by Matt Forbeck
Around them brewed and bubbled the population of Lion's Arch, engaged in the trade that was the lifeblood of the city. There were farmers from the estates to the north and salvagers from the southern bays and estuaries. Asura and sylvari squabbled over the prices of glowing floating platforms and weapons made of twisted wood and butterfly wings. Norn roiled through the crowds like bears fording a stream. And the charr moved around, living their lives and ignoring the three new arrivals just like everyone else.
"Killeen!" came a shout behind him. The sylvari turned, and Dougal along with her. Riona hesitated for a moment, then kept walking.
Wading through the crowd was a heavyset golem, a crude creation of lumber and stone, as temporary as the rest of the city, a flat pane on its headless chest emitting a blue-green glow. One arm was much larger than the other, and both upper limbs ended in claws, making it look like a crude combination of man and fiddler crab. More important was the small asura directly in front of the golem, who became visible only as the crowds parted for the larger golem.
Clagg. In all his self-involved fury.
Dougal blinked and wondered if Logan Thackeray kept anybody in his jails anymore.
"Betrayer!" said Clagg. "You sold us out! You told the Seraph everything! For this you are going to pay!"
That definitely sounded like a challenge, and an opening appeared in the crowd with Killeen and the two humans at one end, the asura and the golem at the other. Dougal looked around and saw two Lionguard in the crowd. They were curious, but neither was stepping in to take matters in hand. As long as the disagreement didn't threaten any trade or merchants, Dougal doubted they would.
Lion's Arch was a good distance away from Divinity's Reach and its vigilant Seraph.
Dougal stepped forward, hand on his sword, to stand beside Killeen, but Riona put a hand on his shoulder. "He is talking to her, not you," she said, clearly enough for the sylvari to hear. "This is her problem."
"I don't see it as much of a problem," said Killeen. "I suppose you don't want to chat about this first?" she asked Clagg.
The asura responded with a curse and pointed at the sylvari. Emotionless and obedient, the golem lumbered forward. Killeen dropped into a crouch, and bright green motes bunched and flamed from her palms, gathering into swarms of necrotic energy.
She was too slow. The golem crossed the distance between them and smacked her hard with a limb the thickness of a ship's yardarm. She stumbled to one side and a second arm punched her hard back the other way. Killeen lost her footing and fell to the paving stones. Golden blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Clagg had apparently chosen to invest in speed over raw strength this time.
Dougal let out a shout and, shaking off Riona's hand on his arm, ran forward, drawing his sword. The blade came out roughly, catching the sides of the scabbard and threatening to pull it along with it, but he got the sword out and closed on the hulking golem.
Clagg shouted a command and the golem changed targets, wheeling quickly from the fallen sylvari and bearing down now on Dougal. The human reversed himself and danced backward a few steps, the heavy arm swinging through the space where Dougal had been seconds before.
The golem overextended itself and Dougal lunged forward, driving his blade into the joint where the huge claw-arm met the rest of the body. The blade dug deep into the juncture, and Dougal heard a very satisfying crack as he loosened the armatures holding the golem together.
The golem flexed its shoulder back, trapping Dougal's blade, and with a sharp snap crushed it in its joints. Dougal pulled back the shattered stump of his sword, stared at it a moment, and cursed.
The golem had regained its footing now. The smaller arm lashed out, its claw-shaped hand closing on Dougal's sword arm, and pulled him off the ground. Dougal let out a yelp as he dangled there, the golem drawing back its arm to deliver a blow that would knock the human into the Sea of Sorrows.
Riona leaped in at that moment, her own weapon jabbing quickly into the gap in the construct's shoulder held open by the shards of Dougal's blade. She was quicker than he had been, so that she pulled the blade out in a cascade of arcane sparks, and the lethal arm hung there, its internal runes and spells grinding to regain control.
Having gained the advantage, Riona did not hesitate but instead struck against the golem's now-exposed chest. The fragile pane at the golem's heart shattered at the blow, and elemental lightning spilled out in a shower of sparks. Dougal twisted in the creature's grasp as the energies played over its body.
The Vigil warrior was not done, and dropped to one knee and lashed out again, this time striking at the joints of the golem's knees. Another cascade of elemental energy spilled out as the crystals within were smashed open with the skill of a chirurgeon with a scalpel.
The golem froze up and let go of Dougal, who dropped the few feet to the ground. Then it pitched backward, leaving a surprised Clagg exposed beyond it.
"Stupid second-rate sword," said Dougal, looking over at Killeen, who was moving now, though not very fast.
Dougal pulled himself off the ground, but Riona was still quicker than he was, and flung herself on top of Clagg like an owl on a rabbit. Grabbing the asura by the throat, she hefted him up and pulled her sword back to skewer him. Clagg made a rattling noise, and his eyes were wide with fear.
Now it was Dougal's arm on Riona's shoulder. "Let him go," he said.
She paused, and Clagg managed to gurgle, "She informed on us! I lost the Golem's Eye because she told the Seraph! You said…" The rest of his words were lost as Riona tightened her grip around his slender windpipe.
Gods, thought Dougal. He doesn't know about the Eye.
"Not so smart now, are you, you little monster?" said Riona. "You and the rest of your deformed race should be stomped out. We should skewer him right here!"
Dougal looked at Riona. Her eyes were angry, her jaw set, her words hissing through her teeth. She had changed since she was the voice of reason in their platoon.
"No, we have a mission," said Dougal, looking over to where Killeen was pulling herself upright. "Don't let the little stuff get in the way. He's little stuff."
Riona looked at Dougal, then took a deep breath and let her hand open. Clagg dropped to the ground, gasping and clawing at his throat.
"Scat," said Dougal. "We're done here. I don't want to see you again."
Clagg pulled himself up and shot a poisonous glance at Riona. He started to say something, and Riona dropped into a battle crouch and growled at him like a charr. That was enough: Clagg spun on his heels and fled back into the crowd, catcalls from the observers at his back.
Killeen stumbled up, rubbing her side where the golem had connected.
"Are you all right?" asked Dougal. Riona was still intently watching the space where Clagg had disappeared.
"In a moment." She staggered over to where the fallen golem was still sparking elemental essence. She knelt down next to it and for a moment seemed to be swathed in a greenish shroud. She placed her hands on the golem and the last of its energy drained out of it and into the sylvari.
She stood up and nodded at the others. "Better now," she said. She pointed to the golem and said to the crowd, "Scrap." The golem's body disappeared under a tide of opportunists.
Dougal looked at Riona. "What about you?"
Riona took some deep breaths and said in a low voice, "It just seems that every time we turn around, there is some lesser race that is making trouble for us. I'm just getting tired of it."
Dougal opened his mouth to argue but looked at Riona's face. There was pain there-and something else. Hatred. Instead he said, "We were going somewhere, right?"
Riona nodded and headed off across the marketplace without a word, Dougal and Killeen in tow.
They emerged on the far side of the blue-tinted sails and found their way to a more permanent part of the city, where there was more stonework among the wood, although it continued with the nautical theme. Finally she stopped at an innocuous-looking doorway.
Riona knocked.
A hylek, taller than Killeen, opened the door and Riona backed off a moment, surprised by the wide, monstrous face. It was a frog-like being, in the same fashion as the charr were cat-like: bipedal, a great-mouthed head topping a round, neckless body. Its eyes were wide and accusing.
She gathered herself together and said, "Crusader Riona Grady of the Vigil in Divinity's Reach. I have brought Dougal Keane for the general."
The hylek responded in a deep, rasping voice. "Crusader Naugatl of the Bloodtide Coast, also of the Vigil. Come in. I will announce your presence."
They followed the hylek into the hallway, and Dougal got the definite feeling that they were being let in through a side door. Whoever Riona was working for in the Vigil, he or she apparently didn't want to make a lot of noise about their arrival. Dougal wondered how the Vigil would react to Clagg's attack or Riona's sudden burst of temper.
The hylek led them into a small waiting room. They sat there, Killeen composed as if a half hour earlier she had not been assailed by a golem. Riona twitched and rubbed the back of her neck, trying to work out the tension. Dougal left them to their thoughts, for he had his own broodings.
After about fifteen minutes the hylek returned and with a booming "Follow me!" led them back out into the twisting hallways. Dougal figured that the Vigil chapter house must occupy most of the block, with numerous exits and probably access to the sewers as well.
Finally they were led into a large chamber dominated by a great table. Maps of Tyria hung from the walls, and the walls were lined with heavy cabinets. At the end of the room a large figure stood before the fire in full armor, her hands clenched behind her back. When they entered, she turned and regarded them with sharp feline eyes.
She was a charr, and for a brief moment Dougal felt she could sense the hairs rise on the back of his neck, an instinctive reaction he could not suppress.
"Dougal Keane, Killeen born of the Cycle of Night," said Riona smoothly. "May I present General Almorra Soulkeeper, founder of the Vigil."
The amazing Dougal Keane. Your reputation precedes you." General Almorra Soulkeeper thumped a fist over her heart, charr-style, and then extended a paw. Dougal could feel a cold trickle of sweat drip down his back as he gripped the charr's firm, strong hand, which wrapped around his own, the nubs of her sheathed claws grazing the back of it. The general gestured to the chairs opposite the broad table. The two humans and the sylvari took their seats and the charr lifted a ewer. "Wine? This is a good vintage from the Almuten estate."
Killeen said, "Thank you." Dougal said, "I may need the drink." Riona said nothing but nodded respectfully. Dougal was amazed by her sudden change in attitude from the violent warrior of an hour before.
Almorra poured the wine into four goblets and offered one to each guest. Then she raised her glass and said, "Death and despair to the dragons and their minions!"
"Death and despair!" repeated Riona. Dougal and Killeen looked at each other, said nothing, but raised their glasses in response. Dougal sipped his wine. The charr was right: it was a good vintage.
"A pity we could not meet in Vigil Keep, north of the city," said Almorra, seating herself on a wide bench of the type preferred by the charr. "It is a proper and more secure place for such discussions, but when Crusader Riona's message arrived that she had located you, I thought it best to meet here. Still, the Vigil appreciates your efforts on our behalf."
"I have made no real effort so far," said Dougal, shrugging. "And I will make none until I understand what exactly you want. I have agreed to come here and talk, nothing more."
Almorra looked sharply at Riona, her four ears flattening slightly. "You did not tell him?"
Riona looked almost abashed. "I thought it best if he were briefed once we arrived. It was difficult enough getting him here."
Almorra let out a noise halfway between a purr and grunt and said, "What do you know of our organization?"
Killeen said abruptly, "The Vigil is a group made up of members from many races, nations, and guilds. They are dedicated to resisting the depredations of the Elder Dragons by force of arms." Riona scowled at her interruption, but Killeen ignored her.
General Soulkeeper nodded. "We have a number of your people in our organization, including my second-in-command. Your knowledge is always appreciated."
"You want to fight dragons," said Dougal.
Almorra nodded.
"But you don't want me to fight dragons. So I've been told." He motioned to Riona, and Almorra nodded again.
"You've been to Ascalon City," said the general.
"So people keep reminding me," said Dougal. "What do you want that's in Ascalon City?"
"We seek the Claw of the Khan-Ur," said Almorra simply. She took a long sip of her wine and let the silence in the room draw out.
Finally Dougal said, "You're completely mad, you know."
"Others have suggested that," said Almorra. "Most of them have been charr." There was a mild sense of menace in her words that Dougal always heard from the charr, intended or not.
"Why would you want the Claw?" he asked.
"I'm sorry," said Killeen. "This one I don't know. What is the Claw of the Khan-Ur?"
Riona looked into her goblet. "A legendary weapon, highly valued by the charr legions. It is an ungue, a four-bladed weapon with a central grip. Two blades jut forward, two blades backwards."
"More importantly," said Almorra, "the Khan-Ur was, in ancient times, the ruler of all the charr legions: Iron, Ash, Blood, and Flame. The Claw was a symbol of unity among the charr, the last time the legions were fully united. It was lost in Ascalon City."
"In the Foefire," said Dougal.
"We have reason to believe that it is still there," said the general.
Dougal looked at Riona, who from her uncertain expression fully expected Dougal to leap to his feet and try to find the nearest exit. Instead he remained seated and said, "Why do the Vigil want a charr artifact?"
"We don't," said Almorra. "Your human queen wants it."
"Very well," said Dougal, feeling as though he were being lectured by an asura, "why does Queen Jennah want it?"
"She wants to give it back to the charr," said Almorra, and Dougal shot a glance at Riona. She said nothing but was scowling.
Dougal shook his head and said, "Obviously I missed a step here."
General Soulkeeper leaned forward and put her paws on the table. "Your people and mine, we have been fighting for how long?"
"Since the Searing," said Dougal.
"Longer," said Almorra. "When man first came to Tyria, the charr were here. All its lands were our hunting grounds, all its creatures our prey. Your people drove us northward to found their kingdoms, and resisted us when we rightfully sought to regain our lands." Riona stiffened at Almorra's words but said nothing. Again, the sense of challenge was in the charr general's voice.
"Since then there have been victories and reverses for both sides," she continued. "The human nations are now gone from east of the Shiverpeaks, with the exception of the fortress city of Ebonhawke, which has been besieged for generations."
"A siege that has so far failed, I should note," said Dougal, feeling he had to speak up for his original home.
"And the conflicts between charr and man have blown hot and cold for generations. But now there stands a chance for peace," said Almorra.
"I find that hard to believe," said Dougal.
"Both sides are tired," said Almorra. "And both sides have other worries in their lives. The humans have been driven back on numerous fronts, almost to the gates of Divinity's Reach itself. You are plagued by marauding centaurs and human brigands.
"Similarly," the general went on, "three of the charr legions stand united: Blood, Iron, and Ash. The fourth, the Flame Legion, which once commanded the other three, stands against us. And the ogres have come down from the Blazeridge Mountains, seeking land for their herds."
"And Ascalon is haunted," added Dougal.
"And Asca
lon is haunted," agreed Almorra. "The legacy of the Foefire."
"So, how does the Claw fit in?" said Dougal.
"A peace faction has grown among the charr," said Almorra, then stopped. "Perhaps I give my people too much credit. Call it a truce faction. They seek to end the hostilities with Ebonhawke, so that they may better deal with the Flame Legion and other matters."
"And the humans, as you've noticed," said Riona flatly, "have other foes as well."
"The Vigil has been acting as go-betweens," said Almorra. "We have human agents in Divinity's Reach and charr crusaders in the Black Citadel. The discussions have been extremely secretive to date. There are humans-and charr-who would reject out of hand any attempt at peace and ban our order for promoting it."
The charr general leaned forward again. "The discussions have gotten to the point that the charr legions have agreed to open formal negotiations, combined with a cessation of hostilities. But they want a sign of good faith from the humans."
"The Claw," said Dougal.
"The Claw," said General Soulkeeper.
"What is in all this for you?" asked Dougal.
"The Elder Dragons," said Killeen, and Dougal looked at her. She had been listening intently throughout the discussion. "If the humans and charr can stop fighting, you hope they can turn their armies against Zhaitan, Kralkatorrik, and the others."
Riona nodded curtly, and Almorra said, "The sylvari have a talent for cutting to the heart of the matter."
"Do the legions know the Claw is in Ascalon City?" said Dougal.
"They suspect," said the general. "But those who have attempted to find it have never come back out. You did."
"I was lucky," said Dougal, more to himself than anyone else.
"We could use that luck again," said Almorra.
There was a long silence in the room. At last Dougal said, "You are completely mad."
"The world is mad," General Soulkeeper observed. "We merely have to deal with it."
"All of Ascalon is haunted. Ascalon City is the heart of the Foefire and is overrun with ghosts. There is a reason the legions have never conquered it," said Dougal.
"Yet, you went there. And came out alive," said the general.