I apologize in advance for blowing up you guy's alerts. Couple of tiny errors I noticed and I had to repost this. That's the only reason why. Once again, sorry in advance.

Chapter 2: Unforseen Consequences 1A

The duo made it to the entrance of Divinity's Reach. There was a watchman inside one of the watch towers messing with some kind of control panel to unlock the gates. Once the doors were open the two walked out and into the northern part of Queensdale.

"Tetra is searching for Irvine too isn't she?" Kasmeer asked.

Starkk nodded. " Yeah but big sis is in Frostsound Gorge fighting the Frostbrood with the onslaught so I'd imagine that's been preoccupying her time. The young assassin seemed to be having some inner turmoil that caused the human mesmer to frown slightly.

"Darn it, I always suck at these kind of things. He goes off worrying and I make it even worse." She said berating herself. "Well, you're not going to be a mister grumpy pants on my watch!" She said puffing out her chest as she walked up beside him. Before he could question her actions she gave him a swift smack on the back causing him to jump.

"What the hell Mira!?" Starkk yelled with a shark like face. She giggled and smiled at him with a pretty set of white teeth which caused him to raise an eyebrow in confusion.

"I'm sure your brother is fine. He's a tough guy just like a certain spaghetti head I know so stop worrying so much." She said walking ahead of him with her hands closed together behind her waist. "Besides, you still have me to help you out with the search as well. Didn't you remember what I told you?... I'll always help you, no matter what it is." She turned her head to stare back at him. For a brief moment his mind flashed back to when they were little kids and she stood before him saying that exact same thing. He didn't know why but it was that damn smile of hers and how she turned that always got him. He never could understand why she insisted on helping him so much. Not that he had a problem with it. Secretly it made him feel wonderful. Having a friend that cared for him so much. He cared for her too. Probably more than he should. He snapped himself out of his temporary daydream and beamed at her.

"Yeah, I remember. Thank you Mira. I appreciate it a lot.

"Aww, don't mention it. What are besties for!" She then grabbed his hand. "Let's go! Times a wastin!" She yanked him along as she ran down the pathway full of trees.

"Kasmeer! You're going to yank my friggen arm off!" He protested but his blonde haired friend didn't seem to be listening.

"You jackasses should have been here sooner!" One of the farm hands yelled.

"The Seraph are doing the best they can sir but this war is having all of us spread too thin to be everywhere at once." The guard said trying to calm the frantic civilian down. This only seemed to make him madder.

"Screw your excuses! These people got fucking butchered and the best you can do is make more excuses to cover your sorry asses!" He bellowed.

"I'm going to have to ask you to calm down, you're only making this situation worse." Another guard told him with a stern look.

"Unbelievable!" The frustrated man said throwing his arms up and walking back into his house where his wife and 3 kids stood watching the exchange. A titanic sized troll had wandered onto the farm and slaughtered the majority of the hands working on it. By the time the Seraph managed to get a unit dispatched it was far too late. It was a macabre scene. Linen cloth could be seen draped over the corpses.

Starkk and Kasmeer reached the farm prompting the blonde to gasp and cup a hand over her mouth while the assassin only stared in bewilderment.

"Looks like a demon came and tore this place apart." Starkk said in a low voice.

"This is horrible, what could have done this?"Kasmeer said sadly. The residents of the farm and Seraph Guard turned to see the two newcomers who showed up. This triggered a couple of hushed whispers.

"I'll be damned. It's the legendary Vanishing Mist and Lady Kasmeer the Elegant. One of the farmhands said in awe.

"If they're here they can undoubtedly stop that behemoth if it comes back!"

A couple of the guards trotted over to greet the two heroes. "Lady Meade, Lord Silvers it's an honor to see you." One of the guards spoke.

Starkk glared at him. "Drop the lord please. I don't like honorifics. What the hell is going on? What did this?" He said in dead seriousness.

The guard that addressed him got flustered for a second but quickly corrected himself. "Oh, right! Well we were out on patrol when we got word from a courier that this farm was under siege by a Forest Troll. By the time we got here it was too late. It's bad enough that the children had to witness this violence but for us not to make it in time..." He said gritting his teeth angrily. The two could tell that they were beating themselves up over not being able to save anyone.

"It's alright. We know you guys are doing the best you can." Kasmeer said trying to lift their broken spirits up. Starkk agreed as well. He knew they couldn't be at several places at once. Dwayna knows he's tried to be at times and how horribly that failed.

A light-bulb went off in the sorceress's head."Hey Starkk? That dealer isn't to arrive until 6:00 pm tomorrow right?" Kasmeer said turning to him.

"Correct?..." He said eyeing his best friend in puzzlement.

"Why don't we stay here for tonight so we can catch that troll if it decides to come back?" She said slapping a hand on her arm and thrusting it in a flexing like motion.

He pondered for a second before looking at everyone. "I suppose that wouldn't be a problem. I don't want anymore needless deaths like this so it's better that we kill this thing now before it poses a bigger problem. Kasmeer along with the rest of the farm hands cheered while a couple of the guards came and thanked him.

"Thank you milord." We can stay as well and help fortify you against the beast should it return."

Starkk smiled. "You called me lord again but not a problem. The more people we have here the better."

An older woman who looked to be in her mid 40s approached. She had a gentle aura about her, almost mystic. "Why don't you two come stay with our family? We have plenty of room and we would love some guests." She came over and took Kasmeer's hands in hers prompting her to blush slightly and chuckle sheepishly.

"Oh, no ma'am we couldn't impose on you like that."This made the other woman laugh. "Such a polite young lady. It really won't be any trouble at all. I'm Veronica by the way. This is my husband Garoth and my daughter Emily." The man introduced himself to her and shook her hand before walking over to Starkk. The little girl poked her head out from behind her mother's legs obviously still shaken from the event . "Oh, stop it. She won't hurt you." The mother said trying to coax the little girl. She had nice brown hair like her mother that was tied up in a ponytail. Her unsure curious green eyes borrowed into the mesmer as if trying to search for something. She had on a purple dress that matched her purple sandals. She was a pretty little thing. Kasmeer smiled warmly at her and crouched down to her knees to meet the little girl at eye level.

"Hey there cutie, I'm Kasmeer. I like your dress." She complimented. This caused the little girl to come out from under her mother and approach her slowly. "T-Thanks." She said timidly. The blonde seemed like she was humming a bit as she patted the little girl on her head. " You don't have to worry about anything. My friend and me are here now and we'll make that big scary monster go away for good so turn that frown upside down!"

Emily stared at her for the longest time before her mouth opened in a wide smile. "KAY!" She said as she ran up and hugged the older girl. She giggled and picked the tiny child up. Everyone else smiled at them. Despite what happened, the two managed to get rid of their gloomy states.

"Mr. Silvers! I heard a lot about you. You care to entertain an old man about your travels?" Garoth said shaking his hand.

Sure that won't be an issue as long as you have good alcohol." Starkk said returning the man's gesture.

"Hahahaha! Don't worry we have plenty of it. Come, let's get you guys situated." With that the family of 3 and the two heroes made their way inside the rather large house.

Hill's Home

"Hahahahaha! This kid is a riot!" A drunk Garoth exclaimed with an arm slung over the equally drunk man beside him. Veronica hadn't had supper out for more than 10 minutes and the two men were already intoxicated and being buffoons. The two females were forced to listen to through the drunk debacle. None of them hardly touched their food.

"It wash like I waz tellin old moldy butt...how he aspects me to fite dem overgrown gizzards? Fuck out here. You ever seen the size of one of dem things? Things would cook my scrawny arse and make my skin even darker than it already is. Hell won't be Vanishing Mist anymore, more like Vanished Ashes." This caused the older man to laugh even harder as he listened to the younger adult's gibberish. The two woman stared at them flatly clearly not amused. Luckily, Emily wasn't at the table since she finished eating before the adults and was in another room playing.

Kasmeer sighed. "I see your husband gets like this too huh?" The older woman shook her head. "Yeah but he finds anything funny when he gulps a couple of them down." The two were silent for a second before stifling laughs. Veronica rested her head on a hand and smiled impishly at the mesmer which prompted her to raise her eyebrow in confusion.

"Something wrong Mrs. Hills?" Kasmeer questioned.

"No, not at all but tell me something? How long have you and Starkk been dating?" This was a poor choice of words. Starkk spit his ale out as he spluttered and struggled to regain his breath. Kasmeer's face turned beet red as she started to move her hands frantically in front of Veronica and saying a bunch of words at such a speed that the older woman couldn't quite decipher any of it.

"Like hell I'd date this crybaby bed wetter!" Starkk said with a thin line of rose on his nose.

*KERPOWWW!*

The assassin looked over at Kasmeer only to receive a bowl to the face causing it to shatter. As the pieces dropped to the floor he had swirls for eyes and fell with a loud thud.

Garoth was practically out of breath from laughing so hard.

"Oh my..." Was Veronica's only reply. Kasmeer's face was still beat red as she held a fist up with a small tick mark on it, clearly pissed over her best friend's statement.

"As if I'd date an ale-gobbling pint sized runt who's so tiny that he can only be seen through a magnifying glass! You big dumb jerk!" With a swift motion of her hand she repaired the shattered bowl and it was back to where it was originally placed at. "I'm going to go bathe." She said angrily as she stormed off.

"It's right down the hall deary!" Veronica yelled after her.

Garoth leaned down. A drunken smile on his face. "Golly gawsh Starkk! Such a ladieeeeeeeees mannn!"

"Dear do stop teasing him." His wife scolded.

Garoth shrugged. "Aww but babe it's funny watching the two youngsters have a lover's spat." She shook her head.

Emily walked over and poked him then laughed with childlike glee. "Haha! Mommy! Big brother Starkk's eyes are funny!"

"O-Oh... n-no thank you. I had all my shots today so I don't need to see the dwarf man." The assassin said clearly out of it.

Outside Bath House

Everything managed to settle down inside the house. Shortly after Kasmeer entered the bath she was joined by the other two females.

"So how long have you two known each other?" Veronica asked curiously.

"Ever since we were kids." Kasmeer replied as she ran her hands through the younger girl's soapy hair which the latter seemed to enjoy immensely. " He has two other siblings as well but they lost their mother and father so I, my other best friend Marjory and those two are all he has left."

"I see." The auburn haired woman said staring at the water. "A boy like him is a puzzle. Keeps his emotions bottled up to keep others from seeing his pain . Having the occupation he has I could imagine he doesn't allow it to get in the way."

Kasmeer smirked dryly. "Sometimes I don't know what to say to him. It makes me feel useless."

"Kassy? Is big brother sad a lot?" The little girl asked inquisitively.

The mesmer shook her head. "No but I think he just has trouble getting close to people. It may not seem like it but he does care about the people he meets and just doesn't want to keep going through the same pain of losing all of them."

"I'm going to get strong like big sis and big brother so he doesn't have to worry anymore." Emily exclaimed proudly. This made both woman chuckle. "I'm sure he'd be delighted to hear that." Over on the other side Veronica kept staring at Kasmeer. The young mesmer reminded her of herself so much in her youth. It made her think about herself and Garoth and how she dealt with his foolishness all these years. She closed her eyes and grinned.

"Kasmeer, take care of him." She stated simply.

This caused her to blush again. "Who'd want to take care of that unreliable, drunkard idiot? I couldn't help that knobhead even if I tried."

Veronica laughed. "But he's your idiot right?"

The mesmer's words got caught in the back of her throat. "Yes..." She said defeated as she sunk nose level into the bath.

"Damn it Irvine! You going off and getting yourself killed is not going to make this right!" A 17yr old Starkk screamed at his foster brother.

"I don't expect you to understand..." The massive and tall dark skinned bald headed Norn said.

"WHATS TO UNDERSTAND! YOU DON'T THINK I WANT TO GO AND KILL THIS PISS DRAGON !? THEY WERE MY MOM AND DAD TOO! DON'T TEAR THIS FAMI LY APART MORE THAN IT ALREADY IS!"

Irvine's face contorted into an angry glower. "YOU"RE BEING CHILDISH STARKK! YOU'RE NOT SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE!"

Starkk snapped his head to his older sister Tetra. "Tetra for the love of Grenth please talk some sense into your thick skulled brother, please!" She only turned her head away causing the young teen to smack his teeth in disgust. He bolted out of the house.

Irvine sighed. "Tetra I'm sorry, please look after him while I'm gone." She nodded and walked up and hugged her brother.

"You be careful you hear? Don't take any unnecessary risks. Use your head. I mean it Irvine. I won't forgive you if you die out there." She said seriously.

The ranger smiled. "Can do. Well I got to go. I love you."

"I love you too you knuckledragger." Tetra said bidding her brother farewell. As Irvine set off. His thoughts wandered back to his little brother. "I'm sorry to do this to you little bro but this has to be done. Grow strong and into a wonderful man. I love you." He said to himself as he set off with Falcon Company to the Crystal Desert.

"So you're leaving me too huh?" The dread-head said miserably.

"Stop it." Was her only reply. Her eyes were hidden behind the hair that covered her forehead. The rest was tied up into a small bun on each side of her head with black strands hanging down from the both of them. She had enlisted with the Seraph's Elementalist Corp and could now be seen in what looked to be an exotic light purple crystal like armored dress.

"If you and that idiot want to go off and get yourselves killed then be my guest. I don't give a damn anymore!" He felt his head turn violently towards the right as she delivered a nasty slap to his face. She picked him up by the shirt.

"How long are you going to keep fucking whining?! You're not a little brat anymore Starkk. Grow up! If we don't do something about these dragons then Tyria is going to be a barren wasteland! Is that what you want!?" She thundered. He only stared at his sister in shock as he put a hand on his stinging cheek. She brought him forward and kissed him on the forehead before hugging him tightly. " I want you to listen to me. I want you take care of yourself while I'm gone, do you hear me? Make sure you do hygiene and eat healthy. By the time I get back I want you to have grown into a strong man." The boy was silent. She let go of him only for him to drop to his knees. She had a pained expression on her face as she turned away and walked off. He looked up in time to see her wiping her face. He could tell she was crying. She boarded the ship. Over on one of the windows He could see her pressing her hand against it. He mirrored her gesture. It was on that day that the boy had decided to get stronger so that he could support both his brother and sister in the fight against the dragons.

A man who was shadowed stood before him. "You don't look like much boy. Get out of here while you can. Someone of your caliber won't be able to handle this kind of training."

Starkk stood his ground. "I can handle it! So please, take me as your apprentice!"

The man sighed. "Very well then but I won't tolerate whining or slack so you better be prepared." The boy cheered but his face turned serious shortly after. This was going to be a long road ahead of him.

The assassin's eyes shot open as he put a hand over one eye as if in pain. "Damn it!" He growled. "That same painful dream again." He must have dosed off while he sat up on the rooftop. It was night time with a full moon being out. He could see a couple of farm hands tending to some animals. The guards from earlier were posted at points around the farm. He had gotten into the bath after the ladies. That and he wanted to avoid his friend's wrath for the time being. He was in a white shirt, black pants and some white shoes as he leaned back against the building with both hands behind his head. A door that lead up to the roofs swung open. Garoth came out. A peaceful expression on his face.

"There you are my boy. You don't mind if I join you do you?" He asked.

"Not at all, make yourself comfortable. Not like this is my crib anyway." The man chuckled and sat beside him.

"Should you really be wearing those clothes? What if the troll comes back?" He questioned. He then noticed that the assassin was holding a katana that looked asuran in origin. The hilt rested gently on his shoulder.

"Naw, I only need this." He said showing the man the weapon.

Garoth went wide eyed. " Don't tell me... is this one of the sacred Legendary Artifacts?" He said clearly in awe at the glowing weapon in front of him.

Starkk nodded. " You know about them? Indeed. It's called Amaterasu, (meaning Heavenly Illumination). This katana and I have been through thick and thin. You can think of it as an extension of myself." The light-skinned man said proudly.

"How did you obtain such an artifact? I heard stories that these artifacts have killed lesser men who have tried to wield them."

"Well I can tell you this much. That part about the artifacts killing people is true. It just varies. Take Amaterasu for instance. If you're not compatible with it then it will kill you outright. That's why it's dangerous for just anyone to try to pick one up should they find it." Starkk explained. "As for the rest, it's personal and I don't like bringing up painful memories."

"What about Miss Kasmeer? Is that weird weapon she has a Legendary as well?" Garoth said prodding further.

He shook his head. "No, while Mirage is of special design , it isn't one. Magic users and artifact users differ greatly when it comes to ability. Some magic users don't even bother to try to search for them let alone wield them since most of their abilities depending on the person are superior to an artifact. As for Kasmeer, she mostly uses her staff as a focus to channel her abilities. I'm going to be frank, Amaterasu pales in comparison to her magical abilities. I've seen them first hand. Most things that tried to challenge her are either dead or no longer able to harm or trouble others."

Garoth laughed. "You two brats are a couple of little monsters huh? Well I understand about not wanting to bring up your past but it wouldn't kill you to open up to people some time kiddo." He said fatherly.

Starkk turned his head away. Finding some grass below them nice to look at. "Maybe..." Garoth watched the 20yr old for a moment before speaking.

"Son let me ask you something. If something were to happen to Veronica and me could I trust you and your friend enough to take care of Emily?" This caused the assassin to snap his head around swiftly with his mouth agape and bug eyed.

"Has the alcohol finally made you go blood simp!? The heck are you saying all of a sudden old man!?"

Garoth snorted loudly has he bellowed with laughter. "Haha! It's nothing. Just a senile old man trying to strike up conversation. Ignore my nonsense. I'm going to head off to bed but listen, I hope during your travels you find your older brother. I really do kid. I'm rooting for ya!"

Starkk nodded and smiled. "Thanks and night Mr. Hill." Once the door shut. He focused his attention to the woods. Something was causing them to rustle. It wasn't the wind since the current wasn't that strong. His eyes narrowed. Something was about to happen.

A couple of guards were huddled over a fire talking among themselves. "Man that herder was really cute." A bald headed guard said swooning.

"You think I'd have a shot with her?" Another one said causing the rest of his colleagues to make fun of him. "Oh please. I bet she'd rather give mouth to mouth to a Quaggan rather than be with your ugly mug. Their moment was cut short when they heard something growling from behind the woods. All of them picked their weapons up and ran over to the area where the noise was coming from, huddled in a circular formation.

"Keep it loose and don't bunch up. We don't want this thing getting the jump on us." One man commanded who seemed to be the leader of the group. The originator of the noise finally came stomping out of the woods, knocking down the trees and making long booming strides. The troll was massive. There weren't any parts of it's body that muscles weren't bulging out of. Piercing glowing yellow eyes stared at the humans below it ominously. Rows of sharp teeth open and closed while tan colored thick saliva dropped from them.

"Oh fuck!" One of the guards gulped, shaking horribly. The monster let out a savage roar as it swung a giant fist catching three of them with the sweeping blow and sending their broken bodies in different directions. Another set of guards with bows let off arrows that struck the creature in the arm. It let out a pained growl as it snatched the arrows messily out of it's enlarged limb with a sickening squelching noise. It got into a crouching position. It was going to charge. With frightening speed it took off shoulder positioned with the intent to smash anything in the way. Most of the quicker men got out of the way in time but a Seraph Defender wasn't so lucky. They were all surprised for a moment as it seemed he was holding his ground against the creature's bulk with that shield of his. Alas, he couldn't match the strength of the creature. It floored him moments later and picked him up bisecting him and eating his upper half.

The assassin saw the whole thing from the distance and was already off into a sprint. "Are you fucking kidding me?" He cursed under his breath. "Thing is freaking huge!" Screams constantly filled the air as the troll savaged farm hands and guards a like. It had turned it's attention to a woman who had tripped while trying to flee from it. She had a look of abstract terror as the creature bore down for the kill. As it brought it's claw down something fast moved in to intercept it. Starkk got to the troll in time to block it's gargantuan hand with Amaterasu . He was clenching his teeth hard as he struggled under the creature's massive bulk. 'MOVE NOW!" He yelled at the woman. She didn't seem to comply as she stared blankly at him. The assassin's face changed to frantic fury. "IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DIE GET MOVING NOW DAMN IT! YOU"RE IN THE WAY!" He boomed. This seemed to wake her up as she scrambled and ran into the opposite direction. "NOW SHIMMER! AMATERAS..." Before he could activate his artifact's trump card mode the creature punched him with seismic pressure causing the blade to dig into his chest and sending him flying. The punch had not only caused the sword to cut into him which was probably going to leave a nasty scar but broke four of his ribs. He slammed violently into one tree breaking it and crashed into another before he slumped down in a daze. He started to convulse blood as it poured out of his mouth.

It took a moment for his vision to focus again. The creature was heading towards the Hill's Home. It probably thought that's where the biggest concentration of meat was. His eyes had a cold emotionless gate to them. "No you don't you! I'll kill your giant ass before you even get there." The dread-head rogue pointed his blade out in front of him. Slowly reaching and putting his hand at the bottom most part of his hilt he raised his weapon up in a stabbing motion. His irises went from purple to a glowing yellow color. He inhaled before a massive amount of yellow arcane energy exploded and surged skywards. "SHIMMER!...AMATERASU!" What came out of the light was a sight to behold. The assassin now sported a helm that had metal wing like objects on the side. The face plate was a yellow T-shaped see through visor. His shoulder armor looked the same as the spaulders from his Infiltrator Armor except with more plating on them. Instead of the Orichalcum covering his chest, it covered his entire body with glowing slits of yellow light on them. With a blur of speed he was off.

"Kasmeer please take Veronica and Emily and run!. Protect them with your life!"

"STOP TALKING NONSENSE AND LET KASMEER HELP YOU! YOU"RE NOT GOING TO LEAVE THIS LITTLE GIRL FATHERLESS! Veronica protested.

" DON"T ARGUE WITH ME JUST GO!" The husband screamed. The creature had smashed through the house while they were sleeping. Garoth only had time to grab his sword but he knew anything he did would be useless against this giant. Kasmeer on the other hand knew she was better equipped to handle the creature but she wouldn't be able to forgive herself if something were to happen to the other two while she went all out on the beast. The man lunged at the horrid beast and tried to get it with an overhead strike but the sword bounced off the creature's thick skin. It grabbed him with a bone crushing grip. His left arm was sticking out from an opening in the creatures fingers. It put pressure on it until it snapped it off causing it to fall on the floor and triggering a blood curdling scream from Garoth.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" A teary eyed Veronica screamed.

"DADDY!" The little girl said breaking down as well.

"ARGGGH! WHY ARE YOU STILL HERE KASMEER! TAKE THEM AND GO!" Garoth yelled desperately. The mesmer turned her head away with her eyes closed hard as tears threatened to spill from them. "Come on!" She said sharply as she grabbed the both of them and bolted down the hallway. The man managed to crack one last smile as he caught a glimpse of his wife and daughter thrusting their hands out as if trying to catch him. The creature consumed him whole.

As they were running part of the roof began to crumble before it caved in completely, intending to crush the three. Veronica was the only one to see it in time and pushed the other two girls out of the way. The other two slowly got themselves up only to gasp. Veronica's legs were under the debris, clearly crushed as the blood oozed out from under it. She smiled weakly at them.

"MOMMY!" Emily yelled as she got out of Kasmeer's arms and ran over to her mother. The blue eyed woman began to shake as she saw the blood seeping from under her. "I-I-I'm going to get you out of there! Just hang on!" She said as she begun trying to lift the rubble up with her telekinesis.

"Kasmeer stop! It's too late. That creature will be here any minute. Please take my daughter far away from here!" The auburn head woman said in a strained voice. The little girl hugged her mom. "Mommy let big sister help you!"

"No! NO! I don't want your death on my conscious, please just let me do this!" She said as she tried to lift the rubble up again. The creature's thunderous foot steps were getting closer.

"KASMEER FOR THE LAST TIME! IT"S TOO LATE, I"M BEGGING YOU PLEASE JUST GO!" The mother said with tears falling down her face. The younger woman's lips started to quiver as her face fell. Veronica cupped her daughter's face in her hands. "Mommy loves you so much! I want you to live, live! There's so much more I want to tell you I..." She broke down as she hugged her daughter tightly. Emily didn't say anything but only laid in her mother's arms wide eyed with giant quarter sized tears falling down her cheeks. "Kasmeer we're out of time, you have to get moving!" Kasmeer scooped a reluctant Emily in her arms. With one last broken hearted look she took off with tears trailing out of the corner of her eyes as she ran.

"MOMMY! MOMMMMMMYYYYY!" The little girl screamed.

"EMILY!" Veronica yelled back. She cupped both of her hands over her mouth as she cried silently to herself. It was the last time she was going to see her daughter and the woman who she grew attached to in that short amount of time. She even wanted more time to try to get rid of some of the darkness that was plaguing the young Seraph Assassin but she wouldn't be able to do that either. The creature now hovered over her. Her last thoughts were of her husband and the time they spent together as the troll picked her up. Everything went black shortly afterwards.

The creature finished it's meal and went back out into the clearing. Everyone was struck with cold fear. The beast face twisted in what looked to be a grin. It knew it's prey in front of it were helpless. Something caught in the corner of it's eye. It was coming in extremely fast and looked to be spinning like some sort of flying wheel. The object completely sliced through the creatures arm causing it to drop to the ground with a thud and causing the creature to howl in pain while clutching it's missing limb.

Starkk landed with a skidding halt. Blade in hand and sheathed in light. "I'm going to kill you! YOU DAMNED MONSTER!" The creature threw a punch but the rogue seemed to vanish in thin air before the punch could make contact and instead hit the ground making cracks in it. He ran up the beast, digging his sword in it as he ran up until he reached it's face. He then made an arcing slice, taking out one of it's eyes before launching himself off it. "Damn it all! This always happens! Every time I get close to people! They get taken away from me! I was too damn careless!" He said harshly criticizing himself while he seemed to float in mid air. "Even if it destroys this body of mine I'm going to make sure this bastard of a beast suffers for every life it took!" Starkk said with a venomous glare.

"Lady Meade are you alright!" The guards said as they saw an approaching Kasmeer holding a child who was a sobbing wreck. Her face was hidden in her hair.

"Take the girl and protect her like your lives depend on it. I'm going to go help my friend." The mesmer said in a cold voice that caused the guards to flinch. Their nervousness increased ten fold when they got a good look at her face. No longer were here eyes those gentle blue orbs that were friendly to any who approached her. They were replaced by a harsh flaring purple color that seemed to have lightning dancing around them. Out of thin air her staff materialized as an aura formed around her. What started off as a walk turned into a sprint as she twirled her staff repeatedly and summoned what looked to be purple clones of herself. She took off into the direction where Starkk was fighting.

"Holy shit... was that really Lady Kasmeer? I've never seen her like that before." The guard said in astonishment.

"I don't know what you've been hearing but you obviously haven't heard all of it. It is true that she's probably one of the most gentle and kind souls you'll meet but her anger... her anger is a very terrible thing to be on the wrong side of. Many of the empire's enemies have meet their deaths by her hands simply because they pushed her too far." Another one spoke up.

"How the heck does a common grunt like you know all of this?" A guy in a blue shirt said.

"Have you been living under a rock? It's common knowledge what these two are capable of. They're practically legends." The guard scoffed at him.

Kasmeer commanded two of her clones to approach the beast. One wielded a greatsword the other a strange looking rifle. The creature noticed it and engaged them. The first clone spun like a whirlwind as it barreled towards the creature only for it to swat it out the way. The sorceress simply smirked. The clone exploded causing the troll to wrench it's remaining arm back in pain. It started convulse a strange liquid as it grabbed it's head in pain. It was under a confusion curse. It began swinging wildly harming itself in the process. She then cocked her arm back preparing to attack the creature with on of her gravity spells. With a thrust of her palm she pushed the troll at high speed through the woods. It made a path as it kept crashing through each of them. She walked off.

Starkk noticed his partner walking up. "Didn't think this thing would make you use your trump card." She said. He laughed softly. " I didn't think I'd see this side of you so soon."

"He won't stay down for long." She said eyeing the woods. I'm ready when you are."

"Hn, been awhile since we used that combination attack as well." Their conversation was cut short. The creature came running out of the path way. Shaking with rage it let out an echoing roar that shook the area. It attacked the both of them. The two ran to opposite sides. Starkk sheathed his sword and pulled out his pistols taking shots at the creature. He was living a gray like fog behind him. Kasmeer followed suit hurling purple like thorns at the creature while her clones distracted and attacked it. Each time it tried punch or swing it's cumbersome legs at one of them it would miss. It was getting tired. The assassin's speed increased even further as he begun circling the creature. The fog was growing thicker. He reached such a speed that he was leaving after images behind him. The Forest Troll didn't know what to attack anymore as it tried to follow the images in vain. The Seraph Assassin was right in front of him. The troll didn't even see him move. With a mighty thrust of his legs Starkk launched himself up in an uppercut like motion splitting the creatures face open. "Kasmeer! NOW!" He said in mid air. The mesmer twirled on the ground like a coil before launching herself in the air like a rocket still spinning until she was high above the trees below her. To onlookers she was serene to look at. The way she moved. True to her epithet. Her staff was above her hand as a gargantuan symbol formed in the clouds.

"Those two are amazing. Such team work!" The crowd said in fascination

"No, there is a reason why they're known throughout Tyria and are known as the empire's best. It's only to be expected that they're capable of this much."

Once again Kasmeer's eyes lit a flaring purple color as the symbol in the air intensified. Thrusting Mirage towards the troll she chanted her spell. "(EXTREME MAGIC! PSICONIC STORM!)" A plethora of purple orbs, too many in number to count came out of the sky and homed in on the unfortunate troll. Each slammed into the beast with monstrous force causing it to let out an unnerving roar. It's eyes had rolled to the back of it's head once the spell ended it's vicious assault. Starkk lept from a tree he was perched on. "Eliminate..." He said emotionlessly as he began to spiral downwards through the creature head first until he reached the bottom. The monster was reduced to nothing but ashes. The duo then stood beside each other back to back as Kasmeer's eyes returned to normal and Starkk's trump card mode brought him back to his original state. The wind blew their hair as they thought in peaceful silence of what just transpired.

"Kassy! Big brother!" Emily said running up to the two. They both crouched down to hug her as she cried.

"I'm so sorry Emily. Big sister couldn't save your parents in time!" She said as she had begun to cry as well and holding the little girl tighter. Starkk had an unreadable expression on his face. "Grkk!" He said clutching his chest and spitting up blood. Both of the girls looked at him in terror.

"You're injured!" Kasmeer said crouching down and wrapping her arms around him. He smiled and looked at her through one eye.

"I'm okay , just a couple of broken ribs. What about you Mira? Are you alright?" He said putting a hand on her cheek causing her to close her eyes at his touch and rest her head in his hand. " I'm fine, just tired. I can reverse the damage the troll has done to you so don't worry." He frowned miserably. He didn't care about the physical pain but the mental pain of losing the old man and Mrs. Veronica. That couldn't be healed. The other two noticed this and matched his gloomy state. Everyone who was still alive and present tried to come up and congratulate them but stopped there. They didn't want to be thanked. They didn't feel like heroes. It had started to rain.

Don't want to make this closing statement too long so a couple of things I want to explain regarding both of their abilities. No Starkk's abilities weren't influenced by Bleach so no I don't want to hear any flames about him being like Ichigo. Both Starkk and Kasmeer have a total of 10 Trump Card abilities and Extreme Magic abilities respectively. Those that were displayed in the chapter were only the weakest ones. Down below is an explanation of how they work.

Amaterasu Trump Card Ability Number 1

Vanishing Blitz: Allows the user to move at inhuman speeds while also entering a hyper speed state of combat granting them the ability to land hits on a target with extreme precision. The user also leaves afterimages and a smokescreen trail behind them causing confusion and disorientation to their opponents.

Kasmeer Extreme Magic Ability Number 1

Psiconic Storm: The user shoots a volley of psiconic energy balls that home in on a target's life essence and implodes inside them causing internal damage.

Probably in later chapters I'll give a through explanation on Extreme Magic abilities and Artifacts. Sorry for the long ending note and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Stay tuned for 3.

Jet~