Chapter 1: Part 7 - Roan's Ultimatum

Vasha’s jubilation lasted about as long as it took to return to Rata Sum, take an asura gate to Lion’s Arch, and trek north into Gendarran Fields. Halfway across Kryta’s lush, rolling grasslands, she finally had to admit to herself that she might have been a bit hasty in bringing the Marauders here. The etched map on the back of the key was definitely Kryta – she could pick out Lion’s Arch right at the bottom, then Nebo Terrace, Ascalon Settlement and Vigil Keep above – but after that? She had a single piece from the top half of the map, not enough to connect to the rest, and the clues it provided were… inconclusive.

Which was to say, they weren’t really clues at all.

There were no arrows on the map, no written marks, and no Xs to mark the spot. Vasha could only guess – and it was a guess, because she had nothing else to go on – that two of the missing pieces of the key showed the western side of Harathi Hinterlands, and one of those indicated where they had to go next. She hadn’t quite got round to telling the rest of the team that, though.

Roan was already surly by the time they arrived in Faun’s Gap. “I hate centaurs,” he spat, more than once, “and this place is crawling with them.”

“The centaurs are north-east of here,” Vasha said, more confident than she felt. “We’re not going that way.”

The third piece of the key, the one that didn’t fit the others, showed a slice of the Hinterlands right up to Modniir Gorge; it, too, bore nothing to show them which way to go.

“Where next?” Roan asked.

“West,” Vasha said promptly, but she knew the charr would want more than that. “Because, er… The map… Um.”

She knew she’d hesitated too long when Roan stopped sniffing the air, swung round towards her, and growled, “What’s ‘um’ supposed to mean?”

Vasha cleared her throat. “No other teams have come this far. We’re breaking new ground. There are always risks in–”

It was one thing to know that Roan could move fast, and another to see him do it. In what felt like only a single blink, he’d gone from a dozen paces away to barely two, close enough to blot out the sun. “We’re not here to take risks.”

“This whole game is risky,” Vasha said defensively, struggling against the impulse to clutch the half-finished key to her chest. It wouldn’t do much to protect her against Roan. “You wanted me to think things through, and I did. All the clues lead here. It’s just…”

“Spit it out.”

“This is as far as they lead,” Vasha said in a rush.

Silence – then, “What?”

Vasha flinched, as though Roan’s voice had been a whip cracked next to her ear. She could feel the anger radiating off him, hotter than the summer air. “We have three pieces of the key. It takes six to complete it, so we’ve only got half the map–”

Roan’s claws abruptly jabbed the air between them. “I don’t want excuses. I let you join the Marauders – don’t make me regret it.”

“I won’t,” Vasha said stubbornly. She was dimly aware of the two norn standing awkwardly to one side, as if they weren’t sure how to intervene – or perhaps, being used to Roan, they knew better than to get involved. “I’ve led you this far, haven’t I? No other team has even made it to Kryta yet.”

“How does that benefit us?”

It was an ultimatum, and Vasha knew it. Roan’s teeth were grinding together, and he looked only half a breath from tearing out someone’s throat – probably hers. It would be easy to do what he’d ordered, and explain how vital having the lead in this game could be. Easier, and so much safer… to submit.

She couldn’t do it. Vasha had spent her life walking her own path; the Marauders could have offered her all the wealth and prestige in the world and she wouldn’t have joined them, if Roan hadn’t promised she’d still be able to think for herself. Part of a team, but an equal part, once she’d proved herself. She’d done that, hadn’t she? She’d brought them this far, but she didn’t feel equal now.

“How can you ask me that?” she snapped, even as she wondered if provoking the charr was a good idea. “I know what I’m doing, and it’s about time you trusted me. You don’t explain all your decisions – I shouldn’t have to, either.”

Roan’s snarl startled birds from a nearby tree, sending them flapping and squawking up into the air. “We did trust you, to solve this puzzle – look where that’s got us. You know what happens to Marauders who fail? We cut them loose. We’ve survived a long time with that rule.”

Vasha’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. She wanted to argue that the Marauders might have ‘survived’, but that wasn’t the same as winning. Roan had hired her because she could offer expertise that none of the other three could – expertise they needed to win.

In the end, she could only sputter an expletive. It was easy to look outraged, because that wasn’t totally feigned – but really, she was terrified. She knew she was smart, and so did Roan, but she couldn’t fight her way through Yinn’s game alone. She needed, desperately so, to prove she belonged here; she couldn’t lose her place on the only team that would take her.

“Roan.” Haki’s voice cut through the stillness, startling Vasha out of glaring at the charr. “Don’t be too hasty, now.”

Roan’s head swung towards Haki, but he didn’t immediately snap at the ranger. The Marauders had been together a long time, Vasha knew; Roan listened to the two norn as he listened to no-one else.

“We’ve all made mistakes,” Haki said, holding up a hand. “The girl’s doing her best. Would we have come this far on our own? Just be glad she’s put us ahead of the competition.”

Warm gratitude spread over Vasha. Gratitude – and surprise. The two rangers had been nothing but brusque since she’d joined the team, but Haki was defending her – and as he cajoled Roan, Gull started beckoning to her.

Vasha glanced at Roan, who seemed to be ignoring her, then followed Gull down the hillside. They stopped beneath the tree Roan had scared the birds from, and Gull held out a hand. “Let’s see this key.”

Vasha hesitated, aware how easily Gull could take credit for solving the clues, but the ranger met her gaze steadily. “We’re a team, remember? We work this out together.”

Unable to completely hide her reluctance, Vasha pulled the pieces of the key away from her chest, holding them out towards the norn. Gull took them, one after another, holding them up to the light. “It’s definitely Kryta,” she said eventually.

Biting down on her frustration, Vasha nodded. Behind her, she could hear Haki talking slowly and steadily; Roan, thankfully, was silent.

“You’re right about one thing,” Gull said, sliding the pieces together as though she was shuffling cards. “There’s nothing else to learn from these.”

Despair rose up, hot and stifling, in Vasha’s chest. She wouldn’t let Roan evict her from the Marauders so easily–

“But that’s a clue in itself,” Gull went on, as though she hadn’t even noticed Vasha’s dismay. “You were right to lead us this way – it’s the largest part of the map we don’t have. Odds are, what we’re looking for is here.”

“So…?” Vasha asked cautiously.

“So there are twelve teams,” Gull said. “Twelve teams means twelve pieces like these, and two complete keys, which we’ll assume are identical. That means there are nine more pieces out there, waiting for us.”

“Some of them will be duplicates,” Vasha said, but already excitement was replacing the despair.

“Some will.” Gull shrugged, and behind her, her snow leopard Cirrus yawned. “But six out of those nine could be useful to us. Before you knew this was a map, you said it was a key; it won’t work unless we put it all together, anyway. We just need the other three pieces.”

And they were surely in the hands of other teams – teams that were perfectly capable of following their incomplete maps to Kryta, just as the Marauders had.

Vasha found she was grinning. It had taken Gull’s steady mind to see it, but Roan was wrong: being the first to Kryta was an advantage, after all. Many of those pieces of the key would already be coming this way – and now, the Marauders could be ready and waiting for them.