Chronicles of the Doyen Council

*note* not all of the characters are part of the original Doyen Council, but that is why it is a Fan fiction ^^. Also, this storyline somewhat correlates with a couple of my favourite adventure novels. So not all of the ideas are completely original, but the characterization you guys exhibit also give me ideas for story which is what really makes this tale for you.



...That night, for the first time in who knows how long, the northern skies were completely clear. The great moon illuminated our way. Now the north knew what the rest of the empire had known for weeks. It was on the wane already. The hour of decision had passed. The empire awaited in fear the news that it portended....

"There were prodigies and portents enough", Spell always said. "We must blame ourselves for misinterpreting them." Although reckless, Spell, had marvelous insight.

Lightning from a clear sky smote the Catacombs. One bolt struck the golden plaque sealing the tomb of Ascalon’s fallen. It rained stones. Statues bled. Monks and necromancers at Ashford Abbey reported dying men and risen dead running amuck. One grievously wounded solider ran in fear with his entrails sliding across the temple's stones. For nine evenings, ten black ravens circled Ascalon City.

Seers refused readings, fearing for their lives. A mad ritualist wandered the streets proclaiming the imminent end of the world. Vegetation, once green and thriving, gave way to creeping, darkened vines scorched by the sweltering sunlight. But that happens every year. Fools can make an omen of anything in retrospect.

We should have been better prepared. We did have several accomplished elementists to stand guard over the predatory tomorrows. All, for naught.

Ascalon totters perpetually, ready stumble over a precipice into chaos. The capital city was old and decadent and mad, filled with the stench degeneracy and moral dry rot. No heroes left, no one to save her from a fated doom. Only a fool would be surprised by anything found creeping its night streets.

A breeze startled me, I faced the Breach. A caravan was rounding the city, a great lumbering beast, with many clawed feet moving in unison. A golden dragon bulged in the center of a humongous black flag casting shadow on the upcoming force. That dragon’s eyes glowed red.

“What the hell is that?” a solider asked.
“I have no idea,” I replied.
Suddenly, I recalled my mission.
I knocked on Chase Vilehand’s door. No response. I invited myself inside, found him snoring in a big wooden chair. “YO!” I hollered. “Fire, battles at the Breach! Gahiji has been shot.”
Chase was unperturbed. He didn’t crack an eyelid or smile. “Sounds like work for Audrina.” His voice had a hard edge. The Doyen Council does not suffer malicious attacks upon its members.

Audrina was our most ruthless guild officer. She had a dozen handpicked fighters, Spice and I included. I could hunt and track any type of prey. And Spice was always helpful when a situation became dire. Spice had held us up half a day while he made a quick trip to the woods.
“What the hell you up to?” I asked when he got back, lugging an enormous scythe behind his slim frame. He just grinned, his hood casting an eerie shadow over gleaming white teeth.

We arrived at the Breach. Like bees, swarms of Charr plagued the area, maiming Ascalonian soldiers and scrambling up the great stone walls.
“Sit still,” Audrina said. “Note your targets and prepare yourselves.”
She grinned evilly, “It’s murder. Too many times have they picked us off one by one. Now it is our turn. It will be like pulling wings off flies.”

The scene exploded. A wave of sword-frenzied charr and humanity hit us. They forced us back. A dagger slipped past a shield. One of our men went down. I took his place and fired a point-blank arrow into a charging charr’s throat. Dozens of charr went down. Blood watered the ever blackening vines littering the desolate landscape. A dagger nicked Audrina. She lost her patience. “Spice!”
Spice was on the job already with a whirl of his giant scythe. The gleaming edge was silent, slicing through fur and bone like butter. Suddenly, a gleaming powder exploded in the air, leaving the charr writhing and grappling in pain and blindness.
“What the hell did you do?” I asked.
Spice grinned, exposing straight teeth. He lowered the hood shrouding his face and revealed to me a small bag in his palm. Spice’s ability to be both a dervish and shadow assassin had proved very crucial indeed.
“Fine work, Spice,” Audirna said, after having vented her fury on several hapless escaping charr…. To be continued…[center]

Oh sure, make me the one who has great insight but "recklessly" does nothing.

Ahahaha I love the referencing kim. This story looks awesome can't wait to read more of it =D. And thanks for makin' me a spankin champion =D. P.S. you should send this link to audri and let me know what she says lol.

"“YO!” I hollered" "Gahiji has been shot"~ still chuckling

Btw hope you don't mind but im sending this to ally its just too awesome. =D

>< weres me lol

ur in chapter two which is coming once i finish editting it

ooooo sweet ^^ good story though

Carnage left smoldering behind us, we wound through the maze-like streets of Ascalon. Audrina called an unexpected halt. We had come to an old decrepit avenue leading to the center square. There was a procession marching through the avenue. Though we had reached the intersection first, Audrina yielded the right of way.

The procession consisted of a hundred armed men. They looked tougher than anyone in Ascalon but us. At their head strode a figure clad in black. She wore a black hood which concealed her head entirely. Glowing gloves glimmered across her arms and hands. She seemed to be unarmed.

“Damn me”, Audrina whispered. The cloaked figure chilled me. Something primitive, deep inside me wanted to run. But curiosity plagued me more. Who was she? Was this the army we discovered earlier across the horizon? Why were they here?

The eyeless gaze of the cloaked figure swept across us indifferently, as though passing over a heard of cattle. Then it jerked back, fixing on Spice. Spice met stare for stare, and showed no fear. Yet, he still seemed somewhat diminished.

The column passed on, hardened, disciplined. Shaken, Audrina got our party moving again. We moved toward Chase’s quarters. Audrina, Spice, an injured Gahiji, I, and a few others entered our Leader’s office. The rest of the Council had already arrived. “You want to know what’s happening.” Chase said, “The visitor you saw was an envoy from overseas. She offered an alliance. Kurzick protection and payment in exchange for the Council’s support against the Luxons.”

“Kurzick,” piqued Gahiji, “Where or what is that?”

“Kurzick territory, the Echovald Forrest, located far-east in the continent of Cantha.” Chase replied. “I accepted the alliance”, he continued, we can no longer survive in Ascalon. The city is overrun with death and destruction. The envoy from the alliance promised us safe and direct passage to Lion’s Arch in Kryta. And from there, a ship to Cantha.”

The Doyen Council made it to Lion’s Arch without incident. Upon arrival at the city, a humongous black ship loomed in the harbor. As we drew nearer, it grew larger and larger. “That thing is a damned island.” I said.

“Too big,” growled Passifis, picking at a red-tinted scar on his face, “ship that size couldn’t hold together in a heavy sea.” Passifis like Spice, came from another land beyond the city of Ascalon, but where exactly is unknown. He had a dry sense of humor and a horrible habit of raising the dead, and sending the animated corpses to explode near his foes.

“Why not? How do you know?” Even though I was enraptured by the ship, I remained curious about my fellow members.

“Sailed a lot when I was younger, necromancy isn’t limited to the continent of Kryta.” His tone discouraged further interrogation. Most members of the Doyen Council wanted their histories kept private.

Chapter 3 A New Path

A few days had passed. We prepared to leave Kryta on a new adventure out east. On our last eve in Lion’s Arch, Audrina and I stood at the edge of the harbor, watching the afternoon sun play around the edges of a storm far out to sea. It had danced in and saturated the city with its cool deluge, then had rolled off across the water again. Audrina had not much to say recently.

“Something eating you, Audrina?” The storm had moved in front of the light, giving the sea a steely complexion.

“Reckon you can guess, Lumsk.”

“Reckon I can.” We were leaving the place of our lives, homes and fallen comrades. “What do you think it will be like, east of the sea?”

Audrina shrugged and we lapsed into companionable silence. After a few minutes, she pointed. A family of dolphins plunged past the rocky harbor. I tried to appear unimpressed and failed. They were magnificent dancing in the iron waters. The storm was sliding to the west now, obscuring the horizon and blanketing the sea with its shadow. The cold grey sea. Suddenly, I was terrified of our crossing.

Next morning, we began loading onto the ship. Members of the Council were becoming depressed and dour. Spell ad reached an all time low, slouching from homesickness, against a crate of cargo. He even eschewed squabbling with Gahiji, which he had made a second career of. Chase was little better. His temper was an abomination. I think he both longed and dreaded the new land. The new alliance meant potential rebirth for the Council with our past nightmares left behind, yet he had an intimidation of the service we were entering. Slowly, Chase, Audrina, Spice, Passifis, Gahiji, Spell, and I walked aboard keeping our thoughts to ourselves. We found the rest of the Council lounging on the main deck amongst their belongings.

The envoy appeared. She surveyed us with an intensity that suggested she was reading our souls. One of her officers asked Chase if he would align the members into rows the best he could on the crowded deck. The envoy continued to review us. She paused before each member and pinned a replication of the Kurzick banner on each of our armor. The nearer the envoy approached the more Spell shook. He almost fainted when he received his badge. I was baffled. Why so much emotion?

After she had finished with everyone, the envoy said, “Welcome to the service of the Kurzicks and the Army of Lightness.” To be continued...


Sorry Pro.. you are in the next one. I fleshed out the voyage a bit too much to fit ur intro in, but it's a good one

nice story so far though u should make a book from it lol

=D <3, can't wait for the next one! wondering who the kurzick envoy is O.o

5/5 on Content and originality
5/5 on referencing us ^_^

god... im just reading it over and over lol i wana find out the next parts this is actually really good

Spell had one solution to cure his home and sea sickness, dwarven ale. Since the inhabitants of Cantha had never heard of the stuff, he, disgruntled, settled for rice wine.

“The voyage from Lion’s Arch proves my point,” Spell slurred over a pewter tankard (he brought his own from Ascalon), “the Doyen Council doesn’t belong on water. More ale!”

A few Kaineng citizens looked baffled at this strange man flailing his arms about.

“You’re drunk.” I observed.

“How perceptive. Will you all take note? Lumsk, our esteemed hunter, tracker and survivor of the wilds has had the grand astuteness to discover that I am drunk.” He slopped his speech with belches and mispronunciations, and surveyed his audience with that look of sublime somberness only a drunk can muster.

There were four of us in the tavern all together. We were keeping our heads down. The place was full of peasants, sailors, and statesmen. We were outsiders, outlanders, the sort that would picked for a fight if one ever broke out. With the exception to Spell, we preferred saving our fighting for more just causes.

Gahiji stuck his face through the street doorway. His beady eyes tightened to a squint, he spotted us and came over.

“Chase wants you guys.”

We exchanged glances. Spell settled down. We had not seen much of Chase lately. He was all the time hanging around the various officers of the new AoL alliance. Audrina and Passifis got up. I did too and started toward the door. The barkeep named Mehoro yelled, and a huge, ugly Canthan Warrior blocked the doorway. He carried a massive gnarly hammer which resembled a tiger’s head with curved painted fangs. Spell snarled. Spice finally rose, ready for anything.

“What the hell is going on?” I shouted.

“Him,” the barkeep pointed at Spell, “he didn’t pay for his last round.”

“The hell I didn’t.”

“Tahnu, see that my proper payment is collected.”
The large bulk of a man came lumbering towards Spell.

Audrina said, “Spell, you straighten this out.”

No sooner said than done, Spell’s eyes began to glow red and his palms projected an eerie parlor. A cascade of white steam shot from his fingertips and enveloped the large approaching wart of a man. White flames licked his clothes as the fog grew denser. He fell to the floor. We made our escape by jumping over the writhing man into the streets of Kaineng Center. Spell giggling all the way.

nice story but im still waiting for my entrance lol

You're trying to make me look bad aren't you. "showing so much emotion" You're ruining my reputation.

Chase stared at us. We leaned on one another before his table. Spell still continued to giggle. Even Passifis could not keep a straight face. “They are drunk.” Chase told someone at the end of the table.

“We’re drunk,” Spell agreed. “We’re palpably, plausibly, pukingly drunk.”

Passifis jabbed him in the side.

“Sit down and try to behave while you are here.”

“What’s the occasion?” Passifis asked.

“A man came by asking to enlist in the Council.” An odd occurrence. This man must be something. Chase does not accept green recruits.

“He wants to join the Doyen Council?” Spell asked. “What’s wrong with the fool?”

Chase shrugged, smiled, “A long time ago, a crazy pyromaniac did.”

Spell grumbled, “He’s been sorry ever since.”

“Why,” I asked, “is he still here?” Spell rolled his eyes.

“What’s he like?” Passifis asked.

Chase closed his eyes. “Unusual. He could be an asset. I like him. But judge for yourselves. He’s here.” He flicked a finger at the man sitting at the end of the table.

His clothing was patched and frayed. He was of average height, lean and dusky. A trimmed goatee tugged at his sharp features. I guessed him to be in his late twenties. He embodied a certain degree of hidden intensity, a lack of expression, something in his angled stance. He was not intimidated by our motley crew.

“Council, this is… Ever Wind Pro. He wants to join us.”

Suddenly an officer of high rank from our new alliance barged into the room. He scowled at Chase. He did not resemble the other officers of the alliance, save for the badge pinned over his heart. He adorned a muddied, brown mantle, and had a series of strange tattoos crawling up the length of his left arm. A matching brown face mask covered the lower portion of his face, he was missing one eye.

“Sir”, he said between gasps of air, “your crew started a ruckus down at a local bar, Drinkmaster Tahnu has been killed. Because of your rank we won’t expel you from the city limits, but…”

The officer froze as he caught sight of Ever Wind. “You!” His eyes went round.

Ever Wind stared at the officer. Not one muscle twitched. Not one eye blinked. The color melted off the officer’s face. He glanced at Chase, then back to Ever Wind. His mouth opened and closed but no sound came out. Chase reached towards Ever Wind. Ever Wind accepted the Kurzick badge. The officer went paler still, he backed away.

“Seems to know you,” Chase observed.

“He thought I was dead.” Ever Wind did not explain further. Instead, “shall we get to business?”

“Care to illuminate what happened?” Chase’s voice had a dangerous softness.
“No.”
“Better reconsider. Your presence could endanger the Council.”
“It won’t. It’s a personal matter. I won’t bring it with me.”

Chase thought about it. He is not one to intrude on a guy’s past, not without cause. “How can you avoid bringing it? You obviously mean something to that officer.”

“Not to him. To friends of his. It’s an old history. I’ll settle it before I join you. Five people must die.”

Interesting. “I’m Lumsk. Any special reason for not sharing the story?”

Ever Wind faced me, under a rigid self-control. “It’s private. It’s old. It’s shameful. I don’t want to talk about it.”
“In that case, I can’t vote for your acceptance,” said Spell.

Meanwhile, three fierce looking men were seen gathering outside the room we were in. They adorned similar clothing to the officer.

Audrina voted with Spell and so did Passifis. I voted yes. I smelled mystery and I did not want it to get away.

Chase said, “ I too am voting with Spell. For the Council’s sake. I’d like to have you but… settle it before we leave.”
“When are you leaving?” Ever Wind asked.
“Tomorrow. Sunrise.”
“What?” I demanded.

Chase shrugged. “They need us at the Forest. AoL is losing ground against Luxons at the Quarry…”

The three men from the outside interrupted by banging through the door. I sensed they were of assassin profession. They too had tribal marks crawling up their left arms. The man at the head stepped foreword. He wore a black banner with a silver demonic skull lying amid two axes. He demanded, “What became of the man who entered before?”

The voice hit Ever Wind like an arrow to the back of the head. He stiffened. His eyes turned to ice. Then a smile cracked their corners. I nearly ran for cover.
Chase whispered to me, “Now I know why that other officer fled.”

Ever Wind turned slowly, rising from his seat. Those three saw his face. They were paralyzed with fear and shock.

Where Ever Wind got the daggers, I do not know. It went by in a blur. The first man bled from a cut throat. His friend was pierced through the heart. Ever wind held the third, but relinquished no mercy. Never would I have thought to see the day that a ranger, like myself, wield daggers. Spell shared my thoughts.

“Let’s get the hell out of here!”

Ever Wind Pro called to our retreating backs. “I’ll have my affairs settled by dawn.”


....To be continued

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO, CRAZY DRUNK PYROMANIAC FTW!!!!

wooo go crazy hardass ranger that weilds daggers. and kimmy likes me in the story and nobody else does lol. i see in this story.... forbidden loooove




jk

Probably just for saying that, Kim won't do it Adrian. She's probably gonna break up with you and stab you in the back now.

Chapter 6

Everyone but Lumsk dies.

I knew it. Now, since I'm not everyone, that means something too right?

story cant be over already

lolol hahaha you guys were asking for it but why me? =(

Still loving the story kim keep up the amazing work =D, Its almost good enough for me to let u take away time from playing to write it. Almost... ^_^

This isn't chapter 6, it is a cover that I drew for the story the central female is NOT the narrator... clue for what is next to come....

Who's the old looking guy in back?

Ok, Kim. Two things. Why do I have to be a mysterious, brooding necromancer from some other country? And why is Passifis a male?

Other than that, awesome story. Keep up the great work.

Because It is a fiction, and I am sick and tired of having one male character surrounded by a bunch of women, so i keep the characters true to the player's sex

lol im actually glad that she portraid me as a male i feel kinda wierd when i read pros fiction =) anyways kims the author and she gets to do what she wants and im impressed so far shes really creative =D

I agree mo, I was just wondering. It was just weird to read Passifis as a he instead of a she.

I am having a little bit of trouble with developing the story, mainly because I have no time to contemplate it, so what I will do instead, is draw my depiction of the characters, and post them accordingly. That will help give a visual of the different ones.

That will be cool. Can't wait to see the depiction of Passifis you have in your head.

Sorry for the EXTREMELY long span of time between chapter... I was really busy for the past couple of months and I had a bad case of writer's block. I have nice new and fresh ideas for the new chapters and I plan on introducing new characters as well.



“Am Fah” Chase said

“Who?” I asked.

“The Am Fah, those three must have belonged to that faction. Bunch of assassins and traders, a lawless group.”

“Much like ourselves?” I joked.
“They wore alliance the badges.”
Chase shrugged.

“What’s the story on Ever Wind anyways? Who is he?”

“Somebody who did not get along with the Am Fah. Who was done dirty and left for dead.
____________________________________________________________________

We had been travelling for two months towards the Echovald forest. We were exhausted. Chase decided to rest us at the edge of Kaineng City in Pongmei Valley. Maybe he was having second thoughts in joining the Alliance.

Chase directed us to the outskirts of Maatu Keep. While we pitched camp he talked with Ever Wind.

Curious. There was a bond developing there. I could not understand it because I did not know enough about either man. Ever Wind was a new enigma, Chase an old one.

In all of the years I have known Chase, I have learned almost nothing about him. Just a hint here and there, fleshed out by speculation. He was born in Ascalon, before the Searing. Was head Necromancer of the Catacombs. After the defeat of Rin, something overturned his personal life. Possibly a woman. He abandoned his position and titles and became a wanderer. Eventually he hooked up with our band of spiritual exiles.

We all have our pasts. I suspect we keep them nebulous not because we are hiding from our yesterdays but because we think will cut more romantic figures if we roll our eyes and dispense delicate hints about beautiful dreams far beyond our realms.

Chase and Ever Wind, though, obviously found themselves kindred souls.

The camp was set. The pickets were out. We settled to rest. Though Ponmei Valley was in-between the Luxon and Kurzick forces, neither contending force noticed us immediately.

Spice was using his Shadow Assassin skills to augment the watchfulness of our henchmen. He detected Luxon spies hidden inside our picket line and warned Spell, who then reported to Chase.

Chase spread a map atop a stump we had turned into a card table, after evicting me, Spell, Gahiji, Passifis, and several others. “Where are they?”

“Two here. Two more over there. One here.”

“Somebody go tell the pickets to disappear. We’ll sneak out. Gahiji. Where is Gahiji? Tell Gahiji to get with the Mesmer illusions.” Chase had decided not to start anything. A laudable decision, I thought.

A few minutes later, he asked, “Where is Ever Wind?”
I said, “I think he went after the spies.”
“What?! Is he an idiot?” His face darkened. “What the hell do you want?”

Gahiji squeaked like a stomped rat. He squeaks at the best of times. Chase’s outburst had him sounding like a baby bird. “You called for me.”

Chase stamped in a circle, growling and scowling. Had he the talent of illusions of a Mesmer or and Elementalist fire, smoked would have poured out of his ears.

I winked at Gahiji, who grinned like a big toad. He was waving his wand around in baton formation as a warning not to trifle with him. He shuffled maps. He casts dark looks. He wheeled on me. “I don’t like it. Did you put him up to it?”

“Hell no,” I don’t create Council history. I just record it.

Then Ever Wind showed up. He dumped a body at Chase’s feet, proffered a string of grisly trophies.

“What the hell?”

“Thumbs. They count coup in these parts.”

Chase turned green around the gills. “What’s the body for?”

“Stick his feet in the fire. Leave him. They won’t waste time wondering how we knew they were out here.

To be continued……

holy shit im a crazy man thats also a bad ass lol

Why am I never the awesome star? All I get is the ability to blow up stuff. Why can't anybody let me blow up stuff in style?

Awesome Kimzeh, great chapter keep up the good work.

took me a while to read it all but it looks sweet. I DEMAND more...plz plz plz plz...

Spell, Gahiji, and Chase cast an illusion over the Council, hiding our presence. We slipped away quick as a fish through the fingers of a clumsy fisherman. A Luxon battalion never caught a whiff of us. We headed straight north towards the Echovald forest. Chase planned to find the Judge. He settled beside me. “Tell me Lumsk, what do you know of the Judge and the Taken?”

The Judge? The name sparked something familiar in the dark folds of my memory. I recounted two months earlier before we departed from our home country of Kryta. The looming black ship and the menacing coat of arms plastered on the sail now seemed vaguely familiar. Outside the context of the sail, which I had taken as showmanship and ignored. The sail reminded me of the horror stories parents told their misbehaving children. The envoy said, “Welcome to the Army of Lightness.” The Army of Lightness? Where had I encountered name used that way, emphasized as though it was a title of a goddess? A dark legend of olden times.

Chase’s slight touch shocked me out of my ruminations. “Lumsk?”

So I told him about the Domination, and the Dominator and his Lady. How the title “Army of Lightness” was a cover for an empire of evil unrivaled in Hell. I told him about the Ten Who Were Taken (of whom our envoy I now recognized as Akroma Soulsnatcher ), ten great warriors and wizards, near-demigods in their power, who had been overcome by the Dominator and compelled into his service. I told him about the Silver Star, the lady general who had brought the Domination down, but whose power had been insufficient to destroy the Dominator, his Lady, and the Taken. She had interred the lot in a charm-bound barrow somewhere north of the sea. The title, Dominator and Lady were all that remained, the true namesakes forgotten in the shadows of myth. I concluded that the Judge was indeed one of the Taken.

***

Late that afternoon Spell broke into a marching song. Gahiji squawked in protest. Spell grinned and sang all the louder.

“He’s ruining the song!” Gahiji squealed.

The group, anticipating. Spell and Gahiji have been feuding for ages. Spell always starts the scraps. Gahiji can be as touchy as a fresh burn. Their spats are entertaining. This time Gahiji did not reciprocate. He ignored Spell. The little elementalist got his feelings hurt. He got louder. We expected fireworks. What we got is bored. Spell could not get a rise. He started sulking.

A bit later, Gahiji told me, “Keep your eyes peeled, Lumsk. We are in strange country. Anything could happen.” He giggled.
A peculiar horsefly landed on Spell’s mount. The animal screamed, reared. Sleepy Spell tumbled over it tail. Everybody guffawed. The wizened little elementalist came up out of the dust cursing and swatting with his wand. He punched his horse with his free hand, connecting with the beast’s forehead. Then he danced around moaning and blowing on his knuckles.

His reward was a shower of catcalls. Gahiji smirked.
Soon Spell was dozing again. It’s a trick you learn after enough weary miles on horseback. A distinct bird settled on his shoulder. He snorted, swatted… The bird left a huge, fetid purple deposit. Spell howled. He threw things. He shredded his jerkin getting it off.

Again we laughed. Gahiji stood as innocent as a virgin. Spell scowled and growled but did not catch on.
He got the idea when we crested a hill and beheld a band of monkey-sized ice imps busily kissing the illusion of a horse’s behind. Every ice imp held the face of Spell on their small ugly bodies.

The elementalist turned a hideous look on Gahiji. The mesmer responded with an innocent don’t-look-at-me shrug.

“Point to Gahiji,” I judged.

“Better watch yourself, Lumsk,” Spell growled. “Or you will be doing the kissing right here.” He patted his fanny.

“When pigs fly.” He is a more skilled wizard than Gahiji, but not half of what he would have us believe. If he could execute half his threats , he would be peril to the Taken. Spell would lie awake at nights thinking of ways to get even for Gahiji’s having gotten even. A strange pair. I do not know why they had not killed one another.

***

Finding the Judge was easier said than done. We trailed him to the outskirts of the Echovald forest, where we found upturned earth and a lot of Luxon bodies. Our path tilted downward into a valley parted by a sparkling stream.

“What the hell?” I asked Spice. “That’s strange.” Wide, low, black humps pimpled the meadows. There were bodies every where.

“That’s one reason the Taken are feared. Insidious parasites accompanied by liquid flame. The parasites sucked the ground up.”

I stopped to study a hump.
The blackness was perfectly symmetrical. The boundary, sharp and a pen stroke. Charred and oozing bodies lay within the black. Swordblades and spearheads looked like wax imitations left too long in the sun. I caught Spell staring. “When you can do this trick you’ll scare me.”
“If I could do that, I’d scare myself.”
Ever Wind appeared beside me. “The Judge’s work. I’ve seen it before.”
I sniffed the wind. Maybe I had him in the right mood. “When was that?”
He ignored me.
He would not come out of his shell. Would not say hello half the time, let alone talk about who or what he was. He is a cold one. The horrors of that valley did not touch him.

“The Judge lost this one,” Chase decided. “He’s on the run.”
“Do we keep after him?” Audrina asked?
“This is strange country. We’re in more danger operating alone.”

We followed a spoor of violence, a swatch of destruction deep into the gloomy stone forest. Burned houses. Slaughtered people and livestock. Poisoned wells. The Judge left nothing but death and desolation.

Our instructions were to hold the Ancestral Lands deep in Kurzick territory. Joining the Judge was not mandatory. I wanted no part of him. I did not want to be in the same province.

As the devastation grew more recent, Ever Wind showed more elation, dismay, introspection easing into determination, and ever more of that rigid self control he so often hid behind.

When I reflect on my companion’s inner natures I usually wish I controlled one small talent. I wish I could look inside them and unmask the darks and brights that move about them. Then I take a look into the jungle of my own soul and thank the gods that I cannot. Any person who barely sustains an armistice with themselves has no business poking around in an alien soul.

I decided to keep a closer watch on our newest member.

***

We did not need Spice coming in from the point of our formation to tell us we were close. All the foreword horizon spouted tall, leaning trees of smoke. This part of Echovald, known as Melandru’s Hope was arrayed with beautiful patches of lush green grass, and against the few divine rays of sunlight the oily pillars were an abomination.

Spice swung in beside Audrina. His long cloak whipping about behind like a large beast’s tail. Passifis and I quit swapping tales of our homelands and listened. Spice indicated a smoke spire. “Still some of Judge’s men in that village.”

“Talk to them?”
“No. Shadow didn’t think you wanted us to. He’s waiting outside town.”
“How many of them?”
“Twenty, twenty-five. Drunk and mean. The officer was worst than the men.”

Audrina glanced over her shoulder. “Ah Passifis. It’s your lucky day. Take eight people and go with Spice, scout around.”

“Shit.” Passifis muttered. He is a good man, but muggy spring days make him lazy. “Okay. Spell, Gahiji, Spice, Ever Wind….”

I coughed discreetly.

“You’re out of your head, Lumsk. All right, but if you die, you become my minnion.” He stroked his staff. After a quick count on his fingers, he added two more members. Passifis gave us a one over to make sure we hadn’t lost our heads. “Let’s go.”

We hurried foreword. Spice directed us to the outskirts of the Jade Flats. A new member and a monk, Shadow, met us. Passifis asked, “Any developments?”

Shadow, sarcastic, replied, “The fires are burning down.”
We looked at the Flats. I saw nothing that did not make my stomach turn. Slaughtered livestock. Slaughtered cats and dogs. The small, broken frames of dead children.

“Not the kids too,” I said, without realizing I was speaking. “Not the babies again.”

Spice looked at me coldly through the veil of his hood, not because he was unmoved himself by the scene, but because I was uncharacteristically sympathetic. I have seen a lot of dead men. I did not enlighten him. For me there is a big difference between adults and kids.

“Spice, I have to go in there.”
“Don’t be stupid, Lumsk. What can you do?”
“If I can save one kid…”
Ever Wind said, “I’ll go with her.” A dagger appeared at his hand. He must have learned that trick from a famed assassin. He does that when he is nervous or angry.

“Think you can bluff twenty-five men?” Passifis interjected.
Ever Wind shrugged, “Lumsk is right it, has to be done. Some things you do not tolerate.”
Passifis surrendered, “We’ll all go. Pray they aren’t so drunk they can’t tell friend from foe.”

Ever Wind started walking.
The village outside the Flats was relatively small. There had been about thirty homes before the Judge’s rampage. Half were burned or burning. Bodies littered the streets. Flies clustered around their sightless eyes.

I knelt beside a boy of four or five. His skull had been smashed, but he was still breathing. Ever Wind dropped beside me. “There is nothing I can do, I feel so hopeless.”

“You can end his suffering.” There were tears in his eyes as I as I pulled an arrow from my quiver. Tears and anger. “There is no excuse for this.” He moved to a corpse lying in shadow.

I examined another two Luxon children. They were beyond help. Inside a burned hut I found a grandmother who had died trying to shield an infant. In vain.

Ever Wind exuded disgust. “Creatures like the Judge create two enemies for every one they destroy.”

I became aware of muted weeping, and cursing and laughter somewhere ahead. “Let’s see what this is.”
Beside the hut we found four dead soldiers. A young Luxon ranger had left his mark.
“Good shooting,” observed Ever Wind. “Poor fool.”
“Fool?”
“He should have had the sense to run. Might have gone easier on everyone.” His intensity startled me. What did he care about a boy on the other side? “Dead heroes don’t get a second chance.”

Aha! He was drawing a parallel with an event in his own mysterious past. The cursing and weeping resolved into a scene fit to disgust anyone tainted with humanity.

***

There were a dozen soldiers in a circle, laughing at their own crude jokes. I remembered a female dog surrounded by males who were not fighting for mounting rights but were taking turns. They might have killed her had I not intervened.

Ever Wind and I stood upon a small mound of rubble, the better to see.
The victim was a child of thirteen. Welts covered her slim frame. She was terrified, yet making no sound. In a moment I understood, she was a mute.

War is a cruel business prosecuted by cruel men. Grenth knows the Doyen Council is no light from Dwayna. But there are limits.

They were making an old man watch. He was the source of both curses and weeping.

I put an arrow into the man about to assault the girl.
“Dammit!” Spice yelled. “Lumsk!…”

The soldiers turned on us. Weapons appeared. Ever Wind sprang at the soldier holding the old man, setting him free. The Judge’s henchman lost any inclination to fight. Passifis whispered, “Spell, go tell the old man to haul ass over here.” Spell drenched himself in a fiery incantation and flew off the scene.

One of the Judge’s henchmen took a like notion. He scampered off. I let him run.

Chase would have my and Ever Wind’s behinds on a platter.
Ever Wind did not seem concerned. “Old timer, come here. Bring the child and put some clothes on her.”

Passifis did not have to tell us to watch our backs. We were painfully aware that we were in big trouble. Hurry, Spell, I thought.

Their commander came tottering up the street. Spice was right. He was worse than his men.

The old man and the girl huddled behind Ever Wind. The old man scowled at our AoL badges. Passifis strode foreword, pointed at Ever Wind. I nodded.
The drunken officer stopped in front of Passifis, Ever Wind, Spice, and I. Dull eyes assayed us. For an ugly brute of a Dervish/Warrior, he seemed impressed. We have grown hard in rough trade, and look it.

“You!” he squealed suddenly, like the Am Fah spies in Kaineng. He stared at Ever Wind. Then he spun, ran.

Ever wind thundered, “Stand still, Saleen! Take it like a man, you gutless thief!”
He snatched an arrow from his quiver.
I cut his bowstring.
Saleen stopped. His response was not gratitude. He cursed. He enumerated the horrors we could expect from the Judge.

Ever Wind stared at me in cold fury. I faced it without flinching, unafraid of what I saw brewing in the depths.
Ever Wind did his dagger trick. Spice tapped his blade with his scythe edge. He mouthed one soft curse, glared, relaxed. Spice said, “You left your old life behind, remember?”

Ever Wind nodded once, sharply. “It’s harder than I thought.” His shoulders sagged. “Run away, Saleen. You are not important enough to kill.”

A clatter rose behind us. Chase was coming.
That little wart of the Judge’s puffed up and wriggled like a lion about to pounce. Spice glared at him down the edge of his scythe. He got the hint.
Ever Wind muttered, “I should have known better anyway. He’s just the butt boy.”

Chase came over, “What the hell is going on?”
Passifis began one of his terse reports. Ever Wind interrupted. Yon sot is one of Aero’s jackals. I wanted to kill him. Lumsk and Spice stopped me."

Aero? Where had I heard that name? Connected with the Judge. Officer Aero. The Judge’s number one villain. Political liaison. His name occurred in a few overheard conversations between Ever Wind and Chase. Aero was Ever Wind’s intended fifth victim? Then the Judge himself must have been Ever Wind’s misfortunes. Curious and also scary. The Judge is not somebody to mess with.

Saleen shouted, “I want this man arrested!” He pointed at Ever Wind. “He killed one of my men.”

Ever Wind said nothing. Spice stepped in out of character. “He was raping a child. His idea of pacification.”

Saleen reddened. Even the blackest villain feels shame if caught unable to justify himself.
Chase asked, “These people are subjects of the Army of Lightness and service to the Lady?”
Sweat trickled down Saleen’s face.
“You disgust me.” Cahse used his soft, dangerous voice. “Get out of here. Don’t cross my path again. I’ll leave you at MY mercy if you do.” Saleen stumbled away.

Chase turned to Ever Wind. “You mother-lorn fool. Do you have any idea what you have done?”
Wearily, Ever Wind replied, “Probably better than you do, Chase. But I’d do it again.”
“And you wonder why we dragged our feet taking you on?” he shifted the subject. “What are you going to do with these people, noble rescuer?”

That question had not occurred to Ever Wind. Whatever the upheaval in his life, it left him living entirely in the present. He was compelled by the past and oblivious to the future. “They’re my responsibility, aren’t they?”


oh crap i didn't realize this was 7 pages.. hope it doesn't ruin your attention spans! and please excuse typos....not my night for typing

O.O WOW!!!! Awesome chapter Kimzeh. Now I can only hope my next chapter is even half as good as this. Keep it coming sweetie

That was awesome Kimmy.

Fuck you btw for the first part.

aww sammy I know how much you and gahiji liked to sing the lion king

im looking more and more bad ass lol

Yeah, you wept so hard that you lost your temper on your own "allies."

if anything i laughed =D

aaah man the stroy keeps getting better and better.

Its taking me a while to read through all the stories on here lol but I finally got through this one. The story develops nicely and indeed the further it progresses the better it becomes.
I sincerely look forward to the next installment .... excellent work!