Chapter 13: Unfortunate Souls

A moment of opportunity was all Seren needed, and the frozen behemoth storming into the courtyard gave the young guardian just that. It was a hulking mass of ice and flesh that barely resembled the jotun it used to be. Overlapping plates of ice armored its bulky form and most of its round head. It lumbered, leaning to the side, due to the weight from its over-sized club hand. Shards of ice covered the extremity, turning it into a deadly weapon.

While her captor’s attention was focused on the creature, Seren thrust her elbow into his side. He faltered and let go of her just long enough for her to reach down and grab the knife she hid in her boot earlier in the tent. Angling upward, she thrust the blade into his gut and twisted. Blood poured from the wound and he uttered a pained cry while falling onto the walkway, clutching his side as he bled out on the ground. In her moment of freedom, she turned to Salara’s captor and landed a swift kick to his knee cap, causing him to buckle and let go of her friend.

“Light ‘em up!” Seren urged her companion.

Salara took a deep breath and raised her shaky hands in front of her as she called upon her inner fire. A flash of yellow and orange emerged in the space between her hands, but it only flickered for a moment before fizzling out. Her barked visage cracked softly as it twisted in fear.

Salara’s mouth fell open. “Oh no,” she uttered.

Favoring his good leg, the mercenary lunged awkwardly at Salara with one arm outstretched. Seren pulled her out of the way of the attack. She then thrust her foot square in the assailant’s gut, sending him backward. He nearly lost his footing and almost fell to the ground. Before the mercenary could pull his pistol from his holster, Salara lunged at him and grabbed his arms. The wrathful cry coming from the sylvari surprised Seren as much as it did the mercenary. Moving swiftly, Seren rushed to Salara’s side, and the two of them threw the mercenary off of the platform. He landed hard on the frozen ground below with a wounded howl.  

Seren grabbed Salara’s arm again as she quickly started down the upper walk way. “Come on. We need to get to the others,” she said.

Suddenly, Seren felt a tug on her back. She swung her knife back behind her, hoping to hit her assailant, but it didn’t make contact with anything solid. A flash of pink and purple filled her field of vision. Suddenly, the view of the wooden platform and perimeter fence were replaced with the welded metal of the Byrnes’ airship.

Oh no, Seren thought.

Commander Morrow twisted Seren’s arm behind her. A surge of sharp pain shot up her arm, and she gritted her teeth as she was forced to drop the knife. The commander then shoved Seren and Salara forward, toward three mercenaries who had been patiently waiting for their commander to return.

“What happened to Broff and Michah?” a woman asked. Her long brown hair was braided back into a single, thick braid that reached the middle of her back. She glared at the pair with large brown eyes as she held a rifle pointed in their direction.

“Not coming,” Morrow replied simply between heavy breaths. She had not cast a portal that distance in quite some time. The further the distance, the more energy it drained from her. The distance between the walkway and the airship had pushed her limit almost to the edge.

A man leaning against the airship wall, crossed his arms over his slender chest. “I’m not surprised. I told you those two wouldn’t cut it.” He rolled his eyes.

“It’s not like you nailed your audition either,” the woman with the braid replied with a scoff.

“Whatever,” Commander Morrow muttered, dismissing the comment. “Lock these two away and tell them to start up the ship. I have a feeling we’ll be leaving soon. I need to rest in case I need to pick up our employers.”

“What about the fodder?” the man asked.

Commander Morrow thought about what she had seen in the camp. They had all been hired specifically for this mission and deemed disposable, but she hadn’t expected to see what she had. For the sake of her comrades, she decided to keep her reply simple. “All dead.”

After all, it was technically correct.

***

In the courtyard, Torx had almost entirely dismissed the sword and shield at his feet. He was about to walk away, but something gnawed at the back of his mind. He kneeled down and examined the items. Part of the leather backing had come undone on the shield, and curious, he pulled back the material a little more, revealing an object wrapped in linen. With a greedy little smile, he stuck his tablet in his belt, grabbed the edge of the shield, and pulled it back to a quiet corner out of the way.

“Give me your knife,” Torx called out to Lord Aedan as he reached out a hand.

The highborn lord gave him an exasperated glance as he pulled a small blade from his belt and handed it to the asura. With all the precision of a surgeon, Torx cut the ties bonding the leather cover to the back of the tower shield. A subtle sensation of dread overcame him as he gently lifted a section of the linen, revealing a curved blade. The asura’s eyes lit up, and he pulled Dhuum’s scythe blade from the shield, carefully holding it by the linen.

“I-I can’t believe it. This is what we have been searching for,” Torx said, admiring the god weapon. As he examined the ends, the asura frowned deeply, accentuating the already prominent lines along his forehead. He pulled the leather panel completely off, searching in the space for the rest of the weapon. “I do not understand. There is only one piece here. Where is the rest of it?”

A sickening crack filled the air as the ice-ravaged jotun grabbed one of the Priory tents and flung it aside. It landed next to Torx and rolled, knocking the asura over and trapping his legs beneath its heavy weight. He screamed as excruciating pain shot through his entire lower body. He tried pulling his body out from under the pole, but could not free himself. To his side, the wrapped weapon poked out from underneath the tent canvas. Mustering as much energy as he could, Torx reached out, grabbed the linen, and pulled the weapon toward himself.

“Help me,” Torx called out to Lord Aedan who had stayed back out of harm’s way.

“The weapon first,” Lord Aedan replied with an outstretched hand. He crouched before the asura, staring at him expectantly.

Torx silently weighed his options. There wasn’t a single part of himself that enjoyed the situation he was in—having to defer to this human man who treated relics and scientific discoveries with such little care. But he was pinned and needed help. Grumbling under his breath, the asura begrudgingly pushed the blade piece toward Lord Aedan.

The highborn lord looked at Torx briefly, with no sign of compassion. Then, he reached down, grabbed the weapon, and walked away.

“Wait!” the asura cried out. “Where are you going? You need me on this project. You can’t bring him back without me!”

As the asura watched the man walk away, a part of him lost hope. He hated feeling helpless. This would very likely be the end for him unless he was able to somehow get himself out from under the tent. He pulled and struggled, despite the threat of danger and death all around him. He dug his little fingers into the frozen ground, pushing himself forward, but he only managed to move himself about an inch. With a heavy sigh, he flopped back onto the ground.

“Curse this employment opportunity,” he muttered.

He looked over across the snow. His tablet lay cracked and flickering just beyond his reach. He uttered a sharp curse. Torx had always imagined he would come to the end of his life either at the hands of one of his triumphant experiments, or peacefully in his sleep after years of accomplishments and accolades. Never had he imagined being left to perish beneath a pile of rubble like some common unfortunate soul.

***

Across the courtyard, Nienna landed a kick against one of the ice creatures’ side as it skittered across toward Tuborg. It fell on its side and slid a little before clawing the frozen ground and scrambling to its feet. Mustering her energy, she threw her axe at the creature, and claws of green energy tore into it as it ran to seek cover from a pile of rubble and snow.

“We need to find a weak spot, especially on the big guy,” Nienna said between heavy breaths.

Nearby, the ice jotun raised his foot and thrust it down at the ground, kicking up debris and shaking the ground all around them. Raising his shield in front of him, Tuborg dropped to one knee and called up another dome shield to protect them all from the fallout. Bits of wood, ice, and snow bounced off the energy and back onto the ground around them. He dispelled the energy outward around him. Unlike its human counterparts, it had no effect on the ice jotun.

“I don’t think that thing has a weak spot,” Tuborg said.

Clarkus had finally come to, rubbing his head as he huffed. Dee had managed to pull the charr back before the ice jotun got too close to them. “Anything has a weak spot,” he grumbled, “we just need to find it.”

Dee reached out a hand to help the charr up, but Clarkus swatted it away and pushed himself up onto his hind paws all on his own. His chest heaved, and his brown and black striped fur had taken on a little red where the creature’s jagged ice arm cut into his fur and flesh.

With the protective shield down, the other ice creatures made their move. They rushed the group with murderous intent. With a graceful swing of his sword, Tuborg cut into the front limb of the once human man, severing it completely. The creature let out a piercing cry as it stumbled and fell on its face onto the snowy ground behind the sylvari. It scrambled to its three functional limbs, screeching as it rushed at Tuborg. Raising his sword high above him, he brought it down hard onto the creature’s neck, severing its head. It twitched a few times, then fell still.

“Cut off their heads! They won’t be getting up after that!” Tuborg said, proudly.

“Don’t have to tell me twice,” Dee replied as she engaged another creature. With a mighty yell, she swung her norn blade at it, but her heavy-handed attack wasn’t as quick as Tuborg’s, and the creature noticed this. It dodged the weapon, skittering to the side before lunging at the norn’s legs. She cried out as its claws pierced her leather leggings. Thrusting the hilt of her greatsword downward, it collided with the top of its head with a sickening crack. The blow stunned the creature. It tumbled to the ground, stumbling around and struggling to stay upright. With her blade raised high, Dee let out a triumphant roar as she brought her blade’s edge down upon the creature’s neck.

Amongst the chaos of the battle, the airship’s engine revved, and the vessel started to gain altitude as it pulled away from its temporary docking area.

“Wait—where are the girls?” Nienna cried out. Her gaze darted around the courtyard. “Has anyone seen Seren and Salara.”

The others either shook their heads or uttered a quick ‘no’. Distracted, Nienna almost didn’t see the ice jotun’s arm swinging in their direction. She ducked but still felt the tips of the ice shards jutting from its arm rake through her hair.  

“My weapons,” Clarkus uttered as he searched around the immediate vicinity. “Where are my weapons?”

“Here,” Dee said as she found a bloodied sword laying on the ground. She tossed it to the charr.

“This isn’t my sword!”

“There aren’t a lot of options!” the norn yelled back. Wanting to test something, she picked up a small scrap of wood and lobbed it at the ice jotun, striking it in its uncovered eye. Annoyed, the creature shook its head and growled before taking a swipe with its over-sized arm at Dee. “Ah ha! Its eye is vulnerable. If I can get up there, I can jump on its back and stick my sword right through it,” she thought out loud.

Ignoring the exchange between Clarkus and Dee, Nienna surveyed the courtyard again for Seren and Salara. Across the way, she spied Lord Aedan quickly making his way through the front gates and disappearing around the side.

What Nienna wouldn’t have given in that moment to have been blessed with the ability to be in two places at once. She could have helped her friends finish taking down the ice jotun, as well rescue Seren and Salara. She glanced quickly back and forth between the others and the airship, trying to decide what to do. She couldn’t leave them, but she couldn’t let the Byrnes take the girls from them again. Her eyes locked with Dee, and she mouthed, ‘I’m sorry’, before breaking into a sprint for the gates.