Epilogue: Light’s Memory
Erin learnt of Spark’s death a week after the battle in the sky. It was a week that had been both frantically busy and weighted with heavy, silent moments. Each day, she’d overseen new improvements being made to the guild hall or injured Priory members being transported back to the Shiverpeaks ‒ and she also read through the list of the dead, committing each name to memory.
Epilogue: Family
Oska’s memories of the final battle were fragmented. He’d been facing Artair ‒ that, at least, was clear in his mind. He’d struck at Artair again and again, never quite managing to made a decisive blow. He remembered being hit on the side of the head, perhaps by a fist, perhaps by Souleater. He remembered the dark maw of the rifle being turned upon him, coming close enough to block out the rest of the world. He remembered, behind it, Artair’s smile.
Chapter 5: Part 11 - Aftermath
There was a ringing in Erin’s ears that made the world feel distant and not quite real. Light was sneaking in through her cracked eyelids, just enough to let her know it was nearly dawn. And someone, perhaps very close, perhaps very far away, was shouting Auri’s name loud enough to cut through the whine.
Chapter 5: Part 10 - Stone
The screams were all Erin could hear. The world seemed to come to her in fractured images, one little piece at a time. The face of the human Talon she was grappling with in the moment before he pitched over the side of the Victory. A flash of blue-grey Priory robes and what she was almost certain was Marta’s face. A pool of blood spreading across the deck beneath her, making her footing uncertain. And the sudden parting of the crowd on the ship’s deck as Talons and Priory alike scrambled for safety.
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 6 - Mercy
Spark had always expected to go out fighting. It wasn’t only that that was the charr way. She’d scraped and battled her way through life from the day she’d left the fahrar, suffering untold losses, devastating failures, and more bloodshed than any one individual should witness. Two things had always carried her through: her work as an engineer, which she was certain held the key to bringing peace to Tyria… And Weir.
Chapter 5: Part 4 - Blind Spot
Chapter 5: Part 2 - Honesty and Humility
Chapter 4: Part 10 - Fury and Despair
Oska’s world had slowed to a crawl. He saw the arrow drop out of the sky and strike Erin in the chest. He saw her stagger backwards, unharmed, and brush the arrow away as though it was nothing more than a biting insect. He saw, through the thickening snow flurries, weapons being drawn and spells prepared.
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.
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 7 - The Wrong Hands
Chapter 4: Part 4 - Starry-Eyed Idealists
Chapter 4: Part 3 - A Loose Cannon
“What are you doing here?” Erin had spoken the words before she could stop herself.
Chapter 4: Part 2 - The Upper Hand
Marta’s office was both tiny and alarmingly familiar to Erin. It had once been a storeroom, stuffed full of unused scrolls and abandoned student theses. It had also been just about roomy enough, Erin recalled, for two norn who’d had one too many ales and ended up wearing too few clothes. They’d been a pair of drunken fools, all right. No wonder Marta had called the relationship off before it could really get started.
Chapter 4: Part 1 - The Type To Hold A Grudge
