Charli
Duskhaven. Gin spent enough time here when on call, that she had a permanent room at the boarding house. This time, however, she was here because the city was no longer safe. Overrun and chased out by feral worgen, Gin and the other Gilneans had fled to the coastal town as an antidote was concocted for those afflicted - Gin included. And while she did not agree with the methods being used to procure the partial cure, she was thankful for her return to humanity.
So Gin stood by, her nose wrinkling at the stench of burning fur and flesh, trying to block out the sounds of those being used to create the cure. But it was wrong, she’d helped free the prisoners of Gilneas so they could also have a chance to live. Not for this.
But she stood. There was enough turmoil in the country; if they could just make it through this, then Gin could retire and take Charli to the countryside, pretend this never happened. If she spoke out now, though...Gin was more afraid of what could happen to her wife than what they would do to her.
“Y’alright?”
“Mm?” Tobias. “Yeah...yeah, fine, Tobi. Sense o’ smell an’ ‘earin’s a lil’ stronger than ‘m used ta...pyres’re gettin’ t’me.”
“Go have a bit of a lie down, then. Y’look half dead, Gin.”
Gin waved him off, but nodded in agreement, making her way towards the boarding house for the night. Tobias was right, he was usually right. Besides, having a Royal Guard nodding off at her post was not ideal.
But the peaceful slumber with her wife wouldn’t last. The ground rumbled beneath them as Gin and the others darted out of the boarding house, making sure everyone got out before looked to the tavern that had been set up as Krennan Aranas’ makeshift lab. She stared at the building for a moment as it evacuated before turning and shoving Charlize towards the rest of the evacuating town.
“Go! Ah’ll be fine, jus’ go with th’res’ o’ ‘em, please? Ah’ll met up with ya.”
“Ginny…”
“Ah’ll be fine… ‘m always fine. Now jus’ go!” With a final push towards another guard, Gin grabbed Tobias’ arm as she ran towards the tavern, she was going to make it right if it was the last thing she did.
As promised, Gin and Tobias reunited with the rest of the refugees of Duskhaven, awaiting carriages to Stormglen as they continued their evacuation of the country. Still damp from nearly drowning in what used to be Duskhaven, Gin and Tobias entered the Manor with the last few stragglers, Charlize running up to the pair.
“Y’smell like wet dog,” the young witch muttered against her wife’s neck, still embracing her.
“Love ya, too.” Gin chuckled, embracing her as well. “An’ get used ta it.”
“Last carriages are leaving! C’mon!”
Gin, looked up, grabbing her wife’s hand as they ran to the waiting carriages. Almost over, this ordeal had to be almost over. Tobias scrambled on top of the carriage, Gin tossing a rifle up to him before she’d climb in the seat next to the driver, signaling everyone was ready. It should have been a relatively easy ride to Stormglen; but when your country is under attack from the inside, the outside, and the underside; “easy” is no longer word in your vocabulary.
Her vision was hazy as she lifted herself from the wreckage.
Wot ‘appened?
Tobi had jumped off the carriage before it had been hit, and was now running up towards it. His mouth was moving, but Gin couldn’t make out words.
Charli…?
She blinked several times as Tobi’s voice filtered in, yelling that she needed to move, “MOVE, DAMMIT!”
“Charli!”
Gin finally jumped up, surveying the wreckage. The carriage driver was dead; a large splinter protruding from his chest; the horses had taken off, and a few of the other passengers had survived. Gin shouted at her captain to get them to safety before she saw the approaching Forsaken shambling towards them. There were only a few, they must have been the last hold out, hoping to at least catch some of the Gilneans off guard.
Gin glanced up the road, towards the similar wreckage of other carriages. One thing she could say for the Forsaken: they were persistent little buggers, even if the resident ogres had taken out a large chunk of their troops.
The ranger grabbed for an arrow in her quiver before realizing that they’d all fallen out as she was thrown from her seat, opting for the revolver on her hip, instead. She fired three times before the chamber clicked empty, suddenly remembering she’d used it as they were running out of Gilneas City. At least she’d managed to take one down.
“Take the civilians an’ go, Livingston! Jus’ bloody run!” One of the two remaining Forsaken took off after the captain and those fleeing with him, but the shot from his rifle rang out once, and another shot followed shortly after. If they could make it safely past the ogres, now, they’d be fine.
Gin, however, may not be. The final Forsaken soldier advanced, somehow grinning at her with no jaw. Gin readied herself for a fight, snarling and baring her teeth before a branch shot up from the ground, impaling him. Vines followed, wrapping around his wrists and legs, pulling him to the ground and ripping him apart.
“You l-leave her al-alone.” The pained voice of her wife sounded from somewhere on the ground, Gin letting out a strained cry as she noticed the wound in her wife’s stomach.
“Charli, oh...oh ‘s no’ tha’ bad...ah can...can carry ya, yeah? Y-yeh’ll pull through. Yer an Ash...we always p-pull through.”
The other woman shook her head weakly as Gin held her in her arms. “Only b-by marriage. An’ ‘m not s-sure th-that was...legally bindin’. Superiors...didn’ like it m-much.”
“They can piss right the fuck off,” Gin muttered, burying her face in Charli’s hair. “Please don’ leave me, Charli. Ah can’...ah can’ do this without ya.”
The other woman didn’t answer, she’d taken her final ragged breath as Gin held her. The guard finally let herself break down there in the middle of the wreckage. She hadn’t mourned when the city fell, when the earth swallowed part of her homeland, nor had she mourned when she’d been turned into a monster. But this...Charli was the only bright light in the dreary country of Gilneas, shining through the mists and rain that seemed to frequent it.
And it had been snuffed out.