{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 12

"The Tome of the Fallen?" Q asked.

"That's what he said," Signa replied. Shouts of pain, victory, and anguish rang out below the heroes as they hurried toward the side entrance of the academy.

"What's so important about some dusty old tome?" Zleeda wondered.

Q calmly strung his bow walking in front of the team. "It contains the names of those who had fallen from the wall and were buried in its ruins. It is highly cherished by the spirits of those fallen and cursed to ward against grave robbers. Taking it from its pedestal causes all the spirits to awaken and try to receive it."

"Won't that make the ghosts come after us?" Kalen asked suspiciously.

"If we take the right road and get rid of it fast enough, we'll be alright" Q answered.

Zleeda only sighed, "That doesn't make me feel any better."

The side gate, as far as gates went, was unimpressive. Signa wondered why the Charr did not simply attack this side; then she saw the maze. Even being as tall as she was she could not see over the ridges that stood on either side of the broken path. "Q how are we even going to get there?" she whispered softly.

"The hidden point us in the right direction," Q whispered, slowly approaching the first split in the path.

"The hidden?" Signa started before hearing a pebble fall to their right, "What is-"

She was interrupted by Q turning around with a finger pressed against his lips to signal her to silence herself. She zipped her lips and just followed him as he turned right. The rest of the group also remained perfectly quiet, or as quiet as they could with their equipment, so as not to bother Q. Another pebble fell to the left and Q followed that to. He then stopped and whispered quietly, "The hidden are a secret legion of the Vanguard whose sole purpose is to lead allies through this maze without being seen by only tossing pebbles; however, they will only toss once. Then you are on your own." Signa slowly nodded in understanding and pebble by pebble the adventurers journeyed through the twists, the turns, and toward the tome.

"That's the last of them" Kalen reported, kicking the limp body of a gargoyle off his sword.

"Very well. The graveyard is around the next bend. I'll go on now and retrieve the tome. Are we all clear on the plane?" Q asked in a soft whisper. The rest nodded and took their respective positions; Kalen and Zleeda stood on either side of the path and Signa stood beside the large boulder that would be Dead Man's Pass' barrier.

Q nodded and then tiptoed around the bend and into the graveyard. Dust rolled around his feet and furled about the many headstones on either side of him creating the effect of "mist" in a moistureless environment. Stone, broken and scattered, littered the ground. In front of him stood a gravestone that towered above the rest. It was there, in front of the grave of Captain Halberd Thackaray, that the pedestal stood. Atop it the tome lay open with pages as fresh as the day they were written on.

"Enchanted indeed" Q thought to himself. Warily he approached it whilst reaching into one of the pouches on his belt. Horns sounded in the not-so-far-away distance. "Show time."

With reflexes rivaling the most adept of Melandru Stalkers* Q snatched the tome and dashed away throwing a hand full of obsidian dust to the ground.

A wail seemed to rise from the ground and one by one haggard blue bodies levitated from their graves and landed lightly on their phantasmic feet. "After him!" they cried with voices of a thousand sorrows. The obsidian cloaked Q for only a moment before he was visible once more. Past the headstones he raced being careful to jump and dodge over stone and brush. Around the bend Kalen and Zleeda stood waiting. "THEY'RE COMING NOW!" Q shouted before dashing past them.

Signa waited until she saw the ranger speed past Kalen and Zleeda as if Grenth himself was on his tail. "Q! The book!" she shouted hurriedly. Immediately Q looked her way and tossed the tome. Signa just barely saw the mass of blue before running to the boulder she'd set her staff against.

Q cried, "Be quick!"

"I'm trying!" she shouted in return before starting her spells. Water came forth from her staff with the force of a hundred jotun* having a wrestling match. The boulder stagnantly remained. As soon as the water spout was finished the lava came next. It covered the rock base and seeped into its cracks. A little ice made the lava rock get brittle and a single lightning bolt released the rock slide.

"The book the book!" Q shouted.

"I know!" Signa replied. She picked up the tome and waited. It was not long before the Charr came into view. Masses of them snarling and angry. Signa took a single deep breath and threw the book up into the air. Her staff came swinging around to make contact with the spine. The hit struck true and the book soared forward; as a final touch she set a gust of wind behind it and watched it hit a charr shaman square in the face. Looking behind her she saw the ghostly force receded to chase after their new target.

Q patted Signa's shoulder and nodded as he watched the blue masses sweep over the astounded beasts, "Good work. Let's get back quickly Zleeda was injured."

"R-right" Signa replied feeling very drained from all the magic she had just used.

"Excellent work," Rurik croaked. His voice was nearly gone from shouting orders, "The ghosts are doing their work."

In the distance roars and yelps could still be heard. Specks of blue battled against specks of brown and blue grew stronger and stronger in number.

'What happens when all the charr are dead?" Zleeda questioned. Immediately she cringed as a resident healer mended her shoulder with a blessing incantation from Dwayna.

"They retrieve their book and they go back to sleep." Rurik answered.

"And then the path is cleared?" Kalen inquired.

"Yes."

"So we wait," Q stated, "So lets get some grub."

"Good idea," Signa agreed, "Rurik are you coming?"

"No," he replied, "I'll stay here. Thanks."

"No problem," she got out before she was dragged with the rest toward the soup tent.

"This is it," Signa whispered, "You're sure the fighting was over?"

"The scouts confirmed it," Rurik replied, "Take it down."

"Right, here we go." Staff held high Signa muttered a spell and the earth rumbled beneath them. Rocks came crashing down to reveal the massacre before them. The ground was a mass of blood, fur, and metal and Signa heard Rurik gag as the stench of rotting carcasses hit them hard.

"Keep walking," choked the prince as he slowly tiptoed and weaved his way over and around the bodies. The rest followed suit holding their hands over their mouths and noses. After a while of walking, the towers of Rin became visible followed by the wall covered in fire. Most of the Charr had left the area as the outer walls had already been breached and burned. All that was left was the inner palace and the king. "Rin... father hold on I am almost home.." Rurik muttered under his breath fire reflecting in his eyes from deep within him, "Our city will not fall like this. Not because of them." Resolutely Rurik pushed forward toward the burning city of the king.

* A Melandru's Stalker is a type of wild cat that is native to Ascalonian territory. In the pre-searing Melandru's Stalkers highly populated the Regent Valley in South-East Ascalon. The Melandru's Stalker most closely resembles the American Mountain Lion.

*A Jotun is a type of giant-like creature that is almost all brawn and no brain. They also wear rags around their lower sections and have been loosely nicknamed "Diaper Babies"

(Thank you for reading this series and please review/comment/message me with your feedback or just to say hi! Have a magical day!)