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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VwCa4IGre
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVr4p6H5gwv
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0x5PCApQuW
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkP8DLczdpu
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXgBVvtP0qd
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5nVLy68bH
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPUYmbp2D7V
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkKtAI25WLT
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuq4sHofAtA
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN51PCcE1Y1
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe3yREoUN7r
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."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedwqyt9X9O
[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.]149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLatjVsagOk
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0zoR91m2g
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGkiIRMcNO
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8i9ea4tEum
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4nbp2E8Vlt
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg4YlKmQQl2
Silence.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw6jCeLnpPB
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."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qV9gL2QJP
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ35mIOQlASX
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXR1jjde6H5
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zfe3nyKbW
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRbWXbklxuC
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5Ms6vvUGZ
"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?"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacYEWPRBb6
"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. 149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtZsOQ6cK7O
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG7IoeVDMaJ
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡolLt77uV6n
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhPx5Lx3xqA
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFWL4jR7TWW
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QEpuhGX9E
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbjDw5mtYWs
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmDnatMpZT
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUAJWdweiiW
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIizZRQbCR
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf34WT3vF2G
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnYba9iooSD
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgrEYD1wHFV
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqggPxIiCsE
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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr5yV4oP8Z3
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jt6WQompS
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Z7f2wf2YZ
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOo4UMs0LMo
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXonIRWC7ZU
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp3c7Lxwe5q
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFNTjyKXLW
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."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwICBmFXF48
"Why help us?"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQNEoKPbPyp
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."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAarZa74zEF
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5YdMfaaJlR
"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.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmNspjkJfSE
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLASH13RRK
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAREhgRgLFy
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0ZTRO2wvj
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1KXwVjg18L
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcpL0IYGWaZ
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCajHjV7NRx
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSX3JxxWDjr
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
149Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vFY6dFeRQ
