Guild Wars_ Ghosts of Ascalon - Matt Forbeck [53]
Dougal looked around: the alleyway was as empty as before. In Divinity’s Reach a half-dozen Seraph would have been on top of them, and shutters would be slamming shut and secured up and down the street. Here it was just another morning brawl.
They moved through the back alleys to the covered merchant district. The banked braziers and forges of the bazaar lit the blue sailcloth from below, giving the area an otherworldly feeling. The few merchant guards watched them carefully until they left their particular areas, then returned to their bottles and warm blankets.
Within sight of the asura gates, Riona called a halt. At this point she produced the manacles from Gullik’s pack, which also held Ember’s armor and weapon. Ember flinched at the sight of them but then held up her hands, wrists together.
“Wolf’s teeth!” said Gullik, softly. “A charr allowing a human to put her in chains? I must still be dreaming.”
“I have my orders.” Ember growled out her words. “I follow them.”
“You are braver than I,” said Gullik.
“It’s the only way we can get her through Ebonhawke.” Riona fixed Gullik with a glare that insisted he say nothing more, but he showed no signs of understanding it.
The norn sighed. “Ah, Ebonhawke. I know it well! I haven’t been there since they threw me out of the city for destroying one of their pubs.”
Ignoring Riona’s protests, Ember turned and stood up right in the norn’s face. Gullik’s smile vanished. “That’s something you failed to mention before. That’s not going to present a problem for us, is it?” the charr asked.
Gullik put up his hands to reassure her. “Of course not. That was years ago, and I’m sure they’ve rebuilt it by now.”
Ember turned back to Riona and let her finish attaching the chains. “If this fails to work, the Ebon Vanguard will hang me as a spy,” she said,. “But before I go, I’ll kill anyone responsible for causing that failure. This I promise.”
“She’s touchy,” Gullik said to Dougal. “But still as regal as a lioness. I think I like her!”
They emerged from the market near the half circle of asura gates, their stone and metal ovals flickering with stray, erratic flickers of eldritch power. At the Divinity’s Reach gate stood a trio of asura that Dougal had noticed coming in. They were practically vibrating with excitement, running from crystal to crystal and rune to rune, adjusting, modifying, and trying to tune the gate to the proper aetheric frequency.
“I’m not getting anything,” snapped one.
“Try the sympathetic diathuergic connection!” suggested the next.
“Hang on, I’m seeing the handshake invocation come through. Tuning in the test chord.”
“Got it!” said the first. “We are a go! Planar boring up and operating. Full chord registry. Amazing! We are live by five!”
“Kranxx, you are simply magnificent,” said the second to herself with admiration, staring at the gate.
“You lot,” snapped the third at Dougal’s group, “get up there! We can’t hold this for more than ten heartbeats! After that, the hard-linked resonant dampers reset and who knows where you’d end up.”
Ember held up her chains and shook them, then nodded at Riona, who was holding the other end. Riona adjusted her helmet and nodded back. They ran up the ramp and stepped through the gate. Dougal followed them.
He felt his skin dry as he stepped through the gate. He had not felt damp in seaside Lion’s Arch, but now all the moisture evaporated from his flesh, and the dry night air, still warm, forced its way into his lungs. Ebonhawke was perched on the edge of the Crystal Desert, and even in the dead of night the residual heat pulled the sweat from exposed flesh.
The far side of the gate was similar to that of Divinity’s Reach: set atop a low mound, surrounded by a thick wall with a parapet pointed in toward the gate. In the event that something unpleasant pushed its way through from the other side, there would be a welcoming committee on this side.