Author's Note: Yep, there's more. If you're new to my writing, I warn you, I make unreasonably long author's notes. There's not very often important things in them, just review replies and me talking about myself in a ridiculously bigheaded way, so feel free to skip them. It's unusual they say anything important, except possibly pointing out when I may be forced to miss updates.

Phabrizoe; great to see you reading this! I always appreciate your reviews! Yes, no romance, although I do think I've been improving (don't get me wrong, I'm still really really really bad at it, but I think I've gotten better during Twilight of the Immortal than I was in the FFXI Chronicles 3). I might put a very small bit in, or an implied relationship, between Vahlahn (who finally shows up this chapter) and Arziel. Or I might leave it out all together. And yes, you should get Guild Wars, because it's simply brillaint, and free to play online once you have the game!

This next bit is actually in reference to Phabrizoe's last review of Twilight of the Immortal, so everybody else should probably skip it. Just wanted to comment on calling the final duel chapter 'The Climatic Battle', because I know it seems like a bad title, but I actually was intending to call it that for a very long time. You see, it was meant to be at a point past any need for flowery images, or metaphors or anything, at a point where the bad guy had done something so bad everything was just simple, it was the final battle: one of them was going to die. So I tried to keep it simple. That was my intention. Looking back on it, it didn't really work and just looked like me being unusually bad at naming. (Actually, my proudest achievement this story is the title, I really like it, 'The Ashes of Ascalon' just sounds good, I think, sorry, being a bit arrogant there).

Ahem. In reference to this chapter, it feels a little off. It turned out a bit crap, to be honest, I felt really tired writing it, like I was struggling to get the words out. I think it's a bit sloppier than normal, and Lord knows my usual writing is pretty damn sloppy. Which is a shame, this is a chapter I had the idea for before I started writing. In Guild Wars one thing I really liked was the rare instances when terrain would affect your fighting abilities, for example, the tar in Ascalon slowing you down. So I vowed to write a scene in the tar pits. Except never having actually waded through tar (you know, it's just not one of those things I do!) I'm not quite sure what it would actually be like, so it might seem a little weird.

And Zin, great to see you reading! For how these people will survive, I'm not too sure, but I wanted something where every battle and every creature was a threat. After a 220 odd page story with an immortal hero, it was nice to go back to everything being dangerous and threatening. Hopefully every battle should be really interesting this way. And I make no guarantees they all make it.

Anyway, I'll shut up now. Sorry if this chapter seems a little sub par, I should have done better, but just messed up. Sorry! Hope you enjoy anyway! (Oh, and you get to see my atrocious chapter titles in true action).

EDIT: In response to reviews, I've edited this chapter to remove fire/tar incidents and the obvious resulting explosion that didn't even occur to me. Thanks Vahlahn and Zin! Vahlahn (who is in fact Bootus) there also revealed Maialin's secret (and Arziel's), which is they are in fact both Zinkata! Urm, only FFXI Chronicles readers will understand who these people are. And I am not like Leine dammit!


As for description of monsters, I'm really bad at that, but I've tried to put a bit more in. The grawl were slightly described in their first appearance, and the devourer's had some description behind them as well. I've tried to add a bit more to this chapter, however. The grammatical errors I haven't spotted, but if you find some (anyone) please feel free to point them out and I'll go back and correct them. Thanks!

A STICKY SHORTCUT

"No." Leine said firmly.

"Come on, this cuts a day off our journey." Maialin argued.

"I don't care. No." Leine replied. The information Maialin had decided to neglect about their shortcut had revealed itself upon their arrival, and Leine was strictly unimpressed.

"It's just a bit of tar." Maialin shrugged.

"A bit? It's a river!" Leine protested. Indeed, there was a chasm cutting straight across the raised ground around it, but it was filled with black and bubbling tar, all that was left of Ascalon's once scenic streams.

"It's not deep, if you stick to the edges you'll be fine." Maialin pointed out.

"So if we don't sink to our doom in these lethal tar pits, we still need to wade through it." Leine countered. "And I was under the impression tar was somewhat difficult to move in!"

"You stick to the edges and you'll be fine, like I said." Maialin shrugged.

"I'm just worried I'll literally stick to the edges." Leine pointed out, smirking at her own pun. Maialin apparently didn't find it funny. "Besides, do you have any idea how hard it is to get tar stains out of clothes? My boots will never be the same!" Maialin rolled her eyes as she always did when Leine made a comment along those lines, and began to walk through the tar, it reaching up and following each of her footsteps as it stuck to her. Leine paused.

"Come on! It's only a day to go around." She called. Maialin ignored her, knowing it was by far the most effective tactic to handling her. Leine paused, grumbled to herself, and then decided to try and follow, instead scrambling along the sloped edges around the river than in it. She managed a few step, slide and landed in the tar. "Ewwww!" She exclaimed, causing Maialin to roll her eyes once more. Leine tried to hurry after Maialin, only managing a very slow pace as she struggled through the sticky black liquid.

Maialin struggled along ahead of Leine, remembering why she hated the tar pits scattered around the ruins of Ascalon. They slowed down anybody passing through them, keeping a fast pace was impossible in the sludge, and more than a few soldiers had been lost during ambushes and who had strayed too deep, being sucked into the bottom of the pits for all eternity. Somebody always looked out for her, she was her patrol's youngest member after all, but enough people had died to them. She was just hoping Leine was close to the edges as she had ordered.

Maialin was snapped from her thoughts as she heard something. Stone crumbling? She quickly looked up to see a grawl perched on the edge of the rocks above the pit. Its monkey like face let out a screech. Its huge brown arm went tense as it pulled back on the bow. Her eyes went wide.

"LEINE! LOOK OUT!" She screamed. The arrow flew down at Maialin, and she just managed to move aside, struggling to move fast enough. Two more grawl, armed with blades, ran down the sloped edges, half sliding, half falling, and splashed into the tar, splattering it everywhere. Maialin shut her eyes as it splattered over her armour. She opened them again to see a grawl charging her, it apparently undeterred by the fact its furry shoulders were now blackened. She drew her staff just in time, blocking the incoming sword swipe. She was knocked off balance however, and stumbled back, and knew it was futile to run in the tar. The archer above was taking aim, and she'd lost track of the second grawl.

Leine was quite far behind Maialin, having a harder time of making it through the tar than her. She suddenly heard the clash of weapons, and tried to pick up the pace, struggling furiously. She couldn't move much faster, and was already exhausted from the effort. She stopped as she saw a grawl charging towards her. She quickly turned around and began to move in the opposite direction, but knew she couldn't move fast enough.

"Urm." She quickly began to chant to herself. "Imagined Burden!" She cried, not exactly sure why she found it necessary to announce her own spell. The grawl suddenly staggered in shock as it slowed down, suddenly feeling much heavier. Leine took this opportunity to run away, although it was less of a 'run' and more of a stumble. The grawl behind her could just about match her pace, but she could keep away from it thanks to her spell. She quickly looked at the grawl, its brown hide clearly on display, and she wished she had a sword. It had no armour after all, it would have been easy to finish it off.

Maialin ducked as the grawl swung its blade and brought her staff up in a block. She hit upwards, hitting the grawl. It didn't seem to have much effect. The grawl archer hadn't taken a shot, but she was too distracted to consider why. The grawl swung its blade down overhead, and Maialin blocked it with her staff, but the strength of the blow was much more than she had been expecting, knocking her off her feet and causing her to splash down in the sticky tar. She squirmed helplessly, unable to get back up. The grawl lifted its weapon, but became distracted by a noise from atop the hill.

The grawl archer crashed down the slope and into the tar, dead. A figure above it ran and jumped onto the slope, skiing down it, stumbling as he went but managing to keep his balance. He approached the tar quickly, and to Maialin's shock the tar before him turned to ice. He skidded to a stop on it and quickly cast a spell. Lightning leapt from his hands and tore through the grawl, killing it instantly. He grinned and wondered over to her, offering a hand. She took it, sprawled on her back still, the tar luckily not being deep enough to have sucked her under, but being too much for her to get back up. He pulled her to her feet, before slipping out of the glove on his hand, which was now stuck to Maialin.

"Thanks." She smiled.

"No problem." Came the reply.

"HELP! MAIA!" Came a voice.

"Leine?" Maialin exclaimed.

"Maia?" Her savoir spoke slowly.

"We have to help her!" Maialin cried, and began struggling in Leine's direction.

Leine's spell on the grawl had worn off, and it had gained on her. She had stumbled away from the safety of the edge, trying to get away, but as the tar had got deeper, it had grown harder to move in. She tugged furiously at her feet, but she couldn't pull them out. She was stuck. (Had she not been so panicked, she'd of realised this was lucky, as had she gone much deeper she would have been dead). The grawl approached her, apparently smiling through its monstrous features. She squirmed, screaming in desperation.

"HELP!" She called again. "PLEASE! HELP!" The grawl lifted up its sword, ready to strike. It dropped it shock before it could do so, and stumbled backwards. Maialin held out her staff, having just cast another life draining spell. The stranger beside her summoned a gust of wind, knocking the horrific monster deep into the sludge where it sunk, never to bother anyone again. Maialin smiled, her tar splattered face looking surprisingly messy. The hair that usually hung over one eye was now stuck to her cheek. The stranger walked over and pulled Leine out, carrying her back to the shallower area. "Still think this way is worth the day we save?" She panted. Maialin smiled.

"Okay, so I made a mistake." She admitted.

"You invented mistakes, Maia." Leine sighed, almost going to try and scrub her boots clean, but then remembering it would just stick to her hands.

"Maia?" The stranger asked. "As in Maialin?"

"Yeah." Maialin replied. "Thanks for your help back there, by the way." She paused. "You know me?"

"You don't recognise me?" The elementalist pushed his blue hair back behind his ears revealing his face, older, more worn, but unmistakable.
"Vahlahn?" Maialin exclaimed with an overjoyed smile.

"Vahlahn?" Leine whispered. Maialin threw herself around Vahlahn with a smile, promptly getting stuck to him. The two tried to pry apart but failed. Vahlahn sighed and simply slipped out of his coat, leaving it hanging off of Maialin, but he was free at least.

"Yes, it's me." Vahlahn smiled. "Lucky I found you two ladies when I did, you were almost grawl food."

"This search might be easier than you thought, Maia." Leine said happily.

"Where's Arziel?" Maialin asked quickly. Vahlahn fell silent.

"Ah." He stated. "I- I haven't seen her." He explained. "Not for over a year." He said sadly.

"What happened?" Maialin questioned.

"We met up with Prince Rurik and his squad, who suggested pushing to Shiverpeak." Vahlahn explained.

"Exactly as I figured!" Leine beamed.

"We agreed to retreat and leave Ascalon behind, but the Charr ambushed us." Vahlahn sighed. "We got separated. I tried to hold them off with magic, eventually persuading her to run. I retreated but got wounded, badly." He paused again. "I never saw her again. I hid in a cave for months, just hunting for food for survival. I knew I couldn't reach the mountains alone, but I don't think that stopped Arziel, I think she's pushing onwards. Or at least she did. I was too wounded to follow for a long time anyway, all hopes of catching her soon faded. I stayed out there, fighting, helping out passing patrols, but eventually I gave up. All hope of Arziel ever returning faded, so I decided to head back to Ascalon City, and ran into you two."

"Thank the gods." Sighed Leine. "We were in real trouble there."

"You two aren't going to make it, you know." Vahlahn commented. "You'll get far worse encounters than that."

"Hey! It was the tar!" Maialin protested.

"Speaking of the tar, can we please get out of it now?" Leine asked, squirming.

"Okay. We'll head to the end of the pit, then we can talk properly." He looked at Maialin. "And get cleaned up." He sighed.

Some time later the group had a fire going, cooking some of the food Leine brought. Leine was sat on one of the mats she had brought for her sleeping bag to lie on, barefoot, having removed her tar covered boots. Maialin was practically naked, simply wearing a light top and pants, her armour in a pile.

"So, where are you two headed?" Vahlahn asked casually.

"Shiverpeak. We're going after Arziel." Maialin explained, apparently unashamed by her lack of clothing, scrubbing at her armour with a cloth. Leine was similarly trying to clean her boots. Neither were getting on too well, the cloths there were using simply sticking to the tar. Vahlahn's clothes were ripped, torn and beaten from the years he had spent in them, so he cared very little what happened to them and was content to sit around. Maialin claimed the tar would stick up the joints in her armour, and Leine just moaned for whatever reasons she could find. Vahlahn had managed to make a stew, which, while not looking too appetising, did at least smell good.

"Shiverpeak?" Vahlahn sighed. "It's not an easy journey. You two aren't going to make it."

"So you said." Leine grumbled, trying to peel the cloth from one of her boots, having stuck to it sufficiently.

"I can go with you. Perhaps the three of us will stand a chance." He suggested.

"I thought you were finally heading home. You can't want to just continue on with us." Leine pointed out in between grunts as she wrestled with her own boot.

"Home? You call this home?" Vahlahn laughed. "Besides, we have to push past the wall into Charr territory, remember?"

"But we just left the wall." Leine said in confusion.

"You did?" Vahlahn asked.

"I figured we'd just go around Charr territory, so we, you know, live." Maialin explained.

"You can't go around it." Vahlahn sighed. "The cliffs are impassable and they're everywhere anyway. You're much better just going past the wall and braving it."

"Wait." Leine suddenly said, rage seemingly brewing in her. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

"Why? What do you think it means?" Vahlahn asked.

"That we went through that tar for no good reason!" She screamed. Vahlahn smirked a bit.

"'fraid so." He said simply. Leine threw her boots down and folded her arms in frustration.

"Look. Eat something. You'll feel better." He said gently.
"Maia! I am not impressed!" Leine snapped.

"Hey, I didn't hear you doing any better with navigating." Maialin casually countered.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realise you wanted me to be a map reader!" Leine seemed furious.
"It's just a pair of boots, Leine." Maialin told her. Leine looked at them, and then at the devastation around, and sighed.

"I guess so." She sighed. "But we could have got in real trouble! You came as close to dieing as I did!" Maialin blushed slightly.

"I'm not used to not having a melee fighter with us." She admitted. "But I'm sure we'll adapt. Now, it's quickest if we back track the way we came-"

"NO!" Leine yelled.

"Urm, I mean, it's probably quickest if we carry on and loop back to the wall." Maialin corrected herself. She wasn't entirely sure why she did it, but was feeling slightly sorry for Leine. Adventuring really wasn't her thing, and she was still making the effort. Leine had taken her stew, and clearly was reconsidering eating it upon seeing it, it looking more like a mud pie than something actually edible.

"That's fine by me." Vahlahn told them. "I hear that the Duke and his troops have pushed into that area to reclaim the plaza. We can stop there for supplies, and safe night's rest." He paused. "If we make it that far." Leine gulped.

"We'll make it." Maialin said confidently. "We're going to find Arziel again, and with your help, it's a certain."

"I don't know." Vahlahn sighed. "I can handle a few grawl, but the Charr are much more deadly." He warned. "But, if we have to try, we try. If we die, then we die. Simple." Leine decided to distract herself from the thoughts of death by sticking the foul looking stew in her mouth. The instant it settled in her stomach she realised just how hungry she was, and how good the stew tasted. She dug in quickly, eating it faster than anybody thought it would be possible. "It's been a while since I've been able to cook with real ingredients." He smiled. "Mostly it's just dead grawl." Leine's face fell at hearing that.

"Can you not mention that while we're eating, please?" She asked.

"You sure look hungry." Vahlahn observed. "You want to keep eating. Keep your strength up."

"I don't think Leine has any strength to keep up." Maialin joked.

"I heard that." Leine said in a muffled voice through a mouthful of food.

"We need to head to get moving." Vahlahn decided. "But to be honest, I suggest we camp here tonight."

"Doesn't that mean we don't get moving?" Maialin observed.

"Well, you two seem pretty tired after your battle with the grawl." He explained. Leine was nodding as she ate. "Plus this area is at least safe for the moment, we took out the nearby grawl and I doubt anymore would be around, or else they'd have come to help the battle."

"Fine." Maialin muttered. "I could use some amusement anyway."

"Amusement?" Vahlahn questioned.

"Yeah, watch." She said simply. "Leine. Set up the tent."

Maialin began inexplicably chuckling to herself before Leine had even begun.