‘The Slayers. We meet at last.’

Corminar spat at the man’s feet, and cultists roared at him, desperately to deliver justice but unable to disobey their leader’s orders.

For his part, Yusef only smiled back at the elf, sadness in his eyes. He raised his hand and waved some of his most loyal followers in. ‘Keep them restrained and move them to my new home.’ He turned back to us, hands clasped behind his back, and he sighed. ‘I have orders to eliminate you on sight, you know. Orders straight from the Council—kill those that have been killing our members. But I do not yield violence as a weapon; instead, I convert with rhetoric and with knowledge of all that is to come. We will speak, and, in time, you will see the light.’

‘See the light?’ I asked, snarling, pulling in vain against the hands that gripped me tight. ‘And what if we don’t?’

‘Then, like the rest of your team, I will have to imprison you until you do.’

My heart dropped. We’d known Val and Arzak were in the area. We’d known that they were after him. But we didn’t know that they’d already been caught. Probably those two would have had a better plan of attack than sneaking out of the crowd to assassinate the Player, and even they had been caught at his hand. Would they be there, where Yusef wanted to take us? Would I have to face Val again? Somehow, that part was more terrifying than anything else.

The Player turned to his most trusted and gestured again. ‘Go.’

With that, each of us were dragged by the arms and shoulders back, out of the crowds, our feet left to drag along the cobbled streets until the sea of orange was far behind us. Enough cultists remained with us that fighting back was futile; we were outnumbered five to one. If we were going to escape, we’d need to choose the right moment.

The locals actively looked away when they noticed what was happening; they knew better than to involve themselves in the business of the cult, especially when it now seemed to be taking prisoners. It was a survival mechanism, and one that I definitely could not blame them for.

We took an abrupt turn off the main street and soon entered a small, cramped apartment—one that Yusef seemed to have made his own. For all that it was humble in size, in decoration and in furnishing, it also… didn’t seem to be his. The little decoration that did still exist included a sketch of a happy tiefling family, hanging on the wall. Where were they now? Had they given their home up willingly, or had the cult taken it from them by force?

Those in orange finally dumped us on chairs surrounding a large dining table—one large enough for the large family that had been evicted under mysterious circumstances—before binding our hands behind our back. Though perhaps they were making the mistake of using regular, not magickally reinforced, rope.

We were positioned, bound, to face a single chair on the other side of the table—one which Yusef took, notably without any rope bindings. He scratched his long, wild beard as he considered us with those dark eyes. He looked to Carle, Ama and Raelas before flicking to Lambkin. ‘You, I have intelligence on, but…’ he looked back to Ama. ‘You are…?’

‘Mercenaries,’ I replied for them.

‘Ah! To replace those you lost in your team’s schism? Very good.’

Lillya, who was apparently part of the cult’s inner circle, appeared from the kitchen to place a jug and empty cups of iced tea in the centre of the table.

‘Thank you, Lillya,’ Yusef said, and the orc took a step back to wait on him from the corner of the room. The Player began to pour out a cup of tea for Corminar, then paused. ‘Ah. The bindings, yes.’

‘You foresaw that problem, did you?’ I growled at him.

Again, Yusef’s reaction was only to smile. He considered us again, silently, carefully.

It was Lore that spoke next, that silent resentment boiling up until it was silent no more. ‘You’re breeding mala,’ he said. It wasn’t a question, only a statement, but it came attached to flaring nostrils and a deep, out-of-character scowl.

The Player nodded. ‘I am.’

Lore hesitated.

‘Were you expecting me to deny it?’

‘I was expecting some shame at least.’

Yusef drank from the cup he’d began pouring for Corminar, taking his time before replying. ‘Is it shameful? Out of context, perhaps. But in context, given that we need such abundant Witchcraft magicks to complete Tana’s plan… perhaps not.’

‘We saw the canyon,’ Corminar said, holding the man’s gaze.

‘Ah. A shame. I had instructed no guard presence as I did not want to draw attention to it, but alas that gambit seems not to have paid off.’

‘You will kill hundreds,’ the elf continued. ‘Thousands. More.’

Again, the Player took a sip of his tea before replying, and pulled one foot up over the other knee to rest it there. ‘Agreed. But it is for the greater good. Our tests in the eastern Goldmarch showed us that the mala were the only way. And for our needs… we will need them in great number.’

‘Don’t suppose you’re about to tell us what your needs are?’ Lambkin tried. It was a good attempt—don’t ask, don’t get, and all that—but the Player was hardly going to—

‘Of course!’ Yusef replied. ‘Like I say, my weapon is the truth, and the future. How could I convert you without bringing you into my confidence?’

Lore opened his mouth to reply, and I silenced him with a glare.

‘It was Tana’s plan, originally, but she could not do it alone. She recruited Players from this world—those whose presence was faded in most other worlds—and formed the Council. You see, the Council is not some dark, mysterious organisation; we are only a group of friends working towards some common goal.’

‘Niamh didn’t seem to think so,’ I said, interrupting only because I thought this provocation might encourage Yusef to reveal more than he already had.

The Player nodded. ‘Perhaps. Our goal is… important. It’s only natural that emotions run high. You see, if we rebuild the land of the Architects, we will have a home once more.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Lillya, amongst others in orange, visibly raised their eyebrows at this revelation; this was news to them, that the Architects’ world needed rebuilding.

‘And to rebuild this world—or create a rough approximation of it—we will need the power that the mala afford. That is why we risk the lives of those here; because it will save millions more. Because it will give us a home once more. That is it, our grand plan: to go home.’

Silence swept over us for a moment. Lore shattered it.

‘The towers,’ he said. ‘I saw them.’ Lore had told us what he’d seen in his visions: three great towers, standing around the city of Auricia, each taller than the grand palace itself, each crackling with the green energy of Witchcraft magicks. And him, there, looking up at them, the depth raider at his side.’

‘You saw them? You mean in the witchfinder village? Our scouts confirmed that it was your team that fixed the experiment gone awry.’

‘No,’ Lore said, and my heart dropped. He was doing it; the one thing we’d told him not to do. He was revealing Niamh’s final gift. ‘I saw it in my visions. I was there. Niamh made sure that I saw that I was there. That I needed to be there.’

The Player before us didn’t move, didn’t adjust his posture or sip on his tea. Instead, he sat there stunned for a moment; this, he really hadn’t seen coming. ‘You… are blessed with the gift of prophecy?’

Lore nodded. ‘Niamh cursed me.’

Yusef narrowed his eyes, then his posture softened. ‘Niamh always was jealous of my gifts; it’s no wonder she developed Divination within herself. But to give it to you… that is curious. She wanted you there so badly? She saw that you were so important to our success?’

‘See for yourself,’ Lore said. ‘You have prophecy too.’

‘Tell me,’ Yusef said, rising from his chair and moving around the table to slouch against it in front of Lore. ‘What, precisely, did you foresee?’

‘The three towers. Activating. I saw that I needed to be there for it to work, though I don’t understand why. And if I don’t get there…’ Lore trailed off, and glanced to me.

‘Yes? If you don’t get there, our plan is unsuccessful?’ Yusef prompted him.

‘Sure. You’re unsuccessful. But also… Styk and Val die.’

I gulped. ‘What? You didn’t tell—’

‘I just want them all to live. I’ve lost too many friends over the years already,’ Lore replied.

The Player stared back at him, those eyes considering once more. ‘Interesting.’ He raised his hand and gestured for his followers to approach. ‘Free them,’ he said.

‘Free them?’ Lillya repeated, hesitating.

‘Do you disobey?’

‘No. I only think…’

‘Do not think. Do.’

Lillya and the rest of the cultists approached, knives drawn, slicing the bindings between our hands. Lillya, who’d approached me, found that mine were already cut; I’d used my Portal Slice ability already, freeing myself to move when the opportunity presented itself.

‘You…’ I started.

‘You may go,’ Yusef interrupted us.

‘...Just like that?’ Raelas asked. ‘Good villain you are.’

The Player winced. ‘Not a villain,’ he said. ‘Just a man who wants to go home. And it seems that your freedom is necessary, if our plan is to be a success. Even I would not mess with matters of prophecy. But make no mistake, if you come for me again, I will execute your friends and I will set a thousand worshippers upon you. You would not live to see sunrise.’ Yusef shifted his gaze to Lore. ‘You excluded. You… We will speak again soon.’

We rose from our seats, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit stunned. In this strange, revelatory, confused daze, I stumbled out onto the streets of Coldharbour under the midday sun. The seven of us soon began to hurry away, taking our freedom before the Player could change his mind.

Some distance away, I turned back to the others.

‘We’ve been arrogant,’ I said. ‘I’ve been arrogant. We shouldn’t have underestimated Yusef’s powers of Divination. He was always going to see us coming. If we’re going to kill him, we’re going to need to get creative. More creative than ever before. We’re going to need to do something that even someone with the gift of prophecy won’t see coming. And we’re going to need to free Val and Arzak first.’

I heard a round of agreement from everyone but Lore. Instead, the barbarian stared blankly back at me, his face glum, and his eyes glowing yellow.

"Styk"

Level 19 Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 50

Intelligence — 212

Dexterity — 125

Strength — 78

Wisdom — 74

Charisma — 49

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 57

Knifework — Level 41

Stealth — Level 25

Identification — Level 18

Needlework — Level 18

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 III — Attack a target while undetected for +300% 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.

Saved Portals II — Select a location to “save” for future portals. Until your save point is moved, you may always open a portal here, even if it is beyond your current Local Portal range. Mana is used only upon opening the portal.

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].

Gentle Step — Passive. Your footsteps are dampened on even the hardest of surfaces. Reduce noise of movement by 80%.

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%