Chapter 4: Part 9 - A Hundred Years in the Wilderness

It was a long time since Erin had spent any real time in the Shiverpeaks. Over her years with Amber and then with Light’s Memory, she’d passed through from time to time, but that simply wasn’t the same. Wading through knee-deep snow, waking to ice in your hair and eyelashes, feeling the cold sink right down to your bones… She knew Amber would call her mad for it, but she missed everyone one of those things.

It seemed Marissa had been enjoying them for several days now. Someone had done their best to conceal the trail leading through the snow, but Erin could tell from a glance that it hadn’t snowed heavily in at least a week. She couldn’t see footprints, but there was a clear track where someone had brushed over the surface of the snow with a branch.

Ivar straightened from his own study for the trail. “Roan, do you think?”

“Probably,” Erin replied. Whoever had concealed the footprints was used to the cold, but not an expert at surviving in it.

Ivar raised his head, sniffing the air. “There’s a storm coming in. We should move quickly.”

Erin had already smelt it for herself. She didn’t want to spook Marissa, but it seemed pointless to resort to subterfuge now. The mesmer had only Roan and Amber as back-up and one of those wasn’t even working for her. Light’s Memory, meanwhile, was busier than it had been in some time. Ivar wasn’t the only one with her. Caolinn, Oska and Jean were waiting further down the slope, whilst Taria and Ruby were supposedly on their way. This wasn’t going to be a fair fight.

No, it wasn’t going to be a fight at all, Erin told herself. If Marissa was responsible for Auri’s disappearance, she’d have good reason for it. Erin was prepared to let her explain herself. But if there was going to be a confrontation… Best to get it over with before Taria turned up.

“Bring up the rear,” Erin ordered Ivar, before gesturing for the others to catch up. They did so with much huffing and grunting as they fought their way through the snow, making Erin wish, just for a moment, for an army of norn. Except norn didn’t always work well together and what Erin needed right now was loyalty. She thought, finally, she could rely on Light’s Memory for that.

The half-concealed path ran north from the road, deep into the rolling hills. Most of Wayfarer Foothills was as familiar to Erin as the blade of her own greatsword, but she’d rarely been this way. There were no trees up here, nothing but great expanses of snow and rock. It wasn’t even much of a hunting ground.

But Marissa had come this way, perhaps out of sheer desperation ‒ or perhaps she’d been persuaded to head for the Shiverpeaks. Amber would have known Erin could easily track them here. Perhaps the thief was to thank for their destination.

The valley snaked several times before Erin spotted the first snare. It had been laid too close to the surface and the snow, blown by the wind, had left it nearly uncovered. Two more lay beyond it, both as visible as the first.

“Sloppy,” Caolinn murmured from behind Erin. “Not like Marissa.”

No, it wasn’t ‒ but weeks out in the wild, never staying in one place for long, might wear down even Marissa’s orderly state of mind.

“Go north,” Erin ordered Caolinn. “I don’t want Marissa sneaking out that way.”

Caolinn nodded, slinking off up the next hill and vanishing between two boulders. Erin didn’t think Marissa was likely to flee, but it paid to take precautions.

Her first hunch was proved right, though. When the narrow valley finally turned into a hollow between the hills, Marissa stood right in the middle of it.

Even at a distance, she looked haggard. The camp behind her was pitiful, too. Someone had erected a single tent in the centre of the hollow, but it was sagging beneath the weight of snow. The camp fire beside it was cold. None of that had dulled the fire in Marissa’s eyes, though. She looked just as proud as ever.

“Is this what we’ve come to, Erin?” Marissa said, by way of greeting. “One guild against another, fighting over scraps? I see you’ve already acquired one of mine.”

“It wasn’t like that‒” Jean began, but Marissa’s venomous look made him fall silent.

Erin scanned the hollow. She was absolutely certain Marissa wouldn’t harm one of her own family, but a traitor… They would be fair game. “Where’s Amber?”

Marissa’s chin lifted. “Ah, yes. The snake in our midst. She was quite convincing, I have to admit ‒ but I should have known old loyalties die hard.”

Marissa lifted one hand, almost blue with cold, and snapped her fingers. The snow to Erin’s right rippled as an illusion fell away, revealing Amber kneeling in the snow. Roan stood guard over her.

“You can let her go,” Marissa snapped in apparent disgust. “She can’t do any more harm to us now.”

Amber scrambled to her feet. “I think you know I never did you any harm at all,” she said, as she pushed through the snow towards the rest of the guild. “I was just here to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid.”

Marissa’s only response was a look of disdain.

“Enough, Marissa.” Erin raised her voice. Oska had come up beside her and he was staring pointedly at his cousin. Erin wouldn’t make him wait any longer. “Where is she?”

Marissa was silent a moment. “How did you know?” she said finally. There was genuine curiosity in her voice, though she sounded like she was trying to hide it.

“Maybe you’re not as clever as you think you are,” Oska said.

That made Marissa smile, though without any humour. “Oh, I doubt that. How many weeks has it taken you to learn Auri’s true location? Even the little spy didn’t know I had her.”

Amber shrugged. “It’s true. I only started to suspect Auri might be nearby a few days ago, but I still haven’t seen her. This could be yet another ruse.”

“It’s not,” Marissa spat. “Who else would have been able to trick Artair so thoroughly? Who else would have protected Auri for so long? Certainly not your damned guild, asura. I knew I couldn’t trust you to keep her safe.”

“So you tricked Artair?” Erin asked. She didn’t want to be impressed by Marissa’s cleverness, but it was hard not to be. She’d had them running rings around one another for weeks, allies and enemies alike.

“Artair was looking for a mesmer and he wasn’t being particularly subtle about it.” Marissa sniffed. “I knew he’d never believe me if I tried to defect to his pathetic little guild, so I disguised myself. He was so desperate to steal Auri away that he never realised he was hiring an enemy.”

“And your injuries?” Erin pressed.

“I didn’t fake them, if that’s what you’re asking. Artair’s thugs really did attack me in Lion’s Arch, but I was healed by the time you left for Brisban Wildlands.”

“And you were already in contact with Artair by then.”

“Of course. I was in the Wildlands before you got there.” Marissa’s smile was as sharp as a dagger. “Do you know the hardest part of the plan? Not gutting that snivelling little sylvari the moment I saw him again. But Auri’s safety came before everything else. I posed as Artair’s hired mesmer. I spirited Auri away, exactly as he ordered. I just didn’t send her to anywhere he could find. By the time he realised the deception, I was long gone.”

A series of slow, sarcastic claps made Erin turn, to find Taria and Ruby had come up behind her. It was Ruby who was clapping, though Taria didn’t look much more impressed.

“Bravo, my girl,” Taria said, her tone brittle. “You fooled us all, but what do you have to show for it? Weeks spent in the wilderness and your allies turned against one another like cats thrown in a bag.”

“What do I have to show for it?” Marissa snapped back. “Auri is safe, that’s what. No more ambushes, no more tricks, no more of Artair sneaking around in the dark. I’d spend a hundred years in the wilderness if that’s what it took to keep her from harm.”

That, at least, Erin believed. These Valparis were fiercely loyal to one another, if nothing else.

“Go on, admit it,” Roan said, baring his teeth. “You all know she’s better than you.”

Erin knew how much that admission had to cost Roan, who’d once hated Marissa as much as anyone. But that was why they were all here, wasn’t it? Whatever the cost and whoever they had to work with, they all wanted to keep Auri safe.

“You’re right,” Erin said evenly. “Marissa played us all for fools. We’ve deserved every bit of the last few weeks. But you should know that isn’t how we’re going to beat Artair. Unless you really do want to spend a hundred years in the wilderness, we need to start trusting one another.”

“Spoken like a true guild leader,” Marissa sneered.

Erin just shrugged. “You can mock me all you want. It won’t make it any less true. Now, I’m going to ask you again: where’s Auri?”

Marissa just narrowed her eyes.

“She’s close,” Amber murmured. “Marissa has come and gone from every camp we’ve made, but never for more than a couple of hours. She must have kept Auri close every time we moved.”

‘Close’ wasn’t good enough. Unless Marissa talked, they might spend days flailing around in the snow, trying to break whatever illusion was keeping Auri hidden.

But Erin had one secret weapon that Marissa had failed to take away from her and it came with a bond that would never break.

Erin put a gentle hand on Oska’s shoulder. “Reach for her, Oska. If your sister’s here, you can find her.”

The look Oska gave her was stricken. He doubted himself, Erin knew. He feared his connection with Auri had been broken forever. But when Erin nodded, he closed his eyes, his face creased in concentration. The first few flakes of snow drifted from the sky as he did so, landing on his bowed head. For the first time, Marissa looked almost worried.

The snow had thickened to a flurry and the first gusts of wind were plucking at Erin’s hair when Oska suddenly gasped and almost toppled into the snow. “She’s here. I can feel her.”

“Then go,” Erin said. She’d barely spoken before Oska took off like a bullet streaking through the frozen air.

It was only as she watched him go that Erin realised they weren’t alone. An alpine wolf crouched in the snow on the crest of the next hill. Erin’s breath caught. Alpine wolves were usually small and timid, content to slink away when people approached ‒ but this one was watching them with gleaming yellow eyes.

Erin had her greatsword out of its sheath in the next heartbeat, but she still wasn’t quick enough. Even before she could shout a warning, the first arrow plunged out of the storm-laden sky and hit her square in the chest.