Nightingale's Song
Dedication: For Mandy J (my editor) and for Roo and all the others who provided such valuable feedback. I adore you all.
Prologue
-From the Desk of Sister Nightingale, Left Hand of Divine Justinia V 9:41 Dragon
Every race has its monsters.
Among the Qunari, the Saarebas are bound and mutilated, all in fear of their ability to channel arcane power.
Among the dwarves, the Casteless - shunned as cursed pariahs or accidents of birth- are considered unwanted and untouchable; a fate worse than death for any "self-respecting" Child of the Stone.
The races of men contain a thousand different cultures and among each can be found individuals of the most base and cruel nature; Tevinter cultists, Assassins from Antiva, blood mages from the Free Marches, corrupted Templars and deranged Seekers here in Val Royeaux, and so on.
But in all my travels, there has been no creature more vicious or more tragic than the creature that dwells amongst the Dalish; the Vhenan Harel or "The Heart of Fear." Vicious because they are utterly without remorse, conscience, or mercy, and tragic because unlike the monsters mentioned above they are not born of misfortune so much as they are a purposefully created abomination. They are living weapons, to be exploited by their clan. And exploited by me.
I will now tell you of the time I spent in the company of such a creature, the first and only such that I have encountered and, if the Maker is kind, the last. It's been 7 years. Sometimes it feels like just yesterday, other times as if an entire age has passed since I last saw her. I will tell you her story, I owe her that much. I sincerely doubt anyone shall ever read these pages as doing so would expose a great many secrets. All I can allow myself to confess is this:
Of all the terrible things I have done in the name of the Divine, she is the worst.
If these words ever find you, I'm sorry.
Chapter 1
9:33 Dragon
"You keep her down here?" Leliana spoke, aghast.
The Templar bearing the torch flicked his eyes over at her. It was difficult to see much under his helm, but what couldn't be seen was definitely felt in spades. "Yes, Sister Leliana," the man growled.
"Careful, Ser Templar, you're dripping disdain all over the floor," Leliana replied, smiling slightly.
"Yes, Sister Leliana."
Leliana rolled her eyes; she despised this man. He embodied everything about the Chantry and Templars that both she and Mother Dorothea loathed.
Correction: Most Holy Divine Justinia the fifth, she thought to herself with a small smile.
The Templar threw back a steel bolt and pulled open a large heavy door with a pronounced screech of tortured metal.
Leliana frowned, "What is this place?"
The Templar barely spared her a backwards glance as he marched down the stairs, taking the only light with him.
"Back when Beatrix went soft in the head, she had this storage area cleared out, turned it into a dungeon for anyone plotting against her."
"Most Holy Divine Beatrix the third," Leliana admonished with a cool tone, "devoted her entire life to the Chantry and its people and if nearly being assassinated by one of her own clerics and one of her own knight-commanders," her already frigid tone acquired a pronounced and accusatory edge, "convinced her to take precautions, then so be it. But either way, you will show her the respect she is due, are we perfectly clear, Ser Templar?"
With a great effort, the Templar bowed stiffly, "Yes, Sister Leliana."
"See?" she grabbed the keys from the man, "You're learning," she allowed herself a moment's satisfaction at the man's discomfort before taking the torch from him.
"Yes, Sister Leliana."
Leliana brushed past the fuming man as she examined the corridor, "They're all empty."
The Templar glared at her and jabbed a mailed finger at a heavily reinforced door at the end of the hall.
She proceeded down the darkened hallway, then frowned and turned her head back to regard the man, "What is your name, Ser Templar?"
"Ser Alrik."
She frowned and tapped the tip of her finger against her lips, "Why do I know that name?"
"My brother, Otto, serves in Kirkwall under Knight-Commander Meredith."
"Ah yes, 'The Tranquil Solution', I remember now, a real visionary."
The Templar spun on her, "Listen you little-!"
Leliana held up a single finger, "One more word, Ser knight, and you'll be the Divine's new personal envoy to Weisshaupt; the Grey Wardens are always looking for new recruits. Granted, once the Wardens flourished, their ranks full, their calibre certain. Now they even accept people like you."
The man's face turned red and as he attempted to sputter out a retort, the diminutive redhead simply walked away.
Thanks Morrigan.
The door had been reinforced recently with steel bands and multiple locks that gleamed dully in the torchlight.
"Quite a lot of security," she mused as she inserted the keys into the different locks and turned heavy tumblers before shoving the door open with her shoulder.
"Maker…," she dropped the keys upon the floor and gaped at what she saw as light flooded the one pitch black room.
A complex network of heavy chains kept bolted to six points in the four walls, the ceiling, and the floor. Suspended in mid-air and anchored to all the metal was a slight frame, bent forward with her hands and neck in a steel stock. A band of steel covered her eyes and ears while a large bit had been forced into her mouth. She was clothed only in tatters, her small breasts and stomach were exposed and Leliana circled around to confirm her suspicions: her back and buttocks were completely exposed and showed signs of deliberate, prolonged torture and violation.
"I assume," Leliana said in a very soft tone as she turned to regard the Templar with hooded eyes, "that you have some kind of explanation for this."
The man simply shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms defiantly, "She's a dangerous criminal."
"I didn't think so," she placed the torch in a wall sconce and began to examine the prisoner's chains.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm freeing this poor girl!" Leliana hissed and went to work on her chains.
"This little bitch killed six armed Templars in the alienage not a fortnight ago!"
She whirled on him, "Really? And just what exactly were six armed Templars doing in the alienage at night?" she turned her attention back to the chains, "Where are the damn locks?"
"There aren't any."
Leliana rolled her eyes, "Of course not, may I assume you were planning on having one of the Circle simply magic her out of here should you be discovered?"
"We had a more permanent solution…."
Leliana was quick and canny and so she was almost able to get out of the way of Ser Otto's mailed fist smashing into the back of her head.
"…and that's only if we're discovered."
Leliana furiously attempted to clear the stars from her vision even as she heard the man's sword cleared its scabbard.
"My men and I had a very good thing going here, making a decent amount of coin and earning a few favors along the way," he gestured at the bound girl, "This little knife-ear has been a great 'asset' to the Templar order."
"Cassandra will have you drawn and quartered for this," Leliana snarled as she fumbled about for her hidden dagger.
Ser Alrik roared like a bull and slashed at the woman, she rolled out of the way as his blade cleaved clean through the chain anchoring the prisoner by her feet, causing the entire frame to tilt crazily. Leliana scrambled to her feet as the Templar circled her. He was no longer between her and the door and for a moment, Leliana considered fleeing. The realization that the Templar would surely slaughter the poor girl in the cell stayed her feet. The man stripped off his helm and wiped a gauntlet across his sweating face, eyes boasting and hateful. He stroked his full goatee in a gesture of pure contempt
"That dried-up old quim? She's too busy—"
And the girl in the chains lurched out and wrapped her now freed legs around the knight's throat.
"—urk!"
He dropped his sword and began clawing at gorget as the girl's slender legs wrapped slid between his mail and undercoat and began to choke the life out of him, "Blasted knife-ear!" he gurgled. The girl, still blinded, continued to squeeze and twist the man's neck. Ser Alrik's eyes bulged out of his red face as his head began to twist hard in the wrong direction.
Leliana approached the man, eyes murderous, "You're done here, Alrik. Cassandra will see you hanged if I don't slit your throat myself!" the man reached out to her, eyes pleading.
Leliana balled up her fist and slammed it in the face with all her rage. The man's nose detonated into an explosion of blood and shards of bone, he groaned once and went slack…
…except that the girl still had her legs around his throat and was still twisting with all she could.
Leliana took a moment to take in the situation, this girl was supporting two hundred plus pounds of man plus armor as dead weight, with only her legs. She gestured at the girl, "That's a neat trick, you'll have to teach it to me sometime. I imagine if the angle was better, you could snap his neck."
The girl made no indication of hearing her and continued to choke the unconscious man.
"You'd better release him or else we won't be able to give us his co-conspirators before we execute him for treason."
No response. Ser Alrik was turning blue. Leliana reached out and touched the girl's straining legs.
"Hey—"
Suddenly she was flat on her back, her teeth all feeling loose and blood filling her mouth. She touched her lips and gaped slack-jawed, she'd never seen the girl's leg even twitch before she kicked her in the head.
Doing so caused Ser Alrik to slip free and he sank to the ground. Leliana made her way over to his prone body and checked his pulse.
"Alive," she announced, "despite your best intentions." Leliana sighed and got to her feet, careful to stay out of the girl's range, "Deaf, dumb, and blind, and you caught me unawares," Leliana cracked a smile, "Not bad. Ow!" she touched her lip where it was bleeding, "Vicious little thing, aren't you?"
The girl just hung there, motionless except for the gentle swaying of the chains that remained anchored to her.
"Not sure if this is a good idea, but let's get you out of there," Leliana reached into her belt and removed a small vial. Very carefully, she dabbed at the chains where they seemed to be bearing the most weight. The metal hissed and an acrid smell filled the air. With a screech of metal, the whole thing collapsed, dropping the girl to the floor.
"Easy!" Leliana exclaimed, catching her limp form before it could make contact with the stone cell floor. She tensed, fearing that the girl would attack her again, but she simply lay in her arms, limp as a broken toy, "Let's get this thing off of you, no?"
Carefully, Leliana dabbed at the bands around the girl's head, they came apart and feel free.
"Maker…!" she gasped for a second time.
The girl's features were rounder than she was expecting for an elf, though she still possessed the high cheekbones. She possessed unusually full lips and large eyes, like liquid pools. In the dim light, Leliana could tell that the girl's hair was stark white and ragged reaching just below her face. She gently tilted the girl's face more fully into the light and stared in shock.
The girl's eyes were a bright red with specks of white ringing black pupils. She had the Vallaslin tattoos of all the Dalish; they too were a fierce scarlet that stretched across the whole of her brow, down her checks and started again dead center of the girl's bottom lip, trailing down her pale throat. They gleamed in the light and she swore that she could feel heat emanating from them, they even appeared to be glowing slightly.
"Maker, you're barely more than a child," she carefully helped the girl to her feet, trying to remind herself that the girl couldn't possibly be as young as she looked, "Can you stand?"
The girl weighed practically nothing and said nothing. Leliana slowly braced her against herself and helped her out of the cell.
"Come on, Cassandra can clean up this—"
The girl shoved Leliana forward out of the cell and slammed the door shut.
"What?!" Leliana whirled around and pounded on the door separating them. "What are you doing?"
Then she noticed her dagger was gone. She dimly heard Ser Alrik's voice.
"What? No, NO! Stay away! No, please don't, Maker…!"
Then came the sound of metal through wet meat and Ser Alrik began to scream.
It took a very long time for the man's screaming to stop.
When it was finally over, the door creaked back open and the thin girl hobbled out. She was caked in gore and holding Leliana's knife in a white-knuckled grip. Leliana eyed the girl warily.
"All right, now what?"
The air was still and heavy with the scent of copper, there was a slow, thick dripping sound that seemed to come from everywhere. Then, very deliberately, the girl looked down at the blade in her hand, covered in bits of skin and tissue and coated from tip to pommel in blood. Then, wordlessly, she handed the weapon, hilt-first back to Leliana. She took it from her and winced inwardly at the sticky feel of the weapon and vowed to get a nice pair of gloves at her first opportunity.
"Thank you," she said cautiously. She held her hand out to the girl, "Come on, let's get out of here."
Splat!
Leliana frowned as the girl deposited a wet lump of…something into her hand. Leliana wrinkled her nose, "What in the world…?" she gingerly picked the wet lump up and held it up to the light.
Light shone through a large hole, ringed with a goatee and two wide open holes that stared emptily out at her.
"Maker!" Leliana dropped the lump of flesh on the floor and pushed past the girl to stare wide-eyed into the room.
Ser Alrik had been expertly skinned and butchered like meat. Pieces of him hung from the chains, adorned with bits of his Templar armor like Feastday decorations. His insides were a steaming pile in the center of the room. Leliana braced herself against the doorframe and held her hand to her mouth, trying valiantly not to be sick.
With a cry, she slammed the door shut and turned from it to face the girl.
Wordlessly, the girl, skin and bones and naked except for blood and rags, stared at her for a moment and began to walk away.
Leliana needed a few moments to collect herself before following. She climbed up the stairs, looking about. She spied a young man, a guard, he was white as a sheet.
"Did you see a-?"
Wordlessly, the man pointed a trembling finger down the hall to the left.
"Thank you," Leliana hurried after the young girl.
Maker, what have I stepped into this time?
Leliana was relieved to find the young woman no longer clad in gore and rags, she had apparently found a robe to wear. Her head bowed over a bowl of soup, she sat alone and was scrupulously avoiding eye contact. There was a table full of guards and a small elvish child playing with a ball in the corner, sitting on the floor and gurgling happily to itself.
No one else was paying the girl any attention, seeing only the pointed ears and assuming she was a servant, "There you are!" she sat down next to her and leaned in close to whisper, "You didn't kill anyone since I've seen you last, have you?"
The girl's scarlet eyes flicked over to her briefly and Leliana couldn't repress a smile, "A-ha! So you do understand me!" she bit her lower lip in pleasure, looking satisfied.
"Oy! Rabbit!"
Leliana closed her eyes, "Oh Maker, please tell me you don't understand that."
A shadow fell over them, and a young man in a guard's uniform banged on the table with an empty mug.
"Hey! Need a round of mead for the table, get moving!"
Leliana stood up and faced the man, "Young man, she is not a servant, she is my…," she threw a look back at the girl, who was still sipping her soup, "…guest," she turned to face the guard, "She is my guest, so, please show a little respect and common courtesy."
The man stretched out a dismissive hand, "Aww, she's just some—"
Leliana grabbed the young man's arm, twisted it and levered him face first into the table.
"Ah! Ow!" the young man cried out. His eyes flickered over to the elven girl sitting at the table, her blood hued eyes met his and his eyes widened at the sight of them. She calmly poured a glass of water from a nearby pitcher and sipped it thoughtfully.
"I repeat," Leliana said with a twist of the arm, "Respect and courtesy. Got it?"
"Ah! Got it!"
"You're sorry?"
"I'm very sorry, Sister Leliana!"
She let the young man up slowly who was massaging his shoulder and eyed her warily.
"Now: apologize to my friend please," The young man exhaled hard and nodded, turning to address the young girl who was still quietly eating soup, "Like you mean it."
"I'm very sorry, ma'am. Please forgive me," the young man's earnestness was comical.
The girl looked up at the young man…and then returned to her soup.
"Don't worry," Leliana assured the young man, "She does that to everyone."
"R-i-i-ight," the young guard shuffled off.
Leliana sat back down next to the girl, "You handled that very well," she assured the young girl. Once again, red eyes flicked over to her and then went back to her soup.
"Right, yes, well, good," she sighed and then frowned, examining the girl's food: vegetable soup, bread and cooked beans, "You remind me of my Lothering days: we didn't eat meat either…," the young girl sipped from her cup of water, "…or drink spirits."
She was reaching for another cup when she felt a strange heat begin to emanate from somewhere near her. She frowned, "Hey, do you feel that? It's getting hot—," she turned and nearly dropped the cup.
The young girl's red marking were beginning to glow softly and her eyes narrowed to crimson slits. Her lips pulled back from her teeth and she hissed, low and sibilant. She seemed focused on one of the servers, a thin man with a face like a ferret.
"What?" Leliana asked, "Who is that? Do you know that man?"
The girl didn't answer, instead she seemed to slither off the bench, her lithe body contorting and writhing as she began to crawl towards the man, unnoticed by those around her, except for Leliana. The woman stared at the elf despite herself; as the girl moved, she twisted and shifted, sometimes on two legs and other times crawling like a beast on four. She saw that the young girl had slit the robes up the side for ease of movement and lengths of pale thigh peeked through, leaving her a little breathless.
Her breath stopped all together when she saw the elf remove what appeared to be a rib bone, a very fresh appearing rib bone, now sharpened into a makeshift but vicious looking shiv. The girl stuck out her tongue, which was long and pink, and dragged the edge of her shiv across her tongue. Leliana shivered at the sight. Her brain caught up with her and she moved to stop her.
The door banged open, "Sister Leliana!" and Cassandra stormed in.
Leliana grabbed the elf girl, "Not now! Not in front of all these witnesses and Cassandra!" she whispered fiercely in the girl's ear.
The girl hesitated only a moment before palming the shiv and turning the face the oncoming Seeker.
"Sister Leliana, I must speak with you now," The Seeker barked.
"Yes, clearly," the other woman nodded, swallowing: the Right Hand of the Divine still intimidated her a great deal. Perhaps that would change as they got to know each other better.
Cassandra turned her gaze on the elf, "Who is this?"
"This is…," for a moment both the elf and the Seeker looked at her with the exact same look of expectation, "…my handmaiden."
"Your handmaiden? Since when do you have a servant?"
Leliana winced at the unintentional gaffe, her eyes flickered over nervously to her companion, hoping that she had not taken offense, but the girl's bright red eyes simply continued to look at her, devoid of any kind of expression, "Well, actually," Leliana stammered, "She's really more of a friend."
"Since when do you have friends?"
Leliana opened her mouth in indignation before Cassandra put her hand up, "It is not important," she turned to address the elf and bowed stiffly, "Greetings, I am Cassandra Pentaghast, Seeker and Right Hand of the Divine."
The red eyes never flickered, Cassandra could have been a talking piece of furniture. The Seeker looked over at the other woman, "Does your friend not speak the common tongue?"
"Ah, no, I don't think she does," Leliana replied quickly, "Actually, I believe she took a vow of silence when she became a lay sister."
"I see, and may I ask what her name is at least?"
"Ummm…-"
Cassandra arched a dark eyebrow, "Her name is 'Ummmm?'"
Frantically, Leliana peered around the mess hall and her eyes fell upon a chirping bird, perched on a high windowsill. She desperately attempted to remember the smattering of Elvish Zevran had attempted to teach her, when he wasn't busy trying to get her into bed.
"Sister Ashali!" she blurted out, "Her name is Sister Ashali!"
"Ashali?"
"Yes, Sister Ashali. It's elvish, it means 'Nightingale'."
The Seeker did not look convinced but she also did not look as if was intending to make an issue of it, "I see," she turned back to the elf, "Welcome 'Sister Nightingale'."
The girl did not respond and simply continued to stare at her flatly.
Cassandra leaned over to whisper an aside to Leliana, "Tell me, does she…blink?"
"I'm not entirely certain."
"It's unnerving."
"Yes, just a little."
The two women exchanged a look and then shook themselves, "Very well," Cassandra cleared her throat, "I must speak to you, there has been an…incident."
Ser Alrik! Leliana managed to keep her expression calm, "Oh?"
"Yes, I require your assistance."
Leliana bowed, "Of course, Seeker Cassandra," the two of them proceeded to leave, then stopped as both slowly turned to check that the elf girl was simply standing there, watching them.
Cassandra frowned, "Should we…take her with us, perhaps?"
Leliana calculated the potential for disaster…and then quickly moved to grip the young girl's hand, praying fervently to the Maker that the young girl wouldn't knock her off her feet again. Instead, the girl's red eyes flicked down to their joined hands, then came back up to look in Leliana's eyes.
And then, she lifted one eyebrow, just slightly.
Leliana couldn't repress a smile, it was such a small thing, but from such an expressionless demeanor, it was a lot.
"Oh yes, I think so," she hurriedly led the young elf girl behind to follow behind Cassandra, who just rolled her eyes at the whole display and led the way out of the dining hall.
Cassandra knelt down to examine the remains of Ser Alrik, "What in the name of the Maker happened here?" She stood up and examined the scene: walls coated with blood now dried, pieces of meat that used to be a man dangling from chains that creaked and swayed back and forth.
"I haven't the faintest idea," Leliana replied neutrally, doing everything she could to remember the listens in maintaining a calm veneer Marjolaine drilled into her head.
"It clearly was a crime of passion," Cassandra continued, "To gut a man like a beast then tear him limb from limb."
"Indeed," Leliana hazarded a glance at Sister Nightingale, "Clearly he angered someone a great deal."
Ashali returned Leliana's look unwaveringly, her red eyes revealing nothing.
"This is beyond anger, this was an act of rage, retribution," Cassandra eyed the gory mess and shook her head, "Of course, I cannot say that the bastard did not have it coming."
Leliana's eyes bulged in surprise, "What?"
Cassandra eyed the viscera with disdain, "We were investigating Ser Alrik, along with a few associates of his. We had reason to believe that he was engaged in illegal activities connected with the local alienage."
"Such as rape, torture, and kidnapping?"
Cassandra appraised the other woman; she had never understood exactly why Most Holy had summoned her immediately upon assuming the Sunburst Throne; in her opinion the younger woman was idealistic, naïve, and far too clever for her own good. There was something she didn't trust about her that she couldn't put her finger on. But, she was forced to admit, she did have conviction.
"Yes," Cassandra admitted, "Rape. Torture. And Kidnapping."
"How refreshingly candid."
"One does not close their eyes to avoid an unpleasant truth simply because it is unpleasant," her back stiffened, "There is corruption in the ranks of the Templar Order, I will not deny it simply because it is shameful. We Seekers were founded for this very reason."
Leliana simply nodded thoughtfully and adjusted her collar, the cell was stifling and becoming uncomfortably warm, "That's an understatement!" she snarled, "The Templars, the Chantry, they were supposed to protect the people, now they're nothing but bullies and thugs in plate mail!"
Cassandra's eyes widened, Leliana had never spoken in such a way, "Sister Leliana," she asked cautiously, "Are you well?"
"No, I am not! I am angry and frustrated and I just want to-," she screamed aloud, her fists white-knuckled, panting to the point of hyperventilation.
"Sister Leliana, please calm yourself!"
"And what is that damn singing?!"
Cassandra frowned, "Sister Leliana, I hear no singing," she reached out and gripped the woman on the shoulder to stabilize her.
The difference was like night and day, Leliana inhaled deeply and her eyes cleared, "Maker's breath!" she exhaled hard, "I….I have no idea what came over me just now," she looked at her hands and was shocked to see blood where her fingernails had gouged the flesh of her palm, "Cassandra, I'm…I'm so sorry."
"Are you certain you are all right?" The older woman scrutinized her.
"Yes, yes I am better now, thank you," Leliana exhaled hard as she felt the Seeker's touch cool her body somehow.
"Very well. Perhaps we should get you some fresh air?"
"Yes, I think that might be best."
They turned to go, Cassandra kept a steady arm on the other girl as she cast a look back at the remains and sighed, "Damn it! I was building a case on this wretch," she snapped, her own legendary temper beginning to emerge, "How am I supposed to fulfill my responsibilities to root out corruption within our ranks with no witnesses and no suspects?" She ran her hands through her short dark hair and looked about: There were two guards, young men, who looked like they were attempting not to be ill, Sister Leliana, looking weakened and thoroughly miserable.
And Leliana's handmaiden looking…perfectly calm. Eerily calm, in fact, Cassandra thought to herself. The young girl stood in full view of gore that would have shaken the most hardened veteran, herself included.
Something clicked then, and she knew.
"You!" she roared, "This was your doing! You butchered this man!"
The girl's red eyes fixed on her and narrowed to crimson slits. She opened her mouth and made a sound that seemed part guttural growl, part sibilant hiss, and entirely inhuman.
"Cassandra—Wait!" Leliana turned to stop the woman and immediately upon breaking contact with her, she felt a wave of rage wash over her, the heat returned in full force and underneath it all, she could hear the thin strains of a song. Through the fog of bestial fury clouding her brain, she looked and saw that the elven girl's tattoos were beginning to glow red again. In the dining hall, it had been difficult to see, but here in the darkened cell, it could hardly be more conspicuous.
The Seeker advanced on the girl, "By the authority of her Holiness Divine Justinia, I hereby arrest you for the murder of the Templar Ser Alrik," she drew her blade and stopped short at the sight of the glowing vallaslin tattoos, "What in the-?"
The girl struck.
She closed the distance between herself and Cassandra and jabbed the woman's wrist with four outstretched fingers, alternating hands and striking several times in rapid succession. Cassandra gasped as her sword fell from suddenly nerveless fingers.
The girl struck again, her hands moving so fast, they whistled. She struck the Seeker's her eyes and throat, her hand swaying and circling each other at a dizzying pace. Cassandra gagged and staggered away from the onslaught, she threw a clumsy punch and the girl's body writhed and twisted; she knocked the Seeker's hand out of the way with a single hand, stepping around to bring her hand up and slapping the woman hard across the ear. Cassandra cried out in pain. The girl spun about, twirling her hands and stepped away from the woman, her hands folded, bent at the wrist and weaving in close guard of her chest.
Suddenly, a pair of mailed arms wrapped around the girl from behind and one of the young guards cried out. "I've got her Seek—"
The girl slammed her head backwards, catching the guard in the face and he reeled backwards. The girl wrenched her body and with an audible pop, both her shoulders dislocated and she slipped out of the man's grasp, landing on the floor. She twisted her body around brought one foot hard up into the man's groin, he cried in pain and doubled over and straight in the oncoming path of her other foot that caught him just below the chin. Blood spurted from his mouth and he toppled over backwards.
The other guard had his sword free and was attempting the stab the girl, who simply rolled away from him. She stood, and whipped her body about, the momentum of her movement wrenched both her arms back into their sockets. She crouched low to the ground and hissed at the man.
"Cassandra charged the girl with a cry, shoulder and shield leading the way. She collided with the girl's unsuspecting body with bone-crushing force." The girl frantically attempted to scramble over the shield, but to no avail as she was carried along the Seeker's momentum. With a grunt, several hundred pounds of armor and enraged woman collided into the wall with the thin girl trapped between them. The entire room shook with the force of the impact, stone and plaster raining down upon them.
Cassandra peered over her shield and cried out as the girl lashed out with a free hand, gouging her face: Her red eyes were the blank stare of a predatory beast.
The Seeker roared in fury, brought her shield back and swung it full force, bashing the girl in the head. The girl's head snapped back, her teeth coming together with an audible clack before colliding hard with the wall. Her body crumpled and she slid to the floor. Her red eyes locked with Cassandra, slowly closed, a hiss trailing off into silence and the glow of her markings faded away.
"What. Was. That?!" Cassandra panted.
"Oh, I think she broke my bollocks," the guard on the floor whimpered, clutching at this groin. The other guard was tending to him best he could.
"I have no idea," Leliana confessed staring at the crumpled form on the floor, shocked at the speed and brutality of the girl's assault. She turned to face the Seeker, "What do you call that move?"
"Charging Bull," Cassandra replied, "Useful for closing the distance on opponents."
"Clearly," Leliana bent down to examine the unconscious girl.
"Be careful! She could be faking."
Leliana nodded and gingerly picked up one of the girl's limp arms before letting it drop, boneless, back upon the ground.
"She is not faking."
"Should we chain her?"
Leliana barked a humorless laugh, "She was chained. It didn't seem to help."
"Silk bindings perhaps?'
"It would be like trying to tie up a snake."
Cassandra thought for a moment, then called out.
"Armorer!"
"This is your idea?" Leliana asked, grunting with effort.
"It was," Cassandra grunted, "The best way I could think of to limit her mobility."
The pair of them dragged the girl between them. She was clad head-to-toe in full plate mail that clanked and rattled noisily.
"Well, it certainly did that. "What are we doing with her?"
"We are taking her to see Most Holy," Cassandra growled again, "She will decide her fate."