FOUR MONTHS EARLIER

‘Punnas? Lopas?’ Tokas said, rubbing the sides of her temple in an attempt to soothe the seemingly ever-present headache. ‘Why don’t we sit down for a bit, hmm? Maybe sit and play with our toys? And sit?’

More and more, Tokas felt the temptation to get the local enchantress to have a look at casting slowing on the childrens’ boots. Maybe she’d get some peace and quiet, and just maybe she would be able to keep the apartment clean. Either that, or Zarin was going to have to quit one of his jobs and help her out with the twins.

How they would then pay their rent would be a matter for another day.

‘OK Mummy,’ Punnas said. ‘We sit.’ He plonked himself down on the floor immediately, right in the middle of the kitchen.

‘Why don’t we go sit in the bedroom? You too, Lopas,’ Tokas said, encouraging them with gentle gestures of her hands. ‘Please?’

Solemnly—perhaps understanding that Tokas was struggling—Punnas took his brother by the hand and led him off into the other room.

Tokas breathed a sigh of relief. She put the kettle on the magma stone and scooped out a small handful of tea leaves into her cup. Tea would make it all better. It had to. At least, it wouldn’t make it worse.

A knock at the door made Tokas realise she had closed her eyes. She had to have fallen asleep for a moment, because the kettle was already warm, if not quite boiling.

‘Yes?’ Tokas called out.

She waited for a response, but none came.

‘Yes? What do you want?’

Still there was no response, so Tokas stormed over to the front door and swung it open, revealing a handsome young human man with some strange quality behind his eyes.

‘Tokas, I take it?’ the human said.

‘I…’ Tokas started, but was forced to trail off when the human pushed into her apartment. It was at this moment that she started to realise just how much trouble she was in. ‘My husband will be home any moment,’ she said.

‘Oh yeah?’ the man replied, making himself comfortable on Tokas’s sofa. ‘Tiefling, like you, is he?’

‘Human,’ Tokas said.

The man nodded, patting the back of the sofa absent-mindedly as he looked around the room.

‘What do you—’

‘I’m told you specialise in illusion magicks.’

‘I do.’

Again, the man nodded his head. ‘Good. You’re coming with me.’

‘I’m not going anywhere,' Tokas replied, taking an unconscious step backwards.

The man sighed. ‘I’m going to make this simple. You’re coming with me, or you’re not going anywhere ever again.’

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

Tokas stared back at the man, considering her abilities, preparing herself to use the apparently much in-demand illusion magicks to escape. She caught herself; there were the twins in the other room—it wasn’t that simple. Tokas prayed they would remain this uncharacteristically quiet.

‘Have you identified me yet?’ the man finally asked.

Tokas didn’t reply, but did exactly as suggested. After all, what was the harm?

When she saw the result, she found a lump become lodged within her throat. Others would not know the danger that a Player posed, but she? She knew very well. Tokas could only hope that this particular Player—a pyroknight—would think her not clued in to the truth of their kind.

‘Oh, I…’ she started. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I didn’t realise I was dealing with a—’

‘Yes, yes, alright,’ the pyroknight said, waving her down. ‘I get plenty of that. And, frankly, I’m sick of it. But the boss says it’s important we preserve our image, and all that, so I gotta stop killing people.’

Tokas blinked; she hadn’t expected the conversation to go this way.

‘But, you know what? I don’t want to stop. I’m a pyroknight; I burn people. That’s what I do. If I’m not doing that, I’m powerless. So I figured… what’s the next best thing? Either don’t leave anyone alive to tell the tale—something easier said than done—or I work some illusion magicks to give people the wrong idea. That’s where you come in.’

‘I won’t help you murder anyone,’ Tokas said. She couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t even so much as speak that lie.

The Player smiled. ‘You will. You—’ the man stopped suddenly, his attention fixed on some spot behind Tokas. The hallway.

Tokas knew what she’d see before she turned.

Lopas stood in the hallway, holding one of his toys, his wide eyes staring up at the intruder.

‘Go back in the other room, sweetheart,’ Tokas said, forcing her voice not to strain. ‘Go back in with Punnas.’ She immediately caught herself. She shouldn’t have said that. She shouldn’t have said she had another.

The Player watched Tokas’s child slink back off into his room once more, and a wide, toothy smile crossed his face. ‘Oh, I see! Maybe convincing you is going to be easier than I thought.’

The room fell silent, as the pyroknight left the rest of that thought dangling there, unspoken but present.

‘I won’t hurt anyone. I won’t help you hurt any—’

‘We both know you will. A year of your service, that’s all I require. After that, the Council’s plans should be fully in motion, and it won’t matter if the world hates us. Then, you can go back to your family. And you’ll still have one.’

It took until now for Tokas to realise she was crying. ‘I won’t… I won’t… I’m supposed to stop your kind, not—’

But she was interrupted by the front door opening once more. Zarin stood in the doorway, eyes upon Tokas and full of love. Brilliant, handsome, fatherly Zarin. A human that she’d never expected to love.

His expression morphed from one of love to one of confusion when he saw the pyroknight.

* * *

Two months later, Tokas was in Plainside.

In the weeks since that fateful encounter, she and Jacob had picked up another member of their party, an orc called Lev. Lev was a mercenary, not a true believer, and just as ruthless as Tokas had come to expect of one of his kind. The orc closed a vital gap in Jacob’s metaphorical armour; though the Player was a pyroknight, his weapon-based abilities suffered from a lack of investment in stamina. This meant that Jacob was strong on the magicks, but could only use his sword—one summoned from fire—sparingly.

Fire was raging around the trio, and Jacob had—this time, at least—spared some of his fire resistance magicks to protect Tokas and Lev as they walked through the burning ruins of the Collector’s manor.

Tokas didn’t know what Jacob’s orders were—only that he had some—and yet she was under explicit instructions not to mention this little detour to anyone. The rest of the Players, somewhere out there, they did not know about this.

But Tokas knew better than to ask; she still sported the burns from last time—burns that even healing magicks couldn’t immediately fix.

As they progressed through the burning building, three knives suddenly shot out from around a corner, burying themselves in Jacob’s chest. Every part of Tokas wanted to grab hold of those knives and twist them, subjecting Jacob to the same kind of pain she’d seem him inflict countless times over the last few weeks. But she didn’t.

In fact, as the Player reached down to pluck his prize—a metal octohedron—from a dead thief’s body, Tokas closed her eyes.

She thought of Punnas and Lopas, being cared for by her father.

At least they would live.