Guild Wars_ Ghosts of Ascalon - Matt Forbeck [49]
He got there before Riona, which pleased him in some perverse manner. Killeen had arrived early, but even she seemed bleary-eyed and worn-out. Only Ember seemed unaffected by the early hour, picking at the remains of the moa platter from dinner.
They sat there for a few long minutes. Servants brought in a platter of cheese and a new ewer of wine. Dougal helped himself to the cheese but abjured the wine.
“Riona’s late. Perhaps we will have to leave without her,” Killeen said, yawning.
Dougal smiled at the thought of Riona chasing after them as they left the safe house. “Perhaps we should.”
Killeen stared at Dougal with her wide green eyes. After a moment he decided he’d become uncomfortable with it.
“What?” he asked.
“Just wondering what your bones will look like.”
Dougal frowned at her. Ember stopped picking the moa and glared at the sylvari.
“What are your wishes in the event of your demise?” she added, smiling at Dougal.
“What?” he responded.
Killeen shrugged. “There’s a possibility that some of us will not survive this mission. It’s only wise that we make each other aware of our last wishes. Would you prefer a burial, a burning, or something else entirely?”
Dougal shrugged. “Do whatever you like. At that point, I’ll be beyond caring.”
“Really?” Killeen’s eyes lit up like the rising sun glaring off the sea. “That’s refreshing. Most humans prefer to be buried, but with all the undead streaming out of Orr these days, a growing number are choosing to be burned instead. Just to make sure that they don’t end up as some sort of zombie or skeleton in the service of the dragon Zhaitan, of course. Not that it’s really them: their spirit should have fled by that point, after all. Most people either can’t or don’t bother to make the distinction.”
She looked him up and down as if she were sizing up a side of beef. “You would make an excellent undead servant.” She circled around him, checking him out from every angle. “Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?”
Despite himself, Dougal shuddered. “Riona’s right,” he said, “you are creepy sometimes.”
Killeen showed all her bright teeth as she smiled at him. “I am who I am.”
A deep voice booming from the hallway interrupted the conversation. “Hail, my new friends! This shall be a saga our grandchildren will sing with pride!”
At first Dougal had felt relieved to be spared any more of Killeen’s curiosity, but then he turned to see the norn walking toward them with a wide grin on his tremendous face. Dougal’s muscles bunched in case Gullik was prepared to finish the job he had started the day before.
But Gullik seemed sober today, and not immediately bent on Dougal’s murder, so there were those points in his favor. The norn walked up to Ember’s place, nodded at the charr, examined the remains of the sadly depleted moa, let out a sigh, and contented himself with a handful of cheese.
Riona trotted up behind the norn, and Soulkeeper strode after them, unhurried.
“Wait!” Riona said to Gullik. “The general only asked if you might be interested in joining us. We haven’t agreed on anything.”
Gullik shrugged as he pulled his long, loose hair back behind him and wrapped a leather strip through it, binding it in place. “It’s an adventure for the ages,” he said. “It’s exactly the challenge I’ve been needing. Life in these lowlands has bored me to tears of late, and I can think of nothing I’d rather do than make another mark upon history.”
He stopped in front of Dougal, leaned forward, and gave him a conspiratorial wink. “After all, even I can’t keep at this forever, and I have an image to burnish. The bards shall sing our names in the same chorus alongside those of Destiny’s Edge and the other great heroes of our age!”
“And how are you feeling this morning?” Dougal asked, smiling wanly.
“Like a hedgehog got loose in my