Guild Wars_ Ghosts of Ascalon - Matt Forbeck [90]
Gullik looked south, rage overtaking his face, and for a moment Dougal was afraid the norn was going to charge off to meet them in battle. Grimacing, Dougal patted the norn on the arm. “I think we’d honor her sacrifice more if we lived.”
Gullik put his hand on Dougal’s shoulder as they began following the others north through the rain. “There’s no glory in fighting so few charr anyway,” he muttered.
In the end they laid her to rest on the northern side of the Dragonbrand, beneath a cairn of rough stones covered with a thin coating of wet sod. All except Kranxx did the work, while the asura watched the Dragonbrand to the south through a set of lenses from his voluminous pack.
Dougal and Ember were laying the last of the uprooted sod over the stones when Kranxx came down from his perch.
“The charr patrols have turned back,” the asura said. “I think they ran into something in the Dragonbrand that was related to the thing we fought.”
“They are not as foolish as I feared,” said Ember, standing back to look at their handiwork.
Dougal patted the sod into place and stood up. “Were Killeen human, I would offer a prayer to the Six Gods to guide her safely through the Mists.”
“The charr have no gods,” said Ember. “But we are not stone, and were she a charr, we would praise her prowess and her bravery, and seek to measure up to it in our own lives.”
“The asura believe in an Eternal Alchemy,” said Kranxx, “a great machine of which we are merely component parts. Parts wear out or break, but that doesn’t make their passing any less painful.”
Gullik let out a deep sigh and said, “I met her in the forest of Caledon. I was hunting the great cats there, seeking their pelts, and several of them got the better of me. I was resting beneath one of their strange-shaped trees by the roadside, when she walked along. She asked me if I would like to stop bleeding. I told her I would, very much. She worked her greenish death-magic over my wounds and I regained enough of my life to accompany her to the next haven.
“We did not travel together long,” he continued. “Yet, in that time she impressed me both with her disposition and her ability. She told me about her people and how they grew on trees and how it was important that they find out what their purpose was in the Awakened World. I told her about Bear and Raven and Snow Leopard and Wolf, and others of our spirits who were no more, like Owl. And she asked many questions, and a few days later we parted on friendly terms.
“I didn’t see her again until that day in your room, Dougal. And she kept me from making a horrible error. The rest you know. She always was searching for her place in life, and always was curious about what happened at the end. For all our sakes, I think she found the former in this group, and hope she finds the latter in the Mists of the Afterworld.”
There was silence, the soft rain still falling around them. At last Riona said, “The warbands are no longer pursuing, but without a doubt they will report our presence. We must move on.”
No one said anything in response, but one after another they pulled on their packs and started the climb into the rolling hills overlooking the Dragonbrand from the north. By the time they reached the crest of the hill, the rain had diminished to a light drizzle and the sun was coming out. Looking back, Dougal saw a rainbow along the edge of the Dragonbrand.
They made good time once they were back in untainted lands. Compared to the earth ruined by the Dragonbrand, the springiness of the ground here seemed to propel them forward. With some difficulty, Dougal turned his thoughts to the task ahead of them.
“We should not have to worry much about patrols here,” Ember said. “The creatures bent by the Dragonbrand rarely leave it, and the charr trust the devastated land to protect their southern