The Infinite Bk. 03 Ch. 11

'Faster! Faster!' he mentally ordered himself.

He used his wings to guide his descent towards the street where Theo stood. Even at night, Gideon couldn't miss him. He changed his entry direction, as though aiming for a different spot, but it was all to give himself room. Close to hitting the ground, he opened his wings and sharply pulled up, his flightpath like an upside-down question mark. His downward momentum was redirected, rocketing him towards Theo from a shallower angle with an audible shockwave being produced from the air pressure. Rather than his hand, he channeled every drop of mana into his right leg and transformed it into its avian contour.

'It doesn't matter what the risks are, as long as there is a chance of victory! I grow stronger by losing, but I only move forward by getting back up and fighting again!'

Theo sensed his approach and gathered up his mana into his claws to deliver a finishing blow. Before colliding, Gideon turned around in the air and extended his leg. For the briefest moment, it looked like his and the beastman's attacks were simultaneously delivered. In reality, the mantle of energy around the wolf's claws was snuffed out by Gideon's divebomb. He kicked Theo square in the throat and dug in his talons, then, using all the inertia he had accumulated in his descent, slammed him down onto the ground and proceeded to drag him through the street. The cobblestone road was destroyed, gouged out in a great scar as if a meteorite had landed. Finally, Gideon spun around and released Theo, imparting him with all of his remaining energy.

He was flung through the air, spinning out of control, and bounced off the roof of the building at the end of the street like it was a speedbump. His few remaining bones and organs were utterly pulverized. Limp as a ragdoll, he was sent skipping across rooftops like a stone on water. He finally struck the side of a tower and was dismembered by the force of impact. Whatever that creature was on his neck, there were bits and pieces of it scattered everywhere.

Gideon was once more on his knees, struggling to remain conscious. He could feel the layer of frost on his arm beginning to melt and the blood once more flowing. His remaining hand felt stiff from anemia, making it harder to perform the Herculean task of pulling off his belt and using it as a tourniquet. Simply tightening it used up the last of his strength and knocked him out.

'Did I make the right choice?' he wondered before closing his eyes.

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Sophia wiped the sweat from her brow, further dampening her sleeve. So far, the Red Revelries were living up to their name. She had just finished healing a cadet and had no time to gather her strength before the next patient stepped forward. Not all of them were in walking condition, unfortunately. She was in the town square, tending to cadets and knights alike with a handful of other healers. Groups like hers were scattered across the city, serving as triage centers where the wounded could be brought for healing. Right now, they were being put through their paces.

When the shift first started, everything was quiet. They only healed a few cadets and a knight for the first two hours. After that, something changed. Cadets showed up, sometimes leaning on their partnered knight or even having to be carried, and would claim that they had been directly targeted by revelers. The attackers who spoke would ask if they were Noah or knew where he was, while the others hunted with killing intent.

'Bounty,' that word kept passing around, each time making her more nervous.

She was now healing a female cadet who had been struck in the chest with an arrow. Removing it had been difficult, and the resulting spurt of blood resembled the three town square fountains. Still, Sophia remained calm and applied healing energy to the wound, mending the damaged lung tissue and muscle fibers in her shoulder quickly and perfectly. She was far beyond the skills of the other healers, both the cadets and the veterans, able to heal wounds of all severities with greater speed and less energy. With holy magic, she could even cure her patients of their fears and anxieties by stimulating different sections of the brain.

This leap in skill was thanks to Noah. For months, she had listened to him recite medical knowledge, writing down every word with dedicated calligraphy. At night, she'd stay up late reading and rereading them while painstakingly running through runic formulas. Merging science and magic into a new healing art had taken a lot of work, but to her, it was a calling. She treasured those notes like holy texts, not just because of the knowledge within, but because they came from Noah.

A cadet was brought forward, unable to stand. He had been stabbed in the gut with a spear and was groaning in pain. The sight of blood did not scare Sophia as it did the other healers, at least not in the same way.

"Please, help me. I don't want to die," he begged, grabbing Sophia's wrist and shaking her from her stupor.

"You're not going to die," she said as she began to heal the wound.

It was severe and required her focus, but her thoughts refused to settle. Her mind kept picturing Noah with such a wound, lying in a pool of blood somewhere beyond her reach. It was the same with the other cadets, each taking a hit that was meant for him, so there was no telling what his condition was. Even if he managed to survive the night, the price on his head would not disappear, and things would continue to get more dangerous for him. All the bloody bandages from the wounded cadets would become the noose the kingdom would tie around his neck.

Eventually, the inflow of the injured reached a lull, and she was able to rest and regain her strength. She went over to one of the fountains and washed the blood off her hands. 'All this bloodshed because of what he did to the duchess...'

The venomous thoughts began to slip in, thoughts she had tried so desperately to keep contained. When she initially heard about Noah's onstage tryst with Ziradith and his unmasking her to the crowd, she was appalled, but each detail that came out made her shiver in arousal. The lewd, sinful things the two of them did, they reminded her of her own evening with Noah and stirred her curiosity. To be brought onstage and brutally fucked in every orifice for an audience, such an idea would have horrified her beyond all measure a year ago. Now, if Noah looked her in the eye and invited her on that stage, she didn't know if she'd be able to resist.

She used her evening studies to keep these thoughts out of her mind. She'd work herself to exhaustion and fall asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, lest she give in to temptation and spend the late hours playing with herself while memory and fantasy blurred in her mind. Noah kept her at arm's length to both her relief and frustration. Their conversations were shallow small talk, their evening together never being mentioned. He didn't flirt with her, give her any looks, and rarely made eye contact. It was a polite cold shoulder.

It was painful, having all these feelings and nothing to do with them, like she was rich with a currency that had no value, but she was also glad for the situation between her and Noah. He never tempted her with false hope or used her like he did Bella. He didn't run away after their one-night stand; he simply stepped aside for Alexis.

"Alexis..." She murmured the name and felt her racing heart settle. She clasped her wet hands together and began to pray. "Lumendori, please, watch over them. Bring them back to me."

She was drawn from her thoughts by the arrival of another wounded cadet. She had to get back to work.

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For hours, the knights and cadets continued their patrols. The shift was long, almost from dusk to dawn, and for the cadets who were used to waking up at first light, the night shift was an exhausting ordeal, even without the fights. They'd take breaks to rest and eat, but they had to always be on their guard. The revelers were more interested in Noah's bounty than fighting each other this year, and the cadets suffered for it.

The crying of roosters signaled the end of the shift. The eastern sky was beginning to brighten, so the nighttime prowlers called it quits. Tired, sore, and bloody, the knights and cadets returned behind the castle gates for roll call and confirmed that they had fulfilled their duties. Noah was there before anyone else without a scratch on him, minus an arrow wound from some punk's lucky shot. Beside him, Holmes was looking far worse. It was understandable, considering he had taken an axe to the shoulder, a knife to the gut, an arrow to the leg, and a few other injuries. He had been healed and patched up, but his mood was understandably negative. The path back to the castle, while short, had been a bloody gauntlet.

Many cadets flashed Noah with angry glares, having received injuries meant for him. He didn't really care one way or the other, though he was surprised to see Gideon being carried on a stretcher and missing his arm. All the cadets gathered and stood at attention, though most were dead on their feet from exhaustion. Their names were called, and they answered, many nearly collapsing when Tarnas finally dismissed them. Their feet, having been aching unbearably moments ago, were now without pain as they began their walk back to the academy.

Noah, however, was not able to follow them. Before he could leave, Tarnas clasped his shoulder, his colossal hand gripping him like a bear trap. "You and I need to talk."

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The bathhouses were full of cadets, washing off sweat and blood from battle. The sun had yet to rise, so the steaming rooms were illuminated by candles. After a long night, everyone just wanted to clean themselves and go to bed. In the woman's bath, Alexis and Sophia were among the few still enjoying the warmth of the water.

"So, how was it, going back to a bow?" Sophia asked.

"It was definitely a strange feeling, and kind of sad. I had forgotten how right it felt, the tension of the string, the feeling of distance, the power of staring down the arrow's shaft at my target, completely unaware of what was about to happen. Still, it was another reminder that my time training under Lady Zodiac is over. Once we leave here, there's no telling when we'll see her again." Soon, the other women left, and Alexis and Sophia had the room all to themselves, giving Alexis the courage to speak above a whisper. "I fought with her the other day. It was an amazing battle, and when it was done, I told her what an incredible honor it had been to train under her."

"I envy your strength. I would have loved to join you in class, but I'm just not meant to wield a sword."

Alexis hesitated, feeling like she'd choke on the awkward words sitting in her throat. "Well after, she hugged me, and... I almost kissed her."

Sophia's eyes widened. "Really?"

"I was tempted. I wanted to do it so badly. You know how much I idolize her. But I didn't go through with it. She wasn't looking at me the way I was looking at her. There was pride and sincerity in her eyes, but not love, not the love I was so used to seeing in your eyes. At that moment, all I wanted to do was go find you and see that love again, the love I had stubbornly denied myself."

Under the water, Sophia grasped Alexis's hand. "Are you saying... you forgive me?"

"I was never angry at you, just at myself. I wanted to be your hero, to be the one to save you, and when it was Noah who freed you from Galvin, I thought I had lost my chance. I thought I didn't deserve you, that I hadn't fought hard enough to earn that place by your side in the future we had dreamed of. I told you about the steps we didn't get to walk together, but I don't care about them anymore." She turned to Sophia with tears of joy in her eyes. "I just want to keep moving forward with you."

"Alexis..."

The two women leaned forward, and their lips joined in a loving embrace. The kiss evolved in passion, their tongues swirling together as they made up for lost time. They moved closer to each other, the heat of the water and their naked bodies melting all the hesitancy that had encased their desires. Their hands slid across each other's bare skin as their lust came to a boil.

Sophia, her hand slick with soap, began to caress Alexis's breasts. They had never touched each other like this before, but now was not the time for reluctance. "You've definitely gotten bigger since last year," she whispered, exploring her lover's flesh and savoring the softness and shape.

"Are you teasing me?" Alexis panted, whimpering in bliss as she felt her endowment being sculpted and reshaped by Sophia's greedy fingers.

"You do make it so easy," Sophia replied as she ran her lips along Alexis's neck.

Alexis returned the favor, massaging Sophia's ample tits to their mutual joy. They continued to make out while fondling each other's breasts. There was no rush; they had all the time in the world to satiate their curiosity. Alexis played with Sophia's pink nipples, rubbing them between her fingertips and gently pulling, wanting to hear all the ways Sophia's voice would quake in bliss. On the other hand, Sophia preferred to play with Alexis's fullness, relishing how her fingers sank into her cushiony shelf, overflowing and sliding out of her hands.

Eventually, they both slipped their hands beneath the water, with their curious fingers burrowing between each other's legs. Their excitement and nervousness made them tremble as they stroked, penetrated, and explored each other's inner selves, with their voices rising with the speed of their movements. They were no longer kissing, simply pressing their foreheads together while they whimpered in shared bliss, feeling each other's breath on their lips.

Most of Sophia's technique stemmed from her experience in self-pleasure, but it still bore Noah's influence, like icing on a cake. The swirling strokes, the masterful way he stimulated Alexis's clit and targeted her G-spot, she recreated the movements to the beautiful sounds of her moans. At the moment, her heart was wholly devoted to Alexis, and she used her memories to make her as happy as possible. Alexis took Sophia's lead and mimicked the movement of her fingers. Deep down, she knew that this skill resulted from her time with Noah, but it was hard to feel jealous at the moment. As they brought each other to climax, she felt only gratitude.

"Is that what it feels like when someone makes you cum?" Alexis panted.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

"Breathtaking."

After their simultaneous orgasm, Alexis moved away towards the center of the bath and beckoned Sophia to follow her. In the deeper water, the two of them embraced each other and began to kiss, while below the surface, they were straddling each other's thighs. The water rippled as they rubbed against each other, Alexis feeling Sophia's slick pussy move back and forth on her leg and vice versa.

Their breasts were likewise rubbing together, their soft mountains smooshed flat against each other while their nipples fenced. They stayed like this for several minutes, kissing deep and hard while they ground their bodies together, doing whatever they could to maximize the skin-on-skin contact. They didn't stop until they made each other cum once again, at which point they just stood still and held each other.

"I think we should move out of the water," Sophia murmured while kissing Alexis's shoulder.

"Are you overheating?"

"That's not what I meant, but it's not inaccurate."

They climbed out of the water, and Alexis held two buckets under the spout that filled the five baths. Sophia lay on the floor in anticipation with a towel beneath her. Alexis stood over her, emptied one of the buckets over herself, and poured the other on Sophia, making her laugh. Sophia looked up at her, watching the water drip from Alexis's erect nipples and run down her flat belly.

"I didn't want to taste any soap," Alexis said with a smile.

She then got down on all fours, and her tongue slipped between Sophia's lips, where it was lovingly greeted by Sophia's own tongue. It was a long, wet, sloppy kiss, full of passion and devoid of hesitance, with the water falling from Alexis's flesh and dripping on Sophia's. She eventually pulled her lips away so that they could move down Sophia's neck, across her collarbone, and finally close around her left areola. Sophia laid her head back and panted in euphoria as Alexis so greedily tasted her flesh, kissing and sucking on her nipples while once more relishing the feel of her breasts in her hands.

Her lust inevitably drew her south, where she took her time licking the water off Sophia's body. When she reached her destination, Sophia spread her legs, putting her pussy on display and serving it to Alexis. Alexis gazed in lust and anticipation, mesmerized by the sight. After all of the lewd conversations she'd heard the other girls have, many of which involved Noah's stage career, Alexis knew what she wanted, knew what to do, and was only hesitating to savor the moment.

"I love you, Sophia. I love you with all my heart," she murmured.

"I love you too, Al--" Sophia didn't finish that sentence, cut off by a moan slipping free as Alexis went down on her. She sucked on her clit, tickled her labia, and penetrated her with her tongue, all to the sounds of Sophia's cries of euphoria. "Seems like someone's been eating lemons," she teased.

Sophia watched Alexis's head move back and forth with every broad lick of the entrance, the contractions in her cheeks when she slurped up every drop of her sinful nectar, and the shaking of her ass in the air, as though wagging an invisible tail. Her delving fingers further heightened Sophia's bliss, and without warning, Sophia's legs clamped around Alexis's head, and she arched her back as she climaxed, with Alexis drinking up her liquid lust.

"Alexis, I can't wait any longer! I want to taste you!"

She sat up and licked her lips with a smile. "Imagine if Sister Pauline were to hear you say that."

Sophia gazed at her with eyes full of love. "I came to terms with my faith and my feelings for you long ago."

Alexis leaned back, and Sophia got on top of her. She went the same route that Alexis had, starting first with a deep kiss, and taking her time to suck on Alexis's full breasts. She then dragged her tongue down Alexis's belly and went to town on her virgin pussy. Alexis rolled her head from side to side and ran her hands across her body, moaning from Sophia's efforts.

"Oh God, Sophia! That feels so good!"

"You taste so sweet," Sophia replied before laying a soft kiss on Alexis's clit.

They took turns eating each other out, with their moans bouncing off the brick walls of the bathhouse, heard only by each other. Words of love were whispered here and there, but their mouths were often too busy to be used for speaking. Finally, the light of the sun shined through the raised windows. Alexis and Sophia were lying on the floor, spooning tight. They were silent, Sophia savoring the feel of Alexis's arms around her and her warmth, and Alexis measuring Sophia's breath, feeling it through her back.

"No words can describe how happy I am right now," Sophia purred.

"I was about to say the same," said Alexis while kissing Sophia's neck.

"I don't want this moment to end."

"It has to. It's the only way for us to reach the future, the future that had now been laid out for us."

Sophia rolled over and they gazed into each other's eyes. "I love you," they both murmured.

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The war room was filled with silver and gold-ranked knights, all gathered around a table with a map of the city. Among them was Sir Elyot, and many new faces recruited to assist in suppressing the evening violence. The sun was just starting to poke over the horizon, and everyone was exhausted from staying up late or getting up early. They discussed the Red Revelries, though it was put on hold when the door opened.