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.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW8ru6YROBY
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLHUmForXoy
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZm2p3YWafq
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0p8rwcoXTl
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.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVnMkfEmGA
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiUzCTwhI7k
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm7Tisn4O82
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡca3RnXyxPf
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKzuTjEfDqx
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1DdoC4CZxU
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2r1agpFVBb
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."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHG3hpNJ72t
[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.]30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡby0BFWBopG
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.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtjoevUqBaX
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjn9TlHpCj
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.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsB1GeStNVC
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnqKlNUBaN7
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDF4HVA3tAC
Silence.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxNxwTEK4OU
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."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLJmT4uYsnD
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr0O9RunthZ
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcBJ091fwgc
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvPbuXxlJoG
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7j4rA1Y1Ln
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKkPRAUmORH
"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?"30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHdGkO9xX3E
"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. 30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgsIVbYloTJ
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0QBrVDD5HT
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNA3JEO3Dq3
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8CgoaASSB9
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZEBDeIWsy6
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjfBXDMlavW
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu66eEaEUnA
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQiLB6zlpj
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0CM4CSTZfz
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡacIcHLwZVL
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgwygZ1X7Sg
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFICV1AQP3R
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.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeJwwIs4ccS
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4ifwRyEkF
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.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcudBiTD9ag
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCR8QhptWky
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDm2QP8q0ea
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHNatwnCbuq
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrHwGkxfaj0
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ30hRgallF7
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡssgRS7qVED
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."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClnBslkrgD
"Why help us?"30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3F1rXagptQ
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."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqu7zxIASfd
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMpMjc7vPYZ
"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.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhDOdQnYF4C
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzuBdAxZlF7
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlXdiXJDgO5
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBJyIGv2on
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ1iLsWmHRc
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLjQw8LYrNs
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoL19Pqkb5c
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu69MiLyJql
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
30Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjmnnIBlats
