Shlop.
The Mala dragged itself down the corridor, its form changing with every “step”.
‘Three things you have to remember with Malae,’ I said. ‘One: don’t let it touch you. If it touches you, you’re as good as dead—not because it’ll kill you, but because others will have to.’
Shlop — another step with its wet, ink-like limbs.
‘Second: when you’re around them, you’ll feel fear. Maybe fear unlike you’ve ever experienced before. You might even see things that aren’t there. You’ll have to ignore it.’
Shlop. Shlop. Shlop. The Mala began to increase in speed, the body seeming to lock in on me, even though it had no eyes that I could see.
‘Third: the stronger you are, the more powerful they become. Which makes me uniquely placed to handle this one.’
‘Styk, what do you—’ Val started.
‘You two,’ I said, keeping my eyes fixed on the Mala. ‘Find fire. I’ll keep it occupied.’
‘Are you—’
‘Fire. Now,’ I spat, though my spite wasn’t directed at either of them. Well, maybe Corminar, a little bit.
The two of them scuttled away, though which way, I had no idea; my eyes were locked upon the Mala. Some made the mistake of thinking that the slow speed of the Malae made them near-harmless, but that was far from the case. They never stopped moving, once they made someone their target. They would find them, whether it took them an hour, a day, or a year. They were always coming.
As this Mala neared, I reached forward, aiming to open a portal beneath the foul creature, and another above it. The goal was to trap it in an endless loop, one that would give us time enough to figure out a way to kill it. Or, at least, for as long as I could sustain it with my miniscule mana reserves and Corminar’s potions.
The purple glow announced a portal opening beneath the creature, and soon it fell through, appearing at the ceiling, fell through again, appeared at the ceiling once more, and…
It changed form.
As I swigged from a glass vial containing a glowing blue liquid, the inkblot grew wider—thinner, yes, but wider—and enlarged more and more with each appearance in the upper portal, until… It finally reached a size too large to fit through the portal. So quickly had it overcome this obstacle, as indeed, the Malae did most obstacles. They always adapted. They always found a way.
I closed the portal; there was no point wasting my mana, especially when I only had two potions left. All that was left was for me to slowly back up, around the corner, eyes fixed firmly on the creature that could consume everything that made me… me.
Finally, as I approached another corner, Val and Corminar returned, the latter holding a lit oil torch.
‘Alright,’ I said, ‘Good. Now, whatever you do, don’t…’
Corminar stepped forward, brandishing the flaming torch, and waved it in the Mala’s direction, as if to ward it off.
‘...do that.’
The elf furrowed his brow. ‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but I thought you said fire killed it.’
‘It does, yeah.’
‘Then what in Alterra is the problem?’
‘It also enrages it.’
The Mala came to a halt a dozen paces from us. It had no eyes to speak of, yet I could still feel its vision boring into me—as too could Val and Corminar, judging by their uneasy body language. A wave of dread washed over me; the creature was defending itself.
‘Now you’ve done it.’
‘For your benefit, thief, one would normally provide someone with warning before they are in danger of making a mistake.’
I rolled my eyes; if the other three members of the Player Slayers were this much of a pain, then maybe I would just accept my fate and let the Pyroknight kill me. Swallowing my irritation, I took a step back from the Mala and held my hand out to encourage Val and Corminar to do the same.
‘You might now start hearing things. Seeing things. Remember, it goes for the strongest first, so…’
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Just at that moment, Corminar screamed, clutching his hands to his face and then lashing out blindly.
‘What’s his…’ Val started, looking from him to me, and then her eyes widened. ‘Does that mean he’s stronger than me, if it got him first?’
I shrugged.
‘Well, that’s deeply disappointing, isn’t it.’
‘Could just be that he was…’ I trailed off when Corminar, previously just flailing at whatever he was seeing, now drew his bow. He pointed it at something that wasn’t there, and Val and I just so happened to be standing behind the thing that wasn’t there. ‘We should…’
‘Yep,’ Val agreed, and we dived to the side just in time to avoid the first loosed arrow.
‘Wonder what he’s firing at,’ I said.
Corminar shouted the answer immediately. ‘Bees!’ he screamed.
‘Bees?’
The sorcerer pulled a face. ‘Always had a bit of a thing about them.’
‘Bees, though? Usually Malae reach deep into your soul, unpack your heart, tearing forth from it a fear that you didn’t even really know you had. And he has… bees?’
Val nodded. ‘He really doesn’t like them.’
One of Corminar’s loosed arrows hit the Mala by chance, and slooped straight through it.
‘OK,’ I said. ‘Bees. And his answer is to shoot at them?’
‘My answer is to hit them,’ Corminar cried out. ‘Would it not behove you to assist me?!’
‘What did you say?’ Val asked.
‘I asked him if his answer was to—’
‘No!’ she cried out, clapping her hands around her ears.
‘I was just…’ I started, before realising that she was no longer talking to me; the Mala had her now. As expected, it was going to be up to me—the weakest here—to deal with this thing.
I nipped across the corridor between Corminar’s ostensibly imaginary-bee-hitting shots and plucked the still flaming torch from the floor where he’d dropped it.
‘They’ll see what I am!’ Val roared. ‘They’ll see it!’
I pressed on, ignoring the cries about true identities and swarming insects, and laid my eyes upon the Mala once more.
‘Styk?’ a familiar voice cried out. Her voice was breathy, like a whisper, yet resonated off the walls around me. I spun around, looking for her, but saw nothing; unlike the others, I wasn’t strong enough. The Mala had less to work with—it couldn’t form visual hallucinations for me, at least not so quickly.
‘Don’t leave me!’ Val cried out, falling to the floor and clutching her knees to her chest. I could only assume she was talking to her hallucinations, rather than to me.
I took a step forward, towards the black ink-like shape that stood still, observing, preparing itself to strike when we were all distracted. I couldn’t let that happen.
‘Styk, are you there?’ the voice cried out again. There was pain in her tone, now. Just like the last time I’d seen her.
My arm shook as I raised the torch ahead of me, as though putting it between me and the Mala would somehow break its spell over me. I stepped forward. Just the once; that was as much as I could manage.
‘Wait…’ the echo of the forgotten woman said. ‘Don’t you want to see me? Don’t you want to see me again?’
I steadied my hand. The last time I’d seen the owner of that voice, I… Suffice to say, whatever I saw wouldn’t be real. Couldn’t be real. Yet that didn’t mean I wasn’t yearning to see her with every fibre of my being.
I wrenched my attention away from the end of the corridor, where a shape was taking form, and turned back to the Mala. All it would take was one short burst of inner strength—enough to overwhelm my desperate urge to see her again—and we’d be free of it. I’d never have to face up to what I’d done. I’d never have to see the knife in her heart.
As another of Corminar’s arrows flew overhead, I steadied myself. Half thinking, half not, I launched myself into a freshly summoned portal, arriving in the air above the Mala, and I swung the torch down upon it.
It squealed as it died.
Level ? corruption defeated!
Worldbending — +300xp
Worldbending increased to level 5!
Base Points gained — +2 INT, +2 Free Points (INT/WIS/CHA)
Ability selection unlocked
...
"Styk"
Level 6 Novice Bladespinner
Base Stats:
Vitality — 10
Intelligence — 25
Dexterity — 15
Strength — 27
Wisdom — 10
Charisma — 0
Skills:
Knifework — Level 12
Worldbending — Level 5
Identification — Level 5
Stealth — Level 2
Abilities:
Slice — Slice the enemy for physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].
Stab — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through tougher hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR].
Closed Reach — Bend reality to narrow the gap between blade and target by up to 8 inches. Uses mana.
Local Portal — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight. Uses mana/second.
Basic Stealth Attack — Passive. 10% boost to damage when unnoticed by enemy.
Basic Identification — Discover basic attributes for a particular object or person. Ability scales with [WIS] + [INT].
Active Effects:
Legacy of Sisyphus:
XP gain increased by +400%