Chapter 5: Part 9 - Steel
It was the greatest feeling in the world to know they’d made Artair angry. Oska watched as the portal at the end of the deck opened and the sylvari stepped out of it, a crowd of Talons at his back. He was no longer carrying his usual greatsword, but instead a sleek rifle that somehow looked all the more dangerous for being so subtle.
Chapter 5: Part 8 - The Flawless Victory
It had taken all Erin had to put her trust in Vasha. Even now, crouched in the undergrowth of Bloodtide Fen, she wasn’t quite sure what she’d let herself in for.
Chapter 5: Part 7 - Good Luck With Thieves
After days of frenetic activity, the guild hall had fallen eerily quiet. Oska was gone, of course, chasing Spark’s trail into the depths of Ascalon. Erin had tasked Marissa, Roan, Jean, and Caolinn to go after him. She was certain they had enough experience to handle Spark, especially Caolinn, who’d worked with the charr years before Light’s Memory formed.
Chapter 5: Part 2 - Honesty and Humility
Chapter 5: Part 1 - The Right Thing
Chapter 4: Part 8 - Conniving Natures
Erin was usually good at waiting. Hunting in the Shiverpeaks required the utmost patience, which meant it was a quality she’d cultivated even before she could hold a sword. But crouching in the undergrowth of a rain-slick night in Ascalon? This was more excruciating than any ambush she’d ever done before.
Chapter 4: Part 5 - Foolish Moves
Chapter 4: Part 1 - The Type To Hold A Grudge
Third Interlude: Opposing Sides
The message arrived at midnight, when the guild was quiet and everyone but Erin was asleep. There was no need to keep watch, but she did it anyway, standing in the open doorway and staring out into the night. Lion’s Arch seemed unusually subdued, but maybe it was only her mood that made it so. Marissa’s defection didn’t surprise her, nor Jean’s. The fact that Roan had followed them raised its own questions, but perhaps he was more comfortable with his former enemy than with a guild who were still strangers to him. Amber, though… There would be a reason for her departure ‒ there was a reason for everything Amber did ‒ but that didn’t make it any easier to bear.
Chapter 3: Part 9 - A Time Of Peace
Chapter 3: Part 4 - A Thorn In My Side
Erin wasn’t used to having sleepless nights. Usually, she was asleep within half a minute of putting her head down, a trick acquired from years spent in the wilds. Tonight, though, sleep seemed elusive. She just couldn’t remember the last time she’d been plagued by so many damned thoughts.
Second Interlude: What A Guild Leader Does
Erin was fairly certain she was having the worst day of her life. There had been, first, a somewhat fractious reunion with Amber.
Chapter 2: Part 9 - The Sharpest Blade
A wave of heat rolled over Oska’s back, hot enough to scorch the hair at the nape of his neck. Beneath him, Auri twitched, making cool air flood over them. When he raised his head, a bubble of her magic surrounded them, frost nipping at the tops of his ears.
Chapter 2: Part 4 - A Chilling Discovery
The ruins of the guild hall didn’t look any better on Erin’s return to Lion’s Arch. If anything, after days of being picked over by scavengers and rained on once or twice, they actually looked worse.
Chapter 2: Part 3 - Chain of Command
Erin had always loved the Black Citadel. Hoelbrak, her home city, was a place the norn went to socialise, to drink, to boast. The charr capital, on the other hand, smelt of hot steel and engine oil. It was alive with the sounds of industry, as busy and productive as a city could be.
Chapter 2: Part 2 - A ‘Conversation’
Two things were vying for Erin’s attention. It did not surprise her, given the current state of her life, that both of them were Valparis.
Chapter 2: Part 1 - Ambush
The Grove wasn’t what Oska had expected. He’d passed through the place only a handful of times before, never going far from the bustle around the asura gate. He also didn’t have a lot of experience with sylvari; there was supposed to be one in Light’s Memory, but he’d yet to actually meet her. Somehow, he’d imagined their home city being somewhat backwards, just a patch of trees in the forest, probably surrounded by swamp.