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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4HpJw0VLP7
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84OZsMMNJ4
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTY5e3puowa
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEdamchoJoo
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCmpXiH4UG
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVgwdFS68T
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1w7FNMurkf
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfLElyYACQa
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzdzLXvj4Pp
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3QTxmCKBj
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4PKUEXQb7
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."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUJB2vRPlO1
[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.]55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX8u6vm7XPp
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYRDFJ6yRz
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoOEwXyq45a
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2oj0q2X6h
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡspyTExdMdd
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFvLnAVqbl
Silence.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSC1la6dT4L
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."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzqW0QuQfzw
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnW6hioPpAS
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFLxh8FXJl
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8fj3Wn0qXV
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNc4NMhP0sz
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeLJUdYanI
"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?"55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCJiPd7JMEm
"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. 55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8WUMTzJTU8
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRrDFSZFVn2
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIJGioiqlYH
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigbAXpvn7S
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIxRLX0W52
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ667mZvBGjm
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNB12cNDrxs
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7OOAIYHn50
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhZo7UazP4r
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrEI6BNKJf6
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7AcbDVNP8G
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDtZdwaYa3D
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡteasdDT8Tw
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCnyDlSKFh
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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ4KOaPdaLj
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjFmq81tUGU
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjyQCA5Zjti
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFuhHJwbWzL
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuQdZXb3uWB
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKallMBgPw
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNatQ74XZn
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."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFU4b9hXQNq
"Why help us?"55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfpgEWTvVpN
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."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDhXkjxHGRN
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAJrEooc6EH
"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.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8tpVOhXgSN
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0l9Xh59094
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ84PZe3YfLF
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmumNh5Db6
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT6BRlee4RS
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZ0VGLNEuf
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXAdgmwvIP
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuqiNpnilwW
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
55Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF7wSeCd6Lw
