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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgoKYpOY1hc
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzXlWEKUsFH
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYyC2LHfqp
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKQXrS1BIod
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFDaPG7g3fE
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWXtO1GHFev
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡra78wRt0di
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YXegBkYXB
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14xCYCSrH7
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDuoBeLJjF
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkAzwyRrtE
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."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUsV8IXOQH
[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.]208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbt5p6prkXB
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9k6BPAPthA
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4uW743Gnh
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoTKRFJchXN
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJC74X9YOhH
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRkzPIISv0
Silence.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpNObgz93p
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."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ77pXASS0eu
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vWrmY2W4Y
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk0BOuCEZkV
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVZivcYkdo
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwhxsZWr3Z
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpOzNF2GJdy
"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?"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw0BCLQX6va
"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. 208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQUY8ST5AzG
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXcS67oZa6
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkgQxgvhZEI
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wtPN4DxXT
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡktDTSFNvI2
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJxqbGk4m05
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGlFyX5qPS4
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡliuFvz3tHa
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIz2R1JrReF
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxPvrBVU5Ia
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTeqskVtum
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIE0JtAVPVn
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJPO46FPJ4
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAxJyLOkiwq
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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyYmXlkbkNt
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLLa76Zyzrt
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGBNqlQ3U8
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiKxVHrr1Ud
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOy6sQXoPBz
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpYzJ13Joq
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3iaFbdgYha
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."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCZsrr9Um8K
"Why help us?"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLAjorX0QEE
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."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvRx2DJmXK
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPpmivfm7y1
"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.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Os1KAQntZ
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJ9JbGrWUT
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYc6AbQr1Oh
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjTcP9x6ya
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu0XrD2aVfG
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEFhCiFKkwV
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7DWmwl5TqK
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUDymrcwdHv
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
208Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvIWOAbO0kF
