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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsmOr9g3wDu
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJVtQvDRvky
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmW0rnAbqgS
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEFoS80Ug7
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU88eeDVHr3
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XE3RSSBfl
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeV9a6IKYay
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIcJyGCOWWp
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHambf3G3tG
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj7QOZgImj0
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZ7uI1KRE1
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."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhm121bSCDn
[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.]132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4ty8qeiB4c
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Wyf4yp8fi
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNZ9zLwNerN
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYVG2HGd7aR
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9wi6QflINF
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG262aM2cUG
Silence.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzrLr6E7Ph
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."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ16LLP52G6z
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡta3eQcCTbC
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXZqpKGZ0r
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRXFoskUJb
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGHv1TNZedY
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ4QdDVtC6C
"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?"132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJSo8KE3COB
"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. 132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKrsbneg4A
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ33CpdX3M4W
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAmb3gBLfFU
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSf5z4xuQd
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAUquUXsCne
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBbbOJMeCmb
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuXZDSYnMdC
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzlSg2Xmxic
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2V5DtFvluC
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFaWpI1eWKl
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFIdJ79oQY
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmbDQcL72y
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡikf6bK4Uhx
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtakIDsSl9N
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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRhN1h0EEY2
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQBQpkaNfH
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3VCMHbvSJ
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIkQRfodNp
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ48FUlkTgGD
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMy1zbeZTe
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKNRclupSUs
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."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmMwLG4mcsA
"Why help us?"132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdUTxviKIPY
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."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhHx0p9IbRS
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYhU9oG1P1U
"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.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT2p4sUWJeB
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡes0nABMz8E
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXFYY7CTRL
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVcV02pg0kc
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Qnt0kcaKO
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMWjB7VCaHD
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeMR8fskxy
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsig5sinoNY
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
132Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk11OzqnkbF
