Shaemoor

Alyssa was terrified. Her family had come to the village of Shaemoor to sell their grain, and her father had promised to take her to the inn afterwards to hear the storyteller. She was hoping that he would tell the story about Destiny's Edge and how they almost killed the Crystal Dragon. She loved Catihe, the Firstborn Sylvari thief the most, because she always seemed smart and sensible, not like Logan and Rytlock, who apparently could never stop arguing. It was her favorite story, and she got her parents to tell it for her whenever she could, but to hear it from a real storyteller? She could hardly contain herself.

Alyssa had been standing next to her father, listening to him haggle with a merchant, when a Seraph guard ran through the village telling everybody to find shelter. Without asking any questions, her father scooped her up and set off in search of her mother, who had gone to find some fabric for a new quilt. As they hurried through the streets Alyssa looked over her father's shoulder, and noticed that the streets already seemed to be deserted. She wondered what could make people disappear so fast.

They reached the merchants stand where they had last seen Alyssa's mother, but she was nowhere in sight. Her father looked around wildly, trying to find some sort of sign as to where she had gone. After a few moments, he placed Alyssa on her feet and pointed to a nearby house."I'm going to try to find mommy, but I need you to run into that house right there. Can you do that?"

Alyssa was very frightened now, but she nodded. She would be brave, just like Caithe. She ran towards the door her daddy had pointed to, but when she looked back he was lying on the ground with a centaur standing over him. It was holding a wicked looking sword, and had a chain of skulls around its neck. It looked towards her and smiled, and stomped one of its hind hooves in anticipation.

"Come here child. I won't hurt you." it cooed. Alyssa had never heard a voice so terrifying in her life. She didn't even think that a dragon could be this scary. Thinking of a dragon made her brave again though, and she put up her fists like she had seen some of the boys in the village do when they fought. The centaur grinned even wider and started walking towards her, its hooves clapping against the cobblestone.

Alyssa had never been in a fight before, but she thought she knew how to do it from watching the other children. Besides, most of the time they didn't even fight, because one of them scared the other one away. So, as the centaur approached, she said in her scariest voice, "Don't make me hurt you, you big meanie!" and stuck out her tongue for good measure.

The centaur simply laughed and kept coming towards her. Alyssa realized that the entire sky had gone dark, and the wind whipped through the village, powerful enough to blow shingles off roofs. As the centaur got closer, she realized that the sword it was carrying was much bigger than it looked from far away. And how could she fight the centaur when it had already beaten her daddy, who was much bigger and tougher than her. All of a sudden she realized that she couldn't fight this monster, she couldn't even move because she was so scared. She wasn't brave like Caithe, she wasn't brave at all.

The centaur started moving more quickly, raising its sword. As it charged, she saw Grenth, the God of Death kneeling over her father. Alyssa knew then that she was going to die, because the gods hadn't been seen since Ascalon fell to the Charr. All she could think about was her daddy lying there on the ground, and how she was next.

Suddenly, a woman wearing the clothes of a noble tackled the centaur to the ground. It kicked out with all four of its legs, but the woman had mysteriously disappeared. It got back to its feet, but when it saw Grenth, it began to visibly shiver, obviously completely horrified. It turned and tried to run away from the God of Death, but before it could take two steps, the Lady that had tackled it reappeared swinging a sword so quickly that she appeared to blur. When she became clear again the centaur fell to the ground, dead from a dozen wounds.

Alyssa looked back towards her father, but he wasn't there anymore and Grenth was walking towards her. Closing her eyes, she began weeping hysterically. She didn't want to be here, she didn't want to hear the storyteller, she didn't want to die, she just wanted to go home and hide under her blanket. When she felt a hand touch her shoulder, she screamed and lashed out in panic, her fist hitting something in front of her.

"Oof! Wow, you really got me there little one. You sure are tough." a feminine voice said.

Alyssa opened her eyes in shock and saw standing before her, not the God of Death but one of his priestesses. She wore a green and black robe, and carried a staff with a crystal embedded in the top. She had deep black hair that reached all the way down her back, and a kind smile that made Alyssa think she had just been having a nightmare.

"Are you hurt?" the priestess asked When Alyssa shook her head, her smile widened. "That was very brave what you did. Not many little girls would stand up to a Tamini like that." Alyssa smiled back, albeit cautiously. Then she remembered something.

"Where did my daddy go?" she asked the priestess.

"Right here Ally," said a familiar voice.

Alyssa looked towards the voice and saw her father limping towards her, supported by the noblewoman who had killed the centaur. In a sudden flash of intuition Alyssa realized who she was.

"You're the Lady Viridis!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing in Shaemoor?"

"Priestess Lucia and I are here to aid against the centaurs. Your mother told us she hadn't seen you since the alarm, so we came looking. Don't worry, She's safe back at the inn." Lady Viridis looked towards the Shaemoor garrison, where the winds seemed to be originating from. "Priestess, we should go aid Captain Thackary. We've cleared out the Tamini in the village." The priestess nodded, and gave Alyssa a parting smile before they vanished into the storm.