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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNsOHilgVM
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡijwcVFmYb4
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbJh4RcfqVA
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6UjjrwnR7N
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKoVfMhy6l1
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsLSnEnXmEl
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dIO8oxZJx
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpXLDswQIQf
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaVgtztbLLm
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvlEhqFEkyE
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcwrF3Y7q5F
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."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpIHLglEyc0
[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.]60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Il0jpAQOh
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOpB3blJt5E
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJF73EW36b
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIk7W0zv3YA
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSBnVBlkIn
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCETI9cATug
Silence.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi2qkWc8n8n
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."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBb9TixzFX
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZlhoX90GHp
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4qrLvdvMx
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCsLj9nqXYX
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeecpow6ZR
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmIu8WoBp39
"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?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKuJZfzqyt5
"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. 60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9zs7OC9Z9H
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkE439avgSu
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ9JKLQ0Omi
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHZ3S7sBw7
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAS0B52qfY6
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn9pNgugGdS
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWcmwVoUFzS
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlzqYJGXq2k
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0WbJ3o6i66
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNt5XpF0mll
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgGGc95fdBO
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi7vzXaYdNe
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGbmIcvCaYG
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdHLPc14R96
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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPaeBXlYQXP
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxXFxZqqOU7
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI5MEmwlmgR
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0siJoKdx7w
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqwgG3A5Vx
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRWmcobbCQx
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgshIRbmvEp
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."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdUngzzJ7J
"Why help us?"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWlmi5teIz2
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."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3j94bDC6Y
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWorRH474yU
"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.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojLCkYpocF
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdRUEezLKoi
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8PyjLBtn3M
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNE8iQ0c8Wj
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNarycLsmAO
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ViBHRrWtl
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK4BXUHgcNv
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLR6UdlemmM
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
60Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkISXQddMAN
