There and Back - Chapter 110

[elyssacousland]

Chapter One Hundred Ten: Engagement

It was a miserable afternoon, overall, I had to admit. I hated not having anything resembling control, I hated feeling useless. I wanted to at least be down there swinging my daggers and using my darkspawn invisibility to help the armies. Cailan clearly felt the same, and the two of us silently commiserated every time our gazes met.

Messengers kept arriving every few minutes, delivering messages before running off with orders. A second wave of darkspawn joined the first, but two more of our battalions had entered the fray as well, and the army was holding its own. The Grey Wardens - we didn’t know which group - had killed a general and a massive collection of ogres. There was no news on casualties among the Wardens. The Archdemon had finally been seen, but flying high over the battle, not close enough even for the combined range of the mages. It was a frightening sight, its hide a malevolent burgundy-purple, purple flames jetting from its mouth as it roared overhead, and then disappeared into the clouds.

The golems had entered the fight, and had decimated a large group of darkspawn moving to flank one of the battalions.

The losses were light as these things go, apparently, but it was still staggering to me. Hundreds of soldiers had perished, and hundreds more would before this was over. It was all I could do not to cower down into a ball and cover my ears, crying and rocking in grief.

The fight carried on into the evening; torches had been lit around the battalions as best as they could, and while our visibility from the cliff was limited, apparently they could see fine down below. The battalions had spread out and lost some of their cohesion, small knots of humans, dwarves, and elves fighting back-to-back against the horde, but they continued to hold their own.

Off to my right, a blaze of green light lit the sky, and an unexpected battalion of soldiers smashed into the side of the horde, taking everyone by surprise and giving those who had been fighting for hours a much-needed break. The nobles on the cliff all started talking at once, no one sure where the battalion had come from.

And then a large, nondescript brown bird landed in the middle of the clearing near the map table, and when the brief flare of magic cleared, one of the Dalish mages Morrigan had taught to shape-change was standing there, wearing minimal clothing - apparently it was difficult to shapeshift while wearing a lot. I recognised the mage as one of those who’d been sent with Teagan to protect Redcliffe.

“What are you doing here?” Cailan practically shouted.

The mage, a strikingly severe looking elf with black hair, turned to him with an arrogant smirk. “If his Majesty does not wish a report, I can certainly leave. I have no doubt my skills can be better used elsewhere.”

Cailan winced and modulated his tone. “That’s not what I meant. You’re from Bann Teagan’s battalion, yes? Why are you all here? You’re supposed to be protecting Redcliffe.”

“The darkspawn never came. We waited, and I scouted very thoroughly. There are no darkspawn anywhere near Redcliffe, your Majesty. Bann Teagan thought we could be more use here than protecting the village from a non-existent threat.”

Cailan and I exchanged worried glances, and the mage became defensive. “Believe me-“

I cut her off. “We are not doubting your skills, trust me. What we’re feeling isn’t disbelief, but worry - we know a large group of darkspawn headed west. If they didn’t go to Redcliffe, where did they go?”

“I couldn’t say.” The mage sniffed. “May I rejoin my battalion?”

Cailan nodded, his mind clearly already having moved on from the arrogant mage. “Send out as many scouts as we can spare. Find those darkspawn.”

“Do you think they’re heading for Denerim?” I wondered aloud.

“Let them,” one of the nobles I didn’t recognise laughed. “We evacuated the city days ago. They can do some damage to buildings, but they’ll find nothing else for them there.”

Cailan, however, was staring at the map as if he could divine the answers using his glare alone. He ignored our speculation, running his fingers over the edges of the parchment thoughtfully. The nobles talked amongst themselves, seemingly hopeful that the darkspawn had simply gotten lost and could be mopped up once the battle was over. I wasn’t convinced, and from his expression, neither was Cailan. He began tracing the route the darkspawn had taken heading west, muttering to himself under his breath.

And then I turned to him in horror, just as his fingers returned to our current location, the cliff overlooking the main part of the battle. The tingling in the back of my mind that indicated the proximity to the horde had changed, not only in size, but direction. Whereas earlier, the entirety of the horde I could sense was to the south, a large group had just appeared on my Grey Warden radar - to the north. There were never supposed to be darkspawn north of the scouting lines!

Cailan had come to the same conclusion, and I saw his skin go ashen as he realised the only way for a group that large to disappear was to separate into small bands, circle around, and come at us from a different direction - a direction we had absolutely no protection from.

Our doom approached us from the north.

The cliff I stood on, amidst few friendly faces and a gaggle of noble fools, was both a benefit and a curse. One the one hand, we could not be attacked from the rear by a second set of darkspawn. However, that came with the drawback of not having anywhere to retreat to. If we were overwhelmed by the darkspawn we had clearly underestimated, we had nowhere to run.

“Cailan, they’re coming,” I whispered, hoping no one would notice. Hoping he’d believe me, even not knowing I was a Grey Warden. Had Duncan told him I had special skills with regards to the darkspawn?

“How long?” He seemed to be taking me seriously, at least.

I considered. They were about as far away as the horde to the south had been when they first engaged. How long would it take darkspawn to cover that distance? “A few minutes. Maybe half an hour if they’re being cautious and scouting ahead.”

Cailan, while pulling on his gauntlets and helm, appeared to be assessing the crowd around us to determine who would be useful in a fight. He cleared his throat loudly, calling attention to himself, and the whispering stopped; the majority had no idea what danger approached us, and had been gossiping while I had been struggling to contain my panic.

Cailan hastily called Sereda, Eamon, Lanaya, Irving, Greagoir, a small handful of nobles, most of whom I didn’t know, and every messenger, mage, and scout we had into a nearby tent, dragging me with him by the arm. Prince followed me, and I gripped one of the spikes on his ridiculous armour lightly, thankful for the metal-lined leather that prevented me from slicing my hand on the sharpened point. He instructed one of those remaining outside to make sure every torch we could find or make was lit, leaving a confused nobleman to carry through with his orders.

“The missing darkspawn who we believed would attack Redcliffe are coming here.” The news was ominous enough to earn a complete hush in the small group that surrounded us.

“How can you be sure?” I didn’t recognise the dwarf, someone Sereda had brought with her to the meeting.

Cailan met my eyes, and I shook my head slightly. “You’ll have to trust me,” he replied, turning away from me. “I need you messengers to go now - run, as fast as you can. Those who can fly, do. The nearest battalion that might be able to render aid is southeast, past the hill.” Two mages and a handful of men in light leathers exited the tent at a run, faces pale and sweaty with fear. Cailan waited for them to be gone, and turned back to the rest. “What forces can we muster until aid arrives? We must hold out until they get here.”

They had a brief discussion - each noble had a handful of men-at-arms, we had a couple of circle mages, a dozen or so templars, a few Dalish archers, and the leaders themselves. I briefly thanked the Maker the nobles were dwarven and Fereldan, not Orlesian - at least most of them knew how to fight, and the Dalish Keepers were all mages, some offensive and some better at healing. All told, we had perhaps a hundred fifty combatants. And I couldn’t tell the size of the approaching horde, but from the reports of the group we expected to head to Redcliffe, we were outnumbered. Badly.

I barely listened to the conversation as Cailan quickly instructed everyone to have their men geared up and pulled into ranks north of the camp. I was trying to assess the size of the horde, and how fast they were moving, and didn’t even notice that the tent had emptied out until Cailan touched my shoulder.

“You alright?”

I jumped, startled, and then nodded with a shaky laugh. “Fantastic. What could possibly go wrong?”

He smirked, then slumped. “I need you to stay up here, Sierra.”

I looked at him, frowning. “What-?”

He interrupted me. “Alistair will kill me if anything happens to you.”

“And Ferelden will be thrust back into a civil war if anything happens to you! We’re going to need every capable fighter we have if we want to survive this, Cailan. I’ll not sit up here and wait for the horde to break through if I can improve our odds any. Besides, the darkspawn can’t see me. I’m in less danger than anyone else on this god-forsaken hill.”

“Why is that, again?”

I rolled my eyes. “Later. Could we focus on the approaching horde?”

He laughed. “Maker, it’s refreshing talking to someone who doesn’t treat me differently than everyone else.”

“Cailan!” I was exasperated. “Now isn’t the time! We need to get out there and get ready. And I need to be at the front lines. I can hopefully give us some warning, and a slight advantage if there are any emissaries. Can you put the templars with me? They might not be strong enough for my abilities individually, but I have an idea.”

Cailan nodded, and we left the tent. I weaved my way through frantic men and women throwing on armour and trying to limber up before the battle, Cailan on my heels, until we reached the area where the few soldiers we had were assembling. The King began shouting orders for mages, archers, and melee fighters, while I knelt in front of the mabari following me.

“Prince, go to Aedan.” He whined, and I rubbed his ear gently. “I know, but where I’m going, you can’t help. I’ll be fine - I’m in more danger with you than without.” I kissed his nose. “Give him that kiss for me, okay?”

He barked and nipped playfully at my fingers, then with a last lick, he brushed against me and took off at a run, nose to the ground looking for Aedan’s scent. I turned with a mournful sigh and approached Greagoir.

“Knight Commander?”

“What?” His irritated voice moderated when he saw me, helmet in hand. Now he has to be polite to me, I suppose. “Yes, my Lady?”

I’d already given him crap for calling me ‘highness’, so I figured I’d have to live with being a lady for a while, anyway. “I was hoping you and your men would stay with me. There are likely to be at least a handful of emissaries with this group, and with your help, we may be able to neutralise them before they get into the fight.”

“Most of my men don’t have your sort of range, my lady. Half of them can only smite someone within their sword’s reach.”

“I know. But have you been working with them, practicing sharing and holding mana, like I taught you?” He nodded. “I propose that I steal the mana of the emissaries, and then hand it off. I can only keep two, or maybe three, silenced completely at a time if I’m on my own, but if I have someone to take the burden from me as I grab them, I can keep going.”

“Can’t you just explode them, like you claimed you did at Ostagar?”

“I’ve never learned to control that. Not enough opportunities for practice! I’d rather we had a plan. Even if you leave a couple of men. Please? I won’t be able to manage alone.”

“And who will be watching the mages?” He had the audacity to glare in the direction of Lanaya and the other Dalish Keepers, and I groaned and face-palmed.

“I think we can trust them not to turn on us in the middle of a life-threatening battle, don’t you? And if one of them becomes an abomination, we’ll just back off and let it kill as many darkspawn as it can before they take it down.”

He grimaced at me, but couldn’t really debate my point. Finally, he nodded and assigned me three of the strongest templars in the bunch. I had them gather around as Greagoir stalked towards Irving with a completely irritated expression.

“Alright, fellas, here’s how it’s going to work. You all know how to hold mana?” They nodded, their helmets interfering with me becoming familiar with them. Creepy. “Any of you manage to form a shield yet?” They shook their heads. “Alright. I’ll pull the mana when they get close enough. Then one at a time, I’ll hand off as much as you can hold. Once the emissaries are disabled, I’ll take it back and use it for shields until we’re all empty again. Alright? And no running off, no engaging in the fight unless we’re directly threatened. I know you are told how much damage an unrestrained mage can do - these emissaries are the strongest mages you’ve ever encountered, and there isn’t even the smallest chance they mean well. Our job will be the most important of this battle. Understood?”

They all agreed, and I brought them with me to stand a few ranks back from the front line. I passed Cailan, and nodded gravely when I caught his eye. I briefly felt for the darkspawn, realising they were almost upon us. I held out two fingers towards Cailan, and he acknowledged it with a sigh.

He shouted some orders, and the soldiers drew their weapons. The archers stood at the ready, arrows nocked but bows not drawn - no point in wasting their strength when they couldn’t yet see what they were shooting.

The one thing that may have helped us was the thick forest at the base of the hill; the darkspawn wouldn’t be able to swarm us as a unit, because they’d have to weave through the trees. It was probably also what bought us the time to get ready. We were also up the hill, but it wasn’t steep enough to be much of an advantage.

Drawing my daggers, surrounded by three hulking men in templar armour, each with a hand on one of my shoulders, I slapped my helmet down on my head and concentrated on sensing magic in front of us, and ignoring the aura behind me from our own group of mages.

The first rank of darkspawn appeared through the trees, mostly genlocks, and the archers began firing. A giant fireball slammed into the centre of the line, and lit a swath of trees on fire. I looked over to see Irving standing in a circle with some of the other mages, chanting and holding his staff upright. Smaller bolts of elemental energy streaked past as well, and another clump of genlocks fell to the ground, seizing, as they were struck by lightning.

And then I could feel the first greasy aura of darkspawn magic, and I reached out and grabbed it, interrupting whatever the emissary had been about to do. I was jostled as the army around me engaged the darkspawn, but quickly regained my equilibrium, transferring the mana I held to the first templar.

It was mind-numbing work, ignoring the clashing of steel and the screams around me, pushing out my senses, finding magic, and taking it; it was immediately clear to me that, while the three templars with me were the strongest of those with us on the hill, they were nowhere near as resistant to magic as I. Each one could hold barely more than one emissary’s mana, and if I tried to give them more than they could take, they became lightheaded and woozy - one even developed a nosebleed, a thin trickle of blood running out under his helmet. So I disabled one emissary after another, and by the time I had half-a-dozen under control, our abilities were tapped.

Instructing the three to stay put, I changed tactics, racing out past the soldiers holding the darkspawn back, avoiding burning trees and slipping through gaps between darkspawn, looking for the emissaries I’d already disabled. Fireballs had started being thrown at our overwhelmed troops - I didn’t have much time.

It was dark, the only light coming from the fires, though I found I could navigate somewhat by following the taint. I found the first emissary, slitting his throat and releasing some of the pressure in my head, so I turned and grabbed the mana of the one who’d just cast the fireball. The pattern continued, and I worked my way through the woods, stabbing hurlocks and genlocks who presented convenient targets as I went.

I wended my way back towards our forces when I couldn’t find any more emissaries to kill. My daggers were dripping with darkspawn blood, and I was sure I had splashes across my armour, but I was unharmed. I left the woods and paused, awestruck, as I watched the battle unfold.

The soldiers, illuminated by harsh torchlight, fought like their lives depended on it - which they did, if we were being honest - and they each cut down multiple darkspawn for every man we lost. The nobles, identifiable in their flashier, though still functional armour, were a sight to behold, cleaving and slashing at darkspawn.

Even knowing Aedan, despite playing the game as often as I had, I had entirely underestimated the military prowess of the Fereldan and dwarven nobility as a whole. They may be foolish nobles, but that’s not all they are. I watched Cailan decapitate a hurlock alpha with his massive great sword, while some nobleman at his back slid his longsword into a vulnerable point in a genlock’s armour and kicked the corpse away to keep fighting. They were all impressive, the dwarves favouring axes, the humans mainly carrying swords, and they fought almost as well as the Grey Wardens I was used to fighting beside. But it still wasn’t going to be enough - despite their obvious skill, the greater numbers of the darkspawn were wearing them down.

That battalion better get here soon.

I spotted Irving and the other mages, conserving mana and concentrating on healing, no longer able to avoid friendly fire if they threw more offensive spells. A group of templars defended them from darkspawn that managed to break through to where they were standing.

I briefly looked for my three-templar group, unsurprised not to find them where I’d left them. I sighed and dove back into the fray, taking out a couple of genlocks and a shriek as I made my way towards Cailan.

The two of us fought side-by-side, protecting each other, as an endless stream of darkspawn came pouring out of the woods. Not being able to see me protecting Cailan’s back, the ‘spawn must have assumed he was a terrible fighter, leaving his back so exposed; it made it easy for me to find gaps in their armour or slit throats when they got cocky. The worst part was periodically getting coated in the spray off Cailan’s blade; I hoped I wouldn’t have to dispose of my new armour, if I survived, because I was pretty sure that there wasn’t enough money in Thedas to convince Paider to make me another set.

My arms were getting tired, the fight dragging on longer than any battle I’d been in before, when suddenly I froze, almost getting Cailan killed as I stared off into the woods, unseeing. He spun, decapitated the hurlock I’d completely missed, and dragged me back a few steps into relative safety.

“Sierra?”

I shook myself and focused on him. “Emissary. Or something. There’s magic, like I’ve never felt before. I…” I trailed off, thinking desperately. Nothing I’d encountered before had an aura this large, that…malignant. I shuddered. It’s so much larger…do ogres have emissaries? Is that a thing?

Something about that thought triggered a half-formed idea in my mind. Ogres…emissaries…when had I seen ogres and emissaries? And then it occurred to me.

“Son of a bitch! It’s the general.”

“What?”

“One of the Archdemon’s generals, the ones who help keep the horde organised…one of them is a mage. A really, really, nasty mage. And he’s almost here.”

Cailan blanched. “Can you…do your templar thing?”

“I don’t know. He’s much more powerful than the others. And I can’t transfer mana in the middle of taking it even if I had someone to share it with.”

Cailan looked confused, and I shook my head in frustration. “Never mind. I’ll see what I can do.”

I stepped towards the woods, needing to be slightly closer to the source of all of that magic. Cailan ended up back-to-back with one of the dwarves, being swarmed as soon as I stepped away, but the darkspawn just went around me, as usual.

And then I saw the general step into our clearing. He was a hurlock, that much was clear, but he was a good foot taller than the largest alpha I’d ever seen, and he wore a set of impressive, matching armour - a far cry from the scavenged garbage most of the darkspawn wore. He was carrying an enormous axe, instead of a staff, but he gestured with it and a bolt of lightning shot out towards our forces. I used the last of the mana I held to shield Cailan; the lightning arced around him and struck the dwarf beside him, who fell to the ground, twitching but alive. I turned back to see a huge wave of darkspawn move forward, seemingly at the general’s command. There were several emissaries scattered between the other darkspawn, and one at a time, they began casting.

I needed to interrupt the general, but I couldn’t leave so many other emissaries to attack Cailan’s position either. I’d never seen so many emissaries together; regardless of the size of the feint, there were far more than we should have expected. I snuck through the oncoming darkspawn, stealing mana and slitting the throat of the first emissary I encountered. It screamed and fell, and I ducked just in time to miss being decapitated by a nearby alpha. The alpha’s axe became buried in the skull of a genlock, to my amusement; I dodged away as three more darkspawn attacked the spot I’d just been standing in, and I paused, gaping.

I finally understood: this was a darkspawn hunting party - and they were hunting me.

I changed my tactics, stealing the mana of an emissary farther away, and stabbing a nearby one with my daggers before dropping to the ground and rolling away from the resulting attacks. More darkspawn died accidentally as they all tried to find me, but while I enjoyed their bad luck, I knew it wouldn’t last. I wasn’t going to be able to keep it up forever. I was fast, but my main advantage had always been surprise, and I’d lost it.

Instead, I crept to one side and grabbed the mana of the first emissary I saw, too far away for any of the darkspawn to guess my location and attack me. I could feel the pressure in my head - I was holding the entire mana pools of two emissaries, and I was close to my limit. I ignored it, closing my eyes and reaching out again for the third.

I felt like my head would explode; it was too much. But as I opened my eyes and glanced around, I saw two more emissaries start casting. Cailan’s shield had long worn off, and even if I replaced it, it wasn’t going to be enough to save him from two mages and a general trying to kill him. He was fighting desperately now, so many of those surrounding him having died to protect him.

I took a deep breath and reached out once more.