Curse

MrSlayer · Apr 06, 2007, 09:49 PM // 21:49

Chapter 1

Ever since she was a small child, Yahni had been fascinated by tales of Dragons, and of brave heroes who fought them. Her obsession was centred around not the brave heroes who, as the tales seemed to suggest, single handedly stood against the might of foe after foe, but instead, the brave and galliant heroes, or heroines, who fought with them. At a young age, Yahni's father had been called away to fight in the Guild Wars, and had returned a few years later with more than just scars to show for his fighting. Yahni could still remember the day he had returned; she had been running around with the other Children from Ashford, playing hide and seek, she recalled, when a bent and tired man had crested the hill. She was shocked to see her father in such a state, as when he had left, he had been a tall and strong man. None the less, she had run to greet him. When she had reached him, he had fallen to his knees before her, took her into his arms and burst into tears. At such a young age, Yahni was slightly embarassed; she had never seen a man cry in public before. However, she had lead him home to her Mother, who had a similar reaction of falling to her knees in tears. Yahni's father had been forever changed. Before the wars, he was always out in the day, hunting or collecting firewood or repairing things, but now he spent most of his time at the pub. Strangely, he had never been drunk, he just sat there all day, reminiscing to those who passed by, telling them of his experiences.

By far the best story he told, Yahni had thought, had been the one where he and his troop had been ordered to make a daring assault on an enemy position. It had seemed to be going as planned until, suddenly, a fearsome creature known as an ettin had appeared. Yahni had often pestered her father, asking him again to describe the ettin. He would always smile, take his young daughter on his knee and, pulling a thoughtful face, say "Well now. An ettin is about the height of two men, and as ugly as sin. It has grey and slimey skin, and a greatly disfigured face. It holds a huge lump of rock, shaped roughly like a club, and is stupid enough to attack anyone and anything it sees." Yahni would giggle and thank him for his description, never truly sure if he was joking or not. Her Father had told of how his group had to defeat the ettin together, under the leadership of a Warrior called Brent.

Many tales told of the braveness of Brent the Mighty, but Yahni's father had fought with him and helped him throughout the Guild Wars, so she knew better than most that Brent would have been very un-mighty indeed without brave men like her father to help him.

When she was only 9 years old, an Augurer had told Yahni that she had the potential to become a Monk. Her! A Monk! She had been overjoyed at this news, as had her parents; to have the chance to train at the academy of ascalon to become a Monk at the early age of 9 years old was a great honour. Yahni had left her parents and her home village of Ashford and gone to live at the Academy, where she spent 7 years training to become a Monk. At the age of 16, she graduated and set off to learn as much about her chosen profession as she could.

* * *

"Hey Yahni, are you gonna sit there and think all day or what?"

Yahni looked up, realising she had lost herself in her thoughts. A gentle breeze tugged at her loose Monk garments as she got to her feet. She glanced down the hill she was stood on, seeing Jingizu already starting to head back to the trail. He turned back to look at her, his face breaking into a boyish grin. "Sheesh, I was sure you had passed out or something." Yahni chuckled, brushing a stray blonde hair back behind her ear. She grabbed her staff from where it lay discarded on the dry grass next to her, and headed down the hill. Her feet crunched on dead plants of flowers as she walked, and she sighed. Ascalon was not as it should be. She and Jingizu, who she had become friends with in the Academy, were not out for a casual stroll today. The academy had sent an urgent message to all its graduates. It spoke of a draught in Ascalon, urging all those who could to try and seek out the cause. She and Jingizu had leapt at the chance to begin travelling once again, and had left the city the next day.

So far, all they had seen was thirsty people, dry riverbeds and dead iris flowers. Today was, once again, sunny and hot. Yahni was suddenly glad she wore only thin garments. She pitied Jingizu who wore full chainmail. However, he seemed unpreturbed by the heat, and walked casually as if he wore a thin cotton shirt instead of heavy steel.
"Could we stop by Ashford today Jin? I don't think my parents would be happy if we passed so close and didn't stop to say hi," Yahni asked as she swatted at a fly.
"I don't see why not. It won't take us too far out of the way, and your parents serve the nicest foods," Jingizu replied with a smile. Yahni laughed.
"Always planning your next meal, eh Jin?"

It had been almost a year since Yahni had returned home to visit her parents. Last time she had been there had been after her graduation from the Academy. She could still remember how proud her parents had looked as she had told them how highly she had scored on the Monk tests. Her father had looked almost himself again, and had been fixing the thatching on their small, stone cottage when Yahni had arrived. She wondered what her parents would be doing this time. And also, as Jin had said, her parents cooked the nicest food. She smiled again, picturing her mother in the kitchen, adding the finishing touches to her father's lunch. She hurried her pace, wanting to be there as soon as possible.

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Chapter 2

As Yahni and Jingizu crested the top of the hill that lead lazily down to the small village of Ashford, Yahni smiled. Nothing had changed since her last visit. There was Farmer Dirk, rushing headlessly after his beloved Pigs which, by the looks of things, seemed to be making another attempt at escaping their large wooden-fenced pen. And there was Sarah, near the Shrine, selling her lotions and medicines, laughing and smiling with her customers. And her daughter Gwen. She had grown quite a lot since Yahni's previous visit.

Yahni turned and gestured at the path they should take, and they began to head down into the village. Yahni smiled at a few people as she walked, but her feet guided her towards her own home. It sat, still sturdy and well kept, in the very heart of the village. She saw her mother through the kitchen window. Yahni raised her hand and waved. Her mother burst out of the front door and ran down to greet her duaghter. They hugged fiercely before Yahni pulled back.
"So, where's Pa?" she asked. Her mother smiled and gestured at the door to the small hut next to the house.
"Where else? He's fixing the table. The leg broke yesterday." Yahni nodded and ran to the shed to greet her father. He looked much better than last time she had seen him, and upon seeing his daughter standing at the door to his shed, he jumped up and pulled her into a rough bear hug. Yahni winced.
"You know Pa, it's a good job I'm a Monk. If you keep giving me hugs like that, I'm going to have my work cut out healing my broken ribs!" Her father smiled.
"You said hello to Sharell?" he asked. Yahni nodded in reply.
"She told me you were here, Pa. Although I don't know how I didn't already realise that." Yahni saw Jin standing near the door, examining her father's old sword with great interest. "Watch our Jin. He keeps that sharp."
"I know," he said, holding up his hand, "I just found that out." Yahni laughed and walked over, careful not to trip on the tools and discarded wood that littered the floor. She put her hand on Jingizu's hand and whispered a few words. She felt a small surge, and a slight blue glow lit the darkened hut as holy magic leapt into Jingizu's hand, knitting his flesh and skin back together. "Thanks," he said, flexing his fingers experimentally. Yahni didnt reply, but nodded and smiled again. She lead the way into her house, where her mother waited. She noticed Jin's eyes light up as he caught sight of the freshly cooked biscuits that sat on a plate on a small, low table.
"Sorry, but like I said, our big table is broken. If I had any idea you were coming today, I might have been able to come up with something better, but Im afraid this will have to do until Will can repair the table," she apologised. "Tuck in, the biscuits won't be warm forever."

After they had eaten the biscuits, and an amazingly delicate pastry that Sharell called an Ashford Delight, they began to discuss the strange weather and talk of a massing of the Charr army to the North. Yahni was glad to see her parents were alright and had enough food and water to keep going. She and Jin stayed late into the afternoon before they began to make their goodbyes. Yahni hugged her parents goodbye and told them where she was heading before she and Jin began the walk back up the hill. They cut through one of Pitney's large open fields and headed towards the great Northern Wall. They stopped for the night at a roadside tavern, and by midday the next day, they had reached the gate that allowed people to pass from one side of the wall to the other. Yahni was worried when she saw a doubled guard on patrol.

It took Jin a lot of fast talking to a young Guard called Simeon before the gates were finally heaved open by the Guards, and it took the guards only a few seconds to quickly close the large wooden doors behind Yahni and Jin after they had passed through. Jin pulled his shield off his back and drew a cruel looking sword from the sheath on his belt whilst Yahni started running over the prayers and spells she knew in her mind. Both of them knew they faced a much greater danger in the Northlands than anywhere else. Jin lifted his sword, gesturing towards the ruins of a church which lay just ahead. "Lets see what we can find there. We can see if there is any justification behind the claims of an army massing behind the wall." Yahni nodded, holding her staff tightly. They began walking down the path.

As they approached the ruins, they heard a strange rumbling groan. Jingizu reacted with the speed of a trained warrior, raising his shield and gripping his sword more tightly. Yahni saw the muscles in his sword arm ripple with pent up strength. "Oakheart!" A second after his warning, a rock about the size of his head was hurled over the wall. It sailed gracefully through the air towards Yahni. She raised her staff and muttered a quick prayer to Dwayna, asking for her protection. The large rock hit an invisible barrier with a bright blue flash and sailed harmlessly off to one side. Another rock came quickly after the first, this time heading right for Jingizu. He covered his head with his shield, and the air was filled with the sound of rock on metal. Yahni was amazed that his arm didn't break under the strain of such a large projectile hitting it, but Jin didn't even flinch. The hidden enemy howled and they heard crashing noises as it began to move.

As it emerged from round the edge of the church, Yahni sucked in her breath. The poor creature was shrivelled and dry. Its usually healthy green moss covering was brown and flaking from its now rough bark surface. What should have appeared as a healthy tree now looked sickly. Angry at being disturbed, it grabbed another rock and threw it directly at Jingizu. Yahni quickly muttered the words to a protection spell, and the air around Jin glowed with a strange blue light. The rock collided directly with him, but bounced harmlessly off to the side. He didn't give it time to strike again. Raising his sword, he lept to action. He ducked it's flailing arm, and struck at its tough bark with his sword. He was rewarded with a howl of pain from the creature. It made another clumsy swipe at him with it's gigantic branch of an arm which caught him on the back of the shoulder. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he swung his sword again, this time aiming for the creatures arms. His blow was strong and severed the branch at the base. The oakheart was not defeated yet, however. It picked up another rock with it's free arm and tried to use it to club Jingizu on the head with it. Yahni leapt into action. She called down the power of Dwayna once more. She felt the holy power surge through her veins, and she released it in the direction of Jin. It filled the air around him with a fire of pure blue. The fire spread over Jin's body, and flowed into the gash across his shoulder. The skin began repairing itsself as he swung again at the creature. Its hand, upon touching the holy fire, burst into flame. It screeched in pain and began to take a staggering step backwards. Jin used this to his advantage and changed the direction of his blow, taking the Oakheart full in the face. It tried to raise it's hand to cover its eyes, but this only proceeded to set the dry moss covering it alight. It screamed and keeled over onto it's side, writhing in pain. Jingizu grasped his sword hilt in both hands and, straggling the oakheart, sent a killing blow into the creatures centre. It gargled noisily for a few seconds, and then was still as it's body was slowly engulfed by the fire.

Jin turned and walked back to Yahni. "Thanks. For a second I thought I would wake up in an Oakheart's lair with a nasty headache." he said, smiling. Yahni grinned.
"Lucky I was here then eh?" she replied. She looked sadly at the burning creature, choosing her next words carefully. "Did you see how...sickly it looked. We've fought Oakheart's before, and never have we seen one that weak. It still put up a formidable fight, but it seemed angry, as if it blamed us for what had happened to it." Jingizu nodded. He knelt down to wipe sap from the tree off his sword onto the dry grass.
"We should push on," he said simply.

They searched the ruins thoroughly but found nothing. Continuing on, they saw an eerie red glow coming from a small rocky area to their east. Jin cast an uneasy glance at Yahni. "We should check it out," he said. Yahni nodded once, her knuckles turning white as the gripped her staff more tightly. They moved carefully through the grass, which suddenly seemed lush and green, not dead like everywhere else they had been. They peered carefully out from behind a rock, and Yahni felt Jingizu tense next to her. In the centre of the small rocky clearing was the largest massing of Charr Yahni had ever seen. They were gathered around a small altar, built on a large rough slab of Granite. Several Charr priests were gathered around the altar, their furry faces wrinkled in concentration. Yahni gasped as she saw the cause of the Draught. The eerie red light was coming from a massive, floating object. All around, droplets of water were floating up from the ground and towards the object, where they disappeared with a hiss of steam. Yahni tugged at Jin's armor. His brown eyes darted away from the terrible scene infront of them to Yahni. "We have to get out of here," she whispered, "The people of Ascalon must be warned!" Jingizu nodded and began to back up.

Suddenly, the Charr began to snarl and fell to their knees around the altar. A Charr priest wearing black armor, Yahni guessed he must have been a beast of some importance, stepped forwards, his mouth contorting in the vulgar language of the Charr. He raised his arms as he spoke, and each time he raised his arms, the massive object infront of him glowed more fiercely, and the prostrated Charr growled more loudly. After a few seconds, the object literally exploded. Streaks of red energy burst out in all directions and began to arc gracefully into the sky. Yahni didn't know whether to be admiring or afraid as the strangely beautiful lights disappeared into the clouds above. She felt a rough shake on her shoulder and looked at Jin. He was stood, his mouth hanging open, staring back in the direction they had come. Yahni turned to see what had caught his attention, and she felt herself go cold. "Oh gods," was all she could say.

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This is all I have written so far. Crit is welcome, so long as it's constructive