‘Err…’ Lore mumbled.

‘Yep. I know.’

‘You think that makes getting out easier or harder?’

I ran towards the door, holding it open for him. ‘Only one way to find out.’

We charged down the corridor and out into the central building’s main atrium, just at the same time as a number of freshly risen guard charged down the stairs. They hurriedly pulled their uniforms on, blades still in scabbards, their eyes on the door and not on the two fleeing saboteurs—us.

‘Fight?’ Lore asked.

‘Nope!’ I said, flinging open a portal in front of us and opening another in the space I could see through the crack in the opening door. I jumped through, followed by Lore, completing by-passing the fight against the five new guards running out to help.

Outside, in the space between the inner and outer walls, the prison was… chaos. Dozens of guards in gold uniforms fought with prisoners, balls of fire and lightning, poison-tipped arrows, and throwing knives all flying through the air. There was a chorus of metal against metal, the smartest of the prisoners having rushed to retrieved weapons rather than heading straight for the outer wall.

I scurried for cover, Lore close behind me, but quickly found that there was no cover to be had. ‘Alright, portal time,’ I told my barbarian friend.

Lore grabbed me by the arm. ‘What about the others? Shouldn’t we help them?’

‘If you can find them in this mess, sure. Otherwise, I think it’s time we got the hells out of here.’

Lore said nothing, frantically searching the skirmish for signs of our fellow party members, while I reached a hand up to the top of the outer wall to open up a portal.

But just as I was about to open, a great wall of misty light—no, not a wall, a bubble—encapsulated the prison at the outside boundary of the outer wall. This magick-summoned wall was apparently enough to stop bodies passing through—as evidence by a fleeing prisoner bouncing off it rather comically at the main gate—but also enough to stop me opening a portal beyond it. Our escape plan had been neutralised.

‘Styk?’ Lore asked, as one of the guards spotted us and he was forced to bat the resulting arrow out of the way with the flat of his sword. ‘Styk? What’s going on?’

‘We’re trapped,’ I replied. ‘We need to find… We need to find their sorcerer. Knock them out.’

‘There!’ Lore suddenly shouted, pointing across the grounds to a point near the supply closet where we’d entered the complex.

‘The sorcerer?’

‘No! Corminar!’ Lore was already running by the point at which he said this, so I opened up a portal in front of him to carry him across the grounds as quickly as possible, minimising risk of him being hit by a stray arrow or spell. I too charged towards it and jumped through, landing with a stumble at the feet of my elven friend.

‘Styk,’ Corminar said, catching me.

‘Good to see you too.’

At his rear, Lore pushed open the door to the supply rooms, then Corminar and I charged inside.

‘I assumed I would find you here,’ the elf said. ‘This was your entrance route, after all.’

‘Where’s Val?’ I asked. ‘And Arzak?’

Corminar frowned. ‘We were separated in the confusion. Val was preoccupied by orders from a ranking soldier, while Arzak has already joined a prison gang.’

‘A…’ I started.

‘Yes. The Reach Fiends. She attempted to acquire me an invitation as well, though alas I was not Orcish enough for their tastes. Or, indeed, Orcish at all.’

Lore held the door nearly closed, one eye peeking out through a crack. ‘I don’t see either of them. They’re alright though, you reckon, yeah?’

The elf shrugged. ‘It is a mistake to worry too much about either of them, in my experience. They are perfectly capable of survival, even in such chaotic circumstances as these.’

‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘I didn’t really expect this.’

‘Seems rather obvious in hindsight, though, one supposes.’

I almost stuck my tongue out at him, then remembered he wasn’t Val, and therefore was unlikely to take such a childish response in the same spirit. ‘What’s the plan, then?’

‘It is my experience that you are the planner of the group,’ Corminar replied. ‘Why did you think we brought you on board?’

‘I thought it was the portal stuff,’ Lore suggested.

‘That as well.’

I blinked, but now wasn’t the time to question the two guys on all of this.

‘Guys…’ Lore said.

I turned to Corminar. ‘OK, whether or not we’re looking for the others, we need to find this sorcerer, get this magic wall thing down.’

‘Guys…’

‘Agreed. Our initial intelligence suggested she would be atop the wall. A view of the battlefield, if you will.’

‘Yeah, so we head up there, we move quick—’

‘Portals,’ the elf suggested.

‘—and we eliminate her as quickly as possible.’

‘I must ask: are we killing or rendering unconscious. I do not think I agree with killing someone who is only doing their—’

Lore slammed the door closed just before a heavy something crashed into it, making the very room shake. Corminar and I turned to blink at him.

‘I tried to tell you: I think we’ve been spotted.’

‘Ah.’

‘Yeah.’

‘How many?’

‘Nine coming this way,’ Lore replied.

‘Ah.’

‘Yeah,’ Lore said again. ‘Too many.’

‘How high do you think the wall is?’

‘More than ten yards, I am afraid to say,’ Corminar said. ‘You cannot do this blind. Is there another exit?’

I shook my head. ‘None.’

‘Ideas,’ the elf said. ‘Quickly.’

There was only one that came to me. ‘Lore,’ I said. ‘Open the door.’

The barbarian knew better than to delay on following instructions when in the middle of a fight—act first, ask questions later, and all that. He flung the door open, and I charged straight through it, at the group of nine soldiers who were advancing on us. I bared my teeth at them for a moment, thinking for some reason that would make me look a lot scarier than I was, but in hindsight it maybe just made me look like an idiot.

The nine soldiers didn’t slow their advance at the sight of a thief charging at them, even if I was now being followed by a huge barbarian and a ranger who admittedly looked more like a talented hairdresser than a mercenary. One of the soldiers with a bow nocked it once more, preparing to fire, and in that moment I spun around, mid-step.

I flung one hand back and the other gesturing up to the top of the wall, and I opened the pair of portals just in time. I fell through it backwards, landing hard on the solid stone wall and knocking my head, Lore and Corminar jumping through behind me. In the daze that followed from me hitting my head, I forgot for a moment to close the portal, and in that time, one of the soldiers slipped through.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

‘Lore!’ I said, alerting my barbarian friend to the danger close at hand.

The barbarian, alarmed, swivelled on the spot, and in doing so knocked the soldier from both his feet and the top of the wall. He landed with a thud. ‘...Oops,’ Lore mumbled, and the three of us peeked over the side of a wall. ‘You think he’s…?’

‘They probably got a good healer on hand,’ I told him, very keenly aware that this could be a lie. ‘He’ll be fine.’

Lore either believed it, or chose to believe it—the end result was the same—and the three of us turned our attention to the few soldiers on the wall.

The gold-cloaked guards were dotted every thirty or so yards along the wall, each of them armed with a crossbow, and unbothered by the prisoners below, who had no way of reaching them. None of the prisoners, of course, except us.

‘I see Val!’ Lore suddenly said, pointing to a woman in very loose-fitting uniform. She was at the bottom of the wall, by the entrance to the inner gate, and something—likely magicks—had forced her to drop her disguise. And the guards around her were just starting to notice.

I eyed up my mana bar—drained a good way by this point—before ultimately realising I had no choice here; only I could pluck her from trouble. I heard Val yelp at the portal appeared beneath her feet, and for a second she scrambled to avoid falling through it, before apparently realising what was going on.

She fell to the top of the wall at my side, and managed to avoid hitting her head like I had. ‘Took you long enough,’ she said, punching me on the shoulder.

‘Is that your version of “thank you for saving my life”?’

‘Yes,’ Corminar and Lore both said in unison.

‘...Fine.’

‘Bit of a mess, all this,’ Val said, quickly switching the subject.

‘Yes, I know, I didn’t account for it.’

‘Guess it seems pretty obvious in hindsight, though.’

‘Yes, thank you, Val. You happen to know where this sorcerer is?’

A huge fireball exploded down below, and the four of us crept back from the edge of the wall.

‘One of this lot,’ Val said, nodding to the soldiers on the wall. ‘What’s-his-face back at Aiwin’s was right. She’s up here.’

‘These are all rangers.’

‘Nope,’ Val said, nodding to our right. ‘Look. The one four spots down. Not really firing, and anything she does fire…’ The ranger released a shot that soared far over its presumed target’s head.

As though her ears were burning, the soldier in question turned towards us. Her eyes widened when she saw that four “prisoners” had made it atop the wall.

‘Styk?’ Lore asked.

‘Yeah?’

‘How much mana you got left? How much portal?’

I checked my mana reserves. ‘About… ten seconds? Not much. What are you thinking?’

The sorcerer shouted, her fellow rangers suddenly snapping from their focus on the prisoners below, and following the sorcerer’s gesture to, and I quote, “Look the hell over there!”

‘Don’t need to kill them, do we?’ Lore said. ‘Just gotta make them unconscious.’

I didn’t quite know what it was, but Lore and I seemed to always be on the same page, more so than I had with any of the others—except for perhaps Val when it came to whether or not to have another pint. In this case, with ten or more crossbows being suddenly pointed towards us, this aspect of our relationship was vital; we didn’t have more than a few seconds before we were all speared.

Lore began to charge.

I flashed open a portal in front of him, opening its pair just in front of the nearest ranger. As soon as Lore was through it—not quite, even—I closed it, preserving mana. The barbarian, instead of attacking, simply… ran through the ranger, knocking him from the wall and screaming as he plummeted towards the floor below—and then, silence.

Level 20 guard defeated!

Worldbending — +650xp

Lore charged on, not slowly for a moment, and perhaps even gaining in speed. The next ranger released a bolt from his crossbow, and I blinked open a portal just in time to save Lore from being it. The burly barbarian bashed the guard in the shoulder, sending them too towards the ground far below.

Level 18 guard defeated!

Worldbending — +500xp

‘I haven’t bowled for a while,’ Val mused as she watched the events unfold in front of us.

‘My thoughts as well,’ Corminar agreed.

Once again, I flashed open a pair of portals in front of Lore, my mana now dwindling, and closed the gap between him and the next ranger. I think you know, dear reader, what happened next.

Level 22 gambling enthusiast defeated!

Worldbending — +650xp

I noted the different class of this particular guard; it was good to see that not all of them lived to work, and at least one of them worked to live instead.

The next ranger ahead of Lore was the one we were after—we eliminate them, and the shining white wall spell would be broken. We’d be free.

As I opened up one last portal, my mana reserves draining to a mere sliver, Lore jumped, swinging his Bane Sword pommel-first. He passed through the portal, and his target’s eyes widened. The very beginnings of a new spell—flames, from the looks of it—formed in the guard’s hands, but it was too late.

The pommel of the Bane Sword collided with the woman’s head, just between the eyes, and she staggered. It didn’t knock her out in one go, like the guard back in the central chambers, but it was enough to cancel the fire spell and give Lore the chance to bash her from the wall.

Level 25 sorcerer captain defeated!

Worldbending — +900xp

Worldbending increased to level 27!

Base Points gained — +2 INT, +2 Free Points (INT/WIS/CHA)

The shimmering white wall faded away, and it didn’t take long for the remaining prisoners down in the grounds below to notice, many of them cheering at this apparent victory.

Lore turned around, a good fifty paces down the wall, and gave us a thumbs-up, a goofy smile on his face.

‘Alright, nice,’ Val said. She nodded to the ground below, outside the prison wall. ‘Styk, you wanna portal us down there?’

‘I… err…’ I replied, one eye on the barest sliver of mana supply left in my power bar.

‘...Styk?’

Someone down below shouted, ‘People!’

‘What?’ I replied.

‘Are you seriously about to tell me that you’re out of mana?’ Val asked. Before I could either confirm or deny it, she continued, ‘And how in the hells are we supposed to get out of here, then?’

‘We could jump,’ Lore said, appearing at our side once more. When Val and I raised an eyebrow at him, he clarified, ‘Sorry. Was a joke.’

‘People!’ the voice down below said again, and in that moment, both Corminar and I realised this voice belonged to Arzak. We poked our heads over the side of the wall to see the orc standing with a beautiful elf at her side, apparently having already long since escaped the prison complex. This slender elf was Aiwin, I could only assume. If I had been a better man, I would have picked up my jaw from the floor more quickly.

‘Finally,’ Arzak grumbled.

‘You could have… used our names?’ I replied.

The orc shook her head. ‘Then they know your names. Breaking prison? Crime too great. Best nobody know.’

I sighed. ‘Yeah, I’m sorry about the confusion. I didn’t think it would happen.’

‘I did,’ Arzak shouted back up. ‘Was obvious.’

‘See?’ Val muttered.

‘You not portal down?’

‘I’m out of mana!’ I replied.

‘I thought always pick Intelligence?’

‘I do!’

‘Hmm,’ Arzak said. ‘Then need level up faster.’

‘That doesn’t help us right about now!’ I replied, at the same moment that an arrow caught Lore in the back, making him furrow his brow but otherwise not even complain about it.

Down below, Aiwin eyed the gate, a good way down the street, where guards were still doing their best to keep the prisoners contained. ‘Might we move this along a little?’ the new elf asked.

‘Is OK,’ the orc said with a shrug. ‘I catch.’ She held out her hands in front of her, and I was completely unconvinced.

‘You sure?’ I asked. ‘It’s quite a fall, and I—’

At that moment, Val gave me a quick, sharp shove, and only seconds later I found myself being cradled in Arzak’s arms.

‘See? I catch.’

I looked back at the woman currently carrying me. ‘This is very emasculating.’

Arzak smiled. ‘Yes,’ she said.

"Styk"

Level 12 Bladespinner

Base Stats:

Vitality — 26

Intelligence — 115

Dexterity — 44

Strength — 50

Wisdom — 32

Charisma — 8

Skills:

Worldbending — Level 27

Knifework — Level 23

Identification — Level 10

Stealth — Level 9

Needlework — Level 4

Abilities:

Slice — Slice the enemy for physical damage worth weapon’s base damage and additional damage scaling on [STR].

Stab II — Put your weight behind your wielded blade and force the tip through tougher hides and armour. Damage scales on [STR], increased by an additional 20%.

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.

Local Portal II — Create a portal to another location within current range of sight or within a ten yard radius. Uses mana/second.

Portal Slice — Passive. Portals can now be spawned within non-sentient objects. Doing so slices through all objects that are not reinforced by magic.

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.

Stealth Attack — Passive. 50% boost to damage when unnoticed by enemy.

Stitch — Create a basic stitch in common fabrics. Ability scales on [CHA].

Active Effects:

Legacy of Sisyphus:

XP gain increased by +900%