Here it is, the first chapter of the introductory arc. I'll get around to posting other things on a regular basis. Do note, most of them are short in content, snippets of a larger whole, as I mostly wrote them for forums, where I did not want to drown people in walls of text. Still, there are some that are bigger than others, I'll get to 'em eventually. Also, quality improves as the stories progress.

Craywin Lichtstrahl is my rp character in Guild Wars 2, on Piken Square server. A thirty year old mercenary who had seen plenty, but as he lacks any other notable skills to make a living out of and more importantly, had gotten used to his life as a mercenary, he remains in this often dangerous line of work. Enjoy the stories, rate an comment, if you'd like.

Prowling the wild

It was supposed to be a simple job. Seraph that hired him said so herself, telling him exactly what it is that he must bring back. Foolishly, he believed her. After all, how often did he get jobs from these lawful types?

Suppressing a sigh, he edged a bit closer to the encampment. It took him a day and a half of tracking, but he caught up with the thieves near the border of Kessex Hills. It was not hard to find their trail, since he took off after them merely half an hour after the theft happened. Following the trail over the countryside was easy enough. What would come next might be a bit of a problem.

In the grove below the hill overgrown with dense grass he was currently hidden in, four men sat around the fire, merrily chatting away. While he had no qualms about getting rid of several bandits such as themselves, he was a bit worried by the prospect of facing an elementalist. The woman joined them a little while ago, taking the pouch with the item and sitting away from the group, in the base of one of the largest trees. From there, she had a clean view of the camp, as well as two of his three possible approach points.

She wore a brown cape over a tight, sleeveless one piece red dress the fit her quite well in his opinion. Her allure aside, he had to give her credit for wearing proper traveling boots instead of those fancy things on high heels most of the pretty women he met wear. Her staff lay by her side, made of polished white wood that fit rather well with her pale complexion.

Cray cursed under breath and moved away, going the long way around till he was amongst the trees in the grove. The big tree to the left was where she was sitting, which meant she could not see him, but same went for him.

He climbed one of the trees to his right. The trees grew close, their branches entwining, which made it easy for him to cross to the next one with ease, silent as a ghost. The light breeze blew in his face, bringing him the scent of the camp, of the unwashed bodies from the four outlaws and the sweet scent of perfume from her. He took his bow and five arrows, embedding them in the branch he was crouching on, but he made no move afterwards, waiting till they all fell asleep.

To their credit, they posted a sentry on her insistence. He waited a while longer till he was sure they were all asleep. By his reckoning, it was near midnight when he started his job.

He took the sentry first. With soundless grace, he plucked one of the arrows, nocked it and pulled the string back. He released as the man turned his back to him. The arrow struck him in the back of his head and he slumped forward from the place he was sitting, as if asleep.

He aimed an arrow at the woman, but then he decided to take the other three first. Next two arrows found their marks with deadly accuracy, men dying in their sleep without as much as a whimper.

Fourth one woke up and bleary eyed looked around the camp. Craywin didn´t know if he had seen the arrow protruding from the back of the sentry´s head or the dark pools that gathered around the forms of two of his closer companions, but when he opened his mouth to scream an arrow struck home. He let out a gurgled sound as he fell down, blood gushing, arrow sticking out his mouth.

Lucky... thought Craywin to himself, drawing the string to his ear, his aim trained at the woman. He always found himself to be luckier than most people, but his luck mostly extended to the life threatening situations. Anything else was beyond its scope. But when he released it a second later, his arrow was thrown off course, biting hard into the bark of the tree beside his head.

Her eyes were open, lips curled in a vicious smile.

˝Aw... crap...˝ he muttered just as a gust of flame erupted in his general direction.

Without thinking, he leapt back from the tree, landing awkwardly in a roll below. Discarding his bow, he ran left, another gust of flames engulfing the place he stood at just a moment ago. He slipped away into the shadows of the trees, watching for any sign of movement from her as he unbuckled his sword belt and let it down. He did the same for his cape, which was mostly burnt to a crisp.

It would have to be a neat knife slice. Both of his knives were poisoned, their blades coated in dark moth venom which induces temporary or long term paralysis, depending on how much of it is applied on the victim. Just nicking someone was enough to make them pass out and later wake up stiff as a fish in a barrel. He drew the first one, holding it reversed with the edge out.

The light breeze from before turned into violent gale, but he still could not see her. But he could hear her laugh above the noise, which was enough for him. The night was alight with flames dancing from the tree to tree, consuming the grove with alarming speed, but that only deepened the shadows in which he hid. Guiding himself by the last place he heard the laughter from, he swiftly moved from shadow to shadow till he was able to see her.

She still stood by the remains of the campfire, a trail of fire dancing around her in lazy circle. Finally, he realized what was that she was doing by using the gale. The fire spread out all around in a controlled circle, consuming what little cover he had. Already was the place he left his sword drenched in bright flame.

By his reckoning, she was just five steps from him. Despite the heat and the smoke, he grinned. She made this little venture enjoyable. He drew the remaining knife, flicking the other one far to his right, where it hit the tree with a resounding thud. The flickering flame that trailed around her immediately flew at the source of the sound.

At the same moment, he was already three steps ahead. She saw him for the first time that evening, swinging her staff at his head. Craywin ducked under it, rolling by her as he felt the earth behind him erupt on her command. That threw him off balance and she was able to move out of the way in time. As he steadied himself, flicking the knife at her she was already making another earth blast at him.

He raised his arms in defense, taking the brunt of the shattered earth force in that way. It threw him on his back, knocking the wind out of him. Still, he knew he had won. After all, she lay flat out on her face as well.

Craywin stood up with a painful grunt, feeling his right arm. He was pretty sure it was broken, or at least fractured. He´d have to seek out a water elementalist to take a look at it later. With the adrenaline from the fight fading, all the nicks and bruises he got for his effort here were starting to hurt.

Walking over to her prone form, he took the small pouch from her belt, checking it contents. It was indeed what he was sent to retrieve. He attached the pouch to his own belt, looking around. The flames have all but surrounded them, now finally burning out of control.

Cray sighed, bending over and picking up her staff first, using the loop she had to have it hang over his back. Then he picked her up, throwing her like a sack of potatoes over his shoulder. With one last look at the campsite, he took off in a light run, away from the grove set ablaze and back towards the big city in the distance.

After all, the Seraph had paid him to take care of four thieves and to bring back what they stole. She never said anything about a fifth person. Besides, the least he could do was get this woman to safety after she gave him such a good fight.