Hey guys, so this is my second Dragon Age fic, but the first I've published on here. I'm also working on a Male Noble Origin for Dragon Age:Origins.
Anyhow, I did a story like this before Mass Effect 3 came out, and so this is a version of that for Dragon Age: Inquisition.
The story takes place after the Breach in the Veil in the city of Highever, which many of you may remember from Dragon Age: Origins.
The sky was black over Highever, occasionally lit by the flaming missiles that slammed into the city. The breach that had brought this conflict into existence could be seen even from here, such was its size.
"Men, I know you have no intention of dying tonight." Lord-Commander Revelyn of the city watch yelled. He walked back and forth in front of his men, the flames of the burning buildings reflected in his silverite armor. His two-handed dragonsteel greatsword Keeper was in his hands. Beside him, Sable and Garun, the two Grey Wardens assigned to Highever, listened to his speech grimly. Sable, an elf with long brown hair, gripped her dragaonthorn staff tightly. She wore a set of blue-grey battle armor and her staff had an emerald set in one end and a short blade in the other. Garun on the other hand wore whitesteel splintmail and had a Grey Warden shield slung over his back. His silverite longsword, Greybite, was in its scabbard, and he had his crossbow in his arms.
"The truth is, some of you will die tonight. Most of you will die tonight. It's too late to run away, and we know the Venatori will not accept our surrender. I've never fought with braver men then you, and it shames me that tonight will be the last night I get the chance to do so." Revelyn stabbed his sword into the ground and removed his helmet, looking each and every one of his men in the eye. The pounding at the main gate behind him and the Grey Wardens grew louder.
"If we are to die, then I have one last command for you!" He put his helmet back on and lifted his sword and nodded to Sable. She raised an arm, and his greatsword blade lit up like a beacon.
"Do not cross into the Fade with a clean sword!" The men of the city watch cheered and slammed their swords against their shields and pounded their spears against the ground.
"Those gates won't last much longer." Garun murmured. Suddenly, there was a scream from the battlements above them and a guardsman landed at his feet. Garun knelt down by the man. His face was heavily swollen and burnt.
"They've…got wyvern scaling the…" The man's eyes rolled up into his skull and he breathed his last. Revelyn turned to the other watchmen.
"For Highever!" He roared. Garun and Sable ran up the battlement stairs, arriving in time to see one of the large purple beasts stick its head up over the battlements. Roaring, Garun fired a bolt into its right eye. The creature screamed and recoiled. Sable used her magic to conjure a lightning stream in her hands and fired it at the beast. The wyvern lost its grip on the wall and fell, crushing a dozen Venatori when it hit the ground.
Below them, the main gates were smashed open by the Venatori battering ram. "Charge!" Revelyn roared, running towards the first Venatori soldiers that entered. The Cousland forces were right behind him, hacking away at the enemies that dared to enter their city. Revelyn impaled a man with his flaming sword and swung his blade in great arcs of death.
Garun looked at Sable and she nodded. Backing up a few feet, he took a running leap towards the edge of the wall. Just as his foot left the stone, Sable fired a burst of energy at him, slowing his descent but not his actions.
Garun fired his crossbow as he fell, taking out one, then two, then three, and finally four soldiers before he reached the ground. Loading it again, he fired another bolt into the throat of a charging soldier and impaled another with the bow tip, leaving the weapon embedded in his head and drawing Greybite. Sable floated down beside him, staff at the ready.
Garun stabbed a man through the chest, before slicing through the throat of another. Several Venatori mages conjured creatures from the trees to fight for them. Sable hurled a fireball at them, incinerating several. She began dueling with a mage and left Garun's side, disappearing into the chaos of the battle.
At one point, Garun found himself fighting side-by-side with Revelyn, and at another point, with Teyrn Fergus Cousland. The Teyrn was locking blades with a Venatori berserker when another wielding a battleaxe charged from behind him. Garun, fighting two opponents with Greybite and a stolen Venatori saw-like sword, ran one of them through with Greybite and then hurled the other sword at the axe-wielding soldier. He stumbled and fell, the blade having skewered him through his heart. Fergus managed to unlock blades with his opponent and cut him down. He turned to see the fallen Venatori and nodded his thanks to Garun before charging off, several Cousland guards in tow.
A field commander charged Garun. With shield in one hand and sword in the other, Garun backed into an alleyway away from the main fighting and prepared himself. Like the other Venatori, the man didn't have a full-body armor set, and his upper arms, navel, and thighs were exposed. His helmet had a sharp curved horn at the front like a rhino. He wielded an impressive-looking half-moon battle-axe and two swords strapped across his back.
"Hello ugly…" Garun grunted. The Venatori roared and swung his axe blade. Garun yelped and ducked, narrowly missing the swing that would have taken his head off. He rolled forward, slicing Greybite into the man's left thigh. The Venatori screamed and smashed him in the head with the butt of his axe so hard that Garun's helmet flew off. Blood trickled into his vision and he wiped it away. The Venatori kicked him in the chest and he rolled to the side, clutching his stomach. Grunting, the man removed Greybite and tossed it behind him, away from Garun.
Suddenly weaponless, Garun had barely enough time to bring up his shield in both hands to block the next downward swing with the battleaxe. That said, it hit with enough force to force him into the mud.
A Cousland soldier, having seen the duel, ran into the alleyway to help Garun. The Venatori swung around and beheaded him as he charged. That gave Garun enough time to run forward and slam his shield into the Venatori. The large man didn't budge, and kicked him again, throwing him into the wall. Two more soldiers ran into the alley. Garun, briefly respited, stood up. Greybite was out of reach, but the first soldier's single-bladed axe was next to him. Grabbing it, he charged the Venatori, who had skewered one soldier with his axe while the other tried to flank him. The soldier stabbed with his sword, cutting through the man's upper right arm. Garun swung the axe, connecting with the unprotected lower left side of the torso. The axe sliced through flesh and stopped at the rib. The Venatori screamed and dropped his axe. Garun let go of his weapon and dived aside, grabbing Greybite as he scurried away. The Venatori ripped the axe out of his side and flung it at the second Cousland soldier with such force that it cut through his helmet and buried in his face.
Garun charged again, aiming at the knee of the leg he had wounded earlier. He managed a hit, but the Venatori punched him and drew his swords. However, the wounds inflicted on him were taking their toll. He swung clumsily at Garun, but the Grey Warden backed away and sliced that hand off. The Venatori dropped to his knees. Garun, blade aimed forward, ran at him and stabbed him through the throat. The Venatori collapsed to the ground.
Panting, Garun collected his shield and walked over to his helmet, only to find it dented and torn almost completely in two. He discarded the useless piece of armor and ran back out into the battle.
Sometime later, Garun found himself inside the city's Chantry. Sable was with two other mages, healing soldiers and casting protective spells. The battle was not going well. The main defenders had retreated into Castle Cousland, with Fergus Cousland now preparing to lead a counter-attack, though with every minute that went by, that seemed less and less likely.
The doors shook as the Venatori tried to get in.
"How many men here are in fighting shape?" Garun asked. Sable looked at him. Her hood was tattered, and her face had been scratched up by an enemy Mabari. She left the man whose stump of a left forearm she was cauterizing. He whimpered and drifted in and out of consciousness. The others were in worse shape. One had his entire face bandaged from the burns of an enemy inferno. Another bit down on his belt as a sister of the Chantry pulled out an arrow that had gone through his leg. There were five other arrows in there as well.
"Five out of fourteen." There were also seven civilians trapped in here. The Revered Mother of the Chantry stood with them, whispering prayers.
"Then we make our stand here." He motioned to two of the soldiers "Take the civilians and the wounded into the Revered Mother's study and lock the doors after you. Blockade them with whatever furniture you can. There should be a secret passageway from there to Castle Cousland. We'll buy you the time you need to open it and get there."
The two men nodded and ushered the fearful citizens into the room before carrying the stretchers of wounded men after them. The Revered Mother was the last one in, and she stared at Garun and the others. "May the Maker watch over you." She said as the doors closed.
"I damn well hope he is." Garun murmured. The doors shook again, and then there was a green light that shone through them. There was a clicking noise; the doors were now unlocked.
"Guess this is it." Garun said, twirling Greybite. Sable and the two mages readied attack spells. The other three soldiers formed a line with Garun.
"Nothing gets past us." Garun ordered. The doors opened slowly.
"Nothing gets past us!" Venatori charged into the room, followed by strange magical creatures.
"Nothing shall pass!" Sable and the other mages let loose their attacks. Streams of fire flew from their hands, over the heads of Garun and the others, forming a wall of fire in front of the door. Several Venatori stumbled out of the inferno, burning and screaming. Suddenly, an arrow flew through the blaze and felled a mage, breaking the wall. The Venatori rushed through the gap.
"No you don't!" Glowing with energy, Sable cast an ice storm while the other mage cast a lightning storm. The resulting mini-hurricane slowed the enemy down, but not enough. Garun locked blades with one Venatori and the other soldiers found themselves in combat as well.
The second mage fell to a spear throw. Two soldiers went down. Sable, Garun, and the remaining soldier backed up against the study door, firing spells and deflecting weapon strikes. A Venatori clubbed Garun over the head and he went down. He brought his shield up as a brute wielding a greatsword brought it down on him. The strike was so powerful it cut through his shield like butter and impaled his lower right torso. Gasping for breath, Garun stabbed upward with his sword, impaling the man through the neck. His shield arm fell and he collapsed against the door as another Venatori charged him with an axe ready to strike. Garun stared at the man, determined not to show fear in the face of death. He opened his mouth to scream one last battle cry…and then the man fell down, a crossbow bolt in his back.
"There's a law somewhere about fighting in churches!" Garun looked up to see a dwarf in a brown duster wielding a strange-looking crossbow and an elven archer in maroon clothing standing beside him. A third man he recognized as a fellow Grey Warden; Blackwall. More soldiers, but not Venatori, rushed into the room, hacking down the remaining Venatori.
Garun was helped to his feet by the remaining soldier and Sable and together they made their way to the Chantry entrance. To their amazement, they saw more soldiers with the same black markings fighting the Venatori. Suddenly finding themselves attacked on both sides, the Venatori were routed, fleeing the city en-mass.
Garun stared as what was once a doomed battle turned into a rousing victory. He caught sight of a banner; it was a blazing sun with an eye at the center and a sword running through the sun. Then he saw the person. They strove into the midst of the Venatori horde, hacking and slashing. Then they raised their hand and Garun saw the green glowing mark and that's when he knew.
The Inquisition had arrived.
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