Guild Wars_ Ghosts of Ascalon - Matt Forbeck [86]
Then the hill raised its head and opened its eyes.
Run!” snapped Riona. “Run for the northern edge!”
Ember sped off to the north at a dead sprint, with Riona chasing straight after her. Dougal took Killeen’s hand and pulled her along as he followed them.
Gullik stood and watched the hill rise. Kranxx pounded on his head. “Time to go!” the asura said.
“Raven’s beak!” the norn said. “It’s beautiful!” He hefted his axe before him. “This shall be my greatest triumph—or the tragic end of my tale!”
Dougal glanced back over his shoulder and saw the norn still standing there. “Gullik!” he shouted. “Come on!”
“Join me here or farewell!” the norn shouted. “From this foe, I shall not turn!”
Dougal hauled up short, and Killeen along with him. “Damned heroes,” Dougal said. “He’s going to get them both killed.”
The hill shuddered one last time and then clambered to its feet. Although shaped like a man, the resemblance ended there. It stood three times as tall as the norn and appeared to have been formed from a stack of priceless diamonds the size of boulders. Twin spots sparkled in its face where eyes would be, but it bore no mouth, nose, or ears. What it had been before the passing of Kralkatorrik was unknown, but now it was that dragon’s champion, its guardian of this land of twisted black rock and crystal forests.
The creature’s limbs scraped against each other as it pulled itself to its full height, and the horrible noise set Dougal’s teeth on edge. Gullik stood there before it, his rumbling laughter reverberating in the crystals all around as he thumbed his axe.
“We talked about discretion, remember?” Kranxx yelled at the norn. “We have bigger things to do!”
Gullik leaned backward as he craned his neck to look up at the unfolding creature, and laughed. “Bigger than that? I think not!”
Unbalanced, Kranxx smacked Gullik on the head one more time and then slipped from the norn’s shoulders.
“He’s insane!” the asura shouted as he raced after Dougal and Killeen.
“True,” Dougal said with grudging admiration, “but I wouldn’t bet against him.”
Once Kranxx was clear, Gullik stalked toward the dragon’s minion, hunting for the opening for his first blow. He moved left, then right, and watched how the minion tracked his movements. Anxious to get to the battle, Gullik chopped down a crystal sapling in his path. It collapsed in a shower of shards.
The minion locked on the norn with its glowing eyes, then leaned toward him and charged.
Each of the minion’s steps thundered against the crystal terrain and brought cracks of lightning crashing down nearby. Although it seemed slow, its long legs covered ground fast, and it was upon Gullik before Dougal could blink.
The minion drew back a blunt-fisted arm and brought it down at Gullik with devastating speed. The norn leaped to one side to avoid the blow, and it smashed into the ground instead.
Before the minion could ready another attack, Gullik took his axe in a double-handed grip and swung it at the creature’s leg. The limb cracked straight through at the knee, and when the minion tried to take a step forward, it left its lower leg behind.
Unbalanced by the surprising loss of its leg, the creature swayed for a moment and then toppled forward. Dougal saw what was about to happen and shouted for Gullik to get out of the way. The minion was too large, though, and the norn too slow, and the bulk of the creature came down right on top of him, crushing him under its phenomenal weight.
Dougal stared at the scene in shock. He had thought Gullik was crazy for trying to take on the creature, but somewhere in his heart he hadn’t believed that the much-larger-than-life norn could lose the fight. Especially not so quickly.
Kranxx smacked Dougal on the leg as he passed, then sprinted away. “Run!” the asura called back over his shoulder. Dougal turned back toward the hulking beast, looking for some sign that Gullik had survived the creature collapsing upon him.
That was when he realized that Killeen was no longer beside him. The sylvari had raced forward,