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.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZhKKtu14lj
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIoakhOKIC
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjANZGtav8v
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx49GE21mvc
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.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvbX0wv7g4
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNMBhFqxKF4
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8V5XtyLBId
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbSDM7BhYXu
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenAO1bgIvh
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAAy9S5YHG
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqaJWkTev0A
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."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy3A8VewQaL
[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.]138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHB8ihD1Ad
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.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbQ7ciCWTy
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWG9uWOdmLN
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.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkU4yjXQQf
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHIgm212Zg3
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdNOu1gLMU6
Silence.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rZJhaT7ch
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."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbOgx3x5fve
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvKpRD3Twrr
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4yF5Lba6TO
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2OAvES6ooT
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNaZrYxhe4I
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKvqAQoaW6
"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?"138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVoxqBjOL5
"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. 138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvJ086sWBq
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE6sngcvM3k
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoW3HXpnR5
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLdMBWsUach
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC7HPA314W3
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ51qay2tn9c
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4lVA4bbcMA
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzXjuQTIfW
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtAdLuAAzF
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJyWJpJb5IZ
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqL7gwiXJX
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlyTcjwCPdN
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.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrGLrE9HnC
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4dqqa5pce6
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.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjhsK9Cwtv
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq0qrytzZWn
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTerQVZvAlT
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIU6oEIAwC1
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUI7qCf5SOd
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTLGNvqaXLc
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWZV52yGw9O
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."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpY4ugbQg8
"Why help us?"138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqI5Dy7sg1l
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."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfe5rJ8TSP2
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDJbByxq7V
"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.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYaaXhzeHXQ
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbsvqpcYeU
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMjbBGUx1AT
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWLP0AOBg8
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSoxJ3nnzIf
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡARrR98QCaq
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXRl4n7DXZV
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zj24OtYtK
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
138Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmw0lcVuK1N
