Guild Wars 2

Summary
- The Captain’s Tale
—- The Captain’s Log => https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/fangen/Guild-Wars-2-Fan-Fiction-The-Captain-s-Log/first#post3014892
—- Fire from the Sky =>> https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/fangen/Guild-Wars-2-Fan-Fiction-Fire-from-the-Sky/first#post2978902
—- The Tribe => This Thread
- The Corruption of Orr
—- The City of the Gods => https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/community/fangen/GW2-Fan-Fiction-The-City-of-the-Gods/first#post3014873

This is Part 3 of my shortstory series of Guild Wars 2 – Fan fiction! As my skills in writing in english (it’s not my mother tounge) increase, so does the quality and quantity of the content. As always, I enjoy positive and negative feedback alike, don’t hold back your thoughts!

The Tribe

Tailen tried to open his eyes, but his lids were heavy. He managed to raise his arms to his face, rubbing the sand out of his eyes. He opened them and looked around. He was lying in a field of shards, purple and bloody, then he remembered. He saw the crystals his crew, his friends were trapped in, as they shattered when they hit the ground. But how did he survive? He had no time to think, the pain took the upper hand. His entire body was cut by the shards on the ground, his clothes torn open and blood covered his skin.
The sun was rising slowly, gentle light touching the sand around him. He was alone. Trying to stand up, he felt every cut on his body, thought his skin would be ripped apart if he moved.
When he stood up, he turned around in a circle. Nothing. Only sand. He tried to concentrate and looked up into the Sky. The night was retreating, light taking the advantage on the battlefield that was the sky and the soldiers of the night, the stars, were fading. But one bright star in the sky was still visible: Dwaynas Heart.
‘North is that way, then’, he thought, but in the moment he set a foot in the sand to wander north, a mighty thunder broke through the clouds. He saw a dragon, one of Kralkatorriks Lieutenants was hunting. For him? Was he that important? It didn’t matter, the north was not safe if the a dragon was there.
He tried to remember the maps of Elona he had studied on his travels. ‘No matter how far I’m away from the Encampment, the coast to Mount Maelstrom is east’, he remembered. He turned towards the Sun. And started walking.

The Sun stood right above him, burning down on his torn skin. He was weak as he started to walk, but after four hours, he didn’t think he could move on. But he had to. He would die one way or the other and he preferred to die fighting. Even if he was just fighting the elements. He looked at his feet, never thinking further than taking another step, ramming his foot into the sand to hold his balance. Most of his wounds were already healing, the cuts didn’t go deep. Only two drained the power out of his body; A deep cut on his chest, hurting him when he breathed and a crystal shard stuck to his left forearm he wasn’t able to remove. It went through the arm, missing the bone by an inch and drilling out of the flesh on the other side.
The hand on his left arm was numb, if he would survive, he’d never be able to use it again.
He kept moving, step by step, the Sun seeking the company of the horizon in his back. Night finally embraced the sky, cooling the air down and refreshing Tailen a little bit. But he was unable to move anymore, his legs were protesting, the wound on his chest was moving to his heartbeat and his left hand turned purple. He fell to his knees, but he wasn’t even strong enough to stay in this position, finally collapsing onto the sand. His spirit was still awake, ready to fight, but his body couldn’t. With closed eyes but active mind, he was laying there, somewhere in the Crystal Desert. His friends were dead, his fleet gone, he failed the Pact and all races of Tyria. He wanted to cry, but there wasn’t much left in his body to create tears.

In the desert, it was completely silent. No animal that made a sound was able to survive here, the clouds being his only company. But it was a sound that rushed through his body. The ear that was buried into the sand could determine something, not far away from him. It was the sound of Water, running away to an unknown destination. New strength filled his muscles, the will to survive took control over his body, leaving the hopeless mind alone in his head. He rammed his forearms into the ground, ignoring the pain in his left one and raised himself up on his knees. He tried to make out something in the dark, trying to find the source of the sound. He saw a lonely rock standing in the middle of the desert, like an island in the sea. He walked over to him, hugging the stone and listening.

The sound of water came from underneath the rock. He went on his knees and started to grope the ground for a hole. He found one, probably the home of a poisonous animal, so he put his stiff left hand into the dark tunnel and started digging, using every muscle that was left in his forearm. After a few minutes, the hole was large enough to fit for his foot, so he turned around and kicked into the opening. He heard the sand falling down on the other side. He wasn’t able to think, he didn’t care what was waiting there, in this moment, his instincts had full control over every action.

Finally the hole was large enough to let him through, the sound of water now reached his ear clearly. He turned in with his legs first so he could land on them if the cave was deep. And it was. He fell several feet, landing kitten his legs and falling onto his back right after. But he was wet and his right feet touched water. He laughed while he got on his knees again and crawled towards where his feet felt the cold water. It was right in front of his face, he could see one star, that was gleaming through the hole he made, being reflected by the water. He sunk his head into the cold and clear water, started to drink and didn’t stop. With every draft of water, his mind took more control over his body again, and his hope rose again. He found the strength to extract the shard from his forearm before he fell asleep.

He woke up to a beam of sunlight reaching his face, the warmth slowly getting uncomfortable. He opened his eyes, his lids as heavy as always, but he felt no pain where his wounds had been. Confused, he stood up and stepped into the sunlight, looking down at his body. The wound on his chest was gone, as was every cut on his skin and his left arm more functional than it had ever been. His hand from which he fought was clearly dead, was hot from the blood that was squeezing through it’s veins. He heard of healing water before, elementalists were able to enchant it to give it healing qualities, but he had never seen natural healing water, not even in the grove. A frightening sound shook him out of his thoughts, Steps. Light shoes hitting wet stone. Without thinking, he stepped out of the light and hid behind a small rock he could barely see. The steps came closer, hitting the stone with determination Tailen knew from Soldiers, but also with a grace he never heard. The Thing the feet were attached to finally reached the cave Tailen was in. He didn’t know where it came from, but it certainly knew he was there. He could even hear it’s eyes searching through the darkness, noticing the unfamiliar opening in the ceiling. But then it kept on moving, slowly the sound was getting departed. Tailen let out a relieved breath, only to notice a pricking pain in on his throat. He touched the area and pulled something out of his skin. A needle. He could press out a ‘Grenth curse me’ before everything went dark.

When he opened his eyes, he was dragged somewhere. But he wasn’t carried in a way a prisoner was carried where he came from. His arms and legs were bonded onto a wooden stick and the stick was carried on the shoulders of two humans, he could see their brown-skinned legs, but they looked weird for a male. He raised his head towards the stick to get a look of the carrier behind him, only to see the face of a woman. The woman glanced at him with a ferocious, brown eyes out a face that he would consider friendly, if not for those eyes.
He let his head fall back into his neck again to see the carrier in the front. Also a woman, he could tell from what he saw.
Confused, he closed his eyes and tried to remember a story about a place like this in the Crystal desert, but it was hopeless. He didn’t know where he was and what those Women would do to him. He considered them a wild tribe and from all the Tribes he had encountered, some were friendly, but none were sane.

After minutes that felt like an eternity, he was dropped like dead hunting prey, hitting the ground hard with his back, still attached to the stick with all limbs and unable to move much more than rolling around. He rolled into a position from where he could see what his kidnappers where doing. He was laying in front of a wooden Gate, two female warriors with heavy leather shields, long spears and red tattoos on their bodies stood guard in front.

His kidnappers, two women with bows and blue tattoos, talked to them in a familiar way, laughing and chatting without minding the prisoner. He could be dead prey for them at the moment, he thought. But he didn’t understand a word they say. After a few minutes, they were finished chatting and took him up again, the gate was now opened. He was carried inside a gorge between tall, red rocks, where this tribe seemed to have its shelter. The Rocks protected them from too much direct sunlight, sandstorms and hostile creatures from the desert. As we was carried further into the village, he saw children staring at him and men working in little gardens outside of Large Tents supported by dry Desert wood. Everywhere the Female Warriors stood Guard, far larger than the men, but with a grace the Norn women Tailen knew lacked. Their faces were straight and focused, every muscle in the body strengthened, yet they didn’t lose any of their beauty and the way they stood there, Tailen knew they were not only strong but fast and agile, too. And he couldn’t stop staring at them.

He was suddenly dropped on the ground again, but this time the two hunters cut off the ropes that bound him to the stick. A guard hit him in the back with her spear, telling him to stand up without words. He got up and tried to look strong and unimpressed, looking around and meeting the watchful eyes of the guards around him with defiance. The hunters had carried him deep into the Canyon. He was standing on a large, open are in front of a big House made of dark, dry wood and leather. ‘The Elders house’, he guessed. Around the area he counted twelve guards watching him and in the middle of the field stones were set up to create a simple fighting ground. Everything was surrounded by high, red rocks. The Sun burned down on the arena with fury, blinding him.
Out of the large house three silhouettes walked towards him, as they came closer he could identify them. All three were woman, the one standing in the middle was the tallest, but she was old, wisps of grey interrupting the dark brown of her long hair, yet her eyes witnessed great strength and wisdom. The other two women were probably her personal guard, two warriors Tailen wouldn’t want to mess with. One used a whip with a sharp claw on the tip of the hard leather string, in the other hand she held a light wooden shield with a sun painted on it. The second guard used a spear that seemed heavier than the ones of the normal guards, having a thicker shaft and a brutal blade with long bards. The Old woman talked her two guards, both nodded when she stopped. Then they came towards him, walking over the arena.

When they reached him, Tailen needed to lay his head into the neck to look into their faces. Both were a head taller than him, with strong arms and muscular bodies but keeping a figure that was capable of moving fast and staying agile.
“You, fight. When we dead, you win and leave, when we win, you dead”, one of the women said with a strange accent.
“Simple instructions, thank you”, Tailen answered, failing to hide the fear in his voice.
The women split up and walked to their positions in the arena and a guard threw Tailen a spear to his feet. He picked it up and slowly walked towards the primitive fighting ground.

He had to think quick. He wasn’t able to defeat those women with pure strength or skill, not without his Ascalonian weapons. He was never defeated by any enemy he faced in his life, people spreading rumors that he was the best Warrior in the world, but he never stopped thinking straight in a battle, and the Amazones he was facing were stronger than any Norn he fought, not to mention that they used weapons he had never seen.
He entered the arena, holding the spear high in a defensive stance, ready to fight. The Woman with the whip was moving first, running at him with long jumps, closing the gap between them in seconds. The strike from the whip came quick, aiming for his leg to get him off balance, but Tailen didn’t fight for the first time.

Quickly, he and jumped over the sharp claw, landing on his right leg and thrusting the spear towards amazone while ramming his left leg into the ground in the same move. Combining balance and strength, the Power behind the thrust was strong enough to reach the women and cutting her arm before she could dodge, surprised by the skilled movement of her opponent.
Unprepared for this kind of resistance, she lost balance herself and fell on her back, the whip fell out of reach. With one big step, Tailen was at her before her partner could reach them, placing the blade of the spear on her throat. She looked at him and Tailen could read the acceptance of death in her eyes, but he didn’t want to kill her or anyone of the Tribe, they needed every warrior against the might of the dragons.

Tailen didn’t know if she would use his mercy against him, so he turned the spear around and smashed the other end against her head to knock her out without dealing serious damage.
But the other amazone was on him quickly, thrusting her mighty spear through the air, aiming for his chest. He let himself fall on his back while the spear passed over him and he stretched out his legs, grabbing the spear between his popliteals, pulling it down with the weight of his body. The amazone lost grip of the spear, suprised from the sudden pull and with another move, Tailen was standing again, holding the heavy spear in one hand, his own spear in the other. But Tailen realized that the spear was too heavy for him, he couldn’t fight with it properly, so he threw it out of the arena. The amazone now knew what she was up against and drew a short sword from her belt that Tailen hadn’t noticed.
Tailen looked her in the eyes, trying to read what she planned and he saw caution. She wouldn’t charge him as her partner had, so Tailen advanced, trying to find a weakness in her defense.

He reached her with fast feet, thrusting the spear onward but she dodged easily, like he had planned. I pulled the long spear back while spinning around, striking with the spear in a long horizontal arc. The attack cut through the skin of the woman who used the momentum of Tailens offensive strike to gain ground on him with her sword. Tailen tried to keep her at the tip of his spear, but she dodged his stab, grabbed the shaft of the spear and pulled Tailen towards her. The sword was coming closer to his throat as stumbled forward, overwhelmed by the strength of the woman, but in the last second he ducked his head underneath the blade and rolled behind her, with the spear still in his hand. Without looking, he turned around on his kneecap, using the power of the turn to ram the spear into her back. She saw what he was doing and tried to get out of the way, but the spear hit her, cutting deep into the flesh. The amazone moved away fast enough to prevent serious damage, the spear hit nothing important, but it left a bloody flesh wound where the blade had struck. The pain turned into fury, now the woman pressed her disadvantage, trying to force Tailen to do a mistake, a wrong step or a wrong calculation, but Tailens movements were secure, his head calm and the way he used opportunities was deadly. After a few more strikes of the woman, she had multiple cuts in her skin and another wound was torn open on her left leg. But as much as Tailen tried to force her to surrender, she didn’t give up and slowly he realized, she wouldn’t until she dies.

Even if she was a trained warrior with no fear from death and she tried to kill him, Tailens fascination for her and her kind was too strong to be fine with the fact she had to die by his hands. Tailen opened up a big gap between the exhausted amazone and himself, buying time.
“You don’t have to die!”, he shouted, “Just surrender and I will be gone and you can fight another day!”. The Woman didn’t respond.
“She won’t give up, her tradition prevents it”, the voice of the old woman was still loud and mighty, the voice of a leader.
“Tell her to give up, I don’t give a kitten about her tradition, I just don’t want to kill anyone with the dragons still out there!”, Tailen cried with begging in his voice.
“She won’t give up”, the old woman responded fiercly and with the words passing through her lips, the warrior woman charged at Tailen. He thought quickly, realizing he had no choice, he held the spear over his shoulder and threw it at the charging woman. The spear flew through the air with a sharp sound and the cracking of bone shook Tailens spine. The spear hit her in the throat, she fell on her back and chocked on her own blood. Pictures and noises Tailen could never forget. He walked to her body, pulled the spear out and threw it away.

He kneeled at her side, closing her eyes and crossing her arms on the chest. He placed his own hands on her crossed wrists, speaking loud and slowly.
“May Grenth protect you in the mists and may you find joy in the presence of the gods. You lived and died a warrior, you shall be remembered as one”. He had to say this three times in his life, for three of his friends who died fighting against the Elder Dragons. Now he had to say it for a woman he had to kill.
He stood up, looking at the old woman with eyes of hate.
“You take responsibility if your village falls because you got overrun by the minions of the Dragon, may Grenth have mercy on your soul”. He turned around and walked away.

Thank you so much for reading! If you would take a few minutes to write down your thoughts, how harsh they may be, I would appreciate it a lot!

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