The forest hummed with the brittle stillness of a held breath. Liora walked ahead, her red hair catching shards of sunlight filtering through the canopy. Nadine's dagger glinted as she scanned the shadows, while Ivy clung to Mira's arm, her laughter strained.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnMUnxiJAbD
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPvypD9pdkD
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSiUHaLd7Mr
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtrlSiAtpo8
Six robed figures emerged, blades drawn. Nadine moved first—employing all of Sister Kat's teachings. She had trained all of us on defence and basic attack, from the memory I recovered. She had a saying that this world was cruel and full of secrets and things above human so we should learn to be able to protect ourselves from some things. Well, Nadine was the quite talented at this as you can notice as she disarmed a soldier with a brutal twist, his wrist snapping like dry kindling. Mira, was sometimes tying with Nadine but also sometimes able to hold her stand down so she was second. She hurled a smoke pellet, its acrid fog masking her sickle's arc as it bit into a second attacker's thigh.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMskIiGbcnm
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgJ75lnRBI
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIOw6lbvwWG
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3X9BHtzzar
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpM2pbNVqtx
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXn0MhXHvp
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJUR3qzAYJE
Kael's strikes were frantic, unpolished. The leader batted his blows aside, grinning. "Is this the Church's great mythic threat? This is so disappointing but it is also quite rewarding. I can't wait fore the promotion I will get when I bring your head back to the church."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5kuAnY28fW
[You're drowning in fear, Host] Elia hissed. [Breathe. Adapt. Do not let the fear control you. Control it instead. If you can't it would be the end of us all and all those you hold dear too.]184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZzaVEUwYfP
A slash grazed Kael's collarbone. Pain sharpened his focus. Heeding Elia's advice, Kael focused on the battle once more. The Codex flared again, etching cleaner stances into his muscles.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBBItesLhpp
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3NR5ow5kIP
He feinted left, pivoted, and drove the shattered branch into the leader's knee. The man roared. Kael seized his sword, the blade trembling in his grip.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnOBIfmxFbM
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ZDCudunOt
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFilRJTrglb
Silence.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1aSYEetJxy
Ivy lay against the boulder, the arrow still lodged in her shoulder. Mira retched into the dirt, her hands shaking. Nadine knelt beside Ivy, her stoicism cracking. "Stay awake. Look at me."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdTgP25z1Lw
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAOVEqmdEeA
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQo1aIPex16
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQLnY2a1qG6
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR4EIr4fm7h
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdeAAjuTl7n
"I'm dying right? S-Sister Kat always said I'd die doing something stupid. Well at...cough cough least I didn't die doing something stupid this time, right Nadine?"184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqElOXcG9Sl
"Not today, Not ever Ivy. You're not going to die, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you, alright?" Nadine said, binding the wound with torn fabric.
"Yeah, Nad" Ivy said with difficulty. 184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisnbrsCXQL
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUn1zstVUmn
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcJcSEosbXm
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYkyLMF9z9K
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs8CArljLNo
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ABco6woSQ
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYh9lRoAVqs
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNJhYWYalB
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tjA1rIGk4
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtgcYZ1P8T7
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BywJGxkRX
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE626mbh2zD
Dawn brought sleet, the forest floor a slurry of mud and rotting leaves. Ivy's wound festered, the skin around it blackening like burnt parchment. Mira stumbled under her weight, cursing.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8BwyzUlDs
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfcF7Gqo7fK
The village emerged from the mist—a clutch of stone cottages hunched around a crooked well. Villagers peered through cracked shutters as they passed. They followed us with their eyes like they were scanning us for danger.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQRtoV3S8aN
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8h8CeuEEN
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVQQVS9tSwt
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡApXapHVOR5
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsQN5vMDNm
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tKad34l17
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI9ZL8vpyg2
She smiled faintly. " I'm no damsel in need for a knight to save her. The world is a cruel place, Kael. It can shape and destroy you in a heartbeat and whim. I learned it the hard way after the Church killed all I can call family in this world. It etched into me that only those with power or its equivalent or those that have something the world needs is qualified to live in this world."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AuL6gBjwJ
"Why help us?"184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeW84JQ6sbi
Her eyes met his, holding something that one couldn't quite decipher, well at least not for Kael. She traced his jaw, her touch colder than the snow. "Because you're the first interesting investment I've seen in years. And I'd hate to lose my stake… not yet. So please, don't die too early on me."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlezqSZClSj
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw778F07Am4
"Was that a confession, or am I taking it wrongly? Probably, I am taking it out of context." Kael said to himself before he stood up and walked into the house also.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuOUdnL8Hex
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC2eh4xShnE
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡufPoXceODj
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPnhS9DXcu
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLe65jjwhMx
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9Vowr7RJV
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSp75nNqmet
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKjD4t9vBx
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzVX9wLsrYG
