Author's Note: Here's the next chapter, which I'm getting weary of because the current story has a very repetitive structure (travel a bit, rest, travel a bit, rest, etc.) so sorry for it getting a bit crap there. Hopefully the plot is holding out, and with the added mystery of Vahlahn, I hope that should help it a bit. But I'm not a very good writer, so I'm not pulling it off very well. I hope everybody can still enjoy the story.
Nice to see another reader, who I'm gonna have to call 'Anon' for the moment I guess. Glad you like it! I'm actually tempted to be really mean with Vahlahn and have nobody find out who he really is, just drop hints, but I'll probably end up revealing it.
Vahlahn, glad your still reading, little surprised you hadn't heard about New Orleans, but that's been discussed on messenger already. I'm very glad the events overshadow my story though, I mean, thousands of deaths and tens of thousands stranded is a far more important thing to be considering right now than my own crappy little story.
Urm. That's me putting myself down, I got told off for that last time, so I'll stop. Lastly, this chapter takes its inspiration from one of the Guild Wars quests (at least part of it) but isn't actually meant to be the same quest. Also: I have no idea what the name of the Duke is or the area he resides in, which this chapter suffers from because I couldn't refer to the Duke or the area by name. Sorry about that!
Also, I'm aware these chapters are getting shorter progressively. This one could have been longer, but I decided that the ending conversation was a good place to end it. And now, here's the chapter:
THE CHASE
Vahlahn sighed, looking around the landscape. He had seen no more Charr, but his senses weren't quite as sharp as they usually were. Leine was not only hanging off of him, but had her head rested on his shoulder, clearly suffering from minor concussion. It distracted him, to say the least. He eventually came to a decision and turned to Maialin.
"I suggest we stop here." He told her. It wasn't actually a suggestion, but an order. "I think Leine needs rest." She looked as if she was asleep anyway, slumped against Vahlahn, but the fact that her feet had kept moving betrayed this illusion.
"Sounds like a good idea to me." Maialin replied, dropping the heavy bag off her back. She sighed, being free from the weight.
"You alright to stand?" Vahlahn asked Leine, who nodded sleepily. He took her arm from around him and she stumbled a bit, losing her balance. She righted herself against Vahlahn quickly and smiled.
"Sorry." She said quietly. She sat down awkwardly on the hard ground while Maialin turned back to Vahlahn.
"You want me to set up the tent?" She asked. Vahlahn paused thoughtfully.
"No." He decided. "Too risky. I say we move to the cover of those rocks there, and sleep in the open tonight."
"Leine will never agree to that." Maialin smirked.
"I don't think that'll be a problem." Vahlahn laughed, gesturing to Leine. She was already asleep, curled up on the ground. "I think that blow to her head may have hurt her a little more than we thought." He added.
"She's gonna be okay, though? Right?" Maialin asked, the concern in her voice showing how much she actually cared for her friend.
"I'd imagine she'll wake up tomorrow with a headache and nothing more." Vahlahn smiled. "I looked her over while she was resting against me. That blood just comes from a cut, nothing serious."
"Well, let's go with your plan then." Maialin smiled. "Just don't wake her."
"I won't." Vahlahn laughed.
The two soon sat under the cover of a jutting out rock, Leine sleeping peacefully beside them. Night had fallen, and Maialin was huddled in her sleeping bag, and still cold. Vahlahn seemed unfazed by the cold. They had decided to not light a fire, in case they attracted any unwanted Charr attention. They had placed Leine in her sleeping bag too, to make sure she didn't wake up cold during the night. Maialin smiled to herself.
"Just the two of us, Vahlahn. Time to explain yourself." She decided.
"Explain myself?" Vahlahn asked.
"Yeah. You gonna tell me why a Charr, a fearless beast and mortal enemy of the human race, turned and ran in fear when it looked at you?"
"I would like to." Vahlahn told her with a smile. "And maybe one day I will." Maialin crossed her arms in frustration.
"That's not fair!" She protested.
"All you should be concerned with is the fact that you are safe. Not how it happened." Vahlahn said with a slight smile. Maialin looked like a sulking child, her arms folded tightly and her body turned away.
"You shouldn't be keeping secrets!" She moaned, sounding a little more like Leine than she would have liked.
"Everybody have secrets, and some I cannot tell you." Vahlahn replied. "Now, get some rest. It is late, and on a journey like this, we have no idea what tomorrow will bring."
Maialin woke up and rolled to her side. She blinked groggily. Leine wasn't there anymore. She got up slowly, slipping out of her sleeping bag and into the now hot sun. Vahlahn seemed to be slumped against the rock edge, asleep, but literally with one eye open. It was very creepy, so she turned away, and decided to find Leine.
Leine was sat on a rock just outside of the cave, so she didn't have to look far. Her hair was wet and styled carefully, now clean of any of the blood that stained it.
"Where did you find water out here?" Maialin asked, slightly shocked.
"I used some from my water flask." She replied.
"You what?" Maialin gasped in disbelief.
"I had all crusty blood stuck in my hair. It was disgusting." Leine replied.
"We don't have much water! You can't go wasting it!" Maialin cried.
"Come on, we aren't far from meeting up with the Duke. It'll be fine." Leine smiled.
"I think that knock to your head did more damage than we thought." Maialin grumbled. She sighed, deciding to change the subject. Leine was most likely still hurt, and didn't deserve Maialin telling her off for her mistakes again. "How are you feeling?"
"Like I got run over by a wagon." She responded. "But better than yesterday." She added in an attempt to sound slightly braver, not that it worked. "My ankle doesn't hurt much anymore. I think that healing magic of yours solved that problem."
"They'll be more powerful monks when we reach the Duke." Maialin told her. "That should patch the rest of you up." Leine smiled.
"Glad to hear it." She replied. "My head hurts whenever I move it. It's getting to be distracting." She rubbed her temples, and decided it hurt more, so stopped.
"You two ready to go?" Came a voice from Vahlahn, who hadn't moved. Both jumped, and turned around to face him. He got up as if he hadn't been asleep, but just sat, watching. "I suggest we get moving." Maialin turned around with a grumble and wondered over to the pack. Leine stood up and followed her, clearly able to walk now. She was tempted to pretend she couldn't, so that she could have support for the rest of the journey, but decided against it.
Maialin hauled the pack onto her back, but Vahlahn quickly rose his hand, signalling her to stop.
"Put it down." He ordered. She did so.
"Why?" She asked.
"Listen." He instructed. She did so. There was something on the other side of the slope they had sheltered under. She couldn't quite make out the noise, but it didn't sound good. Vahlahn began to slowly climb up the slope, and Maialin followed. The two fell deathly silent.
Leine tried to follow, but slipped on the slope, stones crumbling away beneath her feet.
"What is it?" She whispered.
"Charr." Vahlahn replied through an icy jaw. "And a lot of them." Leine scrambled, sliding again, but eventually making it to the top. Her eyes went wide and her body froze.
A group of the beasts were gathered, easily four dozen Charr, if not more.
"They must be planning to attack the Duke and force him and his forces out.." Maialin figured.
"We have to get to the Duke. We need to warn him so that he can form a defence." Vahlahn told her.
"Will he be able to defend against that?" Maialin asked.
"Yes. If we have enough time." Vahlahn guessed. "This is what the Charr have been up to. Organising an attack on the captured land. I'd imagine there are more groups around, they're going to attack from all sides."
"What do we do?" Squeaked Leine.
"Run." Vahlahn's face dropped. "They've seen us! RUN!"
The three adventurers slid down the slope as the sound of stampeding Charr approached them.
"Run? Where?" Leine screamed.
"Make for the Duke! He should have enough guards to hold them back! RUN!" The three began to run as the Charr ascended the slope and skidded down after them. They ran as fast as they could , arrows beginning to rain down around them. Leine turned with a shriek as one headed straight for her, but a flash of blue meant it was gone before it hit. She stumbled a bit in confusion, and continued running, deciding it was just one of those things to be thankful for.
Unfortunately, her own ability to keep running didn't match up with her determination. The Charr were much faster than she was, and she was falling behind. Vahlahn and Maialin kept ahead, but it turned out she was much slower, and she was already completely out of breath. They turned and scrambled up one of the slopes, obviously hoping it would slow down the Charr. Leine tried to follow, but slipped, and collapsed, panting. Maialin skidded to a stop.
"LEINE!" She managed to scream. The Charr were practically on top of her. Vahlahn leapt, seemingly flying through the air, and landed in front of her.
"Get behind me!" He ordered as he spread out his arms. Maialin nodded and did so, quickly. Leine was already sprawled behind him on the slope, panting. The Charr continued to charge, but separated as they approached Vahlahn, charging on either side, but not coming into contact with him. It was like a stone breaking the flow of a river. The Charr charged over the slope, ignoring the three. Vahlahn lowered his arms and turned back to the two. "Now, let's move, quickly. It won't take them long to realise you two were hidden behind me."
"What the hell was that?" Maialin asked angrily.
"No time to explain! We need to move!" Vahlahn barked. Maialin got to her feet and ran. Leine got up, slowly, doubled over, panting.
"Perhaps, you should go on without me." She gasped.
"Why are all mesmers so melodramatic?" Vahlahn sighed, picking her up and flinging her over his shoulder. He ran after Maialin while Leine dangled off of him, feeling very useless and helpless.
The three soon arrived at the mighty self built gate to the retaken land, a simple piece of the old city the Duke had pushed to recapture in the wake of the Searing, and been struggling to hold ever since. Vahlahn placed Leine down and the three wondered in, now knowing they were safe behind the guards. Leine was still panting heavily, even more so than Maialin and Vahlahn who had actually done much more running, and she collapsed on the floor to rest.
"Sorry." She panted. "I'm so pathetic sometimes."
"Sometimes?" Maialin joked. Leine smiled.
"I'll find the Duke and report to him what we saw. Arranging the guards quickly is all he'll need. A good defence will stop the Charr from even bothering to attack." Vahlahn explained. "You take Leine and help her find a monk to heal her wounds."
"Yessir!" Maialin saluted sarcastically. Vahlahn rolled his eyes and walked off. Maialin turned to Leine, who was still panting on the floor. "C'mon." She gestured. She rose an eyebrow as Leine put a hand up, signalling she wanted to catch her breath. "Wow. You're really unfit you know?"
"Shut up." Leine panted, getting up. "Just because we aren't all hardened war veterans and creepy elementalists!"
"So you noticed something was up with him to?" Maialin asked.
"You could say that." Leine gasped. "He's not normal, that's for sure! What did he do to those Charr back there to save me?" She wiped sweat from her brow and took a few more deep breaths.
"I don't know. But it certainly wasn't normal." Maialin said to herself. "We can't do anything about it. Come on, let's get you healed up." Leine got up, still breathing hard, but at least no longer panting. "I'll see if they have an exercise scheme they can assign to you at the same time." She joked. Leine shot her a stare.
Vahlahn folded his arms in front of the Duke with a slight smile.
"Vahlahn Ote." The Duke stated. "I never expected to see you again."
"Life is full of surprises." Vahlahn replied. "I learnt that on the day of the Searing."
"And not because Ascalon was destroyed, I sense." The Duke shot back with a smile of his own. Vahlahn's face twisted with painful memories.
"That was two years ago. It's best forgotten." He said with a gulp and his eyes shut. "There are more pressing matters. The Charr are planning to attack you."
"You sure?" The Duke asked, knowing fully well that Vahlahn was always sure.
"Yes. We ran into one of there groups, and only just escaped." Vahlahn answered.
"We? You're not travelling alone?" The Duke seemed slightly surprised. "I thought you would have issues with trust after last time."
"I know I can trust this girl. Her friend isn't a threat, even if she wanted to be." Vahlahn explained. "She's Maialin Roth." He told the Duke.
"Maialin? As in your-" The Duke began.
"Yes." Vahlahn replied. "The very same Maialin."
"Coincidence has always surrounded you, whether for good or bad." The Duke told him. "You'll need to tell her one day. What happened. You do realise this, don't you?"
"You need to get your defences ready. I counted at least forty Charr in the group we spotted, and I doubt they're the only group." Vahlahn decided to ignore the Duke's previous comment. "I suggest you fortify the area or pull out."
"We're not leaving." The Duke stated.
"Then get guards stationed all around." Vahlahn told him. "The Charr shall not attack if they see the threat is too great. They're smart. They won't start a battle they cannot win."
"You can help, your expertise on the Charr is what we need." The Duke said hopefully.
"No. My ties to Ascalon have been severed. I failed the city and the people. I won't fight for it again." Vahlahn turned. "Besides, we're heading to Shiverpeak to find an old friend."
"You realise she'll tell Maia the truth, even if you don't." The Duke smiled. Vahlahn looked over his shoulder.
"Good luck, old friend." He walked away, the Duke watching him leave.
"Thank you." The Duke said quietly.