With every second that passed, dozens of Goldmarch soldiers spilled from the long wooden ladders over onto the top of the harbour walls. And that was to say nothing of the thousands more waiting to climb from down below. All that stood between this army and the elven capital of Sunalor falling to the Golden Empire was a few hundred elves, the Slayers, and Lieutenant Cladenor, Hero of Iranir.

‘You two,’ Corminar said, pointing to Arzak and me. ‘Take down the ladders. Now.’

‘Err, there’s like a few dozen soldiers in the—’ I started to point out, but the ranger’s glare stopped me.

‘The remainder of our contingent will worry about the enemies.’

It wasn’t much of an answer, but I didn’t exactly have any better ideas, and someone needed to take those ladders down before we were overwhelmed. I nodded to Arzak, and we charged across the wall for the nearest ladder.

I opened a portal before us just as the soldiers were about to strike us, slipping us behind them and leaving them to follow through on their attacks—buying us approximately an extra second. I moved to Portal Slice through the ladder, but there was nothing doing; Niamh had thought to imbued this wood as well as the wood of the ships. She really had thought of everything.

Well, hopefully not everything, or we were in real trouble.

But pushing things was where Arzak excelled, and I figured that was probably why Corminar had paired up the two of us. The orc slammed her shoulders into the ladder, heaving it—and all the soldiers on it—away from the wall, pushing, pushing, straining as she—

‘Help or just watch?’ she asked.

‘Right. Yep.’ I ran into the ladder in much the same way as Arzak, shoulder-first, and bashed it. It reverberated in the air for a second, balancing, and just as I thought it was about to fall back towards us again, the orc ripped a stone brick from the top of the wall and threw it at the ladder. This was the push it needed, and both the ladder and the dozen or so soldiers in gold uniform upon it plummeted towards the ground.

We spun back around just in time to see the soldiers swiping their swords at us once more, and the tip of ones of these blades caught my stomach, ripping my clothes and slicing my stomach open. Hopefully it wasn’t as bad a wound as it…

My legs gave way beneath me, and Arzak wasn’t around to catch me because she had soldiers to ward off. Behind her, Corminar and the rest of the elves pressed the attack on this group and the other enemies spilling out from the other ladders. They were holding their ramp down from the wall effectively for now, but how long would that last?

I had a moment to breathe, fortunately, and I pulled the health potion from my pocket.

Thank the Architects that Val insisted on giving it to me.

I drank hungrily at the fluid, embracing the fizzing heat as it encompassed my stomach, closing the wound and reversing the darkening of my vision.

‘Alive?’ Arzak grunted. This question didn’t seem to be short just due to her usual strange syntax; there wasn’t the time to say much more.

‘For now!’

‘Then help.’

I hopped back to my feet, dagger in hand, and charged into the midst of the enemy soldiers, activating Knifestorm before any of them could turn to attack. I didn’t deal enough damage to fell any of them, but I distracted them enough that Arzak or an elven archer were able to see them off. I received more experience notifications as a result, but there wasn’t time to read them. I may have helped take two or three soldiers down, but there were probably a thousand times that still to go.

‘Next ladder!’ I shouted, and ripped Arzak from the middle of a skirmish by opening a portal beneath her feet. To her credit, though, she went with it.

We landed by the next ladder, this time amidst a small group of soldiers—those who had just reached the top of the wall and hadn’t yet charged towards the elves defending the nearest ramp. I Knifestormed again, slashing at them, pushing a group to the floor, and then Arzak roared—activating some Warrior-class skill, probably—and took on the lot of them with her dual swords.

She moved faster than I’d seen her move most times before, and I glimpse the pupils in her eyes having expanded to cover nearly the whole eye. One of the Goldmarch soldiers, a mage, threw a fireball at her—why was it always a fireball?—and she blocked it with her sword, absorbing it. From there, her blade wasn’t just dealing its usual damage, it was dealing fire damage too.

As soon as we got a moment, we turned our attention to the ladder, just as a man in more elaborate golden armour and a glowing purple band of magicks around one ear reached the top. ‘Oh no you don’t,’ the senior soldier said, grabbing on to the wall and using his feet to reinforce the ladder’s position.

I began to push, but Arzak had other ideas, instead whipping her dual blades slashing inwards, and… cleaving the soldier’s hands clean off. ‘Yes we do,’ she said, and kicked the ladder. This time, there was no uncertainty about which way it would fall; it was another one down.

As I looked along the wall to the next ladder, I spotted something. Down below, two enemy mages let forth the blue glow of Sorcery magicks in a combined stream, blasting at the top of the nearest ladder. My eyes bulged when I saw what they were doing; they were morphing the stone bricks of the city walls as though it was dough, forming from it large stone clamps to hold the ladder in place. They’d changed up their strategy, and because they’d used magicks to do it, I couldn’t use Portal Slice to remove the clamps once more.

‘Problem,’ I said to Arzak, nodding towards the enemy’s change in strategy.

‘Mm.’

‘What now?’

‘Back to Corminar. He in charge today.’

I could have portalled us back, but Corminar had provided me with only so many mana potions, and we could well have been in this for the long haul. Instead, we ran, weaving through the remaining stragglers as the enemy side pushed up their siege ladders once more, rejoining our friends at the ramp. Arzak swiftly dealt with the last enemies of this wave, catching them unaware as we’d arrived at their rear.

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‘I cannot help but notice that ladders remain at the wall,’ Corminar said.

‘Can’t do anything about it,’ I replied. ‘They’ve learned. Got magicks holding them in place.’

‘Sir,’ one of the elven soldiers said. ‘Sir?’

‘Yes?’ Corminar replied. In his position, I would be snapping at someone trying to demand my attention, but the elf was keeping his cool.

The soldier nodded to the east, towards where another group of elves were struggling against a group of enemies only half their number.

Corminar turned back to me. ‘Styk. Traverse me to their side; I shall remind them to hold formation.’

‘If I may…’ the elf with the staff—who had been standing at Relaar’s side—offered. ‘Many of our soldiers, there, they have no combat background.’

At this, Corminar’s calm expression finally faded. ‘What in name of Gaia do you mean?’

The other elf hesitated. ‘We have little standing army. In order to defend against such an unprecedented invasion, we were forced to ask for volunteers.’

‘Then what are they?’ Val asked.

‘Merchants. Farmers. Tradespeople. People that are willing to die for their home.’

Corminar swallowed, glanced at the approaching swarm of soldiers—the siege ladders now back in place—and turned back to me and Val. He pointed to the elf with the staff. ‘This is Debayur, Sunalor’s Master of Alteration. Work with him. See what you might yet do.’

Corminar, Lore, Arzak and the rest of this group of elven soldiers pushed forward to defend us, and I turned my attention to the master of alteration. ‘Alteration? Worldbending?’

‘Correct,’ Debayur replied. ‘With two dozen more such specialists at my disposal. We were responsible for placing the explosives into the Sea of Roots, but alas that is where our usefulness has ended.’

‘Can we close up the ramps somehow?’ Val asked.

‘Open some portals, or…?’ I suggested.

Debayur shook his head. ‘I am afraid we have attempted this already. The enemy has Worldbenders; temporary portals are left alone, but any attempt to use them to stymie enemy progress attracts their attention. We would need…’ He trailed off, but it was inspiration, not overwhelm, that burned in his eyes.

‘What? Is there another way? What is it?’ Val’s eyes dashed over to the next ramp, where the enemy was about to break through.

‘We might use voids, not portals,’ Debayur said, his face paling.

‘Voids?’ I asked. ‘What are—’

‘Dark magicks. Portals that have no end, that spill out only into the void. They cannot be closed by another, only fading as time passes.’

‘Then what in the hells are we waiting for?’ Val asked. ‘Do it.’

‘I have not the magicks. I—’

‘Then I’ll help,’ I cut in. ‘Can I feed you my power?’

Debayur shook his head. ‘No. But there is one way.’

From the fact that his voice croaked when he said this, I imagined I wasn’t much going to like what this “one way” was. But we were out of options, so I resisted the urge to ask.

‘You must tell Corminar: order the retreat to the inner walls. If we time this correctly, then the voids might eat a few hundred soldiers before the enemy truly knows they are there.’

I nodded; now wasn’t the time to be questioning orders—the elven capital hung in the balance. Instead, I turned, and I portalled myself into the middle of the crowd of friendly soldiers, grateful that Corminar—being a ranger—wasn’t at the front. ‘Order retreat.’

‘Styk, now is not the time for—’

‘It comes from Debayur. Trust him. It’s the only way to buy ourselves some time.’

Corminar hesitated, lowering his bow to look at me, and then nodded. He turned to one of the elven soldiers. ‘Retreat,’ he said.

As the elf in question ran off to start ringing on a large metal bell—one that was soon echoed down the wall, and then further still—I ran back to Debayur’s side. I nodded to the elf, and he nodded back in kind.

‘Please,’ he said. ‘Win.’

Before I could question why he was telling us this, Debayur whipped his hands out at his side and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were burning a vibrant purple.

‘Oh,’ Val said. ‘Oh.’

‘What? What’s happening?’

Val staggered backwards, away from Debayur, and nudged me back too.

Master of Alteration’s glowing eyes grew brighter, as though burning with a purple fire. He rose into the air, slowly at first, but then higher and higher and higher, until he was towering over most of Sunalor, if not quite the Dawnwood itself.

And then, he exploded.

"Styk"

Level 16 Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 44

Intelligence — 158

Dexterity — 101

Strength — 73

Wisdom — 57

Charisma — 33

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 45

Knifework — Level 36

Stealth — Level 19

Needlework — Level 12

Identification — Level 11

Abilities:

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.

Knifestorm — Lash out at all surrounding enemies in a tornado of blades, using either one or two daggers. All enemies with arm’s reach receive physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].

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.

Silence III — Create a bubble of 20 yard radius in which sound is eradicated. Uses mana to cast, zero mana to maintain. You may only have one bubble active at any one time.

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%