Without a word, Weiss followed Cassandra across the bridge and onto another snow-covered path. A few frightened Chantry guards ran passed them. "It's the end of the world!" one of them screamed. They passed by a couple of barricades that had been set up, and a broken down, burning cart.
The Breach suddenly flashed brighter, as did the mark, growing hotter now. Weiss screamed in pain this time and fell to her knees again.
As she caught her breath, Cassandra came to her side and helped her to her feet again.
"The pulses are becoming faster now," Cassandra said."The larger the Breach grows, the more rifts will appear throughout the land, and the more demons we will face."
They came to a long stone bridge. A few soldiers carrying supply crates were also walking cross along with them.
A green meteorite fell from the sky, smashing through the bridge. Every stone on the bridge gave way instantly, collapsing its entirety. Weiss and Cassandra tumbled down over the stones onto the frozen stream below.
As the two of them got two their feet, a green rupture appeared in the ice. Through the ice crawled what looked like man-sized, grey, fleshy ghost, which hissed menacingly at them.
Weiss stumbled back. She was quite familiar with the Creatures of Grimm, but she had not expected these demons to look so different, or so much more outlandish.
She instinctively reached for Myrtenaster at her side – only to find it was not there. She had no weapon. Nothing.
"A shade!" Cassandra shouted, drawing her sword and shield. "Stay behind me!" She charged at the demon.
Realizing she was defenseless, Weiss planned on standing back so Cassandra would handle it, until another small green pool erupted in the ice, and another shade began to climb out.
Weiss looked around desperately for anything she could use, and spotted a broken crate behind her that had fallen from the bridge. In the rubble was a rapier sword.
Well, that was fortunate, Weiss thought to herself. She did not hesitate. She grabbed the rapier just as the second shade stood up. She held her sword at the ready, just as she would with Myrtenaster.
The spectre lunged toward her, arm raised and ready to swipe at her. Weiss narrowly ducked under his swipe, and drove her blade through its torso. It screamed in pain and staggered back, blood pooling out where Weiss had stabbed it. Weiss did not relent. She struck again with her blade, then again, and again, with a relentless flurry. Finally, the monster screamed once more, and then flashed as green as the Breach, and crumbled in green ashes.
Weiss looked up to see Cassandra slice through her own shade, causing it also to crumble into green embers.
"It's over," Weiss huffed, slightly fatigued from her onslaught.
To her surprise, Cassandra did not sheathe her longsword, but marched over towards Weiss, blade still at the ready, her eyes staring daggers at Weiss.
"Drop your weapon! Now!" She commanded.
Weiss had no intention of being left defenseless out here.
"Another demon attacked me," Weiss snapped back. "What was I suppose to do?"
"You don't need to fight," Cassandra replied.
"Are you saying it won't happen again? That we won't encounter any more demons? Look, if we're going through a valley full of demons, I need to have a weapon."
Cassandra hesitated, clearly weighing her options in her mind, before she finally sighed and sheathed her sword.
"You're right," she huffed. "I cannot protect you, and I cannot expect you to be defenseless." She started to walk away, but then turned back and added, "Your life is threatened enough as it is."
Weiss sheathed her own sword, and then her sash to it, and then followed after Cassandra.
"If you get injured, drink one of these healing potions," Cassandra said, passing Weiss a small bottle of a red liquid. "We have eight of them."
Weiss placed the bottle in her pocket for the time being. She was uninjured and did not need one.
"Where is my sword?" Weiss asked. "And my scroll?"
"We confiscated all of your belongings when we found you," Cassandra answered. "You can have them all back once we deal with the Breach."
Weiss pouted. Myrtenaster would have been useful in this situation. But she sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing or going back for it. The simple rapier she had now would have to do.
The two continued on through the snow for a while longer. Her standard combat skirt gave Weiss little warmth against the cold. She rubbed her arms together to keep warm. She could not help but occasionally shiver.
Finally they spotted a pair of shades sauntering around small frozen lake.
"Let's charge them," Cassandra whispered.
Weiss nodded in agreement. They could not waste time coming up with a better plan.
They both drew their swords, and leapt down from the ledge, and charged at their individual shades, eviscerating and disintegrating them within seconds.
Weiss spotted a green plasma bolt flying straight for Cassandra. Weiss sprang into action, summoning a glyph behind Cassandra, shielding her from the blow.
"What is that?" Cassandra exclaimed. "How did you do that? Are you a mage?"
"Not exactly," Weiss answered.
Before she could say anything else, Cassandra dashed towards her and blocked another green bolt with her shield. They looked over to see a green phantom hovering farther away.
"Wraiths!" Cassandra hissed.
Weiss conjured another glyph below her, and was propelled with great force straight at the wraith. She raised her sword, and sliced right through the phantom. Instantly, it evaporated from the strong hit.
Seeing there was no more danger, Weiss sheathed her sword.
"How are you doing that?" Cassandra asked again, sheathing her own sword.
"Well, where I come from, almost everyone has powers like this. …not exactly like this, I mean. It varies for different people. We call it our semblances."
"Impressive. You will have to tell us more about it later."
The two pressed on further and soon came to a large hill out of frozen lake.
"We're getting close to Breach now," Cassandra said. "You can hear the fighting."
"Who is fighting?" Weiss asked.
"You will see."
At the top of the hill, they encountered a cluster of shades fighting two others; one was a short man who held a crossbow, firing rapidly at the demons. The other was a bald man with pointed ears, wearing a green vest. He swung a staff at the shades, hitting them with blasts of ice magic. There was also a large mass of green crystal hovering above it all. It glowed just like the Breach, but much smaller.
Cassandra and Weiss leapt in and joined the skirmish.
Once all shades slain, Weiss began to relax, but then the bald man quickly walked up to her and grabbed her marked wrist and dragged her towards the rift.
"Hey!" Weiss yelped. "What are you doing?"
"Quickly!" The bald man shouted. "Before more come through!" He lifted her hand towards the rift. A green stream of lightning shot from her palm and smashed into the center of the rift. The green energy surrounding the tear began to churn, like a pot of water being stirred. The green light grew brighter, until finally the rift imploded and vanished, gently pushing back Weiss and the bald man in like a strong gust of wind.
Weiss looked down at her hand, shocked at what just happened.
"What did you do?" Weiss asked the bald man.
"I did nothing," He replied calmly. "The credit is yours."
"The mark did that?"
"Precisely," he explained. "Whatever magic opened the breach in the sky also summoned you from wherever you came from and placed that mark upon your hand. I theorized that your mark may be able to close the rifts that opened in the Breach's wake, and it seems I was correct."
"Meaning it could also close the Breach itself?" Cassandra asked, full of hope.
"Possibly." He turned back to Weiss. "It seems you hold the key to our salvation."
"Good to know," the shorter man with the crossbow chimed in. "Here I thought we'd be ass-deep in demons forever!" He gave a light chuckle as he strapped the crossbow to his back and walked in closer to join the group.
"Varric Tethras," he said. "Rogue, storyteller, and occasionally, unwanted tagalong." He winked at Cassandra at that last word, earning an annoyed look from her.
"Weiss Schnee," Weiss answered. "Um… huntress-in-training, and heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."
"Can't say I've ever heard of this dust company," Varric said with a shrug.
"She comes from another world where this 'dust' is important," the bald man explained to Varric. "The explosion at the conclave brought her here from that world. Another theory it seems I was correct about."
"Well, judging by that look you're giving me, I guess there's no dwarves in your world," Varric chuckled.
"No elves either, I would assume," the bald man added.
"No," Weiss said, shaking her head. "Dwarves and Elves are just in fairy tales."
"Well you can see we're very real in this world," Varric laughed.
"We should go," Cassandra chimed in. "We need to meet Leliana at the forward camp."
"Great idea," Varric said.
"You're not coming with us, Varric," Cassandra said sharply. "Your help is appreciated, but-"
"Have you been in the valley lately, seeker?" Varric replied sternly. "Your soldiers aren't in control anymore. You need me."
"He's right Cassandra," Weiss added. "If the situation is as bad as you say it is, we should get all the help we can get."
Cassandra let out a disgusted grunt in defeat, and then turned. She knew both of them were right.
"My name is Solas, if there are to be introductions," said the bald man, or elf, rather. "I am pleased to see you still live."
"He means 'I kept that mark from killing you while you slept,'" Varric added.
"Oh!" Weiss said in surprise. "Well, thank you. You seem to know a lot about it."
"Solas is the mage I mentioned earlier," Cassandra explained. "He is an apostate, and an expert on the Fade."
"I learned much about the fade throughout my travels," Solas added, "far beyond the experience of any average circle mage. I came to offer whatever help I can give with the Breach. If it is not closed, we are all doomed, regardless of origin."
"Maybe once the Breach is dealt with, you can help me figure out how to get back home?" Weiss asked hopefully.
"Perhaps," Solas answered. " Let's discuss that more once the Breach is dealt with, if we are all still alive at that point." He turned to Cassandra. "Cassandra, the magic involved here is unlike any I've ever seen. And Weiss has very unique abilities, quite similar to a mage, but I find it difficult to imagine her or any mage having such power as this."
"Understood," Cassandra replied with a nod. "We must get to the forward camp quickly." She turned to head down the path toward the camp. Solas followed.
"Well, Bianca's excited," Varric said with a smile.
"Bianca?" Weiss asked.
"That's the name of my crossbow here," Varric replied. "She's one of a kind. Isn't she a beauty?"
Weiss let out a small giggle. Varric reminded her a little of how Ruby was with Cresent Rose.
The party trekked on further, without encountering any more demons for a long time. Cassandra broke the silence at last.
"I hope Leliana made it through all of this," She said.
"She's resourceful, Seeker," Varric answered, trying to offer comfort.
"We will see for ourselves at the forward camp," Solas commented. "We are almost there."
They finally came to a large door to another bridge. The door was closed to keep out the demons pouring out of another rift.
"We must seal it! Quickly!" Solas shouted.
"They keep coming!" A Chantry soldier shouted. "Help us!"
Weiss conjured a glyph and sprang forward towards a wraith, figuring it would be best to deal with them first, ignoring the shades. She slashed at the ghost, but it did not disintegrate right away as before. This one was ready for her, and had a faint bluish glow around it, acting like a shield. This function reminded Weiss of auras.
A shade was sauntering towards her, but Cassandra banged on her shield behind, drawing its attention.
"Barriers!" Solas shouted. "They need to be dispelled!" He slammed his staff into the ground, and a light whirlwind spun around the wraith, causing the blue glow, the barrier, to vanish. Weiss slashed again, and the Wraith evaporated. Weiss noticed that as it evaporated, its ashes were sucked back into the rift.
Varric fired his crossbow at another wraith, felling it after a few shots.
With all the wraiths down, the others helped Cassandra pick off the shades.
Once the last shade fell, and its embers were sucked back into the rift, the crystals protecting the rift shattered, revealing another floating pool of green plasma.
Okay, no problem, Weiss thought nervously. Just have to hold up my hand to it like Solas did before.
Raised her marked hand, palm facing the rift. Green lightning shot from her palm, latching onto the rift. As before, the plasma churned, and then finally imploded. Another rift sealed.
"We are clear for the moment," Solas remarked. "Well done."
"The rift is gone!" Cassandra commanded the soldiers. "Open the gate!"
"Right away, Lady Cassandra!" One soldier replied with a salute. The massive door to the bridge was opened.
As they moved onto the bridge and passed more soldiers, Varric said to Weiss, "Whatever that thing on your hand is, it's useful."
They spotted Leliana having a heated argument with a man haunched over a table. The man wore a white and red cloak and a black cap and his face was decorated with black stubble.
"Ah, here they come," The man grumbled, clearly in a bad mood.
"You made it," Leliana said. She turned to the man and said, "Chancellor Roderick, this is-"
"I know who she is," Roderick snapped back, cutting her off. He turned to Cassandra. "As grand chancellor of the Chantry, I hearby order you to take this criminal to Val Royeaux for trial!"
"Order me?" Cassandra snapped back, clearly offended. "You are a glorified clerk! A bureaucrat!"
"And you are a thug, but a thug who supposedly serves the Chantry."
"We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor," Leliana reminded him.
"Yes, but Justinia is dead!" Roderick retorted. "We must elect a new Divine and obey her orders on this matter."
Weiss spoked up. "Look, I don't know much about any of this, but I can tell we don't have time for an election or anything like that. We need to deal with that hole in the sky!"
"You brought all of this on us in the first place!" Roderick snapped at her, his finger pointed at her accusingly.
Weiss already disliked this man. She had dealt with many others like him when she attended business meetings and banquets with her father.
"Call for a retreat, Seeker," Roderick said to Cassandra. "Our position here is hopeless."
"No. We can stop this before it's too late," she replied.
"How? You won't survive long enough to reach the temple, even with all your soldiers."
"We must get to the temple. It is the quickest route."
"But not the safest," Leliana said. "Our forces can charge as a distraction, while you and Weiss go through the mountains."
Weiss looked over Leliana's shoulder to see the mountain pass she spoke of.
"It will take too long," Cassandra argued. "And it is too risky. We lost contact with an entire group of scouts up there."
"Please, listen to me," Roderick pleaded. "Let's abandon this now, before more lives are lost." Weiss noted Roderick's change of tone. Weiss could tell he truly was concerned about loosing more lives to the Breach.
Just then, the Breach thundered and flashed again. Weiss's hand flashed with warmth once again. She cringed at the pain.
All eyes turned to her. Roderick observed her with skeptical eyes.
"Weiss, how do you think we should proceed?" Cassandra asked.
Weiss was a bit surprised by this. "Why are you asking me?"
"You have the mark," Solas pointed out.
"Yes, so you are the one we must keep alive," Cassandra added. "And we cannot agree on our own."
Weiss thought for a moment. Safety was not a concern here, there would be danger on both paths. If they charged towards the temple with the soldiers, the scouts would be lost for sure. If they went up the mountain pass, there was a chance they would find the scouts alive, but more soldiers would be lost acting as their decoy.
At last, she decided to give up with scouts for lost, and that it would be better to reach the Breach as soon as possible.
"We will march toward the temple with the soldiers," She said.
"Very well," Cassandra nodded.
Weiss, Cassandra, Varric, and Solas headed passed the table and towards the other side of the bridge.
Roderick bitterly called after them. "On your head be the consequences, Seeker!"
