Matt Forbeck - Ghosts of Ascalon

It did not take long to reach the Dragonbrand. It seemed as if the corrupted landscape sensed they were coming and gathered itself closer to be able to entrap them faster. Or maybe it was just how Dougal tried to treasure his last few moments in the untouched land that made that time slip by so fast.

Ember came to a halt on the edge of the Dragonbrand, just before she reached the border of the purplish, crystalline obscenity. The others fell into rank alongside her, each of them staring out across the twisted atrocity to wonder what horrors it might hide from them.

Then, after drawing a deep breath, Ember stepped into the weird landscape, and the others followed.

The glassy grass crunched to dust under their feet, and soon the shards of it became deep enough to cover their ankles. The air crackled with electricity that made Dougal's hair lift up. Although he could see no threats, he sensed danger from every angle. He drew his sword and saw the others ready their weapons too.

"This is fascinating," said Killeen. "It's as if all these plants have been frozen in this state between life and death. Do you think they still grow?"

"Not after we step on them," said Kranxx.

"I wonder how this works," the sylvari said. "It's so curious." She picked a sapphire bloom from an amethyst bush and watched it slowly crumble in her hand.

"Let's keep moving," said Dougal. "The sooner we're through this place, the better."

"Bear's blood!" said Gullik. "This is all very strange, but it can't be worse than Ascalon City itself, can it?"

There was the distant, faint sound of an explosion, and something skipped off the ground in front of the norn's feet. Once it had been a standing pool of water, but now cracks spiderwebbed from where the bullet had shattered it.

Dougal spun about to see where the shot had been fired from, but Ember had already spotted the source. "There!" she said, pointing back the way they had come.

A charr warband stood on the edge of the Dragonbrand, ten soldiers all told, heavily armored and ready for battle. The warrior in front raised his rifle and roared, and the others echoed his call.

"Run!" Kranxx said, batting Gullik on the top of his head.

The norn laughed and pulled his axe. "If they've already seen us, my tiny friend, then the time for stealth is over!" He hefted his weapon in response to the challenge. "Wolf's teeth, the time for battle has begun!"

"Hold it!" Dougal said. He cast a wary eye on the warband. "They don't seem to be charging."

Battle lust danced in Gullik's eyes. "Then we shall take the battle to them!"

Ember grabbed the norn's elbow before he could stomp off to fight. "If they meant to fight us, they would have attacked already." The other charr of the warband were scrambling with their rifles as well.

"Oh-ho!" The norn beamed with pride. "They are wiser than they would seem if they fear to engage us in battle!"

"I don't think it's us they're afraid of," said Riona. "They just don't want to come in here."

"Maybe they know something we don't," Dougal said as he glanced around them.

"There's another warband coming from the northeast," said Ember.

"And that looks like one in the southwest," said Riona.

"We need to keep moving," Dougal said. Another distant pop and another shot puffed the earth next to him. "Right now." The three warbands, all on the closer side of the tortured strip of land, now sounded horns to each other. Their message was clear.

Without a word, Ember turned to the northwest and started off again. The others fell into step behind her, the norn and his asura passenger last.

"By the Wolf's whimper," Gullik growled, "only cowards run from such a fight!"

"Don't think of it as running away from that fight," Kranxx said. "Think of it as running toward a bigger one."

The norn let out a deep chuckle. "I do enjoy your wisdom!"

"I still don't like it," Dougal said, keeping pace with Riona and Ember. "What could be in here that would be so terrifying that it would keep three warbands of charr from coming after us?"

Riona smirked at this. "Let's hope we don't have to find out."

The gunfire behind them intensified, but at this range they were minimal targets, and the worst it did was shatter some of the glass foliage near them. None of the shots came close to hitting anyone, but it didn't seem as if the charr were trying very hard.

"Hold it!" Dougal said.

Ember skidded to a halt in the shattered purple grass, and the others following her all did the same. "What is it?" the charr said.

Dougal shaded his eyes and gazed to the southwest. "There," he said. "They're not shooting at us anymore. Look."

The two charr warbands on the southern edge of the Brand had joined together and were busy unloading their rifles into a crystalline hill hunkered to their east. It was a larger target, Dougal noted, but had no effect on them and their flight.

"I haven't seen anything this odd since I stumbled upon that hylek fertility ritual!" said Gullik.

Dougal knew then exactly what was happening. He'd heard tales of minions created by the Elder Dragons to execute their will-and anyone who might trespass upon their lands. Here in the Dragonbrand, they stood squarely in the Crystal Dragon's territory. Its passage had scarred this land and claimed it as its own. It stood to reason the creatures that lived here would belong to the Crystal Dragon too.

"We need to get out of here right now!" Dougal said, grabbing Ember's shoulder.

She shrugged him off with a growl. "We should get to the far side of that hill for cover."

"No," Dougal said. "We need to head in the other direction as fast as possible."

"We can't go back to the south," said Riona. "Those warbands will tear us to pieces."

Killeen put a hand on Dougal's arm. "What's wrong?" she said.

Dougal stabbed a finger in the direction of the hill, which had started to shudder. "That!"

As they watched, the hill continued to quiver as if shaken by an earthquake, although the land that they stood on seemed as solid as ever. A terrible noise sprang from the hill. It sounded like thousands of glasses shattering all at once.

Then the hill raised its head and opened its eyes.

Run!" snapped Riona. "Run for the northern edge!"

Ember sped off to the north at a dead sprint, with Riona chasing straight after her. Dougal took Killeen's hand and pulled her along as he followed them.

Gullik stood and watched the hill rise. Kranxx pounded on his head. "Time to go!" the asura said.

"Raven's beak!" the norn said. "It's beautiful!" He hefted his axe before him. "This shall be my greatest triumph-or the tragic end of my tale!"

Dougal glanced back over his shoulder and saw the norn still standing there. "Gullik!" he shouted. "Come on!"

"Join me here or farewell!" the norn shouted. "From this foe, I shall not turn!"

Dougal hauled up short, and Killeen along with him. "Damned heroes," Dougal said. "He's going to get them both killed."

The hill shuddered one last time and then clambered to its feet. Although shaped like a man, the resemblance ended there. It stood three times as tall as the norn and appeared to have been formed from a stack of priceless diamonds the size of boulders. Twin spots sparkled in its face where eyes would be, but it bore no mouth, nose, or ears. What it had been before the passing of Kralkatorrik was unknown, but now it was that dragon's champion, its guardian of this land of twisted black rock and crystal forests.

The creature's limbs scraped against each other as it pulled itself to its full height, and the horrible noise set Dougal's teeth on edge. Gullik stood there before it, his rumbling laughter reverberating in the crystals all around as he thumbed his axe.

"We talked about discretion, remember?" Kranxx yelled at the norn. "We have bigger things to do!"