krave melanin

“It's not that,” I said, trying to figure out the words to explain, when I only partly understood how I was feeling about it myself. “I know he'd be okay with it... and we might end up going there, eventually. But once he knows, there's no taking that back. I... I just need more time to think about it, first, before we go there. Right now, he's just my Grandpa, nothing else, and I'm just his innocent little baby girl... I'm not sure I'm ready to give that up, not yet.”

Noah rocketed towards her, and for one brief fraction of a second, he saw the shock in Valia’s eyes from his boosted speed. He, too, was surprised, feeling like he was wearing his anti-paladin cloak. It was natural to feel lighter and faster after removing weights, but removing the headband was a new definition of liberating. Valia intercepted his attack, but only just, and Noah rained slashes and stabs upon her, putting her solely on defense. She was forced back, unable to maintain her position with such a ferocious chain of attacks hammering her defenses. Finally, Noah slipped past her guard and held the tip of his sword up to her throat.

He went at it again, sprinting towards Reiss. An air blast was launched towards him, but he raised his sword and cut through it, shattering the spell like a pane of glass. Reiss continued hurling blasts, with Abner slashing his way through each one. He got in close, dodging another kick from Reiss, and finally landed a cut on Reiss’s shoulder. Reiss hissed in pain, but gathered his strength and grabbed Abner by the throat, holding him off the ground. For the wound Abner landed, Reiss paid him back with several punches to the gut, the last punch accentuated with an air blast that launched Abner like a champagne cork. Abner hit the ground rolling, though not by design, and left behind several blood drops before stopping.“You’re going to die today, boy.”