Guild Wars_ Ghosts of Ascalon - Matt Forbeck [33]
Dougal looked at Riona and raised an eyebrow, but the other human kept her eyes fixed on the general. Dougal and Killeen left the room, the hylek Naugatl opening the door to escort them back to the waiting area. As he closed the door to the meeting room behind him, Dougal caught Almorra’s rising voice: “You mean you never told him what we wanted …” Then the door closed and muffled the angry voice of the charr general.
In the waiting area, Dougal sat down and looked at his hands. Killeen remained standing.
“I’m not afraid,” started Dougal. “I want you to know that—”
“I’m going,” said Killeen.
Dougal looked up and saw the sincerity in the sylvari’s face. “Killeen, you don’t know—”
“No, I don’t,” she said, “but I want to find out. I think what they’re doing is for the best. For humans. For charr. For everyone.”
Dougal shook his head, but Killeen pressed on. “Your races are fortunate. You’ve been here forever. My people have been here twenty-five years and have never known a world where the Elder Dragons were not present, gnawing at the corners of our lands, bringing us zombies and abominations and all forms of twisted creatures in their wake. My people are here for a reason—I think the dragons are that reason—and if I can do anything to help the other races put aside their squabbles and turn to the greater danger, I will do it.”
“Killeen,” said Dougal, “even the charr legions give Ascalon City a wide berth. It is a city filled with ghosts.”
“Necromancer,” reminded the sylvari, smiling, “that argument is not going to have a lot of traction.”
“You don’t stand a chance without me,” said Dougal, standing up and looking down on her smiling green face.
“You should lead us, then,” said Killeen. She shook her head at some private joke, then reached up and touched his forehead. “You humans. You think too much up here.” She moved her hand down, resting on his chest, her fingers grazing the locket that hung around his neck. “You should be thinking from here as well.”
Dougal’s face darkened. Blushing, he turned away from her. He took a deep breath and said, “Killeen …”
The door opened and Riona entered. Her face was flushed as well, though in her case from barely contained anger. Dougal could imagine how unpleasant it must be to be chewed out by a charr, especially a superior who is a charr.
“She’d like to talk to you again,” she said. “Come with me.”
“I think I’ll stay here,” said Killeen. “You two may need a moment.” Riona left the room without even seeming to have heard her.
In the hallway, Riona turned to him, angry. “Dougal Keane. What happened to you?”
“Riona, I really don’t want to …” Dougal started, still shaken from Killeen’s words.
But Riona would not be denied. “You used to take chances. You used to always talk about that big strike, that ultimate prize, that great treasure. The chance to prove to the world that you could beat it.”
“I took that big chance. And in taking that chance we betrayed you,” said Dougal.
“But you lost it,” said Riona, ignoring him. “Whatever happened in Ascalon City. You lost more than the rest of our platoon. You lost your will. You lost your bravery. You started running and haven’t stopped.”
“Are you done ?” said Dougal, fixing her with a glare as sharp and angry as her own.
Riona’s mouth became a thin line. “Yes. I think we are.”
“Fine,” Dougal said. “Now bring me to your general.”
A minute later, once Riona had left the chamber and closed the door behind her, Dougal said calmly, “Now, are you going to yell at me?”
“No,” said General Soulkeeper, standing in front of the fire, staring into its depths as if looking for an answer. “Instead I want to tell you a story. I understand you left Ebonhawke five years ago, and you have not been back.”
“I thought there was nothing for me there,” said Dougal.
“I was part of the siege of Ebonhawke as well,” said Almorra. “We may have hunted each other, or stared at each