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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0KegPQAzn
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc4VM8Vr8rA
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqb3bZoW76
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIETW7UnNty
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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkkew2xIbcQ
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsNceWlX9Q
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGXiSVeI2y7
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcrm1IC31Hc
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBwAhKJ3a75
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwSdVBRGqTF
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCtKK9CvZM8
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."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNWdV3ddBxi
[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.]187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtNWbusNNL
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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfXz5DNqpl5
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyDqMmzorM4
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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6VU0DtK93i
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVOlYaZhfAH
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUvzQgVJTIK
Silence.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4h583W1IcL
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."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdPDudJGgaH
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXEIi9aAsf
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIgfWhTEo7
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡml4Nooik8N
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3g88ErlWF
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyA23hvV50j
"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?"187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHDFFsPffc
"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. 187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3ZKmlUmvV
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBc7CYF0lBv
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6LPkh1EVI
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1DLXX0fE7
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC5HgUMLOxt
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAX1X9KuxSU
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡskm6UCJiab
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYeZiNhCUf
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6HaWmPlQ3R
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt1KE35TEol
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmdGnG1VUZK
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr8fgUE0t3l
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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8EMMSLmjM
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8dAtImnq4
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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4l3vNjWGu
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡemPWvfFxdz
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRHZPHXNJ0V
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFhcbRltPXb
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiDibDw6l9W
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoEyBBFVmtb
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI73CHELDF3
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."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMlNRck9wY
"Why help us?"187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Jgy1mUYpF
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."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDesOJkQn2c
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpYGG0Vw6nD
"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.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ZWVsgugOR
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9q3XvIahGh
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETHOFm9D87
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGMfFsJiK2f
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuHt0Z3QXh
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIYYNsEV8jv
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3QkIzlraFd
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNtqfSP0zgP
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
187Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrpzREi0tlp
