The reformation of the Slayers hadn’t gone very well.

I think anyone amongst us would have admitted that, what with the usual bickering having evolved into arguing, and with our open emotional wounds showing no signs of healing. It was maybe no wonder then that the message from the young courier—that Alenna needed our help—caused the group to split once more.

Lore, Corminar and I, as well as the Trio, left the tavern to go see what Alenna had found, while Arzak and Val stayed behind, the latter showing no sign of slowing down on the drinking. At least we’d agreed that we would remain in touch, sharing information, and that we’d need to work together in some capacity if we were going to defeat Yusef. It was only after I left the tavern that I realised I’d included Lambkin and Tokas in that “together”, which maybe Arzak needed spelling out. It surprised me too that my subconscious had included Tokas in our group after our earlier betrayal, but maybe that spoke to how anxious I was about taking down this Player—that we really did need all the help we could get.

There was a lingering pain in my chest as we put the tavern behind us. At some point, Val and I would need to talk. Properly. I’d need to find out while she left. Not that I didn’t know the answer—I knew it was because of my ancestry—but I needed to hear her say it. And I needed to hear that she couldn’t get passed it. Only then, maybe, would I be able to move on. With that thought, move on, chaos erupted in my chest; no part of me wanted that, but maybe it was what I needed.

Alenna was waiting in her doorway as we approached, her face pale. If before she shared her old friend’s penchant for cheeriness in the face of horror, she didn’t any more. And Lore, for that matter, wasn’t his usual jolly self either, ever since that interaction with Yusef. It really felt that everything had started going wrong during that fight with Niamh—since then, nothing came naturally, and everything seemed to lead to disaster and melancholy.

Or maybe I was just in a bad mood.

‘Everything OK?’ Alenna asked as Lore passed her, entering her place of business.

‘It will be. Eventually.’

Judging by her expression, this answer didn’t satisfy the doctor, but there was apparently other priorities right now. We settled around the two chairs in the downstairs surgery, Ama and Corminar taking those seats while the rest of us stood around them. Carle was about to prop himself up on the medical plinth before Lore gently stopped him by pointing to a piece of flesh that hadn’t been cleaned up.

‘What is it?’ Raelas asked. ‘Take it it’s not a surprise birthday party for Ama?’

‘It is your birthday?’ Corminar asked.

‘Next week.’

‘Happy birthday for then. Lore has a party hat you may wish to borrow.’

Alenna remained still, staring on glumly. A cough from Lore refocused us on why we were here.

‘There’s a man on the loose,’ the scientist said. ‘He’s been… touched by the malae. It’s corrupted him.’

I glanced to Corminar, who met my gaze across the room. We were on the same page: this was reminiscent of the vultures we’d come across. ‘Let me guess,’ I said. ‘He’s not all there?’

‘He’s not there at all. He might look like a man, but he’s a monster. He needs to be… put down.’

Corminar rose from his seat, drawing in a deep breath. ‘A simple enough problem,’ he said, which was probably not the correct description of any mala-related issue. ‘Do you have a location?’

Alenna nodded glumly. ‘To the west, that’s all I know. You’ll see the chaos. But… I don’t think you’re taking this seriously enough. This corruption has the brain of a man. It is smarter than any mala you have dealt with before, and that’s not to say they’re dumb usually. This “man”, it’s… hiding. Striking from the shadows. It’s… adapting.’

* * *

We followed breadcrumbs of destruction.

At first, the screaming had been a pretty good indicator of where to pick up the trail. A woman, attacked by the walking corruption, lay dead on the street, guards holding their friend back while they—sensibly, if horrifically—began to burn the body. Further north, a wooden building extension had been smashed through, the strength required for such a feat begin beyond what the local population were capable of. We next found ourselves back in the narrow, winding markets in the centre of the city, where there was no shortage of witnesses who’d seen the “man of shadows”, who pointed us deeper into the market still.

It was at that point that I realised where we were headed—back to that small courtyard in which that mala-trading operation had been based. I turned to Corminar with a furrowed brow, who nodded to confirm that he was on the same page.

‘Why there?’ I asked.

‘Could the answer be as simple as “coincidence”?’

I shook my head. ‘I think we’d be idiots to put it down to that.’

‘Agreed. But then… what else might be the reason?’

We entered the courtyard in single file, this formation necessary due to the narrowness of the alley entry, but we did so with our weapons raised, ready to strike. Lore, at the front of the pack, waved the flaming torch he’d picked up at the market on the way, making sure to keep it between himself and the enemy.

But the enemy wasn’t there. Not in sight, at least.

Keeping our footsteps quiet, we crept towards the building that had once between the headquarters of this mala-trading operation. Lore pushed the door open gently, causing it to creak on its hinges. We paused, waiting for the noise to alert the monster to our presence, but nothing jumped out at us. Nothing ambushed us.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

So we entered, our breaths shallow, our weapons raised, and our eyes peeled for any signs of movement.

‘I don’t like this…’ Ama whispered, getting a nod from Raelas in response.

I spotted something in the corner of one of the rooms. It was an otherwise bare room, no furnishings, not so much as paper or paint on the walls, with only one exit. The only distinguishing feature in here was a large burn mark on the floor. It was where the guards had dealt with the traders’ stock.

Corminar crouched down at my side, sweeping his fingertips through the ash. ‘Perhaps it seeks its brothers,’ the elf said, voice hushed.

‘Or to mourn them.’

‘Slayers?’ Carle called out from another room, a bit louder than I would have liked considering the creature could still be around here somewhere.

Instead of shouting back, Corminar and I went to the source of the cry, to find Carle leafing through correspondence atop a nearby desk.

‘How much did you investigate this operation?’ Carle asked.

‘Well, there wasn’t exactly any time, considering we had to get Lambkin out of—’

‘Did your friend know these traders were here before the Player?’

I hesitated, then half-snatched the letter from his hands. Corminar read it over my shoulder, and I could tell that he was a faster reader considering he groaned a few seconds before I did.

‘What?’ Lore asked in whispered tones. ‘What is it?’

‘It’s from Yusef,’ I said, handing him the letter. ‘He didn’t create this operation. He bought it.’

‘So that means—’

‘It was here already,’ I finished.

‘If, seemingly, on a smaller scale,’ Corminar added.

Lore, face pale, handed the letter back to me, and I folded it neatly before pushing it into a pocket. It was evidence, and evidence that might come in handy later, if Tokas and Lambkin were to complete their mission of exposing rather than killing the Player.

‘Alright,’ Raelas said. ‘So, before the Player knew about these traders… who was buying? Supply and demand, isn’t it? This business wouldn’t exist unless someone needed the malae. But who? For what?’

‘That, my dear, is the question,’ the elf—and only person I’d ever met who had the phase “my dear” in their vocabulary—replied.

‘We’ll ask Lambkin about it later,’ I said. ‘Maybe there’s more to the story.’

‘Would he keep information back?’ Corminar asked. ‘I do not believe so; he is not that kind of man.’ How far the elf had come in his views of the rival ranger; once upon a time he wouldn’t dream of defending Lambkin, and yet here we were.

I shrugged. ‘Well unless you have any better—’

Something scuffed the ground in the next room, and all six of us froze. Our heads snapped towards the source of the noise. Now, if this was a story I was telling you in a tavern, or maybe a bard’s tale, this situation would normally be followed up by us discovering that the source of the noise was something inane. Maybe a stray dog. Or a rat.

In this case, I’m afraid to say, there was no wry twist at the end of the story. A figure shuffled into the doorway—one that, in the low light, we might have been forgiven for thinking was a man. But we knew better. The awkward gait, the spluttering noises, and the lack of the “what are you doing in here?” question gave it away.

As all six of us took a step backwards, adjusting our grips on our weapons, the figure stepped forth, into a stream of light pouring in through the open front door. The once-man’s skin had turned grey. His jaw hung open, slack. His eyes, while still the usual tiefling pink-red hue, had no life behind it. And, perhaps most worryingly of all, a strange black ooze seeped from the man’s eyes and pores—an ooze that matched the once-vultures we’d seen on the road to Coldharbour.

Lore handed the flaming torch to Carle, before grabbing a nearby wooden chair and smashing it against the ground. As he tore a piece of wood free and held it against the torch, the corrupted man snarled.

And then it lunged.

"Styk"

Level 20 Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 50

Intelligence — 216

Dexterity — 130

Strength — 79

Wisdom — 76

Charisma — 49

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 58

Knifework — Level 42

Stealth — Level 26

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%