{All non-player characters and the Guild Wars universe belong to NC Soft and Arena Net. I am simply presenting my own character through the story. Thank you.}
Chapter 10
"So how long has it been now?" Zleeda muttered as she traced one finger across the slick surface of a seared crystal.
"Ten minutes," Signa sighed, "Give him a bit more time I'm sure he's busy."
"Busy or not he still ought to be here on time for his own mission. It's comon decency. Had I been late for squad call back at home I'd be running laps around Carminth city and-"
"Shush!" Signa interrupted much to Kalen's annoyance, "He's coming."
The golden prince ran up to the group with his famous sword already in hand. The metallic plating of his armor shone in Signa's eyes and foretold a rather difficult mission for the lot of them. "Sorry I am late," Rurik finally said with the mien of someone who was announcing rather than apologizing.
Q sighed with a simple shake of his head. Signa could see him thinking about how closely Rurik resembled a lighthouse for Charr. "That's alright sir," he politely replied, "Let's just-"
"Rin awaits!" cried the youth as the befuddled group watched the mobile signal light speed away.
"S-sir! Wait! Come on guys!" Signa shouted frantically while running after him. It wasn't long before they found him waging war against a baby devourer.
"Back you foul beast!" he shouted energetically, enjoying the sound of the blades of his sword ring against the carapace of the creature.
"Sir please keep it down," Q whispered hurriedly cringing at the uproar and the baby's squeals, "You'll wake its-"
"SCCCCREEEEEEEEEEEE~"
"...Mother."
Before any of them could react, the ground rocked and knocked them to their arses. First one segmented-death leg, then two sprouted from the ground to rooted itself just inches away from Rurik's head on either side. The rest of its body soon followed. Four more spiny legs; a hard, chitinous carapace; a huge, arthropod mouth; and three menacing scorpion tails erupted and showered the young prince in dust.
Signa thought her head was going to split into miniscule bits as it screeched again sounding similar to Grenth crying. Her hands flew to her ears and her staff fell to the ground. Out of the corner of her eye she could just barely register seeing Zleeda in a similar state and Q trying to draw an arrow. The screeching ended suddenly and Signa saw a flash of armor fly past her and forward. When she looked up Kalen was on top of the beast with his sword embedded in between it's chitin plates. She saw that the thing was about to collapse under the weight of the large man and his larger armor as it's proportionally thin legs buckled and clawed at the ground. She took the moment to grab her staff and hook it behind Rurik's armor collar. A single thrust pulled the dazed prince away from danger and just before the arachnid fell with steel through its chest cavity.
"Are you okay?" Signa finally said after shaking the initial shock of the screech from herself.
"WHAAAAT?"
Signa cringed and held her head, "Hang in there buddy." With a tap on his shoulder she was standing again using quite a bit of support from her staff. Q was trying to dislodge his arrow from a dead tree, Kalen was trying dislodge his sword from the Devourer broodmother's chest, and Zleeda was trying to not dislodge her breakfast from her stomach. After a few minutes of intense blinking Rurik stood as well and Signa was glad for the dust that covered his metal liability.
"IS EVERYONE OKAY?!" he shouted clumsily sheathing his sword."
"YES! Yes... everyone is okay.." Signa replied trying to bite back her exasperation.
"THEN ONWARD WE HAVE A KINGDOM TO SAVE!" he continued pushing past Signa who could not believe that the man was still walking. It took another half-minute for her to realize that she was staring as the half-deaf king ran off into charr territory with about as much ability to draw a sword as a minstrel after a few glasses can sing.
"Guys, guys prince! Ran off!" She managed stumbling a few steps after him.
"Oh! For crying out loud!" Kalen shouted running after him first. He teetered a bit and Signa had the image of a great mountain falling on it's side for a moment. Q was next to regain his senses and follow with Signa after him and Zleeda taking the rear.
"I'd forgotten my memory dear friend," Rurik softly whispered. Heading now deeper into Charr territory the group had been quiet for a long while so the voice startled Signa slightly.
"I'm sorry, forgotten your memory sir?" Signa inquired.
"You call me Rurik Signa I don't think I can stand any more 'Sir's' or 'Lord Prince's'."
"Oh, okay then, forgotten your memory Rurik?"
"Yes, I'd forgotten how I could walk through these wastes and still see home; as it was, as it should be. I walk through these roads and see the picnic spot I sat at with my mother and father; I see the merchant's caravan with the silks, instruments, and players! Do you remember Nick? The trader from the garden that we discovered? Oh the gifts he gave us Signa. Bottle rockets, honeycombs, sparklers..."
Rurik went on and Signa smiled a genuine, yet bittersweet smile. His reminiscing bit to her core, made her relive the coldness that attacked her heart at seeing the last leaf fall, at seeing the smoking ruins of her lifelong home. Soon however both of them were interrupted from their thoughts as they felt a gentle hand on either of their shoulders.
Q moved himself between them and pointed at the area before them. A great river of tar was stretched out before them and guarded on either side by Charr. On their side of the muck a Charr force was guarding a large cage full of Ascalonian men.
"Those are fellow countrymen!" Rurik hissed with a seething scowl forming on his face, "We must help them."
"I was just thinking of a pla-... and he's gone." Q muttered as dust was kicked up in front of him and a shining prince went running down the hill.
"Again?" Signa muttered.
"Buck up kid," Kalen chuckled with a small grin, "You weren't much different."
"Kalen you can't mean that!" Signa called after the older man as he went charging down the hill. "Q?" She started, but he was already gone. "Zleeda.."
"Prince in trouble? Oh yes prince in trouble! Sorry Signa I gotta take this" the older woman replied trying to restrain her laughter.
"...Right." Signa grumbled. Dejectedly she followed the rest down the hill feeling a bit more self-aware. By the time she got down the rest had already taken down the opposition and freed the joyous soldiers.
Prison by prison the heroes made their way through the outer Charr territories and northward. With each bony cage and each thankful, yet beaten face Rurik only grew more and more grim. Devourers fell in dozens and Signa could hardly keep up with the group's pace as she tripped over rock, crystal, staff, and tar.
Finally they came to a cage at the end of a particularly deep tar string. Signa hurried to the rest after seeing the men inside for these men in particular were wearing no armor and very little clothing. The men's faces were as bare as their clothing and the gratitude resonating from their faces could not be described; one man, however, stood in front of the cage and bowed immediately. He was an elderly fellow with a long grey beard and eyes sunken in so that Signa thought they might become lost in his skull. A few grey rags served as his clothing, but Signa could see on one shoulder a very faint crest of fire.
"My Lord," the man rasped, weakly getting to his knees and bowing.
"I recognize your face," Rurik started staring at the man. He stared a few moments until something seemed to connect in his mind, "Erol! Erol of the Spark! What are you doing here good man you, you were on duty during the searing! I thought you all dead..."
"Not dead my lord captured!" Erol replied.
"Captured? You mean all this time?!" Rurik asked incredulously.
"Yes sir, they've been feeding us with devourer meat, eggs, and rainwater. Many have died yet to their torture, but some yet survive!"
"But those men that were with you in the prison, they were not magic users?" inquired the prince.
"No sir, what remains of the mages is locked away further north-east. They are held near the academy transport gates and tortured daily for the spell to get through."
Rurik stared at the man, face aghast, "And have any of them spoken? Is the gate lost?"
"Not that I've heard of my lord. The beasts speak mostly in grunts but consistently they have been grunts of frustration.
Rurik turned quickly to his friends, "We must hurry our expedition my friends. If those mangled monsters get the secret first then we are all doomed. Come! Erol you are with me."
"Yes sir!"
Before the rest of the party could speak the old man and the prince were off down the path. By now Signa could only grit her teeth and keep running. There was a long way yet to go.
"Damn them they've closed the gate" Rurik cursed, standing in front of a massive wooden bridge gate. Q found him standing there with the old man now resting on his back. The poor man was no heavier than a sack of barley and Rurik had no trouble carrying him around.
"Is there another way across?" Q asked quietly, "I'm afraid I am not familiar with this country."
"The only other way is under the bridge, but I cannot bring Erol across the tar is too deep. A moment of silence fell over the group and Kalen especially decided to take a particular interest in the swirling black sky. Signa rolled her eyes, "I'll do it," she muttered.
"Excellent we will be waiting here for you," Rurik announced.
"Oh I know you will," Signa grumbled as she walked away from the bridge entrance and down to the tar. After a few moments of contemplation she casted an ice spell on the area where the tar ran thinnest. A clumsy slide later and she was on the other side. She ran up quickly and spotted two Charr archers and a single blade wielder. The archers went down quickly with meteor spells, but the blade wielder required some expert blocking and a couple well placed lightning cantrips. With the area clear she pulled the gate lever and nodded in satisfaction as the doors on both her side and the far side swung open on alarmingly oiled hinges. It did not take long before she and the rest of the party were on their way again.
Moving on with the stealth of a prowling cat, the team forged their way through the Charr base camp. To their left lay a large clearing surrounded by sharp ridges. A few glimpses through the cracks in the rocks revealed a large Charr legion sitting around spits of meat.
"It would be best to skirt that mess," Rurik whispered quietly as he led the party around the area. Ahead of them was a gate as large as the bridge gate and a single Charr shaman guarding it. To his left was an obsidian cage.
"That must be where they are holding my men," Erol whispered, "I'd heard the Charr boast of their cleverness in holding the 'meat' in a place that 'they can't burn down.'"
"Thank you Erol."
Q stepped in front of both of them whilst stringing his long bow, "But first we have to deal with that brute. He is a magic wielder of some sort so we must be careful."
"I'll trust you with this one then Q" Rurik said.
Q just nodded and motioned for the others to hide behind a nearby searing crystal. He positioned himself a bit closer behind a large rock. Every movement he made was calculated, thought out, and then executed with perfection. Knock attached to string, arrow rested on finger, the pull back, all was perfect. There was an arrow lodged in his cranium before the charr could know what hit him.
The path now clear, the rest moved forward and stood in front of the obsidian cage. Hearing the commotion some men with clothes equally as tattered as Erol's moved from the shadows. All the men were missing fingers, toes, and even ears. Some were mutilated enough to make Signa cringe with sympathy; yet at the sight of their Lord Prince smiles lit up their faces.
"Have you come to save us my lord?" one youth asked standing on his right leg to save the stub of his left foot.
"We haven't said a word. Not one of us" said a very young girl who had a dirty bandage wrapped around one eye.
"Yes I have come to save you. All of you have done your country a great service and all of it's people owe you a great debt. I am very proud" Rurik replied. The gentle smile on his face was heartbreaking.
"You would have done a hundred times more my prince," an older man said, leaning on the wall for support.
Erol stepped forward now, "He absolutely would have, but now is not the time for praise or greeting. We are all in grave danger and we must leave immediately.
"Erol is right," Rurik whispered as if he were suddenly aware of the danger that lurked just little bit away, "We must leave through the Nolani gate."
"My lord they have shaman's surveying the magic of the gate day and night. There is no way for us to get it open without attracting attention and fighting them" warned the first young man.
"At least we will not fight all of them then. I will open the gate myself. If I remember correctly there were flame stands set up outside of the gate and my friends here can help to protect you. You must trust me there is no other way" Rurik pleaded.
The mages slowly nodded one by one, "We trust you with our life and we will follow till that life is ended."
"Then let us go."