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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiFHsquZeoO
"Stay close," Liora warned, her voice calm but edged with urgency and seriousness. "The Church favours ambushes near—"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRoenEPcS1J
A crossbow bolt whined through the air.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6GGAlSddSR
Ivy screamed, shoving Kael sideways. The arrow meant for his heart struck her shoulder instead, tearing through fabric and flesh. She crumpled, gasping.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVtp9ymH36
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEIRMDxVNGO
Liora vanished. A scream echoed as a Church scout stumbled into her tripwire, his throat meeting her blade. "Focus, Kael!" she barked.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYZQYcDxGyt
A soldier lunged at him. Kael stumbled, parrying clumsily with a fallen branch.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtqEX3pcUm0
[Host!] Elia's voice cut through his panic. [The Codex is yours. You must use it to survive this ordeal!]220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5idkHJ87ns
[Imprint Awakened: Swordsman (Word)]220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8lLmivULin
Golden light flickered in his mind. He deflected the soldier's strike, but the branch splintered.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJfgjLiRej2
The leader—a hulking man with a scarred face—stepped forward, great sword humming. "The Broken God claims you to his eternal embrace."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIfwe26FnV
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."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnDMJteMRWP
[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.]220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIMd6Uqwoec
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx3bdvjLWrL
[Imprint Evolved: Novice Swordsman (Line)]220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSp8spXqhQQ
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSUmDXsHlRF
"This is for Sister Kat," he whispered, plunging it home.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqDKLFMpE0
The leader fell, choking on his own blood.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbbUr28gFMU
Silence.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ItGz2qiAj
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."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGX96W8Rcgz
Liora crouched next to Kael, her tone softer than he'd ever heard it. "Your first kill?"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvo0Q1WVfhR
He nodded, staring at his bloodied hands. He felt sickened and distraught. 220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhyqoBycRfs
"It never leaves you," she said, pressing a cloth to his collarbone. "But it gets quieter and less impactful next time."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsYY3N3mhj9
Mira wiped her mouth, tears streaking the dirt on her face. "Three. I killed three."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw1wORyNiyj
"You saved us," Nadine said bluntly to Mira, while yanking the arrow from Ivy's shoulder. Ivy whimpered, her laughter brittle.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmkNnh2XN2T
"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?"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd25IDiBAPm
"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. 220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrkDXvdrSRb
Liora scanned the trees. "The main force is more dangerous and an elite force. They track by scent. We have to move. Now."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGD5GA35cr
Kael staggered to his feet. "Ivy can't walk—"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxh52wj0YrL
"I'll carry her," Mira said, hoisting Ivy onto her back. Ivy's blood seeped into her shirt.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtfalCzchc
They trudged through the night, the forest swallowing their footsteps. Ivy's feverish whispers haunted the dark.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnI8SH5lMLM
"Why'd you push me? It was reckless" Kael asked, gripping her hand.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSF3upW56ye
"You're the one with the magic book," she rasped. "I'm just… expendable."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6adDGFwPbi
"Don't." His voice broke. "You're not. You're just as important as me"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJAMbDrdCJI
"Thanks. That makes me so happy, hearing that from …cough cough...you" Ivy said220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡev1kVdgGO6
Liora glanced back, her expression unreadable.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ89gtqxTIY7
By dawn, Ivy's skin burned. Nadine forced water down her throat. "Stay with us."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUexRbPyiKk
"Trying my best to, Nad....ine. Besides you're not being exactly gentle right now" Ivy mumbled.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ96abSEpshS
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoizpYPes1Z
"Close," Liora muttered, though her jaw tightened with every step.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfuxyHUoFC1
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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG3tXJFmu9n
"That was, a unique welcome" Mira muttered.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5edSJ2lHzV
Liora ignored her, leading them to a barn loft reeking of mildew and hay. "Rest. I'll trade for medicine."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ8BHr5DHYw
Kael caught her wrist. A fresh cut up her forearm, too precise to be accidental. "You're hurt. You should rest"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC1s1PTIhqR
She pulled free. "Bargaining requires collateral or something of value which I am sure you have none."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0f6GC22vja
That night, Kael found Liora on the rooftop, her gaze distant.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt9bfDpnI4o
"You never told us you knew how to fight like that, I was worried about you during the ambush" he said.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO4MjDx2UAq
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."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuyGhprh7WF
"Why help us?"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡStoJBipQVz
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."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDz4HCAK18Y
Before he could reply, she stood up and started to walk back into the house.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZM8c832gg
"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.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo3dNTNRLyx
Ivy's fever spiked at midnight. Her whispers dissolved into delirium.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAi4yVQdnBA
"Sister Kat… I'm sorry… I couldn't save them…"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgZIsULGfpE
Mira gripped Kael's arm. "She's getting worse."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdr5SbUzOjS
Liora returned with a hooded healer, her sleeves dusted with ash. "The Church's scouts have lost our traces, for now."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFypeapi9uW
The healer peeled back Ivy's bandage. The wound pulsed, veins blackening.220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB6ivjiSDVk
"This isn't infection," the healer said. "It's cursed. She has been cursed."220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn0eZgI0fIf
Nadine's and Mira's face paled. "Impossible. The arrow was clean—"220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOvZQWW5UP
"No." The healer pointed to Ivy's trembling hand. A faint Broken Crown sigil glowed beneath her skin.
220Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnZ69ehs7vi
and then Add to home screen.