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.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCCLzyUsieD
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJMvnUPr42
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71UaXlbqYw
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQYCNJB8Jky
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.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9suABPYvfp
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuBItbVdvrx
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8qlMBQWgPI
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK8ngZIKTqd
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsue4M4Eu4Z
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ygXQrDRXy
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VarUQOLqa
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."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfahqPWYrkF
[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.]214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpeagkhuzNH
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.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡicpPwliYoQ
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7ANhqS7DMd
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.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOq81JhZhjd
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96tQRJRqxT
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4QKv0R82CM
Silence.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7STMZImmNE
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."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2i7PDZqeMO
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsCFnHwfqlT
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTMbuf3tcBp
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXC5LUqU438
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlWOJhDtxZ
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYH0ZFpxYK
"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?"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoSaLHyE3TB
"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. 214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxKwd3fFbzb
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjqwf0xWFh
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUDNojrpSS
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbKPTq46E7
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqqe3vahBwf
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3mPQmliRcG
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAB2TK2muTo
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgeksjL9oXJ
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQhXsueiSS
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡujKmaSFqBp
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4Y9Mn6BlC
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAIsBsBvdYf
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.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtcoDj6VbxI
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Bdr0U0f6D
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.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUjUffei1cG
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7YKkxVhU68
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8LkTW1ENk4
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSVMSyXRGDa
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm6cswRVFfO
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT02duiXTq8
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQPgpkyDEM
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."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpustarvJWy
"Why help us?"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkzYKBZMJTB
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."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2zh5MWT82z
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtLWTu1opOR
"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.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjNUhsfD1e
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLazqbKUZut
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TAaK1vmH3
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt7IdPTPgAi
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrDEH1x6nSP
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtxg2gyBzym
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2VpE7WATE5
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbDj3Ubuffg
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
214Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡunjXVhx7n2
