Curse

KnivesOfBloodAndPain · Feb 07, 2008, 11:32 PM // 23:32

Author's note: This is a right out of the top of my head type of story so don't be surprised if it is no good, it is barely planned out and the title will be invalid in near the middle of the story Chapter One is short because it acts
as a prologue to the story. Sorry for not updating it the last weekend, I was busy. Whoopsie, the first line to chapter 4 isn't supposed to happen yet, forget you saw that

Chapter One: Confiscation
I was a poor farm boy when I was growing up. People paid me no more mind then the beggars that littered Drascir. I lived with my aunt and uncle, my parents were among Ascalon's upper class. They, according to my uncle, were cruel and stingy with their money; when they had me they worried that a child would put a huge drain on their money so they abandoned me in the streets. My uncle got wind of the horrible things my parents did so he picked me up that night and took me to his farm. They had a son of their own and his name was Gherat who was about 5 years older than ,e, he was a nice person who always looked out for me. My aunt and uncle were equally as kindhearted. Even though I made huge fusses as a baby, they never looked at me as a burden.
I lived on the farm, doing chores and playing with the moa for more than twelve years. On the eve of my thirteenth birthday, a messenger arrived on horseback. Gherat said, "He looks like an official from the capital, we should stay out of his way." "Yes, we wouldn't want to get in his way," I said. He led me up to his room and told me, "By the way, happy birthday, you're 13 now, right?" "Thank you, and yes," I replied. "Wow, little Brenan is thirteen already, seems like just yesterday that father brought you home," he said with a thoughtful expression. Suddenly we heard shouting from downstairs and then some hoofbeats fading into the distance. Uncle stormed up the stairs and threw open the door. "That lousy bastard!" he yelled, which shocked me as I have never heard him use profanity, "He thinks he can just march up to our doorstep and demand that we clear out to make room for construction!" "WHAT?!" cried Gherat, "That's not fair, we've lived here all our life and now we're supposed to just leave?!" "But, if we leave then where will we go? It's not like we know anyone that will admit us into their homes." I said. "Yes Brenan, you are quite right as life is hard enough already without four extra mouths to feed," said my aunt suddenly from the doorway. She was extremely pale and for some reason there was a long cut on her left arm. "Don't ask about the cut, that person took out his rapier and slashed at me because I refused to leave," she said, the cut didn't seem to affect her or if it did she was masking it quite well for it didn't show in her voice. "Well, I am gonna go to the capital and file a complaint, King Adelbern wouldn't stand for this cruelty. Meanwhile we should all get some sleep," said my uncle with a tone of formality. None of us argued to that and Gherat, who was quite red in the face collapsed in a heap to his bed. I exited, slipped into my room and went to sleep instantly.

Chapter Two: Profession

I awoke to the delicious smell of bacon and eggs. Last night seemed like a distant nightmare now. Just as I finished dressing, Gherat ran into my room and tackled me in a playful fashion. "Happy birthday!" he said cheerfully, "Come down to breakfast, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised." "Wait, I'm going to make my bed first," I said. "Aw, c'mon you're a teenager now, you can make your bed later," said Gherat. I agreed with that and I followed him downstairs. "OH MY GOD!!!" I exclaimed. My aunt had obviously worked through the night to bake me a massive chocolate cream cake. "Happy birthday Brenan," said my aunt and uncle in unison. "THANK YOU!!!" I yelled. "Don't thank us yet, have a look at your present first," replied my uncle. Puzzled as to how any present could compare to the cake I followed him into the cellar and watched as he took out a wooden box wrapped in fine silk. "Open it," he said with a hint of pride. As I worked my way to unwrap the silk my uncle grew restless as if he was just waiting for my expression. As I opened the box, I let out a loud cry of excitement, it was exactly what I've always dreamed of owning, a bow and a quiver full of freshly fletched arrows. Not just any bow however, it was a recurve ebony bow which was polished to such a shine that I was sure that if the direct sunlight shone on it that it was enough to blind a human. "Uncle, I don't know what to say... Thank you..." I said, breathlessly. "It's no problem, I was a ranger myself back in the day, I thought you should have this bow." "Thank you Uncle, I will be sure to practice whenever I get the chance to be as good of a ranger as I can be!" I exclaimed. My uncle thought that I was ready to choose a profession, I was the happiest boy in the world as not even Gherat, who was close to his 19th birthday now, had gotten a chance to realize his dream yet. To be a professional Assassin. I paraded upstairs with my bow in hand and quiver across my back to show the bow to my aunt and to Gherat who said, "Dang! You sure are lucky kid, Father won't let me get a pair of daggers." He had a slight tone of envy in his voice but then he said, "Well, I am sure that I will be ready this year to be an Assassin. I think I can take over some of your chores for awhile so you can get some training in with that bow." "Whoa, you mean it?" I said, Gherat's kindness knew no bounds I suppose. "Sure, consider it my gift to you," he replied. The four of us partied deep into the night and Gherat even let me try a pint of ale.
The next morning, I found a note on my face as I had fallen asleep during the party. It stated: "Brenan, we have gone to Drascir to meet with King Adelbern, please enjoy yourself, as we won't be back for a day.~Gherat" Well, I was alone so I thought I might as well clean myself up and try to clear my head before practicing archery. It turned out that I get drunk pretty easily and it was about two hours before I sobered up. "Well, time to try out this bow," I said to myself. I got to work in assorting the hay bales for targets and pretty soon, I had seven targets that wouldn't damage my arrows. As I put my first arrow on the string and pulled the feather up to my cheek, I feared the string would snap and the bow would splinter into pieces. That fear left me as I watched my first arrow sail through the air and cut through the hay bale like a knife through hot butter. It was three inches away from the center, "Whoa, not bad for my first shot," I thought to myself.
I had been shooting at the targets for two hours or so when I heard a cry from the road, "HELP! I'VE BEEN MUGGED!" I sprinted towards the sound to find a girl being beaten up by some men. "Hey, stop that!" I yelled to the thugs. Upon seeing my bow they said, "Crap, a ranger, we'd better get out of here before we find an arrow in our guts." They obviously couldn't tell that I was a kid and didn't have the heart to shoot anyone. "Thank you," said the girl, "I was walking along when those men showed up and demanded my money, I refused of course, and they started beating me up. Those MONSTERS got away with all of the money I had on me." "Well, I'm sorry, but I really can't help you, but if you wanted to stay over at my house for awhile it'd be ok." "Thank you, maybe I will," she replied. We walked back over to the farm just as the sun was setting.

Chapter 3: Departure

"By the way, my name is Sela," said the girl. "Well, my name is Brenan," I said. "Wait a minute, Brenan? Are your parents Duke Brenden and Duchess Shavawn?" Sela asked suddenly. "Well, yes, they abandoned me as a baby and my aunt and uncle have been taking care of me since," I said, a little shocked that she knew who my parents were. "The Duke and Duchess have no direct relatives in Ascalon, you were kidnapped," she said shortly. "What? But, that's impossible, my uncle found me on the street. And even if it were true, they have been so kind to me that they must count as my relatives," I said, I didn't like this too much. "Well, your parents are incredibly kind and have donated much money to the academies of Ascalon," she said. "Wait, but Uncle told me that they were cruel people who hated everyone underneath them," I said faintly. "Brenan, it IS true that your parents abandoned you, but they have regretted it since and have been looking everywhere for you," Sela said, "they put up posters that say they were looking for you and if anyone found you to please take you back to them. Even if you live out here, you would've seen the posters." I gasped, shocked, my own uncle, no not my uncle, the man I have lived with, kidnapped me and was hiding me. That's why they wouldn't take me to Drascir, I thought "But even though they aren't my blood relatives, they have still taken care of me for all my life and have never been cruel to me," I stated. Then I paused, remembering when Gherat took me out of the room when the official arrived. Gherat was in on this too? "I suppose that I should go back to my parents if that is true, the only problem is, where do they live?" I asked. "That's easy, they live on the outskirts of Rin, it's a huge estate, you can't miss it," replied Sela, "I could take you there if you want." "Yes, I'd like that, but first I must leave a note explaining to my aunt and uncle why I left," I replied, "I intend to have my parents grant them land on their estate so they could live in the lap of luxury, it's what they deserve." I hurriedly went into my room and I packed my most important possessions in a rucksack. Then, I left a note, if I recall correctly , it stated: "Dear Aunt and Uncle, I have left for my parent's estate in Rin, it seems you were wrong about them and that they are kind people, I forgive you for deceiving me all these years for you are great people. Once I get to Rin I shall have Father grant you land on his estate where you will have people tending to your every whim. If things turn out wrong, I shall slip away when they are not looking and I shall be back soon if that happens. If you would rather stay here then I will see to it that my parents don't get too upset that you have kept me away from them and convince them to grant you larger land around here so that you may do whatever it is you please. I shall be back to visit alot. Thank you again for this great life, but I must be with my parents. Please give my regards to Gherat. ~Brenan" As I finished that note, I departed, bow in hand and quiver on back, with Sela to Rin.

Chapter 4: Confusion
Sela and I were traveling through Lakeside County when she noticed that something is up with the wildlife. It was a peaceful morning with the sun shining and the birds chirping. Sela said, "Strange, the wurms aren't up yet, usually they are here every morning to eat the Moa birds." When we got to the river, Sela murmured, " Weird, usually the skale are here to prey on hapless travelers." "Isn't that a good thing for us?" I asked, "If the skale aren't going to bother us then our journey should be relatively easy right?" "Wrong," Sela stated, "There has to be something worse that scared them off, it isn't anything that is weak, wurms don't scare easily." "Well, it isn't any of our concern because we're almost to Ascalon City," I said. In a matter of minutes the intimidating walls of Ascalon city loomed above us. "HALT!" yelled out one of the guards, "WHAT IS YOUR BUSINESS HERE?" "We are travelling through here to Rin," I said. "YOU IDIOT, RIN IS IN THE OTHER DIRECTION!" he yelled. "Sela, what the hell? You said that you knew the way, you even have a map!" I yelled. "There's no need to yell, I don't recall ever having said that we are going to Rin yet," she said calmly.

Earlier that day...

Sela: "Alright, it's this way to Rin, we're almost there."

"Um, yes you did, let me see that map," I said, remembering what she said. She handed over the map. "..." I said flatly, "This is a map of Kryta..." "Oh, no wonder, I never recalled ever seeing that many trees in Ascalon," she said, impervious to her mistake and all of the time we've wasted. "Well, sir we need to go in and rest now because SOMEONE read the wrong map!" I said, ending up very angry at Sela. Well, not much else happened that day, we stayed at the Three Rings Inn and we got an actual map of Ascalon. I still wasn't speaking to Sela.

Chapter 5
Arson In Ascalon

The next day, Sela went up to me and apologized for reading the wrong map. I forgave her, of course, and we decided to stay in Ascalon for a week to take a break from traveling. That day and the next day were pretty uneventful as we had nothing better to do than sit around and look at the clouds. On the third day, however, a strange man who identified himself as Jsome arrived in the city. He was recruiting for the Eagles Talons guild, a guild dedicated to battling the growing Luxon threat in Cantha. I asked him, "Why are you in Tyria if your guild is Canthan?" "Well, I am just a recruiter for the guild and I was sent to find reinforcements in Tyria by my guild leader," he replied. "Do you have any enemies in Ascalon?" I inquired. "What kind of question is that? Of course I do, I'm a wanted man among the Luxons and there are many Luxons in Ascalon right now," he replied with a quick backward glance, "Well I think I'll stay at the Three Rings Inn for now since it looks pleasant enough." As he said that a man was being chased by the barkeeper out of the door.

That night, I was awakened by the smell of burning wood. Sela wasn't in her room and the inn was deserted. I followed the trail of smoke and eventually came upon Jsome fighting off a group of men, whom I assumed were Luxons. I pulled an arrow on my bow and fired at a Luxon who was trying to cast a fireball at Jsome. "AGHGGJHGHHGHH! Dammit, brought down by a kid..." were the man's dying words. I swayed around in horror when I realized that I had just taken a life. "Thanks for that Brenan," said Jsome, still fighting the Luxons. I murmured my response and was beginning to feel nauseous. Before the Luxon had died he had a chance to complete his fireball and it hit the buildings behind Jsome. The buildings instantly caught on fire and the inferno engulfed Jsome and the fighting Luxons. It was at that point that I passed out...

Chapter 6
Fugitives

I woke up to find myself, Sela and Jsome in a dungeon cell. "Hey, look who's finally awake," Sela said, cheerful as ever. "Why are we in a cell?" I asked. "I must apologize for that, if I hadn't gotten tangled with those damned Luxons this would've never happened," answered Jsome. "Why is Sela here, though?" I asked. "She tried to hide the both of us but was discovered by guards," he once again replied. I noticed then that our cell had a fourth inhabitant, a man of about 40 slumped against a corner. "Oh, that's Albert, he tried to help me fight the Luxons," Jsome said as he noticed me looking at him. "I don't regret it either," Albert said suddenly, "And call me Al, please." "Alright, Al, why don't you regret fighting against the Luxons?" Jsome asked. "You were in trouble and those Luxons were unpleasant," Al replied. "Now, we have been put to death so we must find a way to escape," said Jsome. "Oh, I can do that," said Sela cheerfully, "I'm an elementalist!" "So why didn't you break us out in the first place?!" I asked, exasperated. "You were knocked out and it's no fun unless everyone sees you doing a spell," she replied. After checking that there were no guards, Sela melted the lock on our cell with a well aimed Flare and we proceeded to finding our weapons.

We came upon a guard who was looking the other way shortly afterward. Jsome cracked the man's neck and he was dead. He took the guard's weapons and uniform. Disguised as a guard, he could now ask other guards where weapons were kept. As we hid the body, we heard footsteps down the corridor. Jsome stayed out while we jumped into hiding. "Hey, I'm new here and I want to know where the weapon room is," said Jsome to the guard. "Oh, well that's upstairs, just go left and look for the room with the huge banner with Prince Rurik's face on it, it's impossible to miss!" "Thanks, now take a nap!" said Jsome and he knocked the guard unconscious. Al donned the uniform of the unconscious guard and we proceeded to the weapons room. There were hundreds of wands, staves, bows, swords, scythes, daggers, axes, and hammers, all neatly sorted out into little piles. I found my bow and quiver quickly and Sela helped herself to the wands there. Jsome found his sword and shield and Al found a cruel looking scythe. Before we left, I took another quiver-full of arrows and strapped it across my other quiver.

Sela summoned a mighty Meteor Shower and broke a huge hole in the wall. As it turns out, we were in the countryside and nowhere near Ascalon. "Whoa Sela, you're good," I said, impressed by her skill. "This is nothing," she replied. As we were about to leave, an entire brigade of soldiers burst into the weapons room and the captain said, "HALT! You are prisoners, either come with us quietly or we will kill you." Without a word, an iridescent phoenix rose before Sela and struck the captain dead. Then, without hesitating, she called forth a meteor shower to crush the other men. "Run," she said. Without a moment's thought we raced off into the fading light and we kept on running for however long, I don't recall. We made camp in the middle of some woods and I fell asleep without a word.

Chapter 7
The Charr

I've had a recurring nightmare ever since that day we became fugitives. Huge crystals raining down upon the entire country of Ascalon, and hairy, beast-like monsters rampaging across the fields I once called home. Each time, I've awoken in a sweat only to find that everything was normal, or as normal as things could get for fugitives. Sela had been unconscious for the past several days, as the strain of two meteor showers was too much for her. "Brenan," Al said one day, "Have you been having nightmares about Ascalon being destroyed by the Charr?" "Charr?" I asked, puzzled. "The Charr are a war loving race that has been at war with humans for as long as anyone could remember," he answered. "Well, now that you mention it, yes, I have, how do you know?" "I have also been having those nightmares," he replied. "When is Jsome going to be back?" I asked. "In a few hours, I think," Al said.

We waited for what seemed to be an eternity but Jsome was nowhere to be seen. "Hey, you think we should go look for him now?" I asked. "Someone has got to take care of Sela," he said, "You go, since you're a ranger and can attack from far away." I agreed to that and within fifteen minutes, I was off into the thicker part of the woods where Jsome was headed. I marked my path by cutting notches into every third tree I came to. When my path overlapped, I cut an X into the tree. Eventually, I heard voices. The words were rough, harsh, and difficult to make out. I followed the noise and was shocked at what I saw.

The monsters from my nightmares were sitting around a fire, and on top of the fire, was Jsome. He was clearly dead and those things, the Charr, were chanting lines in a strange language. "Hold on, Grawll I smell a human near here," one of the Charr said suddenly. I froze, they found me, I was panicking and I decided to try and fight the Charr. I rubbed some of the oils from the poisonous Devil's Mane plant onto my arrowtips. The Devil's Mane plant is a rather rare species, and is perhaps the most deadly of all foliage. If the oils enter the bloodstream, the victim instantly goes into a rampage, killing everyone around him, friend or foe. It was fortunate that we came across this plant while looking for firewood. I shot three poisoned arrows at the Charr, aiming not to kill, but rather to injure. The three Charr went beserk and I wasn't sure if any of them survived because I fled in a panic after one of them looked in my direction. I arrived in camp by following the notched trees to tell Al of my discovery.

Ajank3r · Feb 07, 2008, 11:37 PM // 23:37

I always enjoy seeing people flesh out the backstory of guild wars.
I will definitely stay subscribed to this thread, Looking forward to the next chapter ^^

*Typo is line 29 "Hey, stop that!" I yelled to the thugs. Upon seeing my bow they said, "Crap, a ranger, we'd better get out of here before
we find an arrow in **out** guts."

KnivesOfBloodAndPain · Feb 08, 2008, 12:21 AM // 00:21

Thanks for the comment, I'll have the next few chapters up by tomorrow at most.

Lord Darksoul · Feb 08, 2008, 12:28 AM // 00:28

Good story, just the backstory is a little unbelieveable. I could not see rich parents ditching their own children. Otherwise, very good beginning.

Tyris Mckinnon · Feb 08, 2008, 08:03 AM // 08:03

A very good story, looking forward to more chapters

KnivesOfBloodAndPain · Mar 04, 2008, 03:46 AM // 03:46

Sorry for the lack of new chapters. After reviewing the story I saw that it had huge plot holes and since then I've been editing it, by the way, the story is almost at the Searing. Won't tell you what chapter that is though. It IS coming up and there WILL be deaths of major(?) characters. I am almost done however and I will have the next chapter up by Sunday.

Oh and, bump.

Ajank3r · Mar 04, 2008, 09:16 PM // 21:16

Looking forward to it, sorry I have neglected posting for bumps but I have been keeping up with the story progression ^_^

KnivesOfBloodAndPain · Apr 05, 2008, 03:51 AM // 03:51

More chapters are up now, ^^. Only a few chapters away from the Searing, and the end. If you didn't notice, Sela is one of the rare retarded elementalists. Brenan's group will play a big role in the Searing and that is all I will say. Oh, and Gherat dies, just to let you know why I am not referring back to Brenan's family. They blame Brenan and soon grow to hate him, a hatred only tempered by the fact that he was now a fugitive.

If anyone wants me to continue the story after the Searing, let me know because currently, I'm planning on making a separate story for the events after the Searing.