The battlefield was a huge mess. Along the way lay several dead charr, their bodies either stuck with arrows or set ablaze by the elementalist’s magic. Right in front of me lay the Flame wielder, his skull crashed to pieces by the warrior’s hammer. Now that he was dead, the fire slowly consumed his body, burning away his flesh and fur while giving off a cloud of thick, dark smoke. Next to the dead bodies was Cynn, the fire elementalist who was knocked out by the charr. Mhenlo kneeled over her, blue-white energy flooding from his fingers into her body. I did not know the female warrior who had slain the charr. I did, however, know the ranger who appeared together with her.
“Aidan?”
– “Hm?”
“So it really is you! I’m glad to see you’re alive. I heard you went missing during the charr invasion.”
– “I’m sorry, but who are you?” the ranger replied.
“Oh, right. I’m Viral Greywind.”
– “Ah, I remember you. The son of old Greystone, right? Didn’t you have a stalker as a pet?”
“Pyre … died in the Searing.”
– “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
“Anyways, why are you out here? It can’t just be a coincidence.”
“Little Dust led us here.” The warrior stepped towards us, her blonde hair darkened by the dust of the battlefield.
With a single hand, she carried the big, bloodstained hammer on her shoulder.
“I’m Devona, nice to meet you.”
– “Dust? Who’s that?”
“The madman’s fellow”, Aidan replied.
– “Blutfaust’s?”
“Didn’t you see him yet? There’s a little dog who accompanies him all the time – a dead one, of course. Actually, people say that he was little Alistar’s –”
“Aidan!”, a harsh voice interrupted the ranger.
— “Speaking of the Devil.” Aidan turned around. Right behind him stood Von Blutfaust, and a small skeleton dog walked next to him.
“I’ll need you to scout the way. Those guys sure made a lot of noise during the fight, and it’d be a problem if more charr appeared while we’re not at full strength.”
— “So you’re their leader? Talk of problems; wait, isn’t that Cynn over there?” the ranger rushed to his companion.
“She’s unconscious.” Mhenlo said in a sad voice. “She was hit by the charr mage just before you arrived and got caught up in his flames, Her brain probably made her lose consciousness to protect her from even more pain.”
— “Is she going to be alright?”, Aidan asked. Never before he had seen his companion in such a worn-out state.
“Yes.”, the monk replied and his face lightened up. “I’ve healed her burns, but when she will wake up is solely up to her.”
— “We can’t stay here, Mhenlo.”
“I know; I’ll carry her. No-one gets left behind.”
“Alright, if you’re done chatting, I’d really like Aidan to scout the way for us.” Blutfaust said as he entered the scene once again. “I’ll take the lead from here. After all, it’s your simple mind that made you charge in and led to this situation.”
“My –”, the monk raised his voice, “We’re at war! If there are soldiers in distress, I’ll help them out for sure. We can take good use of every single helping hand out there!”
“Anyways”, he calmed down a bit, “where is that woman from earlier?” Then he noticed the abomination hiding in the shadows behind the necromancer. His face turned pale as his eyes widened and he turned towards the necromancer. “You didn’t – ”
Grinning, the tall man bowed down to talk to the monk on an even footing: “I didn’t do what?”
— “You maniac! What do you think a human live is?”
“A very reliable source of energy.” Blaik answered the rhetorical question; he evidentially enjoyed provoking the monk.
“But calm down. The charr slashed open her chest; she wouldn’t have lived for long. Also, isn’t this what you just said? We’re at war. And we’re not exactly on the winning side. We could use anyone’s help. Surely a Bone Horror type minion is of more use to us than a dying woman. Think about it for a second. From a rational side of view, for a change.”
Mhenlo was still angered, but there was nothing he could answer to that. “Still …”
— “Still, it’s a fact that you’re unfit to lead us,” Blutfaust jeopardized the monk’s sentence. “Take your little sweetheart. I lead, you follow; that should be simple enough to understand. Aidan, could you now please check out the way?”
The ranger slowly rose. “Alright. I’ll be the scout; it’d be bad if we were attacked while Cynn’s out”, he said before he left the scene.
“You’re only getting through with this because we have to hurry”, Mhenlo attacked Blutfaust verbally. “Once we’re done here, your lead will end, you know that. What is it you’re plotting, Blutfaust?”
“Me, plotting?” Blutfaust seemed genuinely surprised. “Oh, of course. I almost forgot; I originally decided to gain world domination by not letting this party of six get slaughtered by the charr!”, he told the monk with a straight face, as if he was denying the sarcasm.
— “I’m not sure what it is you’re after, but don’t think I’ll just sit there and let you accomplish it.”
“Haha! Well, that’s funny” the necromancer turned towards him as his mien grew cold. Surrounded by a chilling aura, he closed up to the monk and responded with a low, yet aggressive and threatening voice. “Because I don’t think so, Mr. Pathless. In fact, I think that you’re going to assist me in accomplishing my goals once I start pursuing them, whether you want to or not.”
“The path towards the city is clean”, Aidan interrupted the two, “We should hurry, it’s getting dark fast.”
— “Thank you, Aidan!” the necromancer turned around, suddenly changing to a positive attitude and leaving behind a speechless monk. “That’s good news. Alright people, we march towards the ruins of Drascir!”
The Falken Courier 