A short pause between arcs, a flash of Cray's time in the Arch, as well as a glimpse of his past.
Old dream
Flame licked against the ruined and scorched pillar he was hiding behind, heating it to the point it started to melt. A giant drake, covered in black scales and spike spines on top of his back, did not relent in his pursuit. It's fire blazed without pause.
He counted seconds till his cover was no more, forcing him to jump aside as the fiery tide passed over it, leaving him open to the reptilian creature. It turned its head, red eyes peering at him with predatory guile. He shot an arrow in one of the eyes, running left, away from the cliff side. It roared in pain, so deafening that he rocks around it cracked. Then it leashed out with its massive tail, spikes at the end narrowly missing his legs, but one of them caught his bow, slung over his back.
The next moment he flew, twisting in the air like some circus athlete before smashing in the rocks on the cliff edge. Something cracked and he felt a sting of unbearable pain on the right side of his chest as he tumbled off the edge. He suppressed a scream, merely grunting in pain as he grabbed hold of some vines, dangling off the edge of the cliff.
The beast turned away from him, lumbering towards his unconscious companions, a sylvari girl and a norn warrior. They both lay unmoving, on the other side of the clearing. He hoped they were okay.
With an effort, he got up, reaching for his bow. Then he realized that it was broken in several pieces, just as he drew his bloody hand back. A glance down revealed that a piece of it was sticking out of side of his lower chest, ran through his back. At that moment, he did not care for it. He took his long, poisoned dagger out and rushed over to the beast, adrenaline keeping him wholly alive and unfazed by the pain he should be feeling.
By the edge of his sight, he saw Crank, his face bloody and his left arm dangling uselessly to the side. The asura lifted up the norn's hand cannon, setting it down on the stone before him and fired, hitting the beast square in the lower jaw, spraying bits of bone, teeth and meat all over the clearing. It was the distraction he needed.
He jumped on the back of the enormous drake, holding himself steady on one of its horns. The dagger plunged down, through the already empty eye socket, into the brain of the creature. It trashed, letting of half-strangled noises as blood and fire spurted from its ruined mouth. He fell off, tumbling down and grunting in pain, he too bleeding like a gutted fish. Still, he grinned, giving Crank thumbs up.
Then something hit him and he flew again, cliff meeting him head on. He crashed, rolled and then fell, grasping the air for anything that would save him. The cliff sped past him, the rumbling water below rushing to meet him.
It hit him hard, like a raging bull.
Craywin awoke from his dream with a jolt, dagger in hand. He blinked, confused for a moment before shaking his head slowly and setting the dagger down.
"Just a dream..." he muttered, looking around the dimly lit room. He pondered the meaning of the dream, before dismissing the notion. It was in the past. "Stupid old memory..."
He stood up, considering what to do. Raima had called him again, after that first meeting with her and her... guest. Ashen, the charr was called. Wounded and still recovering, Raima had patched her up.
She was not home when he arrived, note plastered on the door that she is out to meet up with someone. He supposed that his business with her wasn't all that hurried then, if she had time to meet up with someone else instead of waiting for him. Ashen was not around either.
Without much to do, he returned the dagger to its sheath, grabbing his swordbelt and going out; his cloak, bow and quiver left hanging on the wall in the house.
It was night, torches lit to keep the main streets relatively safe to walk in this time of day. He buckled the swordbelt over his chest, so that the sword would be pulled over his shoulder. Less of a chance he'd accidentally bump into something with it that way. Distractions are ill advised if you're trying to stay invisible, after all.
Craywin keep to the shadows, moving unseen by any passerby, merely looking around the city and its dark streets for anything that might catch his interest. For one, it felt quite peaceful, something he had hard time connecting with the Lion's Arch. This was a city that can draw you in and never let you go easily, especially at night. You go out, wandering in one of the odd alleyways and disappear into the night.
It happened before. He made it happen on occasions, depending on the job.
Still, this night was oddly quiet, not much happening. A sylvari rushed by, disappearing in one of the alleyways.
He was going the other way when he heard the crash of stone against flesh. It was a sound easy to remember. He paused and looked at the source of it, the dark alleyway into which that sylvari disappeared to.
He paused, contemplating his options. Then he too disappeared into the thick darkness of the alleyway by him, unseen and quiet, like almost like a ghost. It led behind the buildings, to the place where he just heard the noise at.
Craywin regarded the place curiously from his hiding spot as others came rushing forward, telltale signs of elementalist magic all obvious in the street. Whoever it was, the deed was done swiftly and without mercy.
The broken body of a sylvari was still oozing sap from where it was twisted at odd angles into the ground.