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
Chapter 3: Part 9 - A Time Of Peace
Chapter 3: Part 8 - The Family Motto
There had been times in Oska’s life when he’d questioned his choice of profession. What use was skulking in the shadows when he couldn’t show off his skills? What use were daggers and tools when his parents kept him at home? Most of all, what was the use of being a thief when he couldn’t protect those he loved?
Chapter 3: Part 7 - Weapons and Enemies
Erin wasn’t going to panic. She knew, as the camp descended into chaos, that she absolutely couldn’t let herself. The moment she gave in was the moment Light’s Memory was lost.
Chapter 3: Part 5 - Sworn To Secrecy
Oska and Ruby barely spoke as they raced back across the Wildlands. Oska’s heart seemed to hammer in his chest, beating an unpredictable rhythm that left him gasping for breath. If Auri was hurt…
Chapter 3: Part 3 - Playing Fair
Oska had been involved in some terrible ideas in his time; he’d even devised a few himself. Ruby’s, though, was one of the worst he’d ever heard.
“You want,” he said slowly, “to go poking around in ghost-infested ruins in the middle of nowhere, because…”