above.

Noel’s gazed floated through each of the approaching attacks, before flitting quickly to her stuck foot. I could almost see her coming to the conclusion that she couldn’t evade everything, which meant she had to decide what she could endure and what she could avoid. Clearly, the stone slab had to be avoided at all costs. The iron ball would hurt, but she might be able to soften the blow with a spell and tank it. Kezler’s spells would also be very damaging, but she could endure if she faced the right one the right way.

And that was when her eyes widened and she looked quickly to the side. She met Kelser’s gaze, saw the stupid grin on his face, and glared. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but then I noticed the way her foot had stopped moving completely. She couldn’t move her foot. It was only for a moment, but she was completely immobile. There was no avoiding the worst of this attack. She would have to take it head on!

A solid silver bubble appeared in front of Noel’s face, materializing right in the path of Brol’s iron ball. The iron ball slammed into the silver bubble and dissolved into nothingness.

A silver glow appeared around Noel’s body just before Kezler’s spells hit her. The fire fizzled, the water evaporated, the air dispersed, and the rocks shattered. The silver glow flared up in response, but the worst was still to come.

A massive slab of chiseled stone fell on top of Noel like a giant foot crushing a small, insignificant ant. Noel disappeared beneath the stone, her silver light seemingly snuffed out like a candlewick pinched between two fingers.