Guild Wars_ Ghosts of Ascalon - Matt Forbeck [74]
Then Bladebreaker lived up to his name.
Dougal hadn’t realized it, but Ember’s ferocious attack had played perfectly into Bladebreaker’s hands. Every time she swung her sword at him, he swung back, seeking the weakest point of her blade and striking it there. Eventually, he knew, his strategy would work, as long as she didn’t kill him first.
On Ember’s last stroke, Bladebreaker brought the edge of his sword around to meet the flat of hers. The blade shattered into several pieces, leaving her holding little more than a shard jutting from her hilt. She stared at it in shock for an instant and then moved to defend herself against Bladebreaker’s own vicious attack.
Dougal tried to get up and help, but the charr holding him sat him back down hard. Riona and Killeen moved to assist Ember as well, but the charr on either side of them moved to block them. Dougal glanced at Kranxx and saw the asura slowly and quietly rummaging in his pack, the charr guarding him too busy cheering on Bladebreaker to notice.
Bladebreaker pressed his advantage as hard as he could. He wasn’t nearly the warrior that Ember was, but he had a weapon and she did not. Ember blocked his blows as best she could with the hilt of her shattered sword. She had her claws extended and ready, but she could not find a way around Bladebreaker’s flashing sword to slice into his flesh.
Forced to retreat, Ember stumbled over an unseen rock behind her and fell flat on her back. She reached to her side and her paw came up with her pistol, heavy and deadly. She pulled the trigger and there was a dull, mud-stained click. Ember cursed.
Bladebreaker raised his weapon high above his head to deliver the killing blow, but before he could bring down his arms, a loud clang sounded high overhead.
Dougal looked up to see that Gullik had slammed the grate over the sewer’s exit shut and had cut the rope free to fall in the pool below. The norn belted out a bellow filled with the joy of battle as he kicked off from the grating, angling toward a tiny ledge on the cliff face below. He snagged it with his hand as he passed and used the momentum to swing his feet high about in the air, catapulting himself away from the wall and toward the clearing below. As he landed near Ember and Bladebreaker, he hurled his axe forward, and it caught the leader of the charr warband right in the center of his chest.
Bladebreaker stood there for a moment, staring at the weapon that seemed to have magically appeared with its blade already embedded several inches in his armor. He opened his mouth to say something but discovered he could not, then toppled over dead.
There was silence by the pool, save for the splash of the cut rope finally reaching the water.
“You idiot!” Ember screamed at the norn as she threw herself to her feet. “I only win the argument if I kill him.”
Gullik gave her a wide and toothy grin. “Then I suppose that means the winner is me.” He pointed at the rest of the charr. “Off with the lot of you, now, or I’ll win arguments with each of you, too!”
The other charr joined in a horrific roar so loud that it pained Dougal’s ears. Ember was right: had she slain the leader, the rest of the band would have been cowed enough to let them go. But now, incensed at the norn’s insult more than Bladebreaker’s death, they closed in as one and growled for Gullik’s flesh.
Gullik then realized that he was unarmed, his axe still stuck in Bladebreaker’s chest. “Ho!” he said, holding his hands up and grinning wider than ever. “Now this shall be a true challenge!” As he spoke, he attained his bear form, hairier and more massive, his hands becoming wicked claws.
The charr who had been holding Dougal jumped up to join his warband in tearing the norn apart. Seizing his chance, Dougal leaped to his feet, his sword instantly in his hand. The blade made no sound as it left its sheath, but Dougal’s former guard caught sight of him drawing his weapon and spun around, drawing his own blade.
Dougal’s head swam from getting