prejac

Alexis gave a sad smile and hugged her knees to her chest. “Though I complained about it initially, I’ve had a lot of fun here at the Knight’s Sheath. I love living and working with Sophia, I love helping the girls and keeping them safe, I love punishing the arrogant and entitled ogres that come in here and think they can do whatever they want, and I love reading those books on quiet and lazy afternoons. But still, part of me wishes… that Sophia and I had come along with you and Valia on your journey. I was angry at you for what happened, but all this time, I’ve missed you. I missed talking to you, I missed eating with you, I missed arguing with you, and fighting alongside you. Why didn’t you invite us? Why… did you leave us behind?”

However, the tide of battle began to change. Despite Abner receiving all the damage, Reiss was the one getting tired. No matter how much blood Abner puked up, he kept getting to his feet and charging, while Reiss, after every blast, was breathing harder and harder with a noticeable tremor of fatigue running through his body. Noah decided it was time to end the fight. Once again, Abner, albeit slowly due to all his injuries, hobbled towards Reiss, shouting with resolve. Reiss, scrounging up what little strength he had left, hit Abner with a weak blast, knocking him back only a few feet and kicking up a cloud of dust. Once again, Abner started to get up.

As Ziradith cackled about her plans, Noah walked the silent evening streets back towards Valia’s home. Shannon had insisted on transporting him to the palace on her back, but he abstained, telling her that he wanted to do some night fishing and she might scare the fish away. His first catch tugged hard on the line when an attack came, a ring of glowing wind passing through his clone and striking the ground. Noah, walking several feet away in his invisible state, turned and looked up at a nearby building, with his clone mimicking his actions.