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.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡriDko7Mgt4
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2EEu3vFtXc
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡifvFkBf9Wk
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpucEG98gNQ
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.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtuXSjbXpTo
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWWJePAd87
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37cF40fDgT
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZwcH47dli
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWzpCRmvrZP
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NHejZ2Tl7
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQlNiNCJ5J
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."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXM0Mhe8lsv
[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.]96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu1uJtbSBXB
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.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaoaPf8o5aW
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9sZCEXWYY
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.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMwcB1zSFw
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3SH5sWcJ5C
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOyOSiOafnU
Silence.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJWjpnVes83
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."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzXrlNazRL
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEw29DKuFd4
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4roDIYFslv
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQTiDKj1BwF
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnPDmutwxd7
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡObh4o0lIOj
"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?"96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUlUzNUnShV
"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. 96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcUNgEfdIsg
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgiKkiEIfC0
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fnoYJ9Eut
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUshemXHWlJ
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbQc62zJVtK
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ002pD3nh80
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOTt2f2rYWH
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNQtPzlQusf
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm043IyKqiS
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsQD6LdU5hj
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3mQ07vtoz
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡROrOAXgvfU
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.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHxGfk3uQIR
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEkvg7QiUAh
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.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDZCNHjTR7G
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRDMnOXSCd4
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5oDBjrj3iK
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vBcdJOSWD
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPpMon2nPhZ
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwO3iQgbeoe
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfwHcEv2vI
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."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP4I1AE6hv4
"Why help us?"96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWY6CJ3Zlhh
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."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF07nEHwJnN
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6eC8ytPaH
"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.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdyJaA24O5g
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWAflKv0s6s
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaZEUYd9PWJ
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEqOn7naBZ3
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwf5M2YMhsg
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxj68xcdL6x
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGQCHi27hE
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDaIlc1hBkM
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
96Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbNLzPYPYs4
