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.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRSlhXUAdg4
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EH4CC8qyg
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPj1DzF7U4
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtd1emr0oQT
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.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS5HGlESkI9
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqOmvpuryv
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PkfeUk1kU
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYdjSBlFwnx
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS4XW9AX2eT
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRPvUKpayWb
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡix1Ig0z8Ir
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."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzqBY44pha
[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.]192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpy9XD7LCOO
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.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡffikFGrkPi
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaX6pk6FDaR
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.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZnXilreRwY
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJvSSMnBe9P
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9gatOE0bAI
Silence.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0CwTi2SWS
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."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgY544oJnO8
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWus1kMxcfS
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡux1v5bsjrS
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeiFSru2pB6
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Uqbfxuw03
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpSJAUvUzCt
"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?"192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ339iWSdjSY
"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. 192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsaEhDOivLH
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnlMwXB9ceB
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9vFQAGh5jd
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs7amgYjNfF
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8UvZShD3pG
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYvK5lCKNq
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3KzaRmcV2H
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlAOtpklZr0
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSwOQpJbpeo
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP05cc5n3U5
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7vOpfoD1T
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkE8QfBuxu
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.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYKviRm4U4a
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKVfQ7sYVax
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.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1xgYcYk1Ih
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDRgTKLQSu
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4uC0hro0ct
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz6QDI9BVb7
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMBjAVypGNG
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbx2xpkE03R
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCctW9f5Ult
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."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEulEreewWH
"Why help us?"192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNq7etpSvB
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."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLTWrMU4Fr
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrMplQY4uGx
"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.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbgtT4XoDR0
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GR6qCHM5r
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVlmwKClAU
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYLwc5WxaYw
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLIePNlcdDa
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXnqzAogG0
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWQzxd7sjop
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxOVUaJghKU
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
192Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLTgx89txF
