We’d left the city of Westbara the morning after abandoning the pitiful not-worth-killing Player in the tavern basement, and I was surprised to find that the Trio came with us. When I’d asked them about it, Carle and Ama had glanced at one another, while Raelas had shrugged, telling us that tracking down these Malae was—and I quote—the “right thing to do”. It wasn’t what I was coming to expect of this small gang of mercenaries, but I wasn’t exactly going to argue this point with them.
And so from Westbara, we travelled further West still, which was the furthest both Corminar and I had ever been from our respective homes and made me feel strangely anxious. Lore, on the other hand was loving it—there was nothing quite like a return home, he said.
‘If you keep on this road,’ he continued, blabbering on even though nobody had responded to him in the past five minutes or so, ‘you get to the Naval Temple. They took lots of the old ships from when the Armada invaded and they turned them into holy sites. You can go there, you can see a bit of history, you can pray to the creators—that’s what they called the Architects—and you can drink. You know anywhere else in the world where you can drink at church? I don’t. It’s very low alcohol, admittedly, what with all the heat, but it’s still nice.’
I nodded politely.
‘And at certain times of year, the sun lines up with the hull of the ship, and the shadows make patterns that ripple across the dunes. It’s great. We should go.’
‘May I remind you that we are here for a specific purpose?’ Corminar said.
‘Well, yeah, but maybe we can go after.’
As we continued on the western merchant’s road, the greenery started to become more like… yellowery, and then the plants became fewer and father between. Lush green field gave way to a brown excuse for grass, and before much longer there was more sand than grass. It was strange—I knew the temperature out here wasn’t much higher than in certain parts of the Goldmarch, but it definitely felt it. It wasn’t long before my water tankard was empty, and I—and the others, from the looks of it—needed a place to rest a while.
There was no shortage of taverns on the merchants road, capitalising on this thirst. Some of them were proper buildings, formed of clay, while others were large, glorified tents. The next we came across was a clay building, though I would have been fine with either at this point. There were no windows, only holes in the thick, beige walls, but the furniture inside was strangely ornate—wood carved with patterns that must have come in with the ancient tiefling invaders.
I sat on a plush stool next to this ornate wooden bar, bought a round of beer with coins swiped from a wealthy diplomat’s house in Westbara—it was amazing that it had taken me this long to realise that portals were an ideal skill for the purposes of burglary—and handed them out. Carle and Ama thanked me and took theirs to the edge of the building, where they stared out at the sand dunes while still just about shielded from the midday sun. Lore and Corminar inspected their beers before, finally, thanking me, and I couldn’t blame them—the beer was flatter than I had expected.
And this left only the half-tiefling gazing at me along the bar. Realising I could avoid her attention no longer—I’d only managed it so far because Lore was strangely protective of Val, even though she’d abandoned us—I slid the beer along to the other worldbender.
‘Nah, I don’t drink,’ Raelas said, pushing the glass back towards me. ‘Bad habit.’
‘Could’ve told me before I ordered. You don’t drink cos it’s unhealthy?’
‘Cos if you get in a fight when you’re drunk, you ain’t sure to win it.’
I pulled a face, then looked down at the surface of my beer, considering this a moment. On balance, I decided it was worth the risk. The beer might have been flat, but it tasted good if unlike any beer I’d had before—there was a floral aroma to it.
Raelas watched me as I drank. ‘Nice to have another Worldbender around. Not often you get to meet them, is it?’
I shrugged. ‘The elves have plenty of them,’ I replied. ‘Or… had? I don’t know how many of them escaped.’ I glanced over at the others, and I saw Lore sheepishly approach Carle and Ama, his eyes on the other big guy.
‘What were you doing there? I heard it fell to Amira, but…’
‘Trying to stop that happening.’
Raelas smiled. ‘Just the three of you?’
‘Well, we had two others. And a whole bunch of criminal elves, but… yeah. We killed their general, but it wasn’t enough. We were too slow. I don’t think Corminar has forgiven himself for it.’
The bar grew quiet, the only sounds being a blanket flapping in the breeze and Lore talking Carle’s ear off about sheep. I took another sip of one of the two beers in front of me, and I tried to put our failure out of my mind. I didn’t manage it.
‘Must’ve got some decent abilities out of all that, though?’ Raelas asked, and I couldn’t help but think she was trying to lighten the mood.
‘Enhanced Portals,’ I replied. ‘You got that yet?’
Raelas shook her head, pulling a face. ‘Never even got the option. Though, I don’t think I specced into portals as much as you did. Manipulating material, however…’ She reached out to the half-empty glass of beer, wrapping her hand around it, and soon the glass began to… melt?
‘Isn’t that hot?’
‘Don’t always need heat to melt things,’ Raelas replied. ‘I saw you went for Ash Husk, though. Probably a smart move; there’s so many—’
‘—fire mages about,’ I finished for her.
The woman smiled. ‘Yeah, that’s it exactly. Makes my Frost Husk not so good. Bad decision.’
I opened my mouth to speak, but hesitated. The question I wanted to ask—had to ask, really—had the potential of pushing her away. And it was nice to have a little attention since Val fled, all things considered.
‘What is it?’ she asked.
‘Why are you with us? Really?’
Raelas shrugged. ‘Maybe I just wanna keep looking at your handsome face?’
‘You know I’m travelling with Lore and Corminar, right?’ I replied. ‘Usually they—’
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
The worldbender waved me down. ‘They’re a bit pretty for my taste.’
‘Be serious.’
‘I am! They’re too pretty. I tend to like—’
I shook my head. ‘No, not about that. About why you’re with us.’
Again, the half-tiefling shrugged. ‘Killing Malae? There’s gotta be a decent reward for that, hasn’t there?’
This was all the answer I ever got, though in part that was because I was distracted. Across the inn’s floor, I heard someone use a word that was on my mind.
Malae.
I stood from the bar stool and must have rushed over a little too fast, because the two old men blinked and recoiled slightly. ‘You mentioned Malae? Where?’
One old man looked to another, before replying, ‘A half day north, they said. On the merchant’s road.’
‘How many?’ I asked. ‘How many Malae?’
‘They didn’t say,’ he croaked. ‘All they said was: too many.’
* * *
Once our flasks were full of water, our bellies were full of food, and the sun was hanging lower in the sky, we set out once more across the Armadan Desert. As we got further west, it turned out we’d barely hit the worst of it. Soon there was not a tree in sight, and absolutely no water sources to speak of.
Raelas—who was now walking by my side, Lore having given up on getting between us—told me that the only water sources out here had small villages built around them, and that we wouldn’t find water until we found civilisation. So it was worth rationing the water. It was at this point that I regretted filling one of my two flasks with that delicious lowish alcohol beer, but I kept the fact that I’d done that to myself.
I was assured that there would be another village coming up soon, where we could barter for some water. It would be expensive, but it sounded like I have more than enough stolen funds to cover it. So I drank water while I could, knowing I’d have to ration it later.
My flask was empty—again! I had little self-control—when we finally climbed a dune and saw the village stretched before. I was on the verge of storming down towards it when Corminar suddenly whipped out his hand to block my path.
His elven eyes had spotted something.
‘What does your intense friend see?’ Ama asked.
‘You know, he wasn’t always this—’ I started, then realised the Battle of Sunalor probably wasn’t useful context right now. ‘Never mind.’
‘What you see, Cor?’ Lore asked.
‘Nothing.’
I narrowed my eyes. ‘In that case…’ After I moved to take a step forward, Corminar blocked my path once more.
‘Nothing,’ he repeated. ‘There is not a soul in the village.’
My heart dropped. ‘Malae?’
‘I see no corruption. If Malae are to blame, they have since departed, or they are hidden inside one of these structures.’
I nodded. This time, when I took a step forward, he didn’t stop me. ‘We move slow,’ I said. ‘Keep an eye out for movement. If you see any, announce it immediately. We can’t afford any Malae getting the jump on us.’
We crept into the abandoned village, each of us focussing in different directions, not a single part of the settlement avoiding notice. But as we pushed between the buildings, we saw and heard nothing but the squawk of a bird circling above.
‘Vultures,’ Ama grumbled, pursing her lips.
‘Then there has been death here,’ Carle added.
We continued through the town, towards the largest of the buildings, where Raelas whispered that the water would be. As I stepped inside, I called out, ‘Hello? Anyone home? We’ve come to purchase some water.’ When nobody replied, and I added, ‘We can pay well!’
But still, there was nobody in sight.
‘I don’t like this,’ Raelas said.
‘Yeah,’ Lore agreed, and it was about the first time those two had agreed on anything.
The vulture—multiple vultures, in fact—cried out overhead once more. Feeling suddenly very mortal, I set my eyes on a trough of water at the far end of the building, and filled up both my flasks, tipping the beer onto the floor. Ama watched me, eyebrow raised.
‘What you waiting for? Fill up,’ I told them, swigging from the flask while we still had more water available.
‘What if the water was the problem?’ Ama asked.
I stopped drinking mid-sip, and everyone watched me.
‘...Feel anything?’ Raelas asked.
‘Like what?’
‘Poison.’
I paused again. ‘...No?’
Everyone nodded and went about filling up their flasks. I stepped outside while they did so, keeping to the shadow of the building, and stared up at the vultures circling above. They were bigger than any vultures I’d ever seen, though I’d admit that my experience was limited.
The others joined me at the door. ‘Where next?’ Raelas asked.
I shrugged. ‘Don’t see any Malae here; can’t be where those men were talking about. I say we move on. Keep going. Sooner or later, we—’
‘Err, guys?’ Lore said, which was the exact thing he usually said before delivering horrific news. I looked around at him to see him peering up at the sky, hand over his face to block out the harsh light. ‘I don’t think those are vultures.’
‘Yes they—’ Ama began, at the same moment that Corminar looked up and paled.
‘Get to cover!’ he roared.
And then the “vultures” dived to attack.
"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%