‘How many? How many Malae?’ I demanded of Corminar. From the looks of it—that is, people running screaming—there were a lot of them.
‘At least four,’ he said. ‘Perhaps more.’
The thing about Malae was that four was a lot. Even one had the potential to destroy a city this size, its touch likely to corrupt, its very presence pulling forth everyone’s greatest fears.
Corminar’s eye twitched.
‘Bees?’ I asked, thinking back to the last time we’d encountered a Mala together.
‘Just buzzing,’ he replied. ‘For now.’
‘Lore?’ I asked.
He shook his head, saying nothing, but his face was pale.
‘No visions, either?’
Again, he shook his head. ‘Nothing that I saw. No Malae.’
‘OK,’ I said, and raised my voice to include not just the Slayers, but the Trio too. There was a speech that needed to be given whenever you faced down the Malae; something I knew from prior experience. Corminar had been there the last time we’d faced down the Malae, back when we’d been trying to fulfil his debt to the Red Thorn, but Lore had only heard us talk about the Malae, back when we’d discovered the witchfinders had used them to power their experiments. And the others? As far as I knew, they had no real working knowledge of the monsters. ‘There are three things you need to know before fighting a Mala,’ I shouted. ‘One: don’t let it touch you. If it touches you—’
‘Then we’ll have to kill you,’ Lore said, his eyes trained fiercely on the gate where the Malae were roaming. ‘Two: you’re gonna feel some fear. Fear about things you didn’t even know you were scared of. You gotta ignore it; it ain’t real.’
‘Lore, how do you—’ I began to ask.
‘And last: it’s like depth raiders—the stronger you are, the stronger they are.’
I hesitated as I looked at Lore, there being a fire in his eyes that I wasn’t sure I’d seen before. Was it possible he’d encountered the Malae in the past too? Was it possible that he had also lost someone to them?
‘You’re talking like we’re going to fight them,’ Raelas said. ‘We’ve faced them before; it… ain’t easy.’
Carle nodded. ‘I would much rather we leave town. There is a city guard to deal with this.’
I shook my head. ‘No. No, there’s some things that go beyond all else. It doesn’t matter right now that the guards want us dead; if we don’t do something—if we don’t help—then many innocent people will die.’
‘...And it might earn us some favour with the guards?’ Ama added.
It was this addition, not my reasoning, that seemed to convince the rest of the Trio.
‘Alright,’ Raelas said. ‘Malae. Never fought Malae before. Could be fun.’
‘It won’t be.’ Lore’s eyes remained on the western gate.
As we were about to move, a voice rang out from above. ‘Excuse me!’ The Councilman. ‘Are we, or are we not, about to have our epic showdown?’
I glanced to Corminar and Lore. ‘Is it just me, or is this Player not anywhere near as intimidating as the others?’
‘Others?’ Raelas asked, eyebrows raised, whipping around to look at me. ‘Impressive…’
‘There are Malae attacking the city,’ Corminar called up to the Player. ‘Do you not think this comes before your petty squabbles?’ How far he’d come since I met him, when he was trading in these creature. Watching his home city fall to the enemy had matured him, though I hadn’t told him that; he would have thought he was mature already.
‘I think you should finish what you started,’ the Councilman replied.
In response, the six of us turned away.
‘Fire?’ I asked. ‘Anyone have fire?’ I looked to the three new allies, who all shook their heads or shrugged.
‘I have a single explosive potion,’ Corminar said. ‘Though only one; we would need to use it well.’
I nodded, then looked to Raelas. ‘OK. I have some ideas on that, but I’ll need your help.’ The other worldbender nodded. ‘The rest of you: draw the Malae’s attention away from the others, but don’t let them get too close. And definitely don’t let them touch you. Understand?’
Lore nodded knowingly, while the others expressed their agreement.
‘Alright,’ I said, ‘let’s go.’
Raelas opened a portal that flicked the six of us closer to the action, all while the Councilman was prattling on about the supposed destined fight in the background.
We stepped through, and out into chaos. Screaming erupted around me as people ran, clutching their heads, shouting about things that weren’t there—and only existed in their minds, conjured by the Malae. And there, on the centre of the road, were two the monsters. They approached slowly.
Shlop. Shlop. Shlop.
‘You said four!’ I shouted to Corminar, and was answered by a new wave of screaming erupting from a nearby traveller’s inn, followed by people coming storming out. ‘Ah. Found em.’
I turned back to the other two Malae, taking stock of the situation, and adjusting my plan accordingly. ‘You reckon that inn has insurance?’
‘I don’t know, but I love where this is going,’ Raelas said. ‘What you thinking, handsome?’
I ignored her; even if I wanted to acknowledge that descriptor, there wasn’t time. ‘Lore, Ama, Corminar… get those two’s attention,’ I said, pointing to the two Malae that were still outside. ‘Bring them into the tavern. Corminar, chuck me the explosive potion.’
The elf approached and placed it gently in my hand. ‘It is fragile. Do not “chuck” it until you intend to use it.’
‘You got a plan?’ Lore asked.
‘Yes.’
‘I don’t always like your plans.’
‘I know, buddy.’ I turned, gesturing for Raelas and Carle to follow me. I hoped I could wrangle these two into doing what I wanted, and I could trust Corminar and Lore to deal with the other Malae sensibly. We ran into the tavern, slipping around people still stumbling out, and as I entered, I staggered to a halt.
There, standing directly in front of me, I saw Val.
She stared back at me with dead, greying eyes, and her skin began to rot and flake away. The image was so intense that I couldn’t tear my eyes away, the horror of what was before me snaking its way into my heart.
Someone grabbed me by the arm, and I was finally able to look away, to see Raelas staring up at me. ‘You OK?’ she asked, and this time there was none of the flirty drawl I was becoming used to; she recognised the seriousness of the situation.
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‘It’s Val,’ I croaked, looking back at her. ‘She…’ But there was nothing there, now. It was a vision. It was my greatest fear made real.
I almost felt guilty. Last time I had encountered the Malae, it was another woman I’d seen—or heard, rather. A woman I’d long since lost, that parts of me were beginning to move on from. But wasn’t it time? Wasn’t it time I moved on with my life, and made something with someone else? Someone who had disappeared in the night, admittedly.
‘Styk,’ Raelas said, shaking my arm. ‘Come on!’
We plunged into the centre of the tavern’s main chamber—a large, two-story room with a railed balcony around the next floor up. Light poured in through large pane of glass in the roof, illuminating the tavern floor and the woodwork below. As well as two Malae.
‘What now?’ Carle asked, choking back the same sensation that I felt growing within me—fear.
‘Keep them busy. Get everyone else out.’
The two of them nodded, and while Carle went one way, while Raelas and I went for the other creature. It grew closer to a young tiefling couple, who cowered in the corner, too overwhelmed by feelings of fear to flee—something that was very understandable, all things considered.
While Raelas tried to open a portal beneath the Mala, I knew better. The monster stretched instinctively around the purple portal as it burst into life, stopping itself from falling through, and continuing on its slow advance towards the tiefling couple.
But I’d opened a portal too, and I’d opened it beneath the cowering couple. They fell tumbling out at my side, and I picked them up with one arm each. ‘Run!’ I shouted. ‘Now!’
The shock of the fall had been enough to bring them back to their senses, and they did as I instructed without hesitation. As they left, they ran past new figures entering the building.
The guards who had once been about to kill us arrived at our sides, and jumped into attacking the creatures without any question of sorting us out first—Malae really were the great unifiers.
‘Keep them occupied!’ I shouted to the soldiers. ‘I can deal with them, but we need the other two in here first!’
Nobody complained, so I took that as agreement, that they were on board with my plan. But though the soldiers might have deferred to my plan, they clearly weren’t experts in fighting Malae. They got in close, swords slashing towards the dark, tiny enemies, thinking that killing them was as easy as chopping them in two. But when sword met void-like flesh, the Mala parted around it, unharmed. And then they were close enough for the Mala to strike.
One of the monsters hopped onto a soldier’s leg, wrapping itself around it. The soldier began to panic, and his colleague tried to slice it free—but it was already too late for the man, whether they knew it or not.
I opened a portal beneath man and Mala and together they plunged through it, out into the middle of the courtyard. At least, when the enemies were attached to a person, it was easier to move them around with portals—they were too busy feasting to prevent themselves running through.
The soldier gasped as the Mala drove its tendrils into its flesh, feeding on his mind, his sapience, his very soul.
‘Carle!’ I shouted to the gentleman warrior, who was dealing with the other Mala not far from when I’d just thrown the dying soldier. ‘He’s corrupted!’
The man stared blankly back at me.
‘You need to kill him, before he turns!’
If the warrior had any questions, he was sensible enough to keep them to himself. The man flicked the other Mala back with the tip of his long sword and then turned to the dying man—and the Mala feasting upon him.
‘No!’ one of the soldiers shouted, flinging a hand forward as he charged towards his colleague, apparently still looking to save him.
I flicked a hand up, meaning to open a portal in front of the charging soldier to stop him—but another portal appeared there before I could. I turned to Raelas, and we nodded to one another simultaneously.
Carle brought his sword down onto the soldier’s neck, separating it in—unfortunately—not one blow but three. But it was still quick enough to kill him before he could be corrupted, like I’d seen happen before.
Val’s voice echoed through my mind. ‘Maybe me next. How do you know I haven’t been corrupted, if there’s all these Malae running about?’
I shook my head, ignoring her.
‘What do you see?’ Raelas shouted across the interior courtyard.
‘Nothing I want to talk about,’ I cried back. ‘You?’
‘Poverty.’
I was about to question this, but the second Mala was approaching Carle once more, and he was going to need help if he was to keep out of their range. I leaped into the air, blinked through a portal in a now very well-practised manoeuvre, and arrived at his side. As the Mala sloped closer, I flailed a Knifestorm attack forth threateningly—but of course these weren’t the sort of creatures to be intimidated.
Instead, I opened another portal, this time to my pocket world, and I dumped out dozens of Needlework supplies onto the Mala. It was a costly attack—cloth wasn’t cheap—but anything was worth it if it meant killing these monsters. Besides, this cloth would burn.
The tavern doors burst open, and Corminar, Lore and Ama charged inside, followed quickly by the other two Malae. They’d done it—the plan was coming together. All that was left was…
I hurried to Carle’s side, then opened a portal below us that would get us out of the centre of the courtyard. I just needed to get these two recently arrived monsters into the same spot, and then my plan could really begin. But how could I get them through the portals?
I cast my eyes around the well-lit tavern interior until I found my answer: another casualty from before we arrived. I opened a portal below them and tossed the body next to the two new Malae, who immediately hopped onto it to feed. As soon as they were settled—and distracted—I opened some more portals to throw the body and Malae next to the others.
Now, they were all in one place. Now, I could throw that potion.
I pulled Corminar’s explosive potion from my pocket, and I tossed it into the centre of the tavern. Flames burst forth as glass shattered, lighting the wooden interior and my Needlework supplies alike.
The Malae squealed as they faced fire, their greatest weakness, but only two of them died.
2x Level ? corruption defeated!
Worldbending — +2,200xp
Worldbending increased to level 52!
Base Points gained — +2 INT, +2 Free Points (INT/WIS/CHA)
As for the others? I’d hurt them, yes, but what I’d mostly done was enrage them. And now, they were headed right for me.
"Styk"
Level 18 Bladespinner
Base Stats:
Vitality — 50
Intelligence — 196
Dexterity — 109
Strength — 76
Wisdom — 70
Charisma — 41
Skills:
Worldbending — Level 52
Knifework — Level 39
Stealth — Level 22
Identification — Level 18
Needlework — Level 16
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].
Enhanced Portals — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight or within a thirty yard radius. Support up to two pairs of portals at once. Uses mana to open portals only.
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 III — Passive. 200% 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].
Improved Cloth Armour — Craft a cloth armour of significantly higher quality, dependent on materials, time and skill level.
Active Effects:
Legacy of Sisyphus:
XP gain increased by +1,400%