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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF3ngsrKZw8
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx4l5UDSB6b
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPHiGkyqxEA
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ53OO31SUwT
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwL2z8fVI6s
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnxryvWVxaZ
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPwznbsTNv
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt3jtPplRXu
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJN8CPymmMm
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXwUpvscxYR
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa45GbOJnrB
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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhKaCt7Mu3i
[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.]31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtg8JJYpLKu
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVZ7wVM0cmR
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSftvGNPMor
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiPOG38kPNK
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNm2UyulY4i
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVjwlK7QUeU
Silence.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWy2ZHBPQA3
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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVbz3Cez7bV
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF0PBAvvAyb
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGvdsD08Y0t
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgGpWv6x2a
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79sgTaaHeF
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd6B0kmvAr1
"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?"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUHRgAEyVM6
"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. 31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJPHkwWTeX
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ703djVH97b
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7jm30XbYPU
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvE3RCQG3iK
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAcaT8sHLwg
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxQ7uGjDFlu
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡblSOdNLYNT
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWB0FYMl2eW
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvQU8DGM4wh
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM1R5OgXGk2
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡovZH4YTXxi
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsKYE4nCnQ9
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW2l9UOIH4o
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGCigPSKQMs
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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyLxFhSlgHT
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWTpkMo5Wg8
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5Nk2pHEpuP
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbnTZS8721Z
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhQ5QAxBDoe
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw7DQv7pJ1s
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3rE7W5K46U
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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOmtZsvH2UV
"Why help us?"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD1HKN9xff4
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."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3e3Dh6uQl
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzrN1kYkGcN
"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.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKtm8s22781
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡghWP1s7OMA
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡR0whCdEBlz
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6JG4fsC7O
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzV225cnAY
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgRSEc5L2iN
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFd0MHTL8Jo
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡP3tvXGNCTY
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
31Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYqBLPu0Gmo
and then Add to home screen.