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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRGJu4gdg2s
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk8Ihs50xuA
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7VSEYMszrb
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbYj95MWCva
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2wOj8kn8aL
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0OYec0f16D
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSA1HVpBKcn
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs1SMUS5sWF
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedfCnlwXee
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2h8Yx2msEt
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ09XCgEGxXq
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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCeMFaooOxS
[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.]102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9jnEbMTP0t
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpGgzMeLTi
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ83mIXjr08U
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEosFVfCTad
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPbXva5Sx1I
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ57UIj76yjV
Silence.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsrYyi4yepF
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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzTIaqymV5
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkw1eq4p2IF
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA9JlFp1Nae
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeVqegCVzqg
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTJV1SyBAX
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2vkb2pvgjK
"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?"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCzzoHeWZtA
"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. 102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbag4ya0LDX
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yspiSyTRW
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg1GSr1gIxu
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu3iGxyegtx
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPrsH1p9u8h
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzHmXsPMnH5
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLb5YhvsG7C
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmfeYgnEB9
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnnDwldDAC
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5xWm7fbDFF
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqNq58vB4eZ
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqqeeGeqq5
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkJzsl1GH0
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDi2YefTc7f
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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNennS7Aggp
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEEMhgWFb4
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTcYKU9ib5c
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYQFa5kLkr3
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gzaTpxwY2
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGzt3FsDdMf
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSIzAs8YmJ
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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlhfpYQFJdq
"Why help us?"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp5Ui8inZBQ
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."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkOgw5vLGpJ
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0w3QPsNWvZ
"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.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsiJ0oyiLTN
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfKAkZuX0A
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwReRTfTuMX
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZzU8B681y
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0pXr7NVyCK
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy0Ku1Z2sq3
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA7fp0Gm0fU
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtf1IwfIY06
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
102Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKhl6dmx8DO
