Chapter 2: Part 10 - Family Is Everything
There was chaos in the hollow at Erin’s feet. On any other battlefield, that would have been an overstatement; there were ebbs and flows to the dance of warfare, ones that any seasoned warrior could read in a heartbeat. But here in the hills above the Grove, in a valley wrapped in mist and shadows and tangling vines, chaos was the only word for it.
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 8 - When The Time Is Right
Taria Valpari was almost exactly as Erin had expected. She was tall, regal, and as commanding as a battlefield general. She also had grey hair and very pale green eyes, with high cheekbones and perfect teeth; she looked, in other words, exactly like Marissa would look in fifty years time.
Chapter 2: Part 7 - Two Rich Idiots
After a full day in Divinity’s Reach, Erin knew she was trying to do the impossible. There were traces of Taria Valpari everywhere she looked, but setting up a meeting with her people in the city was about as easy as climbing an ice cliff with carrots instead of picks. In other words, frustrating, glacially slow, and ultimately pointless.
Chapter 2: Part 6 - Stalemate
Chapter 2: Part 5 - Fine Lines
Oska didn’t like waiting. He supposed no-one did, but he’d always had a particular aversion to it. Doing nothing always produced a worm of anxiety deep in his gut, as though to stop moving was to die.
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.
First Interlude: Hammer and Anvil
Most of the time, Erin thought she was reasonably in control of her guild. Some of its members could be awkward ‒ and plenty of them liked to argue ‒ but overall, they were willing to follow her lead.
First Interlude: Treachery
Jean had been in the Grove for three weeks and he still didn’t feel at home there. It wasn’t the sylvari and it wasn’t their verdant architecture; both were surprisingly welcoming. Being part of the Archon’s guild… That was the problem.
First Interlude: Absolution
Oska knew, objectively, that what he was planning was a terrible idea. He’d been serious about leaving Divinity’s Reach with Auri, preferably as quickly as possible. He wanted her to be safe. He wanted his family to have no idea where he was. He wanted…
Chapter 1: Part 10 - A Coming War
Dusk had always been Oska’s favourite time of day in Divinity’s Reach. The city came alive with music and colour, the air filled with smells of cooking and smoke, and there was something new to discover on every street corner. As a child, he’d spent long hours roaming through the city as the light faded, until one household servant or another was sent to bring him home.
Chapter 1: Part 9 - Family Reunion
If Erin had pictured the home of the Valpari matriarch, it would have looked exactly like Blackthorn Manor. The grey stone walls, the soaring turrets, the crenellations and grand front doors. Apart from its tall windows, looking back at them like blank eyes, it was surprisingly defensible. It even had a moat, if only at the front.
Chapter 1: Part 8 - The Top of the World
Once, Oska had known his grandmother’s house like the back of his hand. Blackthorn Manor was an imposing edifice in southern Queensdale, but it was also relatively secluded; visitors to Claypool often never realised it was nearby. It had been the perfect summer retreat for rowdy Valpari children and their frazzled parents, which meant Oska could remember sun-baked days running across the lawns and swimming in the lake. It had seemed idyllic.
Chapter 1: Part 7 - Babysitting
Out of all the new recruits to her guild, Erin hadn’t expected Auri Valpari to be the most difficult. Both she and Oska were odd and not always in step with the world around them, at least at first glance. Once you got to know them better, you discovered that Oska was far sharper than he first appeared and had something of an acerbic tongue. Auri, if anything, was even more dreamy and distracted. She had a tendency to finish Oska’s sentences, but a lot of the other things she said made no sense at all.