As Val and I retreated from the rest of the group, Lore and Arzak set about building camp for the night—by a pretty waterfall was about as good a spot as many—while Corminar “suggested” instructions for them.

I remained quiet as we put distance between us and the others, stepping slowly around the edge of the lake until I could feel the mist from the waterfall landing on my face. I turned to Val, and saw that she was betraying absolutely nothing of what she was feeling on her face. Though, that plain, uncharacteristically blank expression was a decision it and of itself. ‘I know we’ve been working on our communication lately, but I don’t really know how to start this conversation still.’

‘You tell me how you feel,’ Val said.

‘Or you could go first.’

‘I’m the one carrying your child.’

‘Tell me now if you’re gonna use that one a lot.’

‘I am,’ my wife replied, though she stuck her tongue out at me to show she was—at least partially—joking. Old habits died hard.

This playfulness was enough to break the ice, however, and I found it within myself to speak. To communicate. ‘I know we’ve had some trouble in the past, but I’d like to think we’re getting through it, right? We’re… what’s the phrase you used?’

‘Processing our trauma.’

‘Yeah, that. We’re sorting stuff out in our heads. And I think we’re doing better, aren’t we?’

Val kept her face neutral once more, but I could see a smile in those dark eyes of hers. ‘I think so, yeah. So about the baby…’

‘What I’m saying is…’ I took in a deep breath. ‘There’s nobody I’d rather be having a child with than you.’

Finally Val’s face broke into a smile once more. This time, she didn’t return to that artificially blank expression. ‘Good. I feel the same. But… now? Is it the right time?’

‘Do people have children at the “right time”? Is that a thing? Does the right time even exist?’

‘Maybe not, but the “wrong time” isn’t usually “being hunted down by a powerful Council of Players” for other people. It’s not having quite enough money, or wanting to work on their careers. Not… mortal peril.’

I shrugged. ‘Fair point. But, Val, here’s a counterpoint. I think I… want this? I think I want to do this with you? And I don’t think I care about anything else?’

Val paused for a moment, meeting my eyes, before launching into an attack on my face with her mouth. She pecked me all over—including once on the eyeball, for some reason—before eventually flinging her arms around me and squeezing me tight.

‘So I’m guessing… you agree?’

‘Of course I agree, idiot,’ Val said.

‘I thought we agreed we weren’t gonna call each other idiots anymore.’

‘Of course I agree, stupid-head,’ my wife corrected herself.

‘That’s not really—’

Val pulled away from the hug and looked me in the face once more. ‘We’re doing this, aren’t we? We’re actually doing this. But, Styk, we gotta do it better than our parents.’

‘What, you don’t wanna abandon your child on a doorstep or let your child watch as you get stabbed to death?’

‘And that’s before we even start on my parents,’ Val added.

I raised an eyebrow. ‘I still think I have you beat, there.’

Silence fell over us as we looked back over the lake. Even over the splashing of the waterfall, we could hear Arzak and Corminar shouting at one another. I knew them both well enough by now that I wasn’t worried; the both of them got a little heated during a fight, and they’d calm down properly soon.

‘No wonder Lore’s been funny about you joining the fights,’ I finally said.

‘I thought he was just rooting for us.’

‘What, and only you needed worrying about?’ I asked. ‘You didn’t think he should be worrying about me too, in that situation?’

Val shrugged. ‘You’ve been giving it all that super-strong-big-balls stuff lately; maybe he thought you really were untouchable. I know better, obviously.’ She mimed stabbing me through the chest. No, not the chest, through the artifact that hung from a chain around my neck.

I looked down at the Sisyphus Artifact, cradling it gently in my fingertips. ‘We should think about—’ I started, but Val shook her head.

‘No. We can start thinking about stuff later. For now, let’s just enjoy the moment.’

* * *

I enjoyed the moment for about five minutes before returning to camp. Arzak had quickly disappeared with Val to talk animatedly about the latest news. Lore tried the same thing with me, but quickly realised I wasn’t interested in talking, and he and Corminar went off to find some potion ingredients instead.

As I stared into the fire, I found that I couldn’t enjoy the moment any longer. There was too much to think about. Too much pressure to make sure everything was sorted in time for the baby’s arrival. Too much pressure to make sure they were safe.

I reviewed my progression so far once more.

My core skill was Worldbending, now up at level 77, though Knifework wasn’t too far behind at 59—with a new ability on its way very soon. More and more, I’d built my progression about my portal abilities, which gave me the option to shift around the battlefield in a flash—and to move others, too. That, combined with some quick stabbing, the damage dealt increased by my Stealth abilities if I went unnoticed, was the bread and butter of my build.

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But I had other peripheral abilities, too. I had access to a Pocket World in which I kept my Needlework supplies, as well as anything else too heavy to actually lug about with me. I had my Shrill Perimeter which I put around camp every night to alert us to enemy presence. I had my Saved Portals, which allowed me to open a portal at a specific location, no matter how far I was from it—this was currently “saved” in a particularly nice tavern in Asaum, in the southwest of the Goldmarch. I could Silence areas entirely, I could Portal Slice through non-reinforced objects, and I could even use Titan Husk to prevent me from fire, ice, corruption and more physical damage effects.

On the Knifework front, I could use Closed Reach to thrust knives 8 inches deeper, using portal synergy. I could use Knifestorm for a flurry of dagger atacks. I could even, as of two weeks ago, use Etched Blades to imbue my knife with magicks.

All this was to say, I was strong. I was stronger, now, than ever before—but I could be stronger still. Perhaps I would even need to be stronger still, now that the Council were constantly on our tail in this unceasing cat-and-mouse story. Or, cat-and-cat, really, considering we were doing just as much hunting as they were. Either way, we lived our lives under an ever-present threat of danger. I could deal with myself dying—that never tended to stick, anyway—but I couldn’t handle the same happening to Val. And just how much worse would Val dying be now, now that it meant this new life would never come to be?

‘I know that face,’ Val said, staring across the fire. ‘You want to get stronger.’

‘I want to protect you. And…’ I gestured towards her belly.

I didn’t realise until she relaxed that Val had been tensing her shoulders. ‘Let’s skim over the part where we bicker, where I tell you I don’t need protecting, and that I can look after myself. I do need it. So do you, I’ve gotta add, because sometimes you forget that. If you think you need to grow stronger to protect us, then do it. I’ll help. I get stronger too. But there’s another way we can keep ourselves safe—we can end it. We can end the Council once and for all.’

I held her gaze for a moment, then stood up to take another seat at her side. ‘Good communication,’ I said.

‘Yeah, I thought so.’

I placed a hand on Val’s stomach, even though it was far too early to feel anything. ‘So, Lore probably knows what it’s gonna be, doesn’t he? Do you think we should ask, or keep it a surprise?’

‘I already asked him while you were sat there pondering.’ When I raised my eyebrows, she added, ‘What? Like you’re any better at surprises.’

‘Well? Go on, then, what is it?’

‘It’s a girl, Styk.’

I didn’t realise it until that moment, but my heart was going to burst with joy no matter what the answer. A smile compulsively crossed my face—one that I couldn’t stifle no matter how hard I tried. Not that I did. ‘...Val?’

‘Yeah?’ There was a flash of worry in those eyes. Probably something to do with my tone.

‘We gotta keep working on us, yeah? For her?’

Val smiled, and rested her head on my shoulder. As we sat there, staring into the fire, I decided she was definitely right about one thing.

It was time to end the Council once and for all.

"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%