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Chapter 4: Shattered Expectations (Part 1)

The battle had begun; the Assassins divided and sprinted towards us in organized groups. My mind wondered for a brief moment and I was compelled to glance towards Daniel and Serenity to see if they …

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Chapter 2: Part 2 – Guts and Courage

“I want to know what the Inquest are up to,” I told Erin, as we left the Henge behind. Dusk was falling, sweeping down across the rolling hills with a finality that made dawn feel …

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Chapter 6: Turmoil

Our small band travelled the road out of Caledon Forest and soon found ourselves on the other side of the Alekess Ledge in Kessex Hills. The familiar jungles of the Tarnished Coast dwindled, and the …

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Chapter Three: More Than Just A Courier (part 3)

My eyes opened to a sunlit sky. The smell of cooked meat filled the air. I instinctively groaned as I sat up and looked at my surroundings. I glanced over to find that Serenity and …

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Chapter 2: Part 1 – Into the Wildlands

We ended up in a tavern – the Crow’s Nest, to be precise. It was a place I associated with the shadier dealings of the Order of Whispers, but at this hour of the morning …

Chapter 4: Shattered Expectations (Part 1)Chapter 2: Part 2 – Guts and CourageChapter 6: TurmoilChapter Three: More Than Just A Courier (part 3)Chapter 2: Part 1 – Into the Wildlands

Jun 18

Chapter 4: Shattered Expectations (Part 1)

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The battle had begun; the Assassins divided and sprinted towards us in organized groups. My mind wondered for a brief moment and I was compelled to glance towards Daniel and Serenity to see if they could hold their own.

No! Focus on your battle. They can hold their own. Distraction leads to death. At least that was what I had always been taught.

My opponents reached into the belts of their armor and unleashed a volley of throwing knives towards my position. I managed to dodge but only barely; these individuals were not fools. They were fast and acted with a killer intent. What exactly motivated them was beyond me. I desperately hoped that Daniel was right about these being the walking glass marionettes he claimed them to be. Then again, he was rarely wrong when it came to battle strategy and detecting weaknesses. But this was no time to reflect. I needed to shift this battle into my own terms.

I glanced towards the furthest target, and only now did I notice that this band of assassins consisted of more than just humans. It was a sylvari, and a female from the looks of it. I knew of these creatures being able to separate themselves from the Pale Tree and become more independent, but seeing one of them in this band of assassins absolutely baffled me. I snapped out of my momentary contemplation and outstretched my arm towards the sylvari, a chilling black hand erupted from my palm and shot towards her. She was too slow to evade it and it ended up sizing her by the neck. She faded from existence then reappeared before me; her confusion was soon ended as I slid my sword across her throat.

Not very likely to be confused when you are dead. Read the rest of this entry »

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Jun 17

Chapter 2: Part 2 – Guts and Courage

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“I want to know what the Inquest are up to,” I told Erin, as we left the Henge behind. Dusk was falling, sweeping down across the rolling hills with a finality that made dawn feel a long way away.

Erin stepped over a fallen tree trunk and, not wanting to scramble after her in an undignified manner, I shadow stepped to her side. She raised one eyebrow at me.

“Show off. You must be feeling better.”

“Much, thank you.” My injuries were fading, the gentle walk from Rata Sum having done a great deal to restore my strength. I flexed my arms above my head and grinned at Erin through the gloaming.”Ready for another fight, in fact.”

Erin shook her head. “And people think norn are bloodthirsty.”

I dropped my arms, sobered. It was easy to forget, out here in the wilds, that violence wasn’t my only objective. I was doing this to stop the Inquest causing more harm – and for Flikk. That sobered me even more. Flikk, for all his faults, had been peaceful at heart. Warfare turned his stomach: he’d wanted only a quiet life of exploration and scientific discovery.

Erin poked me in the shoulder, almost knocking me over. “That wasn’t a criticism, you know. It’s going to take guts to go up against the Inquest. Guts and courage.”

Guts and courage. Yes, those I could do. “So what are the Inquest up to out here?”

“I don’t know any more than you do, in all honesty. They’re researching the energy of the Druid husks, and…”

“And?” We’d stopped on a small rise, but before us a much greater hill rose as a dim shadow against the horizon.

“We’re between the skritt and the asura here,” Erin said. “The skritt… Well, they’re doing whatever skritt do. The asura bases, two of them in fact – they’ve caught the attention of the Inquest.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Jun 02

Chapter 6: Turmoil

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Ch6HeadbannerP1Our small band travelled the road out of Caledon Forest and soon found ourselves on the other side of the Alekess Ledge in Kessex Hills. The familiar jungles of the Tarnished Coast dwindled, and the thick moist foliage was replaced with tall trucked forests and lush rolling plains. From this point on the land was beyond my knowledge, and it felt like nature was speaking to me in an unfamiliar tongue.

As we cast our first gaze out over the cascading plains Hans took in a deep breath.

‘To be home in Krtya,’ he murmured under his breath.

‘It is too green,’ Kilgar growled, his thin lips jerking with distaste. I saw Han’s own lips twitch, as if to retort, but he remained silent. Kilgar soon set off on his brisk march and we scurried to follow his large strides. As we followed the eastbound road we were stopped by traders. Obviously noticing our unfamiliar faces they warned us of the aggressive wargs that patrolled the roads, and the krait that ventured from the lake to snatch their next meal.

‘What ever danger there is, we won’t be able to hear it coming over your scrap pile. He’s making a racket,’ Kilgar growled, jabbing a finger at Lurk’s golem. The golem had been duitifully lumbering behind us the entire trip, its feet thunking and joints clicking with every step.

‘He’s so noisy, perhaps they will think he is an ogre,’ Farkuz said with a small shrug.

‘Ogres don’t whistle,’ Kilgar snapped back at him. ‘If he starts whistling again I’m going to throw him in the lake.

Lurk blanched.

‘You most certainly will not! B.O.P.P is the pinnacle of golemancing technology. I constructed his aetheric reasoning modulator myself, and his metal mechanics were amalgamated by one of the most esteemed golem engineers and blacksmith in all of Rata-sum.’

‘I don’t care,’ Kilgar snapped. ‘Just shut the thing up or I’ll do it for you.’

Lurk snorted angrily, but pulled back to walk along side with his golem protectively.

‘He just doesn’t like the silence,’ he muttered, stroking the B.O.P.P’s arm.

‘Don’t look, Azalea,’ Hans said to me with a cocked grin. ‘He’s going to start talking to it, and you must give him the dignity of loosing his mind in peace.’

‘I can hear you!’ Lurk squeaked indignantly. Read the rest of this entry »

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May 29

Chapter Three: More Than Just A Courier (part 3)

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My eyes opened to a sunlit sky. The smell of cooked meat filled the air. I instinctively groaned as I sat up and looked at my surroundings.

I glanced over to find that Serenity and Daniel were sitting next to the fire with a whole boar roasting over it. Daniel seemed to be merely observing as Serenity cooked the dead animal. I squirmed out of the bedroll and spoke in my usual gruff morning voice.

“Morning everyone.” A loud yawn escaped my muzzle.

“Hey look who’s awake!” said Daniel. “Sleep well?”

“I had a nightmare, so not quite.” I moved over to sit on the floor next to Daniel.

“It didn’t sound like it,” said Daniel. He was grinning from ear to ear now. “So who’s this ‘Garfas’ you kept muttering about in your sleep?”

“Sounds like someone important,” added Serenity as she sank a dagger into the roasted boar.

I froze. ‘Did I really say that in my sleep?’ I thought. ‘what other things did I say? How much did Daniel and Serenity hear?’

It had been so long ever since I had a thought about Garfas, or even the warband for that matter. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I was extremely fuzzy on all the details; almost as if it were a dream. I sat there in confusion trying to put the pieces together. I was missing something important, I knew that much. Just then a wave of pain surged through my skull. Just as soon as the pain appeared, it vanished. I was left with even more confusion. Then I remembered that I had a question to answer.

“H-he is no one!” I said, looking away from both of the humans.

“Oh so now we know that Garfas is a male,” said Daniel. “So what’s so special about this person that you had a dream about him?” The human began to playfully poke my rib.

What did make him so important? Read the rest of this entry »

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May 27

Chapter 2: Part 1 – Into the Wildlands

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AmberHeader2-1

We ended up in a tavern – the Crow’s Nest, to be precise. It was a place I associated with the shadier dealings of the Order of Whispers, but at this hour of the morning it was mostly deserted. Erin ordered a flagon of ale bigger than my head and slammed it down on a table.

“Sit,” she ordered jovially, pointing to the padded bench opposite her own. “And drink.”

I did both, or at least I assume I did. It was only several hours later, when the flagon was long empty and I was beginning to sober up again, that I could actually recall what I was doing there.

Erin was sprawled along her bench, a half-finished cup of ale in her hand. “I can see why you’d want to take the Inquest down,” she said thoughtfully. I had the feeling she’d just finished a longer speech, one my lack of sobriety had caused me to entirely miss. I resisted the urge to put my head back down on the table and go to sleep.

“But I think you’re being too hasty,” she went on.

“Hasty?” My tongue felt like it was coated with sand. Had I told the norn everything?

“This plan of yours, to travel to Mount Maelstrom.” Erin shook her head. “That’s a dangerous business, on all accounts. I wouldn’t risk it.”

I had told her everything, then. Apparently I was more voluble when drunk.

“Everything about this enterprise has been risky,” I replied irritably. “But I’ve calculated that against the potential reward and come to the conclusion-”

Erin’s snort cut me off. “Risk and reward? Classic asura thinking. You’re going to get yourself killed.”

I was about to retort, but Erin swung her legs off the bench and hunched over the table, a grim intensity in her eyes. “Listen to me, Amber. There are some things in life you can’t calculate. You can run the numbers all you want, but a mission like the one you’re proposing isn’t going to go to plan just for your convenience.” Read the rest of this entry »

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May 26

Chapter 6: Part 4 Destroyer Shard Frequency

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gw368

Yes, big things awaited us, but not like I had expected.

A loud explosion woke us. Everyone in the house rushed to the windows and doors in a loud commotion to see what had happened.

“It came from Klatt and Klarra’s workshop,” Ragnvaldr, who had been first to the door, poked his head through the door and informed us.

“Should’ve known. Those stupid asura are going to get us all blown up one of these days,” one of our roommates swore and pushed between the group and ran out of the door. I took this chance to file out as well, using the path he cut to reach Ragnvaldr.

“We better go check up on them,” Ragnvaldr suggested and I nodded in approval. Wrapping my blanket around my shoulders, we went to the smoking building. The door had been blown from its hinges and some of the glass in the windows shattered.

“Klatt? Klarra?” I called out to them both, trying to clear the smoke with my hand. One of the priory members, a mage, cleared the room out for us with his air magic as he called out for the two asura with us.

Klarra stepped out. “That could have gone better,” She coughed and threw a large chunk of what looked like charcoal to the floor. Klatt stepped into view as well, dusting his robes off and writing something down in a notebook he had pulled from his pocket. It was laughable, the looks of them. The ends of their hairs were singed and every bit of them was covered in soot. The room around them was in even more disarray. Ash covered the tables, chairs and everything else. Splintered wood decorated the floor and other surfaces in both chunks and fragments.

“I told you not to channel the frequency before we added the molten shard. This is what I get for walking out for some fresh air!” Klatt belittled his assistant.

Read the rest of this entry »

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May 25

The Black Wolf Legacy

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The wagon jostled over the rocky dirt roads; Maddie’s head bounced on the wooden frame in the back. She had not woke from her injuries, but she looked better than before. Besides our creaky wagon, the night was silent. That should have been comforting, but it wasn’t. It was so unusual for our land to have no sounds, no wind, nothing. The silence made our peril seem all that much more desperate. The centaur didn’t speak since my father fixed his dagger under his chin. I held the leather straps in my hand as he pulled the wagon. I thought about how good it would feel to jerk my wrist and end this monster’s life, but keeping him alive to work for us, to feel humiliated, somehow kept my hatred at bay. Everyone is gone. I glance over at my father in the night expecting to see my mom again, but she is gone. Every time it feels like I’m being punched in my gut.

“Dad, what were the plague wars that you mentioned?” It was the first words spoken between us since leaving the village. I didn’t expect him to answer; his demeanor had melted away into a dark depression.

“It was a long time ago. A phantom named Shiro returned to the world of Tyria and poisoned the land in Cantha.”

“And you fought in those wars?”

“Yes, it was two hundred years ago.”

“Two hundred years ago? How is that possible dad? That’s two or three lifetimes.”

“Magic, like the amulet on Maddie’s neck. It allows us to extend our lives a little longer.” Lurx’s father pulled his shirt collar down to expose a black opal with golden wrapped metal designs holding it to the metallic blue chain.

Lurx’s father, Fekk began to speak again as he stared off into the trees like his mind was somewhere else. “Shiro perverted nature by causing ‘The Affliction.’ All the races were affected, all animals. They were mutated into grotesque abominations. This is why our tribe of Asurans left our religion, the Eternal Alchemy, the manipulation of nature through technology.” Read the rest of this entry »

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May 24

Chapter 2, part 2 – The Red Beauty

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“If she finds the heart, we’ll have to kill her.”

Vainard’s words resonated in my mind for most of the night. I couldn’t sleep. The thought of betrayal was something that struck me as horrible, especially coming from Vainard and that, even if I couldn’t stand Boxxa. She was an annoying, spiteful little being whom I couldn’t figure out, but she didn’t deserve even the slightest thought of being murdered. So I laid there, in my bed, for most of the night. My eyes rested on Vainard and for a moment I wondered if I really knew him. Assassination? For something that could (and emphasis on the word –could-) destroy the world as we know it. It wasn’t certain, but Vainard made it clear that we, or well –he- could not afford even taking a chance.

Still, he had scared me enough to fail to fall asleep that night.

I watched the sun rise and listened as the streets below got busier with merchants from all around Tyria. The inn we were staying at woke as well; customers and workers ran around downstairs and were having breakfast, which was probably the reason why Vainard even woke up. Food was one of his biggest weakness. Put a troll on the road, have it pursue Vainard and if there’s food on the road, you’re sure to find Vainard dead at some point, holding a piece of protein in one hand and a sword in the other. I’m exaggerating, but I wouldn’t be surprised, either.

Boxxa got up, grabbed her belongings and headed straight for the bathrooms. No hellos nor good mornings, simply a nod and she was gone. Clearly we weren’t in her top five of favourite persons but you would think that an asura would know how to be polite. It is common sense after all. Perhaps it doesn’t take wits to know that. All I know is that when she left, she made sure that everything she had, she took with her. There was no way of spying. She would remain a secret for a while, unless Vainard was good enough to take a peek into her belongings at night, while she slept. Sadly, we knew too well that asuras are geniuses when it comes to booby traps, even in their own little pouches or bags. We couldn’t take that risk. Read the rest of this entry »

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May 06

Chapter 6: Part 3 Typically Norn

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shiverhead

The day continued on and our bodies were covered in snow as we trudged through the knee deep powder and ice. While the norn were used to the below freezing temperatures, Tobih and I were slowed by it. Our hands and feet were frozen and stiff and we gave it our best just to keep up with our norn companions. Angel had insisted that we continue our journey through the sudden blizzard rather than stopping. It was a terrible idea and we all knew it. Tobih and I received the worst of the storm; unlike norn, we didn’t produce a lot of body heat. Before long, Tobih and I were lagging behind our two companions.

Honestly, it would all be worth it if I could find out who I was.

I strayed towards Tobih and warmed my wand up. I placed my hand on handle and invited him to do the same. The flame burst with life at the top, creating a small fire to keep ourselves warmed with.

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May 01

Chapter 4: Grub slayer and Golem fixer

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My chest heaved with exhaustion as I stumbled back from the giant grub’s lifeless corpse. Farkuz’s clawed hand held me upright as Stalk licked my grub juice covered hand affectionately. A nausea budded in the pit of my stomach and I fought the urge to retch. It was partly due to the exhaustion, but mostly because I was covered in juicy bits of grub flesh that dripped down my face. I looked to Farkuz and saw he looked no better. I could even see a grub’s severed feeler twitching in his mane. I looked away in disgust.

‘You’re no flower yourself, sprout,’ Farkuz growled.

‘My people,’ Matrik’s voice squeaked and Farkuz and I looked down at him. ‘You saved skritt! Skritt can come back to village now. Thank you!’

I merely nodded, but Farkuz spoke up.

‘How come you’re so much smarter than the rest?’ Farkuz asked, gesturing to the other skritt who were poking curiously at the dead grubs littered around them. ‘I doubt they know which way is up right now.’

‘Separation not matter so much to me. That why I’m leader!’ Matrik said lifting his chest with pride. ‘Safe now so skritt return. Skritt soon smart again.’

He was right. As we started to inspect the collapsed tunnel all of the skritt had picked up their swords again and were chattering to Matrik and his son Kratt’ok.

‘The cave-in looks superficial. The bomb wasn’t big enough to properly seal us in. We could probably dig ourselves out in a day. Lucky really. It could have been a lot worse,’ he said, running his hand through his mane. ‘If I had of set the bomb it’d take you months to get through.’

‘Well let’s be thankful that you did not,’ I said.

‘Let skritt tunnel,’ Matrik said stepping forward. ‘Skritt know how to tunnel better than plant or cat.’

Farkuz chuckled and stepped aside, letting the mischief of skritt pass by.

‘If you think you can tunnel faster, then go ahead.’

The skritt proved to be efficient tunnelers. In a few short hours they had broken through the cave-in and emerged back into the skritt caverns, received by a torrent of happy chittering. Elated skritt soon surrounded us, and after a few moments of happy squeaking Matrik turned to Farkuz and I.

‘You saved our village. Skritt owe you a great debt. Skritt will give you what you want in return.’

‘Well, you can show us the way to the surface so we can find our friends again,’ Farkuz said. ‘But first, we need some water. I want to wipe this slop off.’

‘We show you to better place,’ Matrik chirped, gesturing to two skritt who began pulling at our clothes. They lead us through increasingly narrow tunnels until we squeezed into another cavern. Like the cavern the skritt village was nestled in it had a large window at the top exposing bright blue sky, laced by thick greenery. In the center of the underground chamber was a spring of water, but oddly this one steamed like a pot of broth on a warm fire. Read the rest of this entry »

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