A large brimmed hat and dark robe protected the soft pink skin of a tall asura, ears just barely peeking out from beneath the hat. All around the sun beat down mercilessly on the sands of the desert, and the asura, Spaak, cursed as his staff sank into the sand and unbalanced him. “Eternal Alchemy curse it all! When I get to the tree and find Lithrul, I’m going to tear his fucking foliage off!” Spaak spat venomously as he got up from his knees, stumbling back through the unfriendly dunes.
He shouldn’t even BE out here, he should be back in his lovely lab, doing experiments! But no, instead, the boss had sent him out to find that worthless, lazy, good for nothing sylvari! There was absolutely no inkling of worry in Spaak’s own heart, and he certainly hadn’t been the first one to notice when a week had passed and Lithrul still had yet to contact them back.
It wasn’t uncommon for the sylvari to do his own thing, and it was already a long trip to the tree, and so it hadn’t raised any alarms when he’d yet to return three days after his departure. But then two more days had passed, and Spaak felt uneasy. Lithrul might be an aloof asshole, but he was punctual and procedural (something Spaak had always secretly appreciated), and it was quite unheard of for him to go so long without a check in, even if just to say everything was the same. And he’d had the Bodyguard with him, she’d be up ahead within the illusion, guarding the tree.
Still, Spaak couldn’t hold back a sharp exhale of relief as he finally felt the pressure of the magic of the illusion hiding the tree. With a quick sweep of his hand, he pushed the fabric of it aside, stepping into the true landscape beyond the invisible wall. “Lithrul! You lazy leaf! The Boss is furious with you!” He shouted out, walking towards the tree. “And where is that range-...” His voice choked up in shock.
Blood stained the sand, old and bleeding out around the roots of the tree. There was a dagger in the sand, familiar, Spaak recognized it as the one Lithrul always carried. Spaak’s stomach turned as he ran along the trail of soiled sand, his hands clenching around his staff. The picture began to unfold as he ran by some broken arrows laying in the sand, scraps of green and purple fabric, the dropped stone of speech Lithrul used to contact them from away.
He left the illusion, the blood was thinning away out here where the sand was open to being scattered by the wind. A few steps out and Spaak could see a dark shape laying in the sand. By the time he reached Lithrul’s body, half submerged in the sand, his blood had begun running too cold with shock for him to feel anything but numb anger.
Sharp teeth clenched as Spaak reached down for Lithrul, but stopped short of touching the lifeless sylvari. Lithrul’s hand was outstretched, his ancient tome laying open just out of reach and covered in sand. Splatters of blood had dripped onto the pages.
Spaak picked the book up carefully, feeling the cold shock beginning to dislodge and welcoming the white hot anger that replaced it. He clutched the book to him, staring at Lithrul without seeing him. “We’ll avenge you, Lithrul. We are so close to our goal already, so close to ascending...the Boss will make sure we hunt whoever did this down and make them pay.”
He’d just arrived here, but it didn’t matter, he needed to go back to their headquarters immediately. He had to let them know what had happened, had to throw himself even more into their work. The tree could wait, after all, it shouldn’t be ready for another few moons still.
