Guild Wars 2

Some people might have seen this already — it’s my entry for Kit the Traveler’s story contest. However, I wanted to put it here for those people who don’t do reddit, and announce that there will be more! If all goes well, this will be a first chapter of sorts. Part two below, and on reddit. I’d like to make them fairly stand-alone so you can jump in at any point, but we’ll see how that goes. Enjoy!

Glitches and sparks, they changed the access code.

Blixx glared at the error message blinking on the console. A measly two weeks had gone by, and some idiot had decided to reset lab security. Maybe it was just Neeva changing all the codes to her graduation date again so that she wouldn’t have to memorize them. Let’s see, she joined four years ago, so that would make her…

“What are you doing?”

A sylvari voice. Blixx spun around. He was sure he’d blocked all the exits by now. There she was at the top of the stairs, waving at him idiotically. She certainly wasn’t acting like a minion of Mordremoth. Not yet, at least.

“It looks fascinating. I love all the purple and pink lights.”

What an ignorant bookah. Blixx sighed. “I am recalibrating this gate to take me back to Rata Sum.”

“Oh! This must not be Rata Sum then.”

“Obviously, no. These are the ruins of Rata Novus.”

“Sorry. I’ve never heard of it.”

“I’m not surprised.” Blixx watched warily as the sylvari took a few more steps and sat down, apparently to watch his progress. Apparently too stupid to be a real threat, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. He reached into his pocket to find the rough edges of a crystal housing.
The continuum crystal – one of a pair, his greatest triumph in chronomancy. Retune one, and the other would respond, no matter the distance between them. Theoretically, anyway; he’d been afraid to let either out of his sight. Currently they were rigged as a glorified fuse in case something went wrong, but if he could just get them back to his lab…the possibilities were limitless.

Maybe he just needed a stronger signal to connect with a receiving gate. Increasing the flux ratio might work. He picked up a spanner.

“So, where’s your krewe?”

“What?”

“Asura, don’t they travel in krewes?”

“You make us sound like a flock of moas. They’re dead.”

He should have brought golems. At least they were usually repairable after an encounter with a chak swarm. Blixx frowned. The polarity was still too high. These relay nodules were junk.
“There were five of us, to begin with,” continued the sylvari. “We were wardens and I was just training, but Captain Kean said I was a good mender and the Pact could use me, so we walked all the way to the Silverwastes.”

More sylvari. Not good. One he could keep an eye on, but five?

“Where are the others now?”

“The dragon told me to kill them.” She paused. “I – I ran away.”

After killing them, perhaps? Blixx looked up.

The sylvari sniffled and went on in possibly the most pathetic voice he’d ever heard. “I’ve been all alone for days, and there’s been vinetooths and mordrem and all sorts of awful things.” She took a choking breath and went on, a little louder. “The dragon’s not loud down here, but I’m so cold and there isn’t anything to eat –”

“Eternal Alchemy! Will you cease your whining?”

She immediately dissolved into wailing sobs that echoed throughout the cavern. This was worse than a mordrem. A mordrem would be dead by now.

Blixx saw a flash out of the corner of his eye and turned just in time to watch the tertiary nodule explode in a bright flash. He’d missed the telltale sizzle, of course. At least the sylvari was stunned into silence.

He climbed up and examined the smoking component. The damage wasn’t too bad. The casing wasn’t actually necessary – he just needed to replace the relay spike. Blixx heard a clink and glanced up to see the sylvari looking through the tools on his workbench.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a pistol with you?” He might be able to use the firing pin as a makeshift relay.

“No, I’m an elementalist.” The explosion must have shocked the distress out of her tiny brain; she sounded quite cheerful now.

“I’m only really good with water though. I keep getting sparks in the wrong places. I set a Lionguard tent on fire once, and this huge charr got really mad—”

“Would you pass me those calipers? Ouch!”

The tool she’d handed him was ice cold, covered in frost.

“Sorry, I thought it was a focus. I lost mine.”

“Don’t touch anything else.”

There was just enough of the relay spike left to crimp the ends together. Now to retighten the resonating bolt, and the field would activate again—

He grabbed the power cell just in time, barely holding it back with two hands. The housing had burned out, and now nothing held it in place. If Blixx let go, the resonating field would send it flying into the ceiling. Even if he was lucky and the roof didn’t collapse, he had no spare.

“Sylvari!”

“Oh, my name’s Sorcha, what’s your name?”

“Sorcha, whatever, turn that purple dial CLOCKWISE.”

“Okay. What’s your name?”

“Blixx. The dial.” He glared at her.

“I’m going!”

She leapt at the console, tripped, and smashed her elbows against the interface, bumping more controls as she scrambled to her feet.

“No! You clumsy bookah! Just the dial. CLOCKWISE!”

The cell dropped back into place. He hastily secured it and jumped down to examine the console. What if she’d retuned the entire matrix? This could set him back days.

“My ears.” Blixx stared at the screen in amazement. “Your stupidity did us some good. You stumbled upon a working access code.”

The polarity was still a tad high, but the connection was stable. He activated the last cell, and watched the familiar pink energy field fill the gate. ‘Sorcha’ gasped.

“So you’ll just walk through and be home again?”

“Theoretically. I’m hijacking the receiving gate, so the connection may not hold.”

She gave him a blank stare. Eternal alchemy, even her bright orange face was irritating. The color clashed not only with her entire outfit, but her ‘hair’ as well.

“I mean, you just walk through and you’re somewhere else?”

“Yes, that’s the idea. Never used a gate before or something?”

“I never had to.”

“Want to go through first?”

“Really? You’d let me try?”

“Certainly. Just come back right away so I know it worked. Ignore any other asura that might be, uh, standing around.”

“Okay!”

She took a deep breath, ran up the ramp, and leapt through the gate, as if she were diving into a pool of water. She ducked through again a moment later, beaming.

“It works! It’s amazing. Come on!”

Without warning, she picked him up and ran for the gate.

“Put me down!”

She dropped him just on the other side, on a grassy hill somewhere.

Blixx looked around, puzzled. He seemed to be in Metrica Province, the Akk Wilds maybe? But Sorcha hadn’t changed the Inquest identity key. The access code was randomly acquired, certainly, but he still should’ve ended up someone’s lab.

“Blixx, what mischief are you up to here?”

Tark’s voice. Tark, who had ruined one of Blixx’s most promising research projects. Not the first asura he wanted to meet.

“And who are you?” Tark looked over his shoulder at Sorcha. “What are you doing following this unfollowable nuisance?”

“Oh, I just found him I guess. Why are you so surprised? I thought asura were good at expecting the unexpected.”

“She’s just a silly sylvari, Tark,” Blixx interrupted. “Keeps running through random gates. I really didn’t want to get involved, but she keeps getting in my way.”

Tark didn’t even look at him.

“We made a gate from Rata Novus!” cried Sorcha.

“Rata what?”

Please don’t believe her, thought Blixx.

“In the middle of Maguuma! Isn’t it amazing?”

Now Tark looked at him. “So, you followed the Pact.”

Time to leave.

“I really don’t have time to debate her absurd notions, I’ve got work to do.” Blixx turned to run back through the gate.

A wall of flame rose suddenly across the ramp.

“Oops!” Sorcha held up Blixx’s spanner. “This must not be a focus either. I just wanted to blow all these dead leaves off the path.”

Blixx heard a click, and didn’t have to turn around to know Tark had a pistol pointed at his back.

“I think the pact has enough to deal with without undercover Inquest agents planning sabotage.”

“That’s preposterous! My krewe was solely engaged in research.”

“We both know what kind of ‘research’ you specialize in, Blixx. Give me a full confession and I’ll turn you in to the Peacekeepers instead of the Order.”

Either way, the Order would have direct access to Rata Novus and the surrounding jungle. Worse, Tark would get the credit for it. Blixx glanced up at the wall of fire blocking the gate. If anything, it was growing taller.

“Fine. We joined a sector of the Priory dedicated to studying the local fauna. Our assignment was –”

Three illusions and Blixx ran four directions. _Always a good idea to teleport in the middle of a sentence. _

He got lucky. Tark shot two and Sorcha, apparently trying to put out the fire, flung ice crystals everywhere, but Blixx made it out of range, then circled back to hide nearby. He’d been right to run instead of fight. Two more agents had appeared out of stealth, one of them managing to withstand Sorcha’s icy gusts long enough to pull the ‘focus’ out of her hands. At least she could hinder both sides.

But it was only a matter of time until they doused the flames and secured the other end of the gate. He couldn’t take on all three, and there would only be more later. Blixx sighed and pulled the continuum crystal from his pocket. He turned it over and twisted a knob on the housing. Leagues away, in Rata Novus, the second crystal activated the emergency turrets he’d placed around the gate. He twisted further. The turrets overloaded.

Blixx watched with growing satisfaction as the Metrica gate lost the Novus connection and deactivated. His continuum crystals would be revolutionary, as soon as he built another. But first, he was going to kill Neeva for changing the access code.

Tall Boots
Part 2! Also on Reddit

Tall boots, Tacita told herself again. Just boots up to the knee. But she could feel the metal vibrate beneath her elbow as she knelt to adjust a buckle on her other foot. At least the device was silent. She’d get used to it. Hopefully. It was far better than the alternative. No, don’t think about that either.

“You coming? Wait around too long and those bookahs might change their mind.”

The asuran voice was vaguely familiar. Gods, it wasn’t—

The all-too-familiar figure of Agent Taana stepped around a corner, waving her greatsword like a ridiculously oversized flag. “Hey, Thief. Try to keep up.”

Explorer. Scout. Thief was years ago. She’d given up on ever hearing her name from Taana, but ‘priory’ might be an improvement. Grenth, by now she’d even settle for ‘human.’

She stepped past without making eye contact and heard the illusion shatter behind her. Typical. Taana was the last agent she wanted to work with, but at least she was getting out of Tarir. Staring at shimmering golden walls had started to make her nauseous.

“Listen.” Taana was suddenly standing three feet from her knees. “If Ceera realizes it’s started raining out there she’ll send you back to bed. Additionally, we barely have the necessary time at present.”

She didn’t bother placing the portal a step or two away. No, from Taana’s perspective portals were for placing directly under people’s feet to drop them into unexpected locales. Tacita blinked at the sudden change to shadowed glade. Funny. She’d nearly forgotten she was in the middle of a jungle. So many trees. But caves – that would be interesting.

“You acquainted with the mission?”

Yes, but saying so won’t shut you up.

“Zildi reinstituted Novan security systems, but didn’t stick around to kitten their continuing status. I’ve been entrusted with maintenance and research in the western district. Should be completely routine, but I could use an extra pair of eyes.”

Really. As if an Order of Whispers mesmer needed help staying alert. No, this had nothing to do with being useful, or telling a bossy asura when to dodge. It was a ‘beta test.’ That’s what she was now, an experiment to catapult a struggling inventor to notoriety. Hopefully not Taana. Even Tacita could tell she was an awful golemancer. Well, they’d given her a pistol. That was worth something. She might disappear now, if she had any idea where she was going. Better to wait, and learn what she could.

The rain hadn’t properly started yet, though the sky was dark and swirling, especially to the south. As they climbed to the edge of a mossy bluff, wind cut through Tacita’s coat. For a second she thought her right leg was numb with cold. Tall boots. That was all. Nothing out of the ordinary. Dodging might get nasty. And Death Blossom? That was going to take some practice.

Taana pointed down a large, crumbling hole ahead of them. “There’s our entrance. Gliding might be calamitous, in your condition. If you’d prefer, I’ll—”

Tacita leapt from the edge before Taana could drop her through another portal. It was hard to judge distance in the shadows, and she landed hard. Blood seeped from the top of the device, inking a dark line across her knee. Not ‘programmed’ to take a fall? What did they think she planned on doing with her life, serve tea?

Well, Taana at least expected her to help kill every last chak they came across. For an Order of Whispers agent, Taana was oddly adverse to the concept of sneaking. No, it was an explosion of illusions and chaos energy and pink butterflies whenever they encountered the smallest threat. Mesmers. Who did they think they were, anyway?

The first control panel was, dead, wet and frigid, with more moisture dripping from the ceiling. A nearby mushroom slumped in a pile of brown sludge

“Melted ice. That’s unexpected.”

Sure, point out the obvious.

“Is…someone there?” a weak voice spoke from the shadows.

“Agent Kean!” Taana suddenly rushed forward.

Tacita drew her gun but stopped seeing Taana bend over a body against the wall.

“Taana…” The sylvari turned his head to face them. His eyes were wide, harrowed. “Sorcha…Mordremoth…couldn’t stop…”

Taana leaned in closer. “What happened, Kean?”

He struggled to sit up, reaching for something on the ground next to him.

The gunshot was doubly loud in the narrow cave. Shooting sylvari was still an odd experience. No blood, just a dark hole, maybe a hint of slow-moving sap.

Taana spun around immediately, clumsy in her surprise. She cast a wave of magic which Tacita easily ducked, then stumbled forward, leaning against her sword as if she were dizzy. Tacita just watched her.

So she didn’t understand yet. Didn’t know what Mordremoth really meant. Lucky.

The asura glared opening and closing her mouth, but silently for once. Finally, she hissed: “You are not fit for duty, Explorer. You can wait out the rest of this mess in Tarir. Pact Marshall Trahearne will decide what to do with your kind.”

“You think any of them are coming back?” Tacita half-laughed, but her ribs hadn’t healed yet. “That the Pact is just going to put itself back together?”

“Even in the Order of Whispers, we don’t shoot a helpless enemy in cold blood.”

“You’d kill a smoldering destroyer. A limping risen—”

“That’s—”

“He was armed.” Tacita motioned to the axe lying next to Kean’s shoulder, but Taana didn’t turn to look.

“Of course he was armed. Anything that’s not armed doesn’t last an hour here.”

Tumbling rocks echoed behind them, and both froze.

“We’re going back.” Taana announced loudly. “Right now.”

Nice try. Tacita kicked a rock through the illusion and slipped off in the direction of the noise. She found Taana ahead of her, crouched at the edge of a crumbling precipice. A solitary figure was climbing towards them, a rifle slung over their back. What light there was revealed hair that was all branches and leaves, and skin that glowed crimson.

“Don’t you dare step out of line,” hissed Taana in Tacita’s ear. “I make the calls this time.”

Contains spoilers for the last two chapters of the HoT story (Bitter Harvest and Hearts and Minds).
Wow, that took much longer than I thought it would. Got busy, and it was tricky to figure out how to end this episode. Feel free to comment (or here); writing for practice and a couple guildies, but it would be encouraging to hear someone else is enjoying this!

The sylvari took the climb slowly, wearily working her way up the crumbling stone. A Pale Reaver, apparently, but not one Taana had met. Certainly not one of their agents. And all by herself – might be a very good or a very bad sign. Kean’s corpse behind them boded ill.
That had been an unpleasant business, though the agent had seemed to be dying anyway. And Tacita… well, that had certainly surprised her. She’d have to keep a sharp eye on her until she came to her senses. Hopefully Trahearne would come up with some reasonable solution, and Taana wouldn’t have to intervene. The things she’d done for that bothersome human…
Taana stood so the sylvari would see her, “News from the front?”
She looked up and nodded, then kept climbing. Well, Taana wasn’t about to wait for her to climb all the way up, not at that pace. They were wasting too much time as it was. Portal, blink, portal. Fast enough. The sylvari took the sudden jump well, though she seemed too tired for much to phase her.
“Thank you,” she gasped. She frowned and leaned back against the wall of the cavern, eyes closed, still breathing heavily. She wasn’t as colorful as many sylvari, resting like an old tree with weathered bark and dry red leaves.
Taana offered her flask of water. “Well?”
“Mordremoth is dead.” Just a statement, tired and cheerless. Powdered bark crumbled off her hands as she took the flask. A normal feature of wooden skin, or the sylvari equivalent of blisters?
“That was fast. You sure?”
“Yes. Marshal Trahearne is dead, too.”
Perfect. Exactly what the Pact didn’t need. Things were a mess already, without having to find a leader they could agree on all over again.
“How?” Tacita spoke for the first time.
“I don’t know.” She paused, looking at neither of them, but the pulsing lines of ley energy above their heads. The blue light made strange shadows on her face, almost skull-like. “They say he died a hero.”
Of course he did, he’s Trahearne. Maybe that would be enough to fix the ugly rumors that had been circulating. Though he in person would’ve been far better. “Who’s in charge until we find a new marshal?” Another important consideration, but the sylvari flinched at the question. Well, sorry, I didn’t know him personally. I need to know where my orders are coming from.
“Laranthir.”
Vigil. Brilliant. It was Vigil logic that had them all stranded in the jungle. Sure, let’s go blast the jungle with our big guns… And was another sylvari really the best choice under the circumstances?
The sylvari handed the flask back to Taana. “I’m returning to Tarir with a full report.”
“What? No, you’re obviously exhausted. How long have you been running?” And why aren’t you an agent? For some reason, Zildi and the others hadn’t made sure the first messenger back was a member of the Order.
“Since midnight. I’ll be fine.”
Midnight. You must be Vigil. “No, you won’t. At least eat something. Tacita, we’re camping here. No time to accomplish everything in a day, anyway.” And apparently it’s up to me to insure the Order knows the full story.

The food was terrible, of course – not something the Exalted had been particularly helpful with – but at least she got the sylvari talking. Rosia, her name was.
She told a strange story of Mordrem champions who returned multiple times after they’d been killed, a long twisting dragon, and islands floating in the sky. A soldier’s front-line perspective; not what would be in the official report, but perhaps more useful in the long run. Observations about ‘ley-islands,’ for example, would be more telling than Laranthir’s assumptions. Then the dragon’s death, and the unexpected reappearance of the Commander’s squad, bearing Trahearne’s corpse. There was something more about that, but Rosia avoided even guesses as to what had happened. Either she really knew nothing, or she had instructions not to say more.
Well, the talking seemed to do her good. She had a definite tendency to clam up, and Taana had to keep prompting her, at least at first. In some kind of shock, apparently, not that surprising, but definitely annoying.
Tacita seemed a bit uneasy – sitting too close to a sylvari, perhaps? It always took time to figure out Tacita’s motives, and she seemed especially stubborn since the accident. A little gratitude might be appropriate, but the poor creature had a general distrust for kindness. Perhaps a reasonable attitude, given her upbringing, but you’d think she’d have learned better by now. Her brother’s transformation had been much quicker, and more permanent.
“Tacita, right?” Rosia turned to the human. “You’re not the Tacita who was onboard the Delora’s Fortune, by any chance?”
Tacita just nodded. A fine taciturn pair those two made. But Taana heard something in the pause – the shadow of a distant echo. Not that the other two would hear anything for a while, small-ears.
“I was a teacher for several years in the grove – Keavy and Ailin were students of mine.” She extended her hand, but Tacita hesitated a moment before touching it.
Oh Tacita, did you really spend four years learning to trust people only to go back to suspicion now? We can’t have you slipping back. You were happy, weren’t you? Why do you have to mess everything up again?
“I found your crash site. Did anyone else—?”
“No.” Tacita cut her off. “I’m the only one left.”
Well, as far as we can ascertain. Taana pulled out her scepter and twirled it a little, as if absentmindedly. A clone crept silently around a corner and deeper into a cavern. She would go herself and leave an illusion behind, but leaving Tacita alone with a sylvari was a risk she’d rather not take.
“Then,” Rosia produced a pistol, “you should probably have this. Found it in the rubble.”
Well, she might have to confiscate it later, but some kind of memento might be helpful.
As Tacita leaned forward to take the weapon, Taana saw blood on her knee.
“Hold on. You’re leaking.”
Alchemy, Tacita. This is a test. You’re supposed to say something if you have a problem.
“Is she alright?”
“Fine, fine, the just need to make a new adjustments.”
The sylvari stared in surprise as Taana found a hidden catch in the metal bands around Tacita calf and opened a small glowing control panel.
“We pulled her out of a blighting pod – most of her, anyway. Got her walking again.” Tacita might have explained in her own way, but Taana didn’t have the attention to listen to her. Always took more effort to listen than to speak, and speaking had the advantage of knowing exactly what was said. She still had a clone to keep track of, and Tacita’s prosthetic was proving frustrating. It couldn’t possibly be running out of power so soon?
“And you’ve recovered.”
Yes, talk to Tacita. That was fine.
“Technology still fascinates me. We can hope Logan Thackery will recover as easily.”
“Logan?” No, Taana had to keep listening. This was important.
“He still hasn’t woken.”
“Woken from what? You said you’d found Trahearne, but you didn’t mention the others.”
Sparks! Three things at once shouldn’t be causing this much of a problem. But the clone had been standing stupidly by itself, and Tacita’s problem still wasn’t making sense.
“You didn’t get the first messengers? Three sylvari and a norn?”
“We—”
Not now, Tacita. You really want to bring it up?
“What data did we forfeit?”
Blast. The clone had disappeared. Forget about them, and they would do that, but Taana hadn’t had that problem for years. Too many things to worry about. Whatever the mysterious creature was, it had been moving quickly, she’d been able to tell that much. Almost as if it knew exactly where they were…
“Zojja and Logan were rescued from blighting pods and still recovering. You were to prepare Tarir for their arrival. We also asked for reinforcements if you could spare them.” The sylvari looked distracted, too. Obviously the messengers meant more to her than the message. “Are you sure you haven’t found any sign of the messengers? I would stay to search, if I could, but I must get to Tarir. Perhaps they’ll make their way there eventually. It’s much safer now.”
Well, mordrem do seem to have subsided, but don’t underestimate these chak. Should she warn them about the intruder? No, better to surprise it.
It was another sylvari that came barreling towards them, though not at them. She looked past them to continue down the tunnel, but yelped when she saw them, and turned to run back the way she’d come.
“Lily! Lillianeth!” Rosia grabbed her hand. The new sylvari stopped, but she was shaking uncontrollably.
Taana leapt up the passage, a clone on either side, ready to stop whatever pursuit.
“There’s probably nothing there; I’ve seen this before. Even after the dragon’s death.” Lily was crying on her shoulder now. “So many terrible memories…”
Tacita. Where was Tacita? She shouldn’t be running around with that panel open.
“Lily, Lily. It’s alright. The dragon’s dead now. We’re safe. Free.”
No, there she was, right where she’d been sitting. Well, you might have given everyone stealth.
The second sylvari gradually calmed down, sobs ceasing but still clinging to Rosia. Lillianeth was a brilliant green, a bright contrast to the blues and grays of the cave system. Why had she been so difficult to spot? Taana’s skill with clones wasn’t that rusty, was it? She may have been stealthed, which might indicate she wasn’t as out of sorts as she seemed. Then again, Taana knew from personal experience it was surprisingly easy to cast stealth if you were panicked enough.
“Now, I need you to tell me what happened.”
Lily was silent.
A kind attempt, but probably too kind. Does she think she can be sister and commanding officer at once?
“Lily, what happened to Sorcha and Kean and Hinrik?”
“We…it was…blood…screams…they broke his hammer.”
“Hinrik is dead?”
She nodded.
“And the others? Sorcha and Kean?”
“Both dead,” interrupted Taana. “Kean’s body isn’t far, if you’d like to see it.”
Behind Rosia’s back, Tacita was glaring at Taana. Well, your version of the story probably stretches the truth, too. You couldn’t spend too much time worrying about friends who were probably dead. Sad, but practical.
“No,” Rosia answered quietly. “I don’t need to see any more corpses. I’ll take Lily with me to Tarir.”
“Not before nightfall. You two both need rest.” It meant Taana would have to keep watch, but she had a saturated control panel to fix anyway. And the problem with Tacita’s prosthetic to figure out. Sparks. It would be a long night.
They must still be getting some light from the surface, as the cavern grew darker at night, bluer in ley-line-light. As the shadows grew, the glow of the two sylvari became more prominent; Lilly a light purple, Rosia a deep red. The colors of Mordremoth and the Inquest, respectively, mused Taana. Not like they can help it.
Tacita lay still, her breathing slow, apparently fast asleep, but Taana knew better. The closest thing that thief came to deep sleep was if someone managed to knock her out cold. Otherwise, she’d wake up if someone dropped a dry leaf on her. She really should have sent the girl back to Tarir for whatever disciplinary hearing was proper, but sending her with the sylvari would’ve been idiotic. What a mess. Insane, paranoid, or just plain tired, they were still fighting Mordremoth. Killing him had been a solid start, but rebuilding what he’d destroyed was going to be an undertaking.