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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ352DkT32FR
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzWwdRJdtZ6
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwpyKjKMq5h
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlCktRvlcYF
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Swg2RZj2Q
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFlPqCbG9Ck
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1cuH7BrD5
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu31PkTqN3T
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlphB6DD6gy
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfoa8zn6IsP
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FR6me5qOJ
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."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL0n8yH2umV
[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.]51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡebIC3dBJba
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhjJxsHQeTt
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiGoYrEbjQ
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1deSf7773q
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOCyiJkfeu0
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuEN3X43VBC
Silence.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCkfSzvBpGV
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."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3YrZLlEpdp
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNkcIePfjwA
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5Gil0uDsS
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNR0TyFYSB
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXN6fdZtm2a
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzevC28Ke9N
"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?"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡun6JkzW87A
"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. 51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqA5cjeEGN
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpdVBSP1pjY
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdpzUD7Opm
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEfUX1OHOeq
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5SssrfLex
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQSqfhxFOjS
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbwMMINjIyX
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8RAg3qDpbI
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjjASXBm04K
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9CpYMrtFBq
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXiDpC9esx
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIQpZwNMRTA
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvwJokb0oUj
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Y0GYiusNk
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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQkGOHSAEb
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNULdsBmE2g
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEuPYlgwn2a
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBakLsWLzi5
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVfgbvZNhDW
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkCVcuzo3uO
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTuWX4dB4wN
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."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHI3t97qEEu
"Why help us?"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlHS33DFb7u
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."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5mXrmf7161
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YdAjKnPre
"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.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVGsaRhlUAD
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx9v1wKQeGH
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHumNinG8JZ
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWXKKvjZHf
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcAu7hA7sy4
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQfwmgDXOBX
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1j2jcj04ki
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV27YQRooNd
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDbk7VGOPEQ
and then Add to home screen.