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.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVziIRFDDHF
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FjqmOISBv
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa0KpIQVybi
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuT2RCycLxX
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.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlig42MTfjl
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidE5pDHf9C
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BtK4A45kM
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtW81Ay4OZU
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhWnA4ZA0Mj
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3kBhNALRcT
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmres4qXvf1
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."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuU7VYdPW9D
[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.]182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKY0zMECWwP
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.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz4GbBmXsAV
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtKlVFMyPP8
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.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yJg2j9qLl
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3IgJbVq4XP
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn63pStW1Wj
Silence.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOFc3IPcZN6
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."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqeAryZ03r6
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlxEGoUfMjF
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVJWCZYDE5o
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR2F1YxVSg5
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNwSyULE7B
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR9QDNu3Mw1
"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?"182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU1QrkpbM9j
"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. 182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFj3HMufaO1
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIdnL6WVnkY
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGzgsevjOI
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW96CU1WhvO
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf4BLc6fohC
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqgj0nu2Ga
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxSKuH9dOhl
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLibINMfYE
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZgVxuyZ8Sf
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFF3EuSaB0
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtWS6lAbqj4
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtMtk0ZmY9x
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.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj1julZmyxk
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp9Y1lsy5zg
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.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkjFkE6YoVX
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRj4XIEquC6
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjpTxpiBbvb
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTA5RYQLVPb
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIiEIKSVMRi
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfGmDxfxHHx
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvtpr0sdQZd
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."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKGTpbfVq1t
"Why help us?"182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTdDM9E40oX
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."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ356xttvoYw
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5uzVGsctUv
"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.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYwmLIKMXLH
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTC6rvRHxKM
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmifVWJMwZr
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGKEYOFeU16
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHqWrT4Zdqc
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RzduVF2wL
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaDe43QuwbA
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOeepqZFplw
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
182Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7Stje0sWgS
