Guild Wars 2

Day 2: Blood Colored Sky

The night went by quickly it seemed. We watched as the camp fires slowly died out as they turned in for the night. It had only been a few hours after sunset so it was maybe 9pm. “They’re like children. Early to bed and early to rise.” said Chogan who had joined me on the battlements overlooking the invaders campsite. “Early to rise is the key point Chogan. They don’t plan on waiting for sunrise so you should probably go get some rest while you can.” I said as I looked over and smiled half heartedly. Sleep… I never would have imagined that something so simple to do would be so hard to achieve. He grunted in reply and was just turning to leave when movement, just at the edge of the darkness, caught his eye. He starred for a moment as his mind registered two things. One, there was a shape of a man standing there, and two, he was holding a bow with an arrow aimed directly at his commander.

As his eyes widened and his heart stopped, he watched as the arrow flitted across the open field, over the battlements, and embed its self in Acium’s chest. He was helpless as he watched him fall to the ground in a lifeless heap. He just looked on in disbelief at the arrow that was now buried inside his leader’s chest. How? How could this happen? He had to move. He had to go to him and see if he was ok. “Move kitten ” he thought to himself.

As he walked towards Acium’s now lifeless body he started having flashbacks of the first time meeting the young man; how he was so full of life and laughter. How he made every day at this guard station bearable. All the jokes that were made. All the training that was done. But above all else he remembered the look of the young man’s face just the day before. The strong and determined look of a proud soldier that would never give up.

“No… You can’t be gone.” Said Chogan through a tear streaked face as he collapsed to his knees and grabbed the arrow. “You can’t leave us here alone! You promised us…” he screamed through a hoarse voice as he yanked the arrow out and began shaking the lifeless body. “Don’t leave us…” whispered the big man as he collapsed on top of the body and cried. He cried for the young commander. “He was so young and full of promise. He didn’t deserve this!” he screamed as he cried into the lifeless body. “Dwayna please… Take me instead…” he whispered in a sad voice. “Acium… You deserved better…” he said as he raised his head to look into the lifeless eyes of his beloved Commander.

I woke with a jolt and looked around quickly. I grabbed my chest as it throbbed in pain. My ears were also ringing. “What happened?” I managed to croak out through the pain. “I have been trying to wake you for about 2 hours now Acium but you just would not wake up… So, I kind of punched you in the chest.” said Chogan with an apologetic look on his face. “Ugh… I had a horrible dream…” I said as I looked up on the battlements. That dream was so real though. “Sorry I made him wake you up in such a fashion Acium but you were really crying in your sleep.” Came a familiar voice from behind me. “Could it actually be him?” I thought to myself as I turned to look. “Did you find out you’re a daddy or something?! Who is she?” said the voice in the dark.

As my eyes adjusted to the darkness I was finally able to make out who the voice was. It was Togo, one of my better friends in the Darkhaven military. He leads a small elite group of soldiers who call themselves The Perfect Dark, or just PD for short. They specialize in the ‘secret missions’ side of the military. So in other words; I have no idea what they do. “Togo? What are you doing here? How did you even

manage to get past all of those soldiers outside?” I asked. My face was definitely as dumbfounded as it probably should look right now.

He just looked at me and smiled. “Oh come on Acium. It’s not that hard to sneak 10 people into a tower at night while the enemy guards outside were tranquillized in the back, multiple times mind you. So yes, we basically just ninja’d our way in.” said Togo who took a deep breath after explaining all that. “Wow… You should talk slower Togo. Next time make it short and sweet.” I said with a half smile on my face. I was so relieved to have PD with us in this fight. Their expertise will come in handy if were to hold this tower.

As the night went on Togo filled me in on events that were happening all over the Borderlands. Victors Lodge had been destroyed. That of course we knew. Bluevale had been assaulted but had been forewarned and was able to muster a small militia to hold them back till help arrived. “Good job Elenteal.” I thought to myself. “So what about Redlake? Has it been attacked any?” I asked. “No, but there was a report of a women in red armor roaming the area. We don’t know if it’s related or not but were keeping a close watch. I can also say that Bllade took his battalion to Redlake in preparation of hitting these ‘Madness’ soldiers in the right flank. I also have a report from the Garrison that Neural and his battalion has linked up with Wulf and are making preparations on moving south soon. They will be here to help us by evening Acium.” Said Togo who had pulled out a map and started placing points on it. “As of right now we are the first line of defense and need to hold till evening when help arrives. So I suggest we prepare for what’s to come. Don’t you?” he asked with a broad smile. “Of course. Let’s get this started then shall we?” I said as we clasped hands and shook briefly

The day was a fury of movement. We all knew that we didn’t have the long range siege to stop there Trebuchets from hitting our walls and that they would eventually fall. So we decided to fortify in the courtyard of the small tower instead. I had my Engineers build small cannons up on top of the supply shack; I had my Rangers and Scouts setting up traps all over the yard while the Elementalists dug trenches with their earth magic.

The rest of us built make-shift ballistae at the base of the stairs aiming towards the gate and the wall that was being hit. We would hold them for a bit if they tried to rush through. “This would be Ace Companies last stand if help didn’t arrive.” I thought to myself as I looked around at my men. Once fifty strong, we now only had twenty-four men. Adding in the ten Togo brought with him it put us at thirty-four. Thirty-four men against roughly a thousand or so. Today was going to be horrible for my men.

Wham! A loud thudding noise filled the air. As I looked around I watched as one of Togo’s scouts fell from the wall with an arrow between his eyes. As he hit the ground the impact sent the arrow all the way threw, tearing its way through his brain and out the other side. “Incoming!” screamed Byren, an Asuran who had helped in defending the Eles while I was out scouting. Not two seconds later the tower heaved under the pressure of the Trebuchets assault. The ground seamed to curl under my feet as I tried to run to the stairs and make my way up to the battlements.

I was almost there when I heard extra ‘thumping’ at the back wall. “What’s going on?” I whispered to myself as I made my way up the stairs and looked over the back wall. What I seen made my heart stop. There were explosives set on the small unfortified back wall of the tower that was about to explode. “Get down!!!” I screamed at my men who turned and looked at me with a questionable look. Boom! The tower

shook and the wall shattered. I flew back and over the wall, landing down in the little creek that ran next to Blue Briar.

“Acium!” said a muffled voice from somewhere up ahead. It was a sweet voice, almost like honey. “Acium, you’re ok now. Here hold on to me.” said the beautiful voice. It was so familiar but where have I heard it before. “Get them!” said a voice from somewhere to my left. The sounds of boots hitting ground came into focus. Were we being chased? “What…happened…?” I croaked out. My throat throbbed with pain as hot liquid filled it. “Kitten Milan, drop him we have to hold them off! We can’t outrun them!” said another familiar voice from the other side of me. “Acium, I’m going to sit you down. Don’t worry I won’t be too far ok? I’ll be right here.” Said Milan

In a flurry of movement and voices I could hear them fighting. Spells being cast and confused soldiers voices as they struck a target to watch it disappear and then reappear on the other side of them. Then came the sound of lightning and soldiers screaming as they fried under the volley. “Which one is the real one kitten ” said one of the angry soldiers. “If you can’t find her help me kill this one!” came another who right afterwards was sent flying backwards into the wall, shattering his spine instantly.

My vision and hearing had started to come back to me during the fight. I could make out Milan, a girl who was extremely special to me, and her best friend Rhaina fighting side by side as they tore into the enemy’s ranks. They had trained day and night fighting as one and now that training was paying off. Milan swung her sword in a semi circle in front of her, causing a purple blast that sent the enemy flying backwards. Rhaina jumped back and ‘Rode the Lightning’ directly into the downed enemies. Sending move them backwards with fried armor. Two invaders however evaded to the side and came up with their swords ready for the kill. But they were to slow. Milan had two clones popped up and ready for them. Her clones latched on to the backs and exploded, sending the two straight into the dirt making holes in their back with blood flooding out. “Thanks Milan!” yelled Rhaina who had taken his eyes off of the enemy in front of him to look back. “You fool! Look out!” I screamed as I jumped up and teleported straight in front of him. I got slammed with a giant hammer by a Norn that sent me flying back into the wall, hitting my head it caused everything to go dark. As darkness enveloped my consciousness I looked for Milan’s face one last time. “Rhaina were getting out of here! Come here, now!” screamed Milan as she grabbed me I felt a strange surge just before everything went dark.

I awoke in a cold sweat. My body was numb and there was no one in the room. It freezing in the room yet my body felt warm and feverish. “What’s happened?” I whispered out to the open room. My voice was hoarse and my throat was dry. Where is she? I was hoping she would be here. At that the door opened and someone shuffled in threw the darkness. “Oh Acium…” said that beautiful voice. Her hand reached out and touched my head. Her hand was cool to the touch and sent a shiver down my body. “I’m…fine…” I croaked out through that raspy voice. “Oh you’re awake?!” she stammered as she withdrew her hand quickly. “What’s…happening?” I asked as I heard screaming and clashing of steal on steal outside. “Once the wall shattered the men on the walls rushed back to the lord room and barricaded it. Right now were inside your chambers while they’re outside holding them off.” She said her hand found mine. I looked up and managed a small smile as I said “Thanks for coming to get me. You know this makes you my hero right?” She blushed but squeezed my hand tightly. “So I’m the knight in shining armor here? This seems to be backwards huh?” she said with a light giggle.

“Hold them off!” yelled a voice from the other side of the door just before it opened up. It was Togo and his armor was stained red with blood. He had a cut down his right cheek that was lightly bandaged. “How is he doing Milan?” he asked as he came over to stand next to her. “I’m fine Togo, how are things out there?” I asked as I sat up. “Oh thank the gods your alright. I haven’t had much of a chance to give you these since they brought you back in but here. Take these. I found them on my way here.” He said as he reached into his pocket. “Om nom berries?” I asked with a smile “Where did you find those?” “Down by the Quaggon Lake. It’s how we got in. Here eat one; you should feel good in about 5 minutes, if not instantly.” He said as he plopped it into my mouth.

I chewed the berry and instantly felt a strange surge of power rush threw my body. I felt the cuts on my face heal the bones in my back and my ribs shift back into place, the swelling on my head shrink, yet in all of that, there was no pain. I stood up and grabbed my sword. “There breaking through!” yelled Chogan from the other side of the door. Boom! Came a loud blast from the Lords Hallway. “Nice one Byren shoot it again!” yelled a voice. Boom! He fired again. “That bought us a bit of time. Good job Byren.” said Chogan with a hearty laugh. “Of course it’s a good job. We Asurans’ are the most intellectually advanced species on this planet. If I can’t rig up a homemade tableware-throwing-doohickey then I’m no good as an inventor!” said Byren with an obvious air of triumph.

I opened the door to the next chamber and stepped through. There was so few of us… fourteen total men left, including some from Togo’s squad. I looked at my men who were dog tired and bleeding, I looked out the little window at the sky that was now a dark red color; the color of blood. Had we been abandoned? Why has help not arrived yet? I asked these questions as I looked back at the door. It was about to fall and so to was this tower. Was this really how Ace Company would meet its end? “No.” I said loudly. Everyone in the room turned to look at me. All movement stopped. “Sir?” said Chogan. “Back away from the door… Let them in.” I said with venom in my voice. If they wanted this tower then I would make them pay dearly for it.

I reached into my pouch and pulled out a book. On the cover it simply read, Tomb of Wrath. I flipped open the first page and power filled my body. My eyes took on a fiery blue color. Every step I took blue fire shot out. “When this door goes down, stay behind me. Kill the ones I miss. Understand?!” I shouted the last words so everyone would know that I was serious. “Sir!” came the reply. “Good…” I whispered. The door was on its hinges now and about to fall. One more hit and I will send these kittens back to where they came from.

Boom! The door shook, held for a moment, then dropped. The invaders rushed in and stopped at the sight before them. “Feel my wrath!” I screamed as I unleashed the blue fire of Balthazar. The hall filled with burnt flesh as the charred invaders collapsed to the ground. Some still screaming, others didn’t have a chance to blink. From outside I could hear confused voices, so I stepped out to muffle those confused souls. “Feel my wrath!” I screamed once again and filled the courtyard with blue fire. Dozens of the unsuspecting people burnt to death as I walked past the, unfazed and uncaring. They had brought this upon themselves.

Behind me the others were doing the human thing and killing those that were still alive but burning. I could sense the sorrow emanating from them. I looked over and seen about a dozen invaders standing there, trembling with fear as they took in the scene. Who could blame them? “S-stop. We s-surrender.” said one of them as they dropped their swords. “No… Die…” I said without emotion. I raised my hand and

burned them alive. “Acium!” said a voice behind me. I didn’t care who it was. I would kill them all, they all needed to die. More enemies poured in through the back wall. I lifted my hand to cast again but the power of the Tomb escaped me. The book dropped and I fell to one knee.

“What… What happened?” I asked as I looked around. How did I get out here? “Here they come!” yelled Togo who put my men into defensive formation. As the invaders advanced horns began to blare from the northwest. “They’ve come…” I said as I fell to the ground. Completely drained of power.

At the sound of the horns the enemy in the tower fell back to their lines. As I lay there I could faintly make out more horns, coming from the east this time. So they’ve all come… Thank you all. We’re saved. I closed my eyes and cried. But this time, it was with a smile. I could hear my men laugh and hug each other. The day was over and we had lost many friends. But we held.

Nice, so how far do you plan on going with this ? Waiting for day 3.

I’m hoping to go to 21 days since that is the name of this and how long the dh/gom/hod match has been going.

I think i may put 3 and 4 together though.

Really enjoying reading this Actium! are you writing as you go or do you have them all done already?

Honestly i’m writing as I go.

I started Day 1 on tuesday and finished that day. Posted it then. I started Day 2 yesterday and finished it today.

Nice! very fast writing, good luck on going ‘the whole 21’ I know I’ll be reading!
..Also I very much hope there’s at least 1 reference to the almighty God Flame Ram!

hmmm… you know what. i think i can manage that with my next chapter. ^.^

Wow man, great read. you really need to make a book out of this!

That’s what people keep saying but, honestly, i have no idea where to begin to do that. lol

Like i’ve said this is the first time i’ve ever published anything i’ve written for people to read. Usual it’s all private.

Notice: I’ve noticed that I stopped this one a little short of a full “day” and promise to make the next chapters much longer then 9 pages (as per word it is). So chapter three (day 3) is going to take a little longer to do then the last 2 as I am going to go into more detail and add in more people. I’ll even be adding in some GoM players.

To HoD: I know I haven’t mention you guys yet but it’s coming, and what an entrance you guys make…

Just keep patient and remember. If you have a character you would like to be added send me his name, spells, and features. I’ll try and fit him in where I can and make him a key character if possible.

Thank you.

If only Tome of Wrath really worked that well…

I can’t wait to see if Siege Golems make an appearance

I have plans for the golems. They’re going to be a tad bit different then the “gate blitz” type. >:)

MarkusParkus.8467:

Nice! very fast writing, good luck on going ‘the whole 21’ I know I’ll be reading!
..Also I very much hope there’s at least 1 reference to the almighty God Flame Ram!

This was PD’s offering to the Flame Ram God of GOM’s Hills Keep.