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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOnRRzYTGZo
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYoVlUgz4L
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfS0K4YIeE8
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1ZmJbqG6R
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UY479W3Qh
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHrR6h8guSe
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo1enJV4zO8
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJjZMDssr0b
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQe6QbOEnoC
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdojQJEfXl
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ58Yx1sYwBw
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."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwfJByPEmTw
[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.]16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLr94pB5mIT
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYsTkeGWDKC
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG4SOHLTOf4
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HsQaFWiPd
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBFQfwXCfnV
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lnlzYjz7A
Silence.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx5e3XI5GdK
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."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7g74Oo459B
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8ob4N6tAKd
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2otD8MwvPl
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZIID2W5F01
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ55Ajq0k3GF
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVEBrHNJXMw
"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?"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUSXQbVrkk2
"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. 16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZw3of824V
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaXo1XSlCdC
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTYKZS0ueCw
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡahPGKlvOqh
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyQ9Qi2heQx
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsypUQh3nDN
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGksuntJ6E7
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSluAQLPIU9
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXNmiDNrI8V
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFPpisNaHMD
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡph6rjBREaR
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVyu9SNKEQs
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaABCsGYrvG
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Dj6xeL3ar
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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRwIQmSG6vo
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRsuukLmLB
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqyjY72XTrw
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt77PWp6rp3
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhXPDQ2sXzi
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡREwNQtL5Nl
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzh1it3pnyF
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."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp2RDFWEvww
"Why help us?"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPWZGJJJtJs
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."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHgZeTKqMxK
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbl80d4mrk6
"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.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7gHR1dKw5
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ070ETU7Tos
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaJYfDRUX4K
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEpd9BTf3bd
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjTzvkMlOM
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEEEdhTXo3A
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiCkT9oyLoN
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcXDKdbELcK
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
16Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHUA4kIbY8U
and then Add to home screen.