"Fall back! Fall back!" Barris shouted as the small group of untainted Templars fell into stride with him; the amount of red surrounding them was just shocking and he knew he'd never look at such a horrifying colour the same way again. He braced his shield and kicked down one of the Red Templars that had tried to charge at him, gritting his teeth as he tried not to think about just how many of the bastards there were. Bastards that had once been his brothers and sisters in arms, bastards that had once been his commanding officers, bastards that had once been his friends. The grief surged up again and threatened to cause his knees to buckle, but he couldn't give in; as long as others were still alive then he'd keep fighting, keep fighting until everything he had in him was gone. No help was coming.

None untainted believed that any of them would be coming out of this alive.

A suddenly loud scream pierced the air and he flinched at the sound, turning just in time to see Lucina fall to the ground, blood seemingly just cascading out of an open wound on her neck. Even more grief filled his belly; Lucina was a newly promoted Templar, having reached the rank just six months ago. She'd been so proud to have joined the ranks.

With a great cry of rage escaping him, Barris slashed his sword at the nearest Red Templar abomination, gashing its torso open as he spun around to deal the same to another, his shield barely deflecting deadly hits that were raining down on him. "Delrin! Look out!" Machel cried out in warning, but it was too late when Barris heeded it and finally noticed that he was surrounded completely by Red Templar abominations. Sweat dripped down his face and his body wanted to collapse in exhaustion; he knew then, that he was not going to win this battle. Not this one. "Machel, take the others and try to find a vantage point. I'll keep them busy!" He ordered, silently resigning himself to the execution that awaited him. He didn't see any other choice. And he wanted the small group to live a little longer; if he had to buy that time with his own life, then he would.

Machel opened his mouth to protest, but one of the others (Aerli, Barris thought distractedly) grabbed his arm and pulled him away from the rapidly increasing circle of abominations. Barris was granted one last glance at them all before they disappeared behind one of the abandoned doors, losing sight of them as his shield was forced to come up and deflect a blow that would certainly have taken his head off had he not protected himself.

"To the Void with you all!" He roared, anger flashing in his eyes as a brief bout of renewed energy flowed through him; striking out, Barris staggered three of the abominations with a single blow and dodged another, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He struck out again but this time an elbow was slammed into his face and the distraction was enough for the circle to fully close in on him. They all viciously grinned at him and Barris could feel the knot of nausea in his stomach grow even larger, though he had no time to think about it as a sharp-taloned claw suddenly pierced through his armor and into his side.

The pain was instantaneous and he cried out as he dropped to his knees, sinking to the floor in the circle of Red Templar abominations. Clutching at his wound, Barris squeezed his eyes shut as the blood poured over his hands. The cursed abomination had struck him a deadly blow. He was not much longer for this world.

Another claw forcibly snatched his chin and forced his head up towards them, cold metal abruptly resting against his throat. "You should've joined us when you had the chance, Ser Barris!" It hissed, sneering while the others cackled, wicked sounds that made shivers crawl down his spine. Barris choked out a laugh of his own and shook his head as best he could, his breathing becoming more and more harder to do with every second that passed. "I would rather die and go to my Maker than live a life as someone else's thrall," he gasped, and as the metal against his throat began to press down his body finally granted him mercy and darkness fully took over.

Leaving Thedas behind.

When Barris came to, it was not to the sight of the Maker or family and friends that had perished before him.

Pain tore through his body as he regained consciousness and he groaned loudly, wondering why his wound hadn't been healed since he was supposed to be in the heavens of the Maker. Opening his bleary eyes, he was shocked to find that he seemed to be in a desert of some kind. The air around him was blisteringly hot and he could feel the sand and dirt beneath his body, his armor creating a rather heavy indent.

This was not right. Perhaps this was the Void?

Using his right hand to try to push himself up, the strength in his arm failed and he fell back into the sand, his hasty breath as painful as ever. "Maker save me," Barris grunted under his breath, unable to do little more than turn his head to the side in order to see more of his environment. The heat and the sand was too much for his already weak body, however, and he was losing consciousness almost as fast as he'd regained it. Barris succumbed to it, in order to get away from the pain and confusion. There was no telling how much longer he could actually hold on.

Moments later, a pair of leather boots had paused at Barris' head. The sound of guns being withdrawn from their holsters filled the air, and the tip of one of them pressed into the left temple of the unconscious man. "Should just kill you and put you outta your misery," the gunslinger muttered and he clicked the safety off, dark eyes squinting as he tilted his head to the side, "but I think you've got hell of a story to tell." Guns were slid back into their holsters and without any seemingly apparent effort at all, Erron Black slung Delrin Barris over his shoulder, regardless of the uncomfortable and strange armor that was certainly not going to make either of their journeys comfortable.

Besides, if this man was important or of any value, there was money to be had. And Erron would endure almost anything for a pretty price.