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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zi9xYw6Hq
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhG26Hq7aW9
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOULBJXWhtC
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqe6VqAhyR
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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlW25VHA2rl
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg5Uo6sPVO8
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlo1MlDCMJe
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb13uAcxpPL
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGZxCTVzak
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyExPzkFiaC
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdK6SbwF2t1
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."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq3Bjt6AWPK
[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.]103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfN756iWFhV
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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhQWFKJdzl
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL5oGP6QuXP
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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡixHT7jIvGQ
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DBu5amrKH
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDD731lyibf
Silence.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVkQm6myEL
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."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAATy7vc7nX
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5xyGFqqiq
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3qVhL17P9
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMlDXmEJlH
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz8eHeaQzxN
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXa2vhq8rv
"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?"103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLkJRgkaNl
"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. 103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjlmwbSYkyh
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVTEkQmzjLx
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgcfq5RgIW
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDYLJKWTuP
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ94MMIDsn3P
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtTMrtfLT1d
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLCgk00zLRw
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ10WjTBc76G
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW037JCKVNl
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqTtF0eX9Y
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAHe4IrUp8b
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDc6y4ITaEM
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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1tau2XIQs
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXAnp1PFrO
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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDgd7VYfviv
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTay5GHyNJ
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAp1Cn1uhjN
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB8kVbCF4fW
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQOc9vj8fW2
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwBwGWmXZGN
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkAK2RVOFt
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."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1QDDqBwIC3
"Why help us?"103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTHUhg06NKb
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."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYI6vyD9HNs
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhtxe4AoVWb
"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.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XYzOBLnrR
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHg7miZTkrl
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzK5r7V91Vu
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw08a7qwFfn
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Sg8lo206s
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFNHDpIR5Pe
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWd4GFBsTop
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUwT9BY3rSM
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
103Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwR37fdbR0R
