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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsSWIRLpWg0
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVzTtGQmIBn
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWvsRgAX1Z
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9me0gpD5K3
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg6Ybs1jLjg
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMfXiZYhW5a
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBjWHwgu4hr
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡagTaznDw8L
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡazJHwRav6s
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOchZ03L2a
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqXUKo2MzKk
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."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoWlnJXSUhT
[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.]89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72Co8afkJ8
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs0MwrAfXA3
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGIkuskoD8a
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgw1ubfj2j4
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡImp4ijjRWm
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0B6WzbqMQ
Silence.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVRUBTNrBxO
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."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY57oiSmcQd
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Z21ti70Of
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80gZDDnP5j
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9G8iuLd8Qe
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKEznk7BJ7b
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ62rnlE6Zuc
"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?"89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FMwy4CKzd
"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. 89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdBfS8Mxm7K
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW6QkbglG7T
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡexYNqOH1EG
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFkzbbisqdp
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvgULIIuBWF
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMElM3xE86X
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnoU7LJQdoI
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9WXxuquuP
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXofq24es42
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ25apgiRAwW
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZDGsylnE8
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiT7vZKNbPS
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEjUa3D6JT
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkHF1vWe7Y
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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOuagO8RuW
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3Kz9z92dJ
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI3FDrb6REZ
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBUFkqko1ow
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiThNDWATDu
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjijEQnBYUd
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdCq115oda1
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."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjunRqYbKt
"Why help us?"89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeDGhOgAbxP
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."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk1rdLD5Lcg
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKoA4bLoo7N
"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.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL3MbTTk87X
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW0IgbAK1dc
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ50Swt2XK8X
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfKJ1joX8ZN
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2jvlVTDNk
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRqk8Tj0R5
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7TA4FGqrZn
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4pOEXDFOTk
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
89Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqL3mMgALPU
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