Pulling his spear out of the spawn's body, Garrett surveyed the path behind them. Bethany's flames had caught an old dead tree on fire and the force of blast forced the flaming tree to block the spawn from coming after them for a few minutes. Marian and Bethany helped their aged mother up, while the Carver and the Mabari hound that he had brought with from Ostagar quickly scouted the path in front of them to make sure there we no dark spawn ahead, before turning back and rejoining the group.
"Everything is gone, Malcolm." Their mother, Leandra, cried.
"We still have each other." Bethany tried to cheer her mother up.
"Not for much longer, if we don't keep moving." Carver tried to urge his mother into moving.
"We can't just keep running aimlessly!" Bethany complained to her twin brother as she poured salve on her mother's skinned knees to rejuvenate her mother's legs.
"I'm just trying to keep us alive!" Carver countered to his slightly older twin sister.
"We need a plan!" Marian, the youngest, finally chimed in pointing an arrow tip toward her brother's face.
"Don't look at me! Garrett and I have been running since Ostagar!" Carver complained as pushed the arrow away.
"And we are going to keep on running. Frankly, I don't care where we go as long as there is no dark spawn." Garrett said before using his own magic to keep the spawn horde away and buy more time to breathe and think.
"We could go to Kirkwall." Leandra suggested.
"Kirkwall?" Carver exclaimed surprised.
"Not exactly my first choice, mother." Garrett quipped before returning to his shields.
"It filled with Templars!" Bethany stated with shock.
"Why, Kirkwall?" Marian inquired confused.
"We have family and an estate there." Their mother explained her logic.
There was a moment of silence.
"Well, I don't hear any better ideas." Garrett broke the silence. "To Kirkwall" With that Garrett pushed his magical shield toppling the spawn and giving the Hawke family a running start.
"We are going to have to find a ship." Bethany exclaimed from behind.
"We have to reach the port first before we can even begin to think about a ship." Carver prioritized.
"How far is Kirkwall?" Marian inquired before she paused to give cover fire for the Mabari hound took care of the spawn at their heels, but before anyone could answer just before they ran right into another ambush.
"Wesley! No!" a voice cried out and Garrett turned in time to see a dark spawn ogre grabbed to be a templar knight and thrashed into the ground several times then careless tossed him aside. The ogre reached for the red haired knight woman; however the knight lashed out and sliced several of the monsters fingers. The monster recoiled and howled in pain.
"Die!" she cried as ran forward and slashed at the ogre's calf, crippling it. However, this time the monster struck back. The woman caught the blow with her shield but the force was too much, it bent the shield inward, breaking her arm, and sent the woman barreling back onto the ground. She collapsed on the ground next to her companion's body. The fight knocked out of her.
The ogre limped toward her determined to finish her off when an arrow flew into its left eye followed by a wave of icicles pinned its feet to the ground; stopping it short of action. The monster roared and withered in pain; struggling to get free. Suddenly it hunched over with it face almost a foot from the ground and howled in pain, revealing Carver with his sword deep between its shoulder blades. Before the monster can try to swat him away, Garrett plunges his magically charged spear through its neck.
It gargled for a moment then slumped down dead. Garrett yanked his spear out of the monster was sprayed with its blood.
"Ugh." Garrett quickly wiped his face and took care not to accidently consumes its blood and be tainted. He climbs over the ogre's shoulder and helped Carver wrench his sword out of the ogre back before regrouping to his mother and sisters who tended to the red haired lady knight.
"Her shield arm is broken" Bethany said as her brothers approach them.
"No, help Wesley!" the lady knight fought out of Bethany's grip trying to get to body next to her.
"I am sorry. He is dead. Only the maker can help him now." Bethany apologized as she tried to get the woman to lie down. "We need to fix your arm."
"No! Wesley! She cried before Marian and Leandra braced the lady knight as Bethany quickly pushed in the bones.
"Ah! Wesley!" she cried in pain as the bones are set into place. Her cry hushes into a low quiet sob as she mourns for her husband.
"It's a wonder her arm is still attached." Bethany muttered as she searched through her supplies for another potion for the pain. "I can't find any spindleweed or elfroot. I must have used my last bottle on mother."
"Here." Garrett leaned down a placed his hands on the either side of wounded lady knight's head uses his magic to numb the pain.
"How did you do that?" The lady knight questioned as the pain suddenly became a lot more bearable. She looked relieved.
"Don't make any sudden moments. I didn't heal you. I just tricked you mind to not feel it for awhile." Garrett explained quickly while Marian provides a makeshift splint and Leandra quickly bandages her arm.
"Blood Magic! You're a blood mage!" The lady knight gasped and made a reach for her sword, however she soon discovered that her coordination was gone and she simply slumped over.
"Whoa, I told you not to move. The side- effect will make you dizzy. It will wear off soon" Garrett said as he pulled up her upright. "As for the blood magic, we will talk about that after we are safe."
"We?" Lady knight said as she grimaced at Garrett.
"You're not the only one upset with my brother's choice." Carver explained with a bitter voice laced with his disapproval.
The lady knight could see that on Carver and Garrett faces that they had "talked" about it before.
The Mabari hound howled to alert them of upcoming danger.
"Don't have time to talk about this now." Garrett explains as he and Carver both grab the woman's shoulders, no longer protesting or making a sound, and lifts her up. Carver gets under her good arm and takes on her weight, and lets Garrett take point. Bethany and the hound protected the rear. Leandra picks up the woman's sword, busted shield, and meager supplies, and joined Carver in between her son and daughter's protection. Marian notched another arrow on her bow and walked on the other side of Carver.
"You were a soldier at Ostagar, were you not?" Leandra inquired after studying the sword she now carried.
"Yes,..I served in the king's army…"The lady knight paused for a moment with a baffled look on her face for the longest moment then finally said. "The spawn cut off from the north, I barely escaped. It happened so fast, I barely remember…" She trailed off the hex Garrett cast making her confused.
The woman grunted as Carver nearly lost his grip.
"From the north! That means we have to go south into the Wilds!" Carver exclaimed exasperated.
"If our choices are certain death or moving south, then I chose south." Garrett said while keeping his face forward.
"Not much of a difference, if you ask me." Marian mutters to Carver, whom nodded his head in agreement.
"Please, I am slowing you down. Leave me here." Lady Knight finally protested after she realizes that they planned to take her with them.
The family exchanged looks and Leandra decided to speak up. "I think my family is tired of running and leaving people behind mistress; uhm sorry, what is your name?"
"Aveline. My name is Aveline." She introduced herself and after a pause. "You know, for apostates, you are a good people."
Marian laughed nervously while Carver muttered to himself, "Ah, here we go."
"While my husband and I may not agree with the chantry on the matter of mages' freedom, we did not raise our children to be heartless heathens." Leandra replied curtly.
"Sorry, what I meant say is thank you." Aveline said sheepishly.
"The Darkspawn are catching up!" Bethany shouted as she sent a massive firestorm to block the horde from gaining. "There too many of them!"
"There are Darkspawn ahead! There is no end to them!" Garrett shouted back incredulously, while casting a vortex which gives them a few precious seconds before they are overrun.
"This is it." Carver gently sets Aveline down and grabs his sword.
"I can still use my sword arm. " Aveline took her sword back from Leandra, and encouraged Leandra to stay behind her and her children.
"We won't die here!" Garrett told them as gather into formation. The Mabari growls and takes on the nearest dark spawn, several battle cries and the battle begins. However, they are heavily outnumbered. Marian soon ran out of arrows and Carver became winded, barely able to keep back the massing spawn. Everyone was already worn and tired from running. Aveline was barely able to stand let alone fight. Bethany and Garrett soon ran out of spells that wouldn't hurt everyone in the process. The group was slowly forced into a tighter and tighter circle until they are practically at each other's backs. Just before the spawn could close in, the earth begins to rumble. The dark spawn scatter in panic, and from the cliff side a giant dragon roars and spits fire at the straggling spawn. The dragon then swoops down and knocks out the rest with a power lash from the dragon's tail. Landing before them the dragon begins to glow and shrink into an old sorceress, the Witch of the Wilds.
To be continued…