Curse

Aaven · Mar 05, 2009, 12:53 AM // 00:53

Prologue - The Beginning

In one swift, fluid movement, the ranger pulled a slim arrow from her quiver and nocked it to her bow. She tilted her head, carefully measuring the distance and the angle at which her target lay.
Then, with a resounding twang, she released the bowstring, embedding the arrow in the trunk of a mighty oak that stood several meters away. She walked forward, noting that the arrow had landed only an inch or so from her precise target. Not bad, considering the terrible winds that had been whipping through Ascalon ever since last night’s storm.
“Alyssa!” A sweet child’s voice interrupted the ranger’s quiet contemplation. “Alyssa, do that again!”
Alyssa turned, smiling, as a young black-haired girl came running up the path that lead back to the city. She lay down her bow and held out her arms, and the girl threw herself into them before leaning down to examine the weapon that lay on the ground.
“Is this what rangers use?” Her eyes were dark and serious, as if the question was far more urgent than mere curiosity.
Alyssa laughed. “Yes, Gwen. Without it, I couldn’t exactly practice my archery, now, could I?”
Gwen studied the slender bow, running her small hands over the curves and pulling at the taut string. She attempted to lift it, holding it out as if she, too, were preparing to shoot an arrow. “Can I try?”
“It’s much too big for you,” Alyssa said softly. “Besides, it’s a little too dangerous. Why don’t you play me a tune on that flute of yours instead?”
Gwen stuck out her lower lip in a slight pout. “It’s broken. I was playing by the river, and a bunch of scary monsters came out. I dropped it, and when I came back, it was in pieces!” Her shining eyes sparkled with tears.
“Well then,” Alyssa declared, a slow smile spreading across her face. “It looks like you’re going to need a new one.” She pulled a slim object from her belt, chuckling as Gwen’s frown transformed into a open-mouthed visage of delight.
“A flute! You bought me a flute!”
Alyssa grinned at her. “You’ve been following me on my adventures for weeks now. I think it’s about time you received a little reward.”
Gwen held the instrument to her chest and continued to skip about with glee. “You are my favorite person in the whole world. I want to be just like you when I grow up.”
Alyssa smiled at the little girl as she began to play a merry tune on the flute, but her heart was struck with sadness. Gwen did not understand that a ranger was more than a playmate. She did not understand greed and anger and all the other emotions that drove the regions of the world to war year after year. All she knew of battle was that, on occasion, the adults would leave and return with tales of glory and pride. And some, of course, would not return at all.
Her most prominent fear, however, was knowing that she would also have to say farewell to Gwen in the near future. In only a few weeks’ time, she would be leaving to train at the Academy in hopes of becoming one of the great warriors of Ascalon. What would she say to Gwen when the time came for her to depart, considering that she, too, might not return?
Tucking her emotions away in her heart, she watched the little girl dance and spin, laughing, in the golden rays of afternoon sun. She watched Gwen play without a care in the world, and Alyssa wondered how long such innocence could possibly last in a world of such conflict and confusion.

-----

“No. You’re not leaving. You can’t!”
“Gwen...” Alyssa began to speak, but it was too late; the little girl had already burst into tears. “Gwen, don’t worry. I’m going for a short while, and then I’ll be back before you know it.”
Gwen crossed her arms and looked away, the tears leaving shining tracks down her pink cheeks. “No. You’re only saying that. You’ll leave and never come back for me.”
Guilt struck Alyssa’s heart like a knife blade, but she fought hard to suppress her emotions. “I promise. You know I’ve never broken a promise to you.”
The girl sniffled and wiped her eyes. “What if you don’t come back?”
Alyssa hesitated. “I will. It might be a while, but I will return.”
"Promise?”
“Promise,” Alyssa said firmly. “And in case I take a little too long, here’s something to remember me by.” From her bag she pulled a crimson cloak, and she draped it around Gwen’s thin shoulders. “There. Now you can go on adventures without me, and you won’t have to worry about getting cold.”
Gwen fingered the soft material and held it to her cheek, a tiny smile warming her face. “It matches my red flowers.”
Alyssa laughed. “That it does. You stay safe for me, all right?”
“Yes,” Gwen said impatiently, pulling something from the pocket of her pale blue dress, “and you have to stay safe too, so I’m giving you something to take on your adventures.”
Alyssa held out her hand, and Gwen placed a soft piece of fabric in her palm. "Mommy gave it to me, and it’s my favorite. I want you to have it.”
The little girl spoke with such certainty and hope, and it brought tears to Alyssa’s eyes. She took the fabric and tucked it deep into her bag before pulling Gwen into her arms. “Thank you, Gwen. It will remind me of you – as if you’re with me wherever I go.”
She did not know how to say goodbye to a child; do you prolong the farewells, layering on the apologies and the promises? Or do you simply turn and walk away, for a clean break heals the fastest?
Sir Tydus, however, saved her from this moment of indecision.
“Alyssa Stormbow, we are about to depart. Is there any other business you must take care of before you go?”
“No, I am ready to leave,” Alyssa responded, giving Gwen one last embrace. “Stay safe, Gwen. I’ll come back as soon as I can.” She rose, giving the child a parting wave and a smile before following Sir Tydus to the Academy gates, a mixture of sadness and anticipation boiling through her veins.
“There will be no turning back,” Tydus was saying to her fellow trainees, and Alyssa gripped her bow tightly, preparing herself for the waiting unknown.

-----

It happened a few weeks later.
There was no advanced warning, no blaring alarms to shatter the silence of the dawn. There was nothing more than a slight breeze, a chilly wind that riffled the leaves on the trees and made the tall grasses dance and sway. There was nothing to suggest that the world as she knew it was about to fall to pieces.
Alyssa Stormbow stood on a grassy ridge, overlooking Regent Valley in its autumnal splendor. The winds were teasing her hair and making the hairs on her pet wolf's back tremble as he sat beside her, eyes darting this way and that.
There was movement in the grass behind her, and she turned as a fellow ranger came and stood next to her. His companion, a muscled Stalker, prowled softly at his feet.
“Alyssa,” he said softly in a low growl of a voice. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
She smiled slightly; she had inherited her mother’s keen hearing, and thus, she had sensed his approach long before he said a word.
“Evan,” she responded, nodding her head. “A report on the Charr patrols, perhaps?”
He shook his head. “No. Not yet, anyway. Rurik said that the beasts have been lying low for some time now. He and I both know that’s not a good sign – who knows what they’re planning behind our backs?”
The pair gazed at the forest that lay splayed out before them, dappled with sunlight and alive with the chirps of birds and the rustling of millions of leaves. The winds picked up slightly, and her wolf rose and began to pace uneasily, whining softly.
“Shh, Aaven,” Alyssa whispered. She turned to Evan. “He’s been restless all afternoon. I’ve never seen him like this.”
“Animals know things we don’t, sometimes,” Evan said wisely. “Some say that they can predict great and terrible events before they even occur.” He looked at the wolf, and his brow furrowed slightly.
“Well, I certainly hope that he’s not foreseeing anything terrible,” Alyssa mused, stroking Aaven’s snout. “Heaven knows we have enough on our plates without another bad event coming to pass.”
Evan nodded in agreement, but before he could say another word, his entire body stiffened. Both animals froze, sniffing the air; the Stalker rumbled a low warning growl, and Aaven’s ears tilted, as if attempting to hear a distant sound.
“Alyssa,” Evan whispered. “Do you hear that?”
She couldn’t have explained it, but she knew the sound of which he spoke. It was a growing roar, muted yet distinct. It grew louder, and it was coming from beyond the Great Northern Wall.
“Evan,” she began, when the roar reached an alarming pitch, “what could it possibly...”
And then the screams started.
An enormous projectile, too large for the senses to comprehend, slammed with astonishing force into the heart of the city of Ascalon. Frozen with fear, Alyssa could only stare in horror as smoke and flame billowed from within the city walls. Perhaps it was a meteor, nothing more than a natural disaster of terrifying force...
When the second projectile fell, striking the Wall and reducing it to a pile of scorched boulders, Alyssa knew it was no meteor. And when the skies above her boiled and churned with fire and streaks of ebony smoke, she knew it was no natural occurrence.
“Alyssa,” Evan shouted, gazing up into the brimstone sky, “we must get out of here!” She didn’t move, however; she was focused on the burning city in the distance.
Gwen.
“Come on! We must go!” Evan took hold of her arm, and she tore her eyes away from the wreckage she once called home. The two of them, their animals at their heels, sprinted from the ridge as the beauty of the forest was engulfed in flame.
That was the day her world burned.

Antares Ascending · Mar 05, 2009, 01:55 AM // 01:55

Good stuff! I usualy just take a very quick look at these stories and move on but this one works even though we all know what happened in the Searing. Read the whole thing and wanted a bit more. Keep up the good work.

Robbeh The Mad · Mar 05, 2009, 05:00 AM // 05:00

Awesome story, can't wait until the Guild Wars paper backs are finally released.