FicWad

Disclaimer - wish it were mine, still isn't, I'll try again later and I'm still officially broke.

Chapter 2 - Ascalon Burns

It was nearly a full year after Malios had begun his training and he felt as though he was ready for the final testing. He had just returned to Ascalon City, from finally speaking with Mhenlo, (who himself had only recently returned from Rin) hoping to catch Mirrax and see if she was ready as well. When he was spotted by one of the wandering guards he was told that Mirrax was waiting for him out by the gate into the northlands.

After thanking the guard he hurried back out of the city and headed towards the gate. When he got there, however, the only person he could see was the normal day gate guard, Torin.

"Ah, Malios Halcyon," Torin began, "I need your help. A friend of mine, Ben Wolfson, hasn't returned from his patrol in the Northlands. His squad was attacked by charr on the road to Piken Square but he got separated. I don't think he's dead though, too stubborn to die. So, do you think you and your lady friend up there can find him for me?"

"Lady friend?" Malios inquired.

"I'm up here," came the shout from Mirrax from atop the wall, "I'll open the gate and then Whistler and I will join you on the other side."

The gate opened before he could respond so he walked through and waited for Mirrax to join him, wandering all the while who Whistler was. Well Whistler turned out to be Mirrax's very own Melandru's Stalker familiar, a very graceful and deadly feline hunter. The big cat, it appeared, took an instant liking to Malios, for which both of the humans were very relieved. Mirrax greeted Malios with a hug and he was very pleasantly surprised to find that the fishy smell that had seemed to be ingrained into her skin was completely gone.

Finding Ben Wolfson turned out to be easier than they thought it would be, they didn't even have that much trouble defeating the nearby charr. Malios rushed at the shaman with his hammer. The other charr attempted to surround him but were kept back by Whistler's sharp claws whilst being burnt my Mirrax's firestorm and fire arrows. Having Whistler at his back made Malios' job a lot easier, after dispatching the shaman and throwing a quick healing spell at Whistler he was able to methodically kill the distracted charr with help from Mirrax. While Whistler couldn't inflict much damage against the massive charr he was nimble enough to avoid most attacks and annoying enough to keep the charrs' attention off of Malios.

Before heading back to the gate Malios told the others he had something to do in Piken Square. Upon entering the former market square all eyes were drawn to the eight piles of stones along the far wall.

"What are those?" Mirrax asked.

"Those are the graves of eight Ascalon citizens," Ben Wolfson began as Malios headed towards the graves. Mirrax went to follow him until Ben placed a hand on her shoulder, "These people were here for market when a charr warband attacked. Luckily the attack occurred at the end of the day when the market was closing, otherwise it would have been much worse. As it was there were twenty five people here when the fifteen charr attacked, only five of those were Ascalon guards."

"So how is it that only eight people died?"

At this point Malios was kneeling between two of the graves with his hand on each and his head bowed.

"The guards were the first to die and the rest survived because of one man. I was here that day with my parents when Ooryl Halcyon, former Warmaster of the Vanguard, single-handedly killed nine charr with only the further loss of life of two people and himself. Only the warband leader escaped that day, after killing Warmaster Halcyon's wife, Nissa, Ooryl grievously wounded the charr before taking an arrow to the throat. The charr ranger limped off to lick his wounds; we burnt the other fourteen charr (the guards killed one each before they died) and buried the fallen before we abandoned Piken Square. There have been too many charr in the area to return the bodies to their families ever since then, so here they have remained. I assume that your friend knew one of the dead."

"You could say that. His name is Malios Halcyon."

****

While Ben Wolfson was telling the tale of the Last Market of Piken Square, Malios had found his parents graves. They were lying next to each other, as he knelt down with a hand on each grave; he looked between them and saw the sunlight glinting off of something. Moving a few stones revealed an old Long Sword in its scabbard. Malios drew the sword revealing a very sharp blade with the word 'HALCYON' engraved on it.

"Father, I hope you don't mind me using your sword as well as your armour. I'll be a member of the Vanguard soon; I think I'm ready for the final testing. Mother, I have missed your guidance, but Mhenlo has taught me well in your craft. Oh, and I hop you like her! I will avenge you and make you both proud! This I swear!"

Malios stood up, attaching his fathers' sword to his belt as he did so. As he approached Mirrax and Ben he heard Mirrax say his name.

"Are you Ooryl's son?" Ben asked.

"Yes, I am."

Both Malios and Mirrax were surprised when Ben dropped to his knees, "Then I owe you my life. The arrow that killed your mother was meant for me, she jumped in the way to save my life, and your father saved all of our lives. If you ever need my help you will have it!"

"There is no need for that my friend, if everyone who my father or mother saved were to do that then I'm sure that half of Ascalon would be on their knees. So please rise, and I thank you for the offer of aid."
"Did you find anything?" Mirrax asked as she took his hand.

"My father's sword, much better than my current one. I need to check it over before I use it though," Malios replied, "come on lets go, we need to see Torin."

The trek back to the gate was made in silence and, luckily, they didn't meet any charr patrols along the road. After leaving Ben to catch up with Torin, Mirrax and Malios began a slow walk back to Ascalon City.

"Mirrax, I feel as though its time to take the final testing. I fear there is little more that we need to learn to be ready for the Vanguard."

"I think you're right, but it's late so why don't we head back to my place for tonight and go see Sir Tydus in the morning," Mirrax suggested.

"Well, if you're sure."

Changing direction slightly, the pair headed for Wizard's Folly and the small fishing village of Griffinsford.

***

An hour later Malios was seated comfortably in front of the fire with a mug of ale and a hearty fish stew - both made by Thorin Beasttamer, Mirrax's father. The man himself had just retired for the evening leaving the pair alone to talk.

"Do you mind me asking a few questions?" Mirrax asked after they had finished eating. At his gesture to ask away she continued, "there's a few things that have struck me as strange over the year. First of all, I have never seen anyone take such good care of a weapon as you have, could you tell me why?"

"My father had a list of rules that all warriors should follow, among them was: Never sheathe a dirty weapon. He taught me the best way to clean a number of weapons when you have the time to care for them properly, and what to do at the end of a battle. Do you remember when we were in the catacombs and I broke that skeletons neck to use its tattered clothes - my father told me that if you don't have a rag to clean up then you use your dead enemies to do so. Those crypt fiends didn't stick around long enough so I had to find something else. In fact," he continued as he retrieved his fathers sword from the floor beside him, "it's obvious that someone cleaned this before they buried it with my father, otherwise the blade would be useless by now. I think I'll have to ask Ben who cleaned it the next time I see him, if that person is still alive I would like to thank them."

"Well, Ben is a member of the Vanguard so it won't be that hard to find him. Not only that, but I'm sure Sir Tydus would allow you to look for this person; he seemed to know your father better that he suggested. Do you remember that fight against the Grawl when your helm fell off; well I was thinking that a properly fitting helm should not have come off so easily. So I looked closely and noticed your father's name on the breast. How did you get that if your father died in Piken Square?"

"That was the first day in a long time that he hadn't worn this armour when out of the house, it is also the reason that I wasn't with him that day. Before heading of to market we took this to an armoury to have the leather lining replaced. I was so fascinated by what was going on around me that I asked to stay and watch. My parents allowed me to stay so long as I stayed out of trouble, and that was the last time I saw either of them. When we got the news from Piken Square the blacksmiths wife took me in for a few days until the monks of the Abbey could take me. I spent the next ten years learning all I could about the hammer and sword - the way of the warrior. I grew strong from working in the fields and built the physique to wear my fathers armour, but it will never be a perfect fit. I know that I will have to replace it soon as it is rather outdated now, but I will never get rid of it. I also learnt as much as I could about the charr, especially the ranger that killed my parents, so that I could have my revenge against that bastard and his whole species." Malios was breathing heavily by the end of his speech.

"It was Doomtooth wasn't it?"

"How'd you know that?"

"It just clicked, the way you reacted every time that name was mentioned, you look as though you could quite cheerfully rip all of the charr apart with your bare hands."

"Hmm, nice image," Malios grinned ferally, "however, I have an even better way to kill Doomtooth, one I'm hoping that thing will remember - the blade of a Halcyon will taste Vatlaaw Doomtooth's blood once again."

Mirrax was quite sure that the images going through his head were much more gruesome than what she could imagine. Quickly changing the subject she decided to ask him why he had taken monk as a secondary profession. His answer was simply to take the pressure off of any party healers. He figures that if he could heal himself then it's one less person for any healers to worry about and an extra healing spell should the main monk be overwhelmed. She then told him of her reasons for becoming an Elementalist - the stories she was told as a child. She was fascinated by the power she now had the potential to wield. She had been at Foible's Fair a few years ago when a few Ice Elementals, led by a Tower Golem, had attacked. A female Elementalist had thrown a bolt of lightning that spread to all of the enemies. The Ice elementals, being made of water, literally exploded and the Tower Golem was thrown backwards into a pile of crates. Suddenly a phoenix flew out from a male Elementalist straight towards the golem. The impact was tremendous as the crates exploded and the golem burned until there was nothing but ash left. This show of power left her speechless and she wanted to learn as much of this power as possible.

The pair spent the rest of the evening talking. At one point, when Malios was telling her about life with his parents in Ashford, Mirrax sat on his lap to give him a hug and dint move for the rest of the evening. There wasn't only talking that night, they shared their first proper kiss in front of that fire and they fell asleep in that position - Malios sitting down on a straw mat with his back against the wall, Mirrax sitting on his lap leaning against his chest and whistler curled up at his feet.

**

Malios Halcyon and Mirrax Beasttamer were now standing in front of Sir Tydus back in Ascalon City. The pair had gone there after sharing an, in Malios' opinion, uncomfortable breakfast with Mirrax's father, who had woken them from their slightly compromising position that morning. They were now being briefed on the test they were about to undertake. It would be a mock battle, four on four against another team of hopefuls, filling out their team would be a young healer named Alesia Baptiste and a fire mage called Orion Elek.

The battle turned out to be a two minute kill fest for Malios as he and Whistler would jump from opponent to opponent, swiftly followed by arrows from Mirrax and flares from Orion. At one point when the opposing team surrounded Malios, both Mirrax and Orion threw firestorms and Malios used the monk area of effect spell - symbol of wrath. The combination was a tremendous amount of damage as Malios prevented them from running away by knocking them down with his hammer. Whistler took a near fateful hit mid-battle from an opposing ranger and Mirrax did not have the time to revive him. Both Alesia and Orion were also taken out at one point, Orion by a warrior who had slipped past Malios and Alesia by an air Elementalist using lightning javelin which interrupted Alesia' s attempts at healing herself. Malios was able to take up some of the healing slack, but his lack of available energy prevented him from being able to fully heal Alesia and, subsequently, whilst resurrecting her he missed the warrior attacking Orion. The final score of the battle was twelve-two, which was an impressive victory. The winning team went to meet Sir Tydus and Prince Rurik.

"I meant to find you before the skirmish," Sir Tydus began, "but I can see you did not suffer for my absence. You fought well!"

"I must agree with Sir Tydus," the prince continued, "when I watched you fight, I knew I was witnessing the future pride of Ascalon."

"I've been keeping the prince informed of your deeds. After seeing your performance for himself, I believe he is convinced."

"I am. I have come to induct you into Ascalon's Vanguard." Here he stopped and looked all four in the eyes, his gaze lingering over Mirrax and Malios, "we are the elite protectors who guard our nation when threatened from within or without. As part of the Vanguard, you are needed for a critical mission before we can begin our offensive against the charr."

Sir Tydus took over the briefing now. "Our sentries spotted Vatlaaw Doomtooth and his warband in the old bunker out behind the citadel." Both Tydus and Rurik had to ignore the obvious feral look on Malios' face, the both knew how Ooryl Halcyon died and, while eager to avenge their friends death, they also knew that Malios had the right to take him on. "He must have found a passage that led here from the catacombs. Whatever his purpose, it can be no good. As soon as you're ready, the prince himself will accompany you to cast this charr fiend out of our lands."

Malios was off almost before Sir Tydus had finished talking, he led the way to the bunker as fast as he could in his cumbersome armour. The Grawl didn't put up much of a fight when confronted with Malios' furious hammer and Rurik's fiery blade. At the top of the bunker Vatlaaw Doomtooth was waiting with a few more grawl.

"He's mine!! Malios growled.

"Right. The rest of you let's take out these grawl and leave the charr to Malios," the prince ordered.

"But, your highness..." Alesia protested.

"Just do it!" Mirrax hissed, "and Orion, no firestorm."

Again the grawl were relatively easy to kill as they fell to Rurik's sword, Mirrax's bow and Orion's flare. Meanwhile, Malios had placed his hammer on the ground and drew his father's sword as he approached the charr ranger.

"Doomtooth!" he shouted, "do you remember this sword? It's taken your blood before. You do remember, don't you? Ten years ago in Pike Square, my father killed nine of you scum before you killed him and my mother. Now I will end your life, but I will be honourable." Malios drew his own sword and threw it to the charr, waited for a moment, then charged. He blocked the rangers first attack with his shield, then went into a frenzy of attacking, leaving himself open to the charrs' attacks but it didn't matter, his second swing removed the charrs' sword arm and the third cut a deep wound in its chest. Malios whirled to his left as the charr thrust the claws of its left hand at his head, and as he finished his turn he brought his sword down on the overextended charrs' neck and cut off its head. It was over, he had killed Vatlaaw Doomtooth, avenged his parent's deaths!

"Mal, you ok?" an obviously concerned Mirrax asked.

"Yeah, I'm good, better than I have been in a few years," he replied, and then continued in a whisper that she wasn't sure if she was supposed to hear, "except for last night."

"Malios," began Rurik, "there are many in these lands who have wanted to do what you have just done, myself included. Ooryl was a friend to many and a saviour to many more (be it their lives, their careers or more personal aspects). Twenty years ago, when I was a young boy, I was kidnapped by a guild from Kryta, which incidentally is why my father does not like Krytans, but I digress. Your father, a captain in the Vanguard at the time, led a platoon to rescue me. Sgt. Grast, Cpl. Tydus, Pvt. Thom, Healer Mhenlo and recruits Devona, Cynn, Aidan and Clark all followed your father. They tracked us for two days before ambushing the Krytans in the foothills of the Shiverpeaks. Your father killed the guild leader with only one working arm, as the other had been wounded. Upon our return to Rin my father promoted the whole unit, Ooryl became a Warmaster and retired not long after to begin a family. You, my friend, are proving to be just as good as him already. All of you have a bright future in the Vanguard. Come, we have an offensive to execute. I want you four to link up with the..."

Rurik was interrupted by a loud explosion coming from Ascalon City.

"What was that?" shouted Mirrax.

The next blast sent all five of them to the ground as they scrambled to the opening at the back of the bunker.

"Oh! NO!" screamed Alesia.

"Ascalon burns!" stated the prince as they could all see more fireballs raining down.

"It's the charr," shouted Malios, "I can see some of the launch sites, it's the whole length of the wall, and they are attacking all of Ascalon. We have to help those people."

"Yes, we must get as many as possible to this bunker. My father, King Adelbern, will be on his way already and Tydus will be getting the army ready for the offensive - they will be well protected where they are amassing."

"Prince Rurik, you must stay here, nothing can happen to you," Malios began and Rurik looked as though he was going to protest, "your highness, I will knock you out if I have to, you can court-martial me later. Alesia stay with him and treat the wounded as they come in, I can do enough to get them walking. Orion, head to Ashford, get the people here or in to the catacombs - here is better if you can get them here safely, the river will offer them some protection for now. Mirrax, head to Regent Valley and Wizard's Folly, get the people t Fort Ranik. Most of the fire is concentrated on the city but that wont last. Move! NOW!"

The three of them ran to the exit of the bunker where Orion and Mirrax decided the quickest way would be to cross the river, so they jumped in and began to swim across. Malios continued on foot in to Ascalon City. He healed those he could, got others to carry those he could not and directed them all to the bunker. There were, however, many dead including, to his horror, Gwen the beautiful little girl he had met outside the city a while ago. Also among the dead was Mirrax's father and he had died a hero. He had pushed a child out of the path of some falling debris but was crushed himself. By the time Malios had found and uncovered him the rain of fire had moved south towards Ashford there was no way that any spell could restore his life now and Malios dreaded having to tell Mirrax.

Malios returned to the bunker a few hours after the attack began and sought out the prince. Orion had managed to evacuate most of Ashford in time, but there was no word from Fort Ranik yet and there wouldn't be for a while as the attack was moving in that direction. The land between Ascalon and Regent Valley was still burning and the river had almost dried up.

"Your highness, I have a cunning plan," stated Malios, "we have to destroy these siege weapons. It may be too late for Ascalon now, but there are many survivors. I need to know where the army is amassed so we can take them out."

The prince agreed with his idea quickly wrote some orders on a spare piece of parchment and sealed it. He told Malios to give the parchment to Sir Tydus and told him where to go to find most of the army. So Malios set off to find the army of Ascalon, all the while wondering if Mirrax was ok, if she had survived the attack, and whether or not she knew her father was among the dead.



A.N. - so we are up to the point in the game where there is a two year gap, I will attempt to show some of that in the next chapter, don't know when it'll be out as I handwrite everything first at about 3 in the morning