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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp07Fxv4g9Q
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡewxcPOXJ97
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0FetaAZ0O
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡia8zxjs0NP
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYUZTuJwcz
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfX4PW7TnM
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV5vf4NAh2z
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQStsCyoifT
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTEQKyOjmiW
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLzAQP4vyby
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvvLVHG8ShT
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."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvp3o4U3tsC
[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.]209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNT5vOuaDjS
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdEVdat41K
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FqE7VH9tn
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzWHUwxF6A
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGfKb6dhU2j
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbdNkwhGIPQ
Silence.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA4JCyV4Cgf
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."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5hv0CIFN6u
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3mW6yZBwf
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5A8zKv6xwp
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlv0J5NEJWn
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1WQJhoxfh3
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGuSi17Lez2
"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?"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5iywbXXhdf
"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. 209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOGudKGSlfG
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6DxNCiBFA4
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnRwETR5MVJ
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KE4Fn8fYA
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvx0MvlQA34
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4rQUpSSAEI
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjZ52cRp7on
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHYcglBGVb
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKcwm8yBWG
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe0x9QIjFOz
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡICWLsSWcrM
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbum5g48fYV
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj04XEMgjZM
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡutVsbp3wmQ
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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo6tj9U89Gv
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfvZ8nLClk
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqOuy29EZXn
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡciQXGnrJva
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡccIAgHyywd
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7taEpem7Y
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSOFajhEKzi
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."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MKK0U9x5y
"Why help us?"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwdXWY1Ky9J
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."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlqviL0m1V
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpf24sxY2gm
"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.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFLdzsI3lAR
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFvDFlO7gSM
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg3EfXEv81L
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77L2AHMduw
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlw340fAF8r
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjkzTeYklCh
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPpKcTar7AH
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0kBTIFApic
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
209Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWsDXcLhKYG
