Chapter Text
It was not the first time Eavan had had this dream. She was aware of that much, and yet she still found herself going through the steps as she had before.
She was on the floor of her home, lying on her stomach. The smell of smoke clung to her nose and she rolled onto her back. Her home was on fire, the plant-limbs of the structure curling up on themselves as the moisture within evaporated under the heat of the flames. She knew she was in danger, and yet she could not find it in herself to move. A figure moved to her side but the smoke obscured their features till they knelt at her side. It was Keelyn, her longtime friend.
“Come on, Eavan, we have to go!” she shouted and hauled Eavan to her feet. Together they ran from the burning house and out into the village. The flames roiled around them and they ran on. The smoke tried to choke them and they ran on. A tunnel of flame and smoke rolled around them as Eavan heard the cries of her friends and family burning in the flames. Keelyn ran on, her eyes fixed on the end of the fiery tunnel and Eavan could not pull herself free to help anyone.
It felt like an eternity had passed by the time they emerged on the other side of the flames. Eavan turned around to look back at her village. Hundreds of bodies littered the ground and over them stood faceless sylvari armoured with thorns and barbs. At their centre, atop of conflagaration of corpses, stood another sylvari. The smoke obscured their face, but Eavan would never forget their hands.
Their hands were like embers, hissing sap dripping between the seams of red-hot metallic gauntlets. As she watched, the figure took a step forward and was suddenly in front of her, their face sharp and cruel. With a gauntleted hand they reached out and took hold of Eavan’s shoulder.
Eavan gasped with pain and was upright in the blink of an eye.
“Is your scar hurting you?”
Keelyn was at her side, supporting her into a better position. She pointedly did not touch Eavan’s shoulders.
“As always,” Eavan replied as she took deep breaths. Somehow her recurring nightmare had a way of triggering the old scar. Even the best doctors and healers of the Grove could not say why it was so.
“How is our quarry?” Eavan said looked around their camp. Dawn had just broken and the eastern sky was a growing orange line. They had no campfire, so as not to draw attention.
“The Court’s about to head out,” Keelyn said.
“Any indication where they’re headed?” Eavan asked. She reached for her sack and loosened the drawstring. Without a fire, their supplies were what greens they could scavenge on the road.
“North,” Keelyn said.
“Triskellion Vale?”
Keelyn nodded, “That seems most likely.”
Just as they had feared. A Nightmare Court squad heading into Kryta rarely portended good things. Eavan and Keelyn’s camp was on a cliff above the camp of the Nightmare Court they were pursuing, and by the time they had taken their camp down and climbed down, the Court squad was over the northern hill and passing into Kessex. Thankfully the Courtiers did not seem interested in covering their tracks, so they were easy for the pair to follow. On entering Kessex, the squad turned east along the Alakess Ledge. Beyond was one of the minor forts erected by the Krytan throne to safeguard the roads, Overlake Haven.
“They’ll have to pass by the fort,” Keelyn said while they followed the Courtiers at a safe distance, “they certainly can’t pass around it by going further south.”
The massive wall of the Tengu Dominion was visible even through the early-day mists. Anyone seen approaching it would be met with a wall of arrows, and even the Nightmare Court was not so arrogant as to test it.
“Would the squad be big enough to assault the fort?” Eavan said.
“Not without taking losses, I don’t think,” Keelyn replied. Ahead of them they could see the squad coming to a halt. Overlake Haven was only just visible in the distance, as Alakess descended towards the Giant’s Passage and eventually Triskellion Vale.
“What are they doing now?” Keelyn said. One of them was barking orders while two others fiddled with something.
The question was answered when the Courtiers tossed the object of their fiddling into the water of the lake. Within moments it grew explosively till it was easily ten metres in length.
“It’s,” Keelyn said with astonishment, “a giant eggplant.”
“Actually,” Eavan replied as she tried to contain her snickering, “I think it’s a boat.”
While they talked, the plant’s purple skin split lengthwise to reveal a hollow interior. The Courtiers quickly boarded and set off from the shore, the plant-boat propelling itself through the water.
Both Eavan and Keelyn stood in silent astonishment for a moment.
“Travelling like that, they can take a handy shortcut to Triskellion and bypass the road-fort entirely,” Keelyn said.
Eavan was already moving, “Come on, hopefully Overlake will just let us pass by.”
They set off at speed, running along Alakess and down the hillside towards Overlake.
“Halt, who goes there?” a man called out from the walls of Overlake, but Eavan and Keelyn were too much in a hurry and too winded to reply.
“Halt, I said, who goes there, and in such a rush?” the man repeated, with a notably less friendliness in his tone. Still the two sylvari did not slow their headlong pace.
“Right,” the man grumbled and turned to speak with someone within the walls. A moment later a trio of arrows thunked into the soil in front of Eavan and Keelyn. The two sylvari slid to a halt and Keelyn had to wave Eavan down when she pulled out her bow in the blink of an eye.
“Now that I have your attention,” the man called, “my name is Dellago and I’m the watchmaster here in Overlake, who are you two and where are you headed in such a hurry?”
Keelyn stepped forward, still with a hand on Eavan’s shoulder, “Why do you seek to bar our path?”
“I don’t,” the man shouted down, “but it is my duty to know who uses this road and why.”
Eavan and Keelyn exchanged a glance before Keelyn replied.
“We’re headed to Triskellion, and we are indeed in a hurry.”
“And might I inquire why?”
“A squad of Nightmare Court soldiers is headed for the village,” Keelyn replied in a deadpan voice.
Dellago was silent for a moment then turned back to talk to someone inside the walls. Eavan and Keelyn resumed their sprint even as Dellago shouted at their backs, but they were too focused to catch the words.
“What a fool,” Keelyn grumbled between breaths as they ran.
“A dutiful fool, at least,” Eavan agreed. The morning mist that had hung over Viathan’s Arm had lifted with the coming of the sun and they could see the plant-boat approaching Triskell Quay in the distance. Even if the villagers recognised the boat as belonging to the Nightmare Court, there would be precious little they could do about it. After all, they had Overlake to the south and Haven to the east to protect them, so the villagers would have little in the way of weapons.
“Could we go along those cliffs?” Keelyn shouted as they ran, pointing at the bluffs between Overlake and Triskell Quay.
“Too exposed, if even a single Courtier archer spotted us, we’d be caught out in the open,” Eavan replied after a quick glance.
“That just leaves the Giant’s Passage, then,” Keelyn said with a sigh. Both sylvari were in excellent shape, but already the running was leaving them winded.
“If we’re lucky, then the local ettins will be sleeping,” Eavan replied as she strapped down her quiver.
“And if we’re unlucky, then the village will have to rely on the Haven to help them,” Keelyn said.
For a moment silence fell on the duo as they focused their breath on running, then a thundering sound from behind gave them pause.
Keelyn glanced back then gave a start, “Centaurs!”
Both sylvari dove off the road and tumbled into the greenery on either side. Eaven scrambled to her feet and drew her bow, but by the time she had an arrow ready, she could see that her friend had erred.
“We might have gotten off on an unfriendly foot, but calling us centaurs is just plain rude,” Watchmaster Dellago said. The watchmaster was mounted on a trained raptor with an axe strapped to his belt and a shield slung over his back. Behind him were half a dozen soldiers from the Overlake garrison, each bearing the heraldry of the Krytan military.
Keelyn gave Eavan an apologetic look, but stayed silent.
“We’re both a bit pressed for time, watchmaster, we apologise for blocking the road,” Eavan said, taking the moment to catch her breath.
Dellago nodded, “I agree with the first, but I was going to pause here anyways,” the man said, then motioned to one of his soldiers.
“I trust you know how to ride one of these?” Dellago said as two raptors were guided forward, saddles strapped and ready.
Eavan looked at the animals with a dumbfounded expression.
“We do, but why extend this to us, two complete strangers?” Keelyn asked.
“Let’s say that, at the moment, our goals are aligned,” Dellago said and indicated in the direction of the fishing quay, where slim pillars of smoke were already rising. Eavan thought she could hear screams across the waters, as well as more animalistic noises.
Eavan and Keelyn sharted a glance but neither saw a reason to object. Soon they were back on the road alongside Watchmaster Dellago’s troop heading to Triskell Quay.
“Up ahead is the Giant’s Passage, home of ettins and other delightful ogres,” Dellago said, in the tone of one that delights telling stories, “and after we’re through, I have some questions for the two of you.”
“What questions, watchmaster?” Eavan asked.
“After we’re through, sylvari,” Dellago replied with a tense smile. He had barely finished the words when a growling roar sounded from the valley up ahead.
Giant’s Passage was a narrow canyon so full of rocks and stone that it was not useful for much. Unless you were an ettin, in which case it was a prime spot to ambush caravans passing through eastern Kessex. Their hulking forms were visible silhouetted against the sky for a moment before the rocks began to rain down.
One slammed into the soil to the right of the mounted troop, spraying grit and gravel in all directions. Dellago spat some dirt from his mouth and turned to his troops, “We’ll speed through, they’re used to hitting slow wagons!”
He glanced at Eavan and Keelyn as well, but they had heard him just fine. Eavan cracked her reins and the raptor responded with an ululation before setting into a sprint to follow Dellago and the others. One of Dellago’s soldiers brought up a rifle and fired at the ettins above them, but Eavan was not so experienced a rider that she would dare to try it herself.
Rocks and other thrown projectiles fell down around them, but few of the ettins had the forethought to account for their speed, and none of the ones that did had the accuracy to do it correctly. One hit the road ahead of Eavan and her mount leapt over of its own accord, sailing easily over the obstacle.
With a final roar and a final crack of the soldier’s rifle, they were through the Passage. The last ettin shook a hairy fist at them and then retreated into its lair.
“My thanks, Watchmaster Dellago,” Keelyn said, “that would have been a much more dangerous traversal without your help.”
But the watchmaster’s eyes were glued to the north, and only now that they were away from the howling of the ettins did Eavan register the noise.
Further up the road, just at the turning into Triskellion Vale, stood Kessex Haven, a fortified outpost much like Overlake Haven. But at the moment one could barely see the walls, for it was under attack by centaurs. The tribal horsemen were arrayed in a semi-circle by the outpost’s eastern wall, guarding against sallies towards their trebuchet. Already a few soldiers from the Haven had fallen to their attackers, lying bleeding in the soil.
“The centaurs attacking just as the Nightmare Court sails to the Quay,” Keelyn said and looked at Eavan.
“They must be working together,” Eavan agreed and looked at watchmaster Dellago, “Watchmaster, what will you do now?”
Dellago tore his eyes from the battlefield and looked at Eavan. She had never been proficient at reading human expressions, and in that moment he was especially cryptic to her, “I would ask you the same, sylvari.”
He continued before she could reply, “I intend to save Haven, and then I will go to Triskell.”
Eavan nodded, “We’ll go the Quay. We are not going to let the Court do as it pleases.”
“Thank you,” was all the watchmaster had to say, then he shouted a command to his soldiers and they set off at a charge, aimed squarely at the centaur artillery.
Eavan and Keelyn looked at them for a moment, then turned their mounts about and followed the northwestern road. Most of the centaurs were heading to intercept Dellago and his soldiers, but two centaurs spotted the duo. They gave their battlecries and set off in pursuit, spears and shields at the ready.
“Can you fight in the saddle, Eavan?” Keelyn shouted as the centaurs began to close.
“I’ll have to, won’t I?” Eavan replied and drew her bow. She knocked an arrow and turned in the saddle for a moment to fire, but the shot went far above its intended target. The centaur laughed cruelly and sped up, leaning into its charge. Eavan kicked at the flanks of her raptor but the centaur was still catching up. She had no time for another shot.
The centaur closed in and thrust its spear forward but Eavan leaned forward in her saddle and the attack missed. The centaur growled and jabbed again and the only way Eavan could see was to lean to the side. Again she avoided being skewered, but found that she could not keep her balance from her precarious position. She shrieked as she tumbled from the saddle into the tall grass by the side of the road, her mount continuing on undeterred.
“Eavan!” Keelyn shouted, but she was too occupied with her own opponent to come to her aid.
Dazed by the fall, stumbling to the side was all Eavan could do when she heard the thunder of the approaching centaur. As it trampled the grass where she had been a moment ago, she drew her bow and knocked another arrow without looking, her long practice paying off. Her vision began to steady as the centaur spun around for another pass.
She took a deep breath and took aim. The centaur raised its shield but it could not shield enough of its body. Her arrow hit just below its navel and the beast growled in pain. However, a single arrow was not enough to bring it down and it kept coming. Its spear was slow and clumsy now, and Eavan slipped into the tall grass as she readied another arrow. The centaur howled a challenge in its native tongue, but Eavan did not answer it. It trampled the grass and thrust its spear into every clump of grass around but found nothing. Soon it began to tire, the exertion of battle and the pain from her arrow slowing it down. A second arrow hit it in the back and it stumbled a few steps before tumbling to the ground in a cloud of dust.
“Keelyn?” Eavan shouted and turned to help her friend, but there seemed to be no need. The other centaur was lying in the road, bleeding from numerous wounds to its upper body. Keelyn was sitting beside it, holding her head in her hands.
“Are you okay?” Eavan shouted as she came running, glancing about for their mounts.
“I’ll be fine,” Keelyn replied, then hissed with pain. Eavan dropped to her knees at Keelyn’s side and gingerly removed her friend’s hands to see a brown mark on her forehead.
“Damn thing bashed me in the head with its shield,” Keelyn said, “I’ll have a mark there for a week.”
Eavan resisted the urge to poke at it, “You really do bruise like a piece of fruit, Keelyn.”
“Very funny,” Keelyn said and got up while she put her knives away.
Eavan retrieved her arrows while Keelyn brought their mounts back. The fighting still raged on the other side of the Haven so the duo continued west down the road towards the Quay. Black smoke was billowing from the settlement. A house had been set on fire and the Courtiers were walking about the streets of the settlement. The pair could see a few bodies of villagers here and there, but not nearly enough to account for the whole village.
They dismounted and convened behind a bush, “How should we approach?” Eavan asked.
“Quickly,” Keelyn said and pointed to a gathering of Courtiers. They were arrayed in a semi-circle around one of the houses on the Quay’s perimeter, and as the pair watched, an old man was dragged from the house. He protested with all his might, but his arms and legs were bound and the Courtier dragging him was enormous.
“Whatever they came here for, I don’t see them capturing any other villagers,” Keelyn said.
“Two of us against over a dozen Courtiers,” Eavan said.
“We’ll have to make it work,” Keelyn said and sprang back into her saddle. They dashed towards the Quay as fast as their borrowed mounts could carry them. Up ahead she could see a couple of Courtiers standing at the entrance to the village, but they noticed her at the same moment. As one of them drew a horn she drew her bow and fired a quick arrow. It flew wide, cracking against the stone fence beside the sentry. They started and jumped behind cover. A moment later, Eavan and Keelyn heard the piercing note of the sentry’s horn. The Courtiers arrayed before the house turned as one towards the gate to see Eavan and Keelyn bear down on the sentries.
The mounts were clearly trained for combat. Without a word they slammed bodily into the sentries, knocking them to the ground. At such a distance, even Eavan’s clumsy saddle-archery was enough to put an arrow in the sentry’s chest, while Keelyn slid from her saddle to drive her knee into the Courtier’s chest. He gasped as the air was knocked from his lungs, then again as one of Keelyn’s knives struck him.
The Courtiers grabbed their weapons and the burly one threw the hostage to one of the others with a barked command. In the tumult Eavan found it hard to follow, but it sounded like they intended to bring the old man along.
Even if it would reduce her accuracy, Eavan knew she would need the mount’s speed. Several of the Courtiers reached for their bows and fired, but her mount dashed out of the arcs of their arrows. She rode a wide arc around the approaching Courtiers until she had a straight shot towards their prisoner. The guard drew a sword at the last moment but not in time to deter Eavan’s arrow. She loosed just as she passed, with as little distance between them as she dared. The arrow took the Courtier in the shoulder and they dropped to the ground with a cry of pain. The old man was released but tumbled to the ground, unable to balance on his bound feet.
“Please help me,” he cried out, “you can’t let them escape!”
‘I would love to’ , Eavan thought, but Keelyn and she were outnumbered five to one. Keelyn was out of her sight, but that was probably a good thing. Her friend’s daggers worked best out of sight.
“They’re after something truly dangerous,” the old man said, but the strength to shout seemed to have left him.
“Silence, old human,” the burly Courtier growled as another Courtier handed him a thick-hafted spear.
Eavan placed her mount between the advancing Courtiers and the old man, but numbers were against her. The burly one stepped forward, the tip of his spear near to the ground, but Eavan was sure he could bring it up before she could use the opening.
“I am Amadán of the Nightmare Court, retainer to Duke Rácht,” the burly Courtier said and thumped his own barrel-sized chest, “and who might you be, Dreamer?”
She saw no harm in introducing herself, especially if it might buy her a moment or two, “My name is Eavan, enemy of the Nightmare Court.”
Amadán grinned at her attempt at a title, “If you count yourself as an enemy of the Court, Lady Eavan, then that makes this simple.”
Amadán raised his spear and pointed it Eavan’s chest, “And I prefer to keep things simple.”
“What does the Nightmare Court want here?” Eavan shouted. She still could not see Keelyn and she was outnumbered. She needed to buy time.
“That is no business of a Dreamer,” Amadán replied, “but I must insist, Lady Eavan, that you step aside.”
Eavan readied an arrow and repeated her question, “What does the Nightmare Court want?”
Amadán sighed and lifted his spear.
“If the Nightmare Court wants this human,” Eavan said and readied an arrow, “then you’ll have to go through me first.”
Amadán simply smiled and charged in the same motion. The raptor managed to sidestep the first thrust, but Amadán slammed the shaft into its chest in his next step. The raptor squawked as it lost its balance and Eavan’s arrow shot into the sky as its attempt to regain it nearly threw her from the saddle. She barely saw Amadán’s hand as it shot towards her and grabbed the front of her vest, pulling her from the saddle and slamming her onto her back. She gasped as the air was knocked from her lungs.
“Take the old man and put him on the boat,” Amadán said to a pair of Courtiers behind him, then turned his attention back to Eavan. His spear hovered over her chest, its point mere inches away.
“I can not well let an enemy of the Court live, now can I?”
In that moment, Eavan heard gasps of pain and saw a shadow pass over the retainer. Amadán must have seen it too, for he reared back and lashed out with the shaft of his spear.
Keelyn blocked it with a dagger as she stabbed the other at Amadán’s back. It drew sap before he twisted and rolled away out of Keelyn’s attack, his spear still held in his hand. The two Courtiers he had commanded were lying on the ground clutching cut limbs.
“I’m alright, Keelyn,” Eavan said and scrambled to her feet. Her sides stung from the fall and she struggled to regain her breath, but she could stand and fight.
Keelyn simply nodded and turned back to Amadán. The retainer jovial attitude had faded somewhat and it seemed to Eavan that thorns had begun to protrude from his skin.
“Surrender, Courtier,” Eavan called out, “you’re outnumbered!”
Amadán looked to his side. The other two Courtiers had gotten to their feet, but Keelyn had cut them well. They would not be able to fight without endangering their lives.
“Gawin, Trill, return to the boat with the others,” he commanded, then turned his attention back to Keelyn and Eavan, “I see no need for fear.”
“Arrogant prick,” Keelyn replied and raised her daggers.
With a roar, Amadán charged, speartip forward. Eavan loosed her arrow but the retainer swatted it out of the air with a twirl of his spear. The twirl kept Keelyn at bay as she rushed his flank, but her daggers halted the motion for a moment. Eavan seized it and fired another arrow, forcing Amadán to leap away, thrusting at Keelyn to keep her daggers from his skin.
“A retainer of Duke Rácht would not fall to such mediocre opponents,” Amadán spat and levelled his spear.
Eavan took a step to the right to block his view of the old man. The human still grovelled on the ground. His uselessness frustrated Eavan, but she put it aside to focus on the fight.
Amadán took a step forward but checked his rush when a horn-blast rang out over the village. Everyone looked to the north to see that the battle for Haven Outpost had ended and the Krytan soldiery was on the way. Eavan recognised Watchmaster Dellago at their front, his bloodied axe raised high. Two of the soldiers raised rifles and fired, but the wild motions of their raptor-mounts prevented any reliable accuracy.
Amadán scoffed and lowered his spear, “Courtiers, we take our leave!”
“You talk as if we would just let you walk away,” Eavan spat and raised her bow.
“The Nightmare Court does as it wishes,” Amadán said with a grin and looked to the dock, “Rolan, Nuck, silence the human.”
Eavan spun in space and took aim at the Courtiers on the dock, but she was too late. She saw the two raised bows after she heard the twang of their strings. The old human cried out as their arrows struck him, one in the arm and one in the shoulder, just below the collarbone.
“Granddad!” a young woman dashed from a waterfront building to the old man’s side. Eavan heard two more cracks as Dellago’s squad fired their rifles. One bullet splashed into the lake and another tore a chunk from the Nightmare Court’s homegrown boat.
Eavan spun and raised her bow at the Courtiers, “We won’t let you get away with this!”
The retainer Amadán chuckled, “Let it never be said that Amadán would be cowed by threats from Dreamers.”
Eavan let her arrow fly and again Amadán slapped it out of the air with a swipe of his spear. Keelyn made to charge, but several Courtiers on the dock readied weapons. Eavan readied another arrow, but Keelyn had to pull her aside when the two archers Amadán had commanded set their sights on her. Their arrows stuck into their cover with a thud .
The Courtiers leapt into their boat, with Amadán going last. He barked an order and they set off with poles, casting off from the dock. Eavan risked a shot, but her arrow struck the side of the boat.
“A blessed day to you as well, Lady Eavan!” Amadán called out and laughed.
“Hold your fire!” Dellago shouted as his soldiers reached the waterfront, “take aim, fire!”
The two rifles fired again and Eavan heard a cry of pain from the boat as one of the Courtiers fell to the deck, spurting sap.
Dellago nodded grimly and looked to his riflemen, “Fire at will until they’re out of range,” then to the rest of his soldiers, “Circle around the lake, follow them. If they’re too dangerous to approach, at least find out where they’re going.” The soldiers saluted and headed off at once, their raptors chirping with excitement.
“Granddad, please, it’s Kayla,” the young woman shouted. She had the old man’s head in her lap but he was pale and unresponsive.
“Eavan, they wanted something from that old man,” Keelyn said. Her eyes were constantly drawn to the boat on the lake, but they could not catch them now.
“I know,” Eavan said and hurried over. The woman that had called herself Kayla glanced at them then returned her attention to her grandfather.
“Kayla, was it?” Eavan said.
Kayla raised her eyes and looked straight past them, “Please, captain Dellago, it’s my granddad, he’s not responding.”
The watchcaptain glanced at Eavan and Keelyn as he strode past them and knelt at the old man’s side. His eyes had a grim look as he looked at the arrows jutting from his body.
“Petris is an old boy, I’m sure he’ll be fine after some treatment,” he said with more confidence in his tone than in his expression.
The village was beginning to emerge from hiding now that the danger was sailing away on the lake. Dellago looked to a pair of young men in fishermen’s garb, “You two, help us get Petris to Haven, we have an infirmary there!”
“Wait,” Keelyn called out and showed one of the arrows that had struck the post. The arrowhead glistened with a purple, viscous liquid.
“Poison,” Eavan said, “he won’t survive the trip.”
Kayla gasped and her face went pale. Dellago cursed.
Keelyn walked to Eavan’s side, “It’s grimtree sap.”
“We just have the one vial of antidote left,” Eavan said.
Kayla’s eyes went wide and she stared at Eavan, “Please, if you can do anything for my grandfather, please!”
Keelyn and Eavan shared a glance, before Eavan sighed.
“We need to know why they came here, and he’s our best lead,” she said and pulled a clay vial from her pack.
“Hold his head up,” Eavan said and knelt down. Dellago helped the struggling Kayla lift up her grandfather and Eavan poured the contents of the vial into his mouth.
“The sap acts quickly, but so does the antidote,” Keelyn said to Kayla and Dellago, “it should save him from the poison. We can’t help with the arrow wounds.”
“You’ve already done plenty,” Dellago said with a smile, “thank you.”
“In return, watchcaptain,” Eavan said and turned to Dellago, “we need to speak with this man, and we can’t wait for him to wake up in an infirmary.”
Dellago glanced at the blood seeping from the arrow-wounds, “It would be best to take him there as soon as possible.”
“Best case scenario, we just need to ask him a question or two,” Keelyn said and locked eyes with Dellago, “it’s important, captain.”
“We need to know what the Nightmare Court is planning to do next,” Eavan said.
Kayla started to speak but was interrupted when Petris groaned and stirred in her lap.
“What happened?” the old man said. His voice was weak. Kayla cried out with tears in her eyes and embraced her grandfather.
Dellago took one look at Kayla and spoke up, “You were shot, Petris, but you’re alive. We’ll get you treated.”
“We just have a few questions we need to ask you first,” Eavan said and leaned in close.
“What more do you sylvari want from this old man?” Petris replied. His voice had already grown stronger.
“We’re not the same as the ones from before,” Eavan said. Keelyn reached out to touch her shoulder and the two sylvari shared a glance.
“We want to stop them from doing this again,” Eavan said with a softer tone.
“Bit late for me,” Petris replied with the shadow of a smile, but it was soon extinguished by a gasp of pain.
“Granddad!” Kayla cried out.
“Petris,” Eavan said after the old man had had a moment to recover, “we need to know what the Nightmare Court wanted from you, why they came to you specifically.”
“How should I know what those thorny monsters were thinking?” Petris replied. He was pale.
“Please, Petris,” Dellago said, “you can be snarky when you’re better.”
The old man sighed and then looked at Eavan, “If you must know, they came asking about the Fotia Abbey. They wanted to know where to find it.”
“An abbey?” Keelyn said.
“Aye,” Petris replied, “an old one, where the royal family kept relics from before even the Guild Wars.”
“Why would they want to know that?” Eavan said, but Keelyn leaned in.
“Where is this Fotia Abbey, ser Petris?”
“It’s in Ascalon, close to Fort Ranik. Before the Searing, the fort was tasked with protecting it. It was somehow spared the attention of the charr, but I can’t say what’s happened to it since,” Petris said, then coughed and groaned in pain.
“Please, my grandfather needs a doctor,” Kayla said.
“How do we find it, ser Petris?” Keelyn said.
Petris was silent for a moment. Eavan did her best to be patient.
When he began to speak again, Petris spoke slowly and carefully, “South of Fort Ranik is a bridge that ends in the shadow of two mountains. The eastern one is Mount Belrus. A footpath starts under the bridge and runs along its northern shore, hidden by brush. That takes you to the Abbey’s front door.”
“Thank you, ser Petris, you have been a great help,” Keelyn said. Both sylvari stood up.
“But if it’s in Ascalon, then you can’t mean the Krytan royal family,” Dellago put in.
“Correct, Captain Dellago,” Petris said, “the Abbey holds relics from the Ascalonian royal family.” The old man was getting very pale.
Dellago nodded, “A bad time to ask such questions,” he turned to the two fishermen, “get Petris to Haven, and quickly.”
“Is that important, Watchcaptain Dellago?” Eavan said.
“I hope you don’t mean getting him to our infirmary,” Dellago said, then took a deep breath, “I can’t say for sure, but the Ascalonian royal family had some dangerous relics. I trust you know of Magdaer?”
Eavan nodded, “We learn of it in our Dream.”
“Magdaer is more like a nightmare. I would hope that sword was the greatest of their treasures, because then the worst has already happened.”
“The Foefire,” Keelyn supplied. Dellago nodded.
“If your murderous friends get hold of something like that, I don’t want to see the fallout,” Dellago said.
“We’ll make sure they don’t,” Eavan said as calmly as she could.
“We’re going to the Grove first thing, to report our findings,” Keelyn said, “and then we’ll chase them down with reinforcements.”
“Solid plan, if you get them,” Dellago said.
“The Pale Tree will understand,” Keelyn said.
“Once things quieten down here, I will take this to the royal court in Divinity’s Reach. If nothing else, Logan Thackeray will listen to me,” Dellago said.
“Thank you, Watchcaptain Dellago,” Keelyn said. Eavan nodded her assent.
“Least I can do, without you we would never have known of this attack until it would have been too late. Haven might even have fallen to the centaurs.”
Dellago indicated their raptors; the two mounts stood patiently off to the side, taking the moment of spare time to preen themselves.
“Take the raptors to your Grove. They know how to get home,” he finished.