‘Enough,’ the knight said, the tip of her blade half an inch from the ridge of my nose.

I mentally scrambled for a way out of this, wracking my brain for abilities I could use. I still had my knife in hand, but even a decent Stab wasn’t going to take down a Knight Of The Realm without Stealth Attack and Execution to back it up. And while the enemy’s sword still had my portal magicks absorbed, I wasn’t able to open any portals. Unless my Needlework abilities had an application I hadn’t seen, then I was well and truly—

Wait.

There was still one ability I could use. One that specified explicitly “bending reality”, not portal uses.

‘Enough,’ the knight spat again. ‘Call off your peasants.’

‘No.’ I rolled to one side, away from the tip of the blade, and though I couldn’t seem the woman’s face, I got the strange feeling she was amused by this.

‘You amuse me,’ she said.

Ah, that’ll do it.

I took a step backwards, facing down the knight with only a dagger in hand, compared to the woman’s huge sword. The farmers watched from a very safe distance.

‘Don’t suppose you’re willing to drop the sword?’ I asked. ‘Make this duel a bit fairer?’

‘I assure you, you do not become a Knight Of The Realm by fighting fair.’

‘So that’s a no, then?’ I replied, and without waiting for an answer I charged. I ran straight for the woman’s outstretched blade, then at the last second twisted to one side, ramming the tip of my blade into the woman’s armoured wrist.

There was a loud clink of blade against metal armour, and the knight laughed—a gentle snort at first, but then it grew with every brief moment that passed. ‘You really thought—’ she began, but I cut it short by activating Closed Reach.

The woman screamed as I bent reality to push my knife into her wrist, and she dropped her magick-imbued blade. As she released it, the purple magicks suddenly rushed back into their owner—me—causing me to stumble backwards from the impact.

Both the knight and I stared down at the disarmed blade for a moment, before the woman leaped at it. I instead reached a hand down towards it, opening a portal underneath it.

But this wasn’t just any portal. This was my Pocket Worlds ability coming in handy.

‘I think I know someone who’d like that,’ I said. ‘I don’t suppose you mind?’

Without her weapon, it didn’t matter that the Knight Of The Realm was armoured. She was outnumbered, and that was enough.

If only that hadn’t meant the experience points would be spread so thinly.

* * *

‘This is best gift ever got,’ Arzak said, hugging the sword I’d pulled from my pocket world.

‘You’ll be able to carry it in one hand? The Knight Of The Realm needed two.’

‘Knight is human. I orc. We stronger.’ To prove the point, Arzak shifted the weapon into her right hand and drew another sword from her back with her left. She waved them around in a half-arsed mock attempt at fighting. ‘See. One hand.’

We had regrouped in the hills beyond Aptleed, just out of sight of the city. Corminar and I had been first of the Slayers to return, much to the elf’s surprise—surprise at me returning first, not him, I suspected—and the others followed suit within the day. Soon enough, it wasn’t just Slayers and farmer accomplices in the camp, but Duchess Yua and a few hundred newly collected soldiers. Even Duke Cambelny had shown up on the front lines, and that gave a very clear signal to all involved what our next move would be. It was time to make some meaningful progress in this revolution.

It was time to take back Aptleed.

Duchess Yua spoke to us all on the dawn of the following day. ‘I ask you to remember: these foreign invaders hold your fellow countrymen hostage. After the work we have done to seize food imports, they will be desperate. Some Tundran citizens may have been coerced to do that which they might later regret. When we take Aptleed, we must remember that we do not ourselves deal justice, as we see fit. That is for courts to decide. Any traitors—if indeed there are any—we will deal with at a later date. For now, we seek to remove those in gold from our city. From Aptleed, our revolution grows. We are seen as a meaningful power, and we might tip the fence for those who have been too nervous to join our cause. Citizens of the Gentle Tundras: this is a turning point. This is the first step on a road to inevitable victory.

‘Today, we take our positions outside of Aptleed’s walls. Tomorrow, a week from now, or a month from now, we walk inside. We take back that which is ours!’

With this, we marched. There was an air of optimism to us—one which Val and her remaining dryads seemed most of all to emit. The forest spirits loosed their typical leaves and petals, but these were pink blossom, and each petal seemed to heal sore muscles and minor wounds. Spirits—as in morale, not dryads—were high when we marched over the crest of the hill, the walled city of Aptleed sprawling before us.

Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

Our hastily cobbled together excuse for an army spread out wide. We may not have had many great warriors in our midst, but we definitely had numbers on our side. At least, that’s what Duke Cambelny’s spies had reported—our army numbered two for every one Goldmarch soldier within Aptleed. Our siege might take time, but it would work. There was just no telling how much time that would—

‘Rider approaching!’ a soldier at the front of the line roared, and Duchess Yua called her army to a halt. She looked around to us—well, Val, really—and summoned us over. ‘Is it her?’ she asked. ‘Does Niamh ride out to speak with us?’

‘Or fight, perhaps,’ Corminar suggested.

‘It’s not her,’ Val said, her eyes fixed on the woman on the horse rapidly approaching, charging for Duchess Yua.

‘Lore,’ Arzak said, and motioned with her head for her and him to stand in front of Duchess Yua, to block her from any attack.

‘Any scouting reports?’ I asked the duchess. ‘Any super powerful people in there?’

‘Only Niamh,’ Yua replied. ‘Perhaps one or two Knights Of The Realm, though we believe we have eliminated all such threats already. I am forced to believe that this is not an attack, but a message. Though… of what kind?’

‘There’s only one way to find out…’ Val murmured.

We remained quiet as the rider drew close, watching as the woman swerved to one side a good dozen yards from us. She called out, ‘Niamh wishes to speak with you. Now.’

‘We do not take orders from invaders,’ Duchess Yua replied, holding the woman’s gaze.

‘Do you speak for yourself, or for all?’ the messenger asked.

‘As their leader, I speak for all, as a united front.’

The messenger held Yua’s gaze, then nodded. ‘A shame. Because it’s not you that she wishes to speak with.’ The messenger turned away from the duchess and then looked Val in the eye. And then Lore. And then Arzak, Corminar. And then, finally… me. ‘She wishes to speak with Jacob Taylor’s murderers.’

This had me, Val and Lore shifting uncomfortably from foot to foot, while Arzak and Corminar kept a neutral expression. With a poker face like that, it was a wonder that the orc was so bad at card games.

‘I assume this man… needed elimination?’ the duchess asked Val.

‘As much as Niamh does.’

Yua considered this response for a moment, and then nodded. ‘There will be opportunity for justice later. For now, I leave this decision to you: would you and your allies enter Aptleed? Would you negotiate their surrender?’

Val glanced to me, and I replied with a nod.

Yua’s eyes flicked to me and then back to Val. ‘Very well. You have my blessing. But please, remember: you know what the invasion has cost us already. We do not wish it to cost us anything further.’

‘I know,’ Val said. If she’d replied to me with those words, I’d have thought she was being passive-aggressive, but to Yua they only sounded sincere.

The messenger, who had been silently following this conversation, turned her horse around to face the tall walls of Aptleed.

With one last look at Duchess Yua, formerly of Lenktra, I stepped out from the lines of soldiers and stood at the messenger’s rear. Val followed soon after, then Lore, and then the last two members of the team.

‘Sure about this?’ Arzak asked Val quietly.

The witch responded with a nod.

The deforested plains outside Aptleed’s walls were eerily quiet as we began the walk towards the city bearing Goldmarch colours, the only sounds being the clop of hooves on dirt and the gold flags flapping in the wind ahead. I could feel countless eyes on our backs—hundreds of Tundran citizens who risked everything to be here, who were counting on us to see their homes returned to them.

It was time. A few moments from now, we would stare Niamh in the eye.

And I could see no way that this didn’t end in a fight.

"Styk"

Level 15 Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 38

Intelligence — 145

Dexterity — 88

Strength — 69

Wisdom — 54

Charisma — 33

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 41

Knifework — Level 34

Stealth — Level 17

Needlework — Level 12

Identification — Level 10

Abilities:

Slice — Slice the enemy for physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].

Stab III — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through tougher hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR], increased by an additional 50%.

Execution II — Attack a target while undetected for +200% damage.

Closed Reach — Bend reality to narrow the gap between blade and target by up to 8 inches. Uses mana.

Mana-Fuelled — Passive. Optionally, use mana in place of stamina to activate Knifework abilities.

Local Portal II — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight or within a ten yard radius. Uses mana/second.

Portal Slice — Passive. Portals can now be spawned within non-sentient objects. Doing so slices through all objects that are not reinforced by magic.

Tamed Portals — Passive. Increased efficiency of portal magicks means that your portal glow is reduced by 50%, making them less likely to be detected by enemies.

Ash Husk — Convert your flesh to ash, strengthening it against flame for ten minutes. Gain 50% resistance to fire attacks.

Shrill Perimeter — Create a perimeter wall of 20 foot radius, invisible to all but those adept in magicks. If an enemy crosses this perimeter, this spell releases the shriek of a banshee.

Warped Shield — Passive. If an enemy strikes you with a low-level melee weapon, Warp Shield automatically activates to open a portal that deflects this attack. You must not have any portals currently active. Uses mana on activation.

Pocket Worlds — Open and access pocket dimensions. Storage capacity of summoned pocket worlds scales with [INT] of creator.

Stealth Attack II — Passive. 80% boost to damage when unnoticed by enemy.

In Plain Sight — When activated, you have a heightened abilitiy to hide in plain sight, and are able to spot opportunities to break from combat at a higher rate. Scales on [WIS].

Stitch — Create a basic stitch in common fabrics. Ability scales on [CHA].

Cloth Armour — Craft a cloth armour of higher quality, dependent on materials, time and skill level.

Active Effects:

Legacy of Sisyphus:

XP gain increased by +900%