Part XXI: The Greatest Hunt

I know, everything got a bit dark back there. The devastation of Coldharbour, the corruption spreading, Tokas... It wasn't the best time in any of our lives. But when I started writing down the tale of the Slayers for you, reader, I promised myself that I wouldn't lie. I wouldn't lie to save face, and I wouldn't lie to cover up the darkness; I respect you too much for that.

But things were good a while from here. I'd found my stride, I'd found my strength. I understood my place in the world better than ever before, and the rest of the team now well and truly looked to me as their leader. So here it is; the instalment you’ve been waiting for. The tale of the fall of the Council, of the battle of the Aurician meadows, and of the two women who saved my life.

* * *

‘Styk!’ Lore shouted as he fell, three arrows poking out of his armour.

‘I’m on it!’ I slammed one arm against the spinning Arzak to steady myself, then looked across the void.

It had been a little while since we’d faced down one of these sorts of Worldbenders. The Player we hunted still had a trio of loyal soldiers at their side, though from what we’d heard, they’d once had a dozen, before the truth had come out about the Council. While the Player was a ranger and enchanter, one of his enchanted traps had been a Worldbending one—but instead of portal magicks, it used the void. Or, at least, something close to the void; it always struck me as odd that we could still breathe, and the laws of physics still applied.

I reached an arm toward the Player we were hunting, opening a portal just in front of him, and the other in front of me and Arzak. The pair of us soared through it, arriving deeper into the void and just in front of our target. Though the Player was occupied with shooting at Lore, one of his team members wasn’t. Before Arzak and I could attack the Player, a fireball collided with my chest, knocking me backward, into Arzak, sending us careering away from our target.

Even after the past few months, a fireball to the chest would have hurt. It would have hurt if I hadn’t already activated Titan Husk, my Worldbending ability that helped me withstand all physical damage effects—if not the damage itself. My health drained some from the attack, but it was bearable. After all, I was wearing the new light armour I’d spent the past few weeks working on.

‘Oi!’ Val shouted. ‘Don’t you hurt my husband!’

‘Val, it’s fine. I’m—’ I started, but the witch was already setting upon the enemy with everything she had. These days, that included a new Witchcraft ability that looked like a sort of green lightning, but essentially drained life from the target.

The enemy cried out with pain, body seizing as Val’s attack hit. Her magicks wouldn’t be enough to eliminate the enemy, but it at least kept them occupied.

As I steadied myself once more, again using Arzak to do so, I called out to the last member of our party. ‘Cor! Keep the others off us!’ I heard no response from the elf, but one of his arrows immediately landed in the shoulder of the fire sorcerer. The impact sent them tumbling across the void, with nothing they could use to right themselves.

‘Alright, Arzak, you ready?’

‘We get over with,’ the orc said with a nod.

I opened a portal in front of us once more, its partner in front of the Player. This time, however, I brought the Player to us, rather than the other way around. Arzak and the enemy ranged collided heavily, both of them grunting before manoeuvring their weapons for an attack. At this range, Arzak had the advantage; her swords could more readily do damage than the enemy’s bow. The orc buried a sword clumsily in the enemy’s shoulder, but they were strong enough that still the skirmish continued.

I clambered around Arzak, finding handholds on her body, sometimes in places we definitely would not speak about after the battle. When I had the enemy in range of my right hand, I splayed my fingers and attacked. Tiny needles shot forth from a portal on the palm of my hand, tumbling forth from my inventory and peppering the Player’s face. Needle Dart was a newer ability, and while it didn’t deal much damage, it was very good at keeping enemies occupied.

Speaking of keeping enemies occupied, it was at that moment that I heard Val scream. I snapped my head towards her to see that the last of the enemies had somehow come around on her with his axe.

As the axe careered towards her for a second strike, I flicked my hands forward and opened a portal between them. The momentum of the axe carried the enemy into the portal and out the other side, flying into the distance of this artificial void.

I portaled over to the falling Val’s side, then glared over at Corminar. ‘I thought I told you to keep them off us?’

He shrugged. ‘Perhaps be more explicit in your definition of “us”, should this happen again.’

I shook my head, turning to Val, who was already healing her open wound. ‘You’re supposed to say “Don’t hurt my wife!”’ she protested.

‘OK, next time I’ll say that instead of helping you.’ Before she could reply, I pecked her on the cheek before pushing away from her to slide back through a portal.

While I’d been gone, Arzak had lost a sword to the void, and the Player was turning the tide on her. Ranger though he may be, he was still a Player, and therefore still one of the strongest enemies we’d gone up against. It wasn’t right of me to leave Arzak alone to deal with him. I used a portal to return to their side, but this time, I didn’t come alone.

Lore was already roaring, swinging his sword, before he emerged from the portal. ‘AAAA—’

‘Remember we need him alive!’ I reminded my friend.

‘—aaaa…’ Lore continued, still roaring, only slightly less enthusiastically. His sword collided with the enemy at their side, slicing deep into their flesh, but it wasn’t enough to break the void spell.

While the hunkiest members of our team continued their attacks on the Player, I manoeuvred around the mass of tangled, falling bodies once more. This time, I wasn’t looking to land an attack. I was looking for something—anything—that might hold the Worldbending magicks required to sustain this void for so long. Our intelligence on the target Player suggested that they had Archery and Enchantment progression only, outside of a little Two-Handed—not everyone could be expected to have been as efficient with their build as me, after all. So there was nothing to suggest that the Player was holding this magick himself.

I rummaged through the man’s pockets, half-expecting an ‘Excuse you?!’ in response, but he was too distracted by the barbarian and the warrior attacking him for any such sassy comments. Everything I found in these pockets—gold, a small figurine, a spare button and a half-dozen small, rounded stones—I threw away into the void, before finally setting my fingers on something new. I knew it was what I was after from the moment I clasped it, as it reacted to my touch, a gentle, familiar fizzing sensation on the ends of my fingertips. There was Worldbending magick inside.

I tossed the glowing purple stone in my hands. To release the magick, I needed to smash it—but that was easier said than done in a void, where there were no solid surfaces. At least, no sorry surfaces except…

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‘Sorry, Lore,’ I said as I set the stone against his back.

‘Sorry for what?’ he asked, slightly worried.

I arced my dagger down towards the enchanted rock, before… halting. The moment I did this, the void would dissolve. We would plummet back down to the waterfall camp in which we’d found them. And the Player might well get away.

‘Sorry for what?’ Lore repeated, this time sounding incredibly worried.

‘You’ll see,’ I said. ‘Lore, Arzak, let him go.’

‘Let Player go?’ Arzak asked.

‘Trust me.’

And trust me they did. A moment later, the pair of them released their grasp on the injured enemy. I sheathed my dagger once more, then grabbed Arzak in one hand and Lore in the other, before kicking against the Player. We soared away, across the void, separating ourselves from the enemy.

‘Time tell us what doing?’ the orc asked.

‘You’ll see,’ I repeated.

A moment later, we dropped through the portal I’d placed beneath us, raising us back up higher in the void. Val and Corminar were at our side.

‘Cor, I need—’ I started, but was interrupted by Lore roaring in pain, clasping at his head, his eyes glowing yellow with Divination magicks.

‘He’s bad,’ Val said, pouring her own Healing magicks into him.

‘It’s a good job we’re here, then,’ I replied before turning my attention back to Corminar once more. ‘Cor, I need your arrows.’

‘How many?’

‘All of them.’

The elf didn’t move. ‘I need those.’

‘You’ll get them back. Do you want to defeat this Player or not?’

Corminar rolled his eyes—a trademark Corminar Cladenor action—but did not complain further, instead throwing me his quiver. Much to his displeasure, I immediately upended it.

‘Did you have to—’ he started.

‘Yes, I did.’

‘You’ll see,’ Arzak replied, her tone seeming to indicate that she was in on the plan, when of course she wasn’t.

I passed the orc the stone. ‘Smash this on Lore’s back, will you?’

‘Wait, wh—’ Lore started, but Arzak was quick to act, slamming the stone against the man’s shoulder with all her might. The stone shattered.

I could feel the air around me once more, see the sky and the high treetops and the ground coming up fast beneath our feet.

In moments like these, I thanked my past self for selecting the ability to have two pairs of portals. I opened one pair to move the five of us over the small lake that the waterfall fed. Landing there would hurt, but it would hurt a whole lot less than landing on the dirt.

And the other portal? I used that on the arrows. As the Player hit the ground hard, landing on his back, I used the portal to push the arrows into place. I acted fast, moving the portal in and out of existence, plucking most of the arrows out of the air and carefully moving them into position. One by one the arrows hit the ground around our enemy. I was nearly done by the time the water came up to meet me.

First there was the pain of the impact, then the shock of water filling my eyes, nose and open mouth. Really that mouth should have been closed; rookie mistake. I looked for up, looking for the light of the midday sun, and swam towards it. I grabbed the struggling Val by the arm as I swam towards the surface. Even if we hadn’t been underwater, I wouldn’t have commented on Val’s increasing difficulties with physically-exerting tasks, because we were trying to get better about that sort of thing. Not that we always managed it.

As we broke free of the water, I heaved Val towards the shore of this surprisingly deep pool, and she gasped for air.

‘You OK?’ I asked.

‘What, no joke?’ she managed through gasps.

‘Nothing right now. Check in with me later and I might have one for you.’

Val smiled, and I turned my attention to the enemy.

The Player was just where he’d landed, unmoved, though not because we’d eliminated him—the lack of notifications was evidence enough of that. No, instead he laid where he’d landed both out of exhaustion, and out of… arrow. Those arrows I’d borrowed from Corminar pinned the enemy to the ground, forming a perfect outline of him while only catching his clothes.

The man groaned with pain, and red liquid began to seep into the ground.

OK, maybe not only catching his clothes, I corrected myself. Either way, he was pinned. We would deal with his team, and then turn back to him, to get what we’d come all this way for.

‘Stay right there,’ I told the Player, like he had any choice in the matter. And the five of us turned to deal with the injured fire mage, axe warrior, and healer.

"Styk"

Level 24 Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 68

Intelligence — 285

Dexterity — 188

Strength — 102

Wisdom — 92

Charisma — 76

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 77

Knifework — Level 59

Stealth — Level 33

Needlework — Level 31

Abilities:

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 III — Passive. Portals can now be spawned within non-sentient objects. Doing so slices through all objects except those specifically imbued with Worldbending protections.

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.

Titan Husk — Warp your flesh to withstand all physical damage effects, including fire, frost, lightning, poison, and corruption.

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.

Portal Relay II — Up to ten small-scale portals can now be positioned stationary to an entity, and used to communicate sound. In addition, your standard portals may be used to communicate sound.

Needle Dart II — Launch needles through minimised portals. Can be targeted to any location excluding living beings. Uses mana per use.

Stab IV — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through all but the toughest hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR]. Damage increased by an additional [+100%].

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].

Throw III — Throw blades at great speed towards your enemy. Deal considerable damage to armourless area, with addition damage scaling with [DEX] and [STR].

Etched Blades — Etch spells into the sides of your blades, giving you the ability to activate said spell on a successful hit.

Stealth Attack IV — Passive. 300% 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].

Quality Cloth Armour — Craft a cloth armour of higher quality than materials and time should allow.

Enchantment-Ready — Passive. Light armour you craft can be enchanted.

Active Effects:

Legacy of Sisyphus:

XP gain increased by +1,900%