Chapter 2 Raining Demons
Without warning of any kind the Observer was startled awake by an earth shaking explosion followed immediately by blackness. Panic set in as the Observer tried to stand and simultaneously reach for his sword, but found he could do neither. His heart pounded against his chest as he struggled against an unknown force pinning him to the ground. Unable to stand the Observer did the only thing he could do and forced himself to calm down.
I had been asleep under a tree. There was an explosion. The Observer thought to himself. Now why can't I move….SNOW! The snow must have fallen from the tree down on top of me… and something hard….a branch perhaps. No matter, there can't be that much snow on me, I just have to figure out how to get out of here.
Slowly the Observer worked his sword arm out of its current location under his body and toward what he was fairly confidant was up. He had been sleeping with his face toward the fire so that mend his right side should be closest to the sky. Luckily an air pocket had formed under his body where he had curled into a half formed ball in the instant before he was buried. He knew that without it he would have already been dead. With his limited air in mind he focused on not wasting breath and slowly worked his arm. After what seemed like an eternity his hand broke the surface and he felt the cold pre-down air on the exposed bit of arm between his clove and heavy coat. It took the Observer several more minutes to work his body so that he could see the strange light from the hole that his arm made. He did not fully realize the oddity the light was until he pulled himself fully from the tree turned ice tomb.
Drained of both energy and warmth the shivering coughing Observer finial pulled himself from his would be tomb thankful to be able to breath freely again and that he had all his belongings. It took several minutes while he sat collecting himself that there was a strange hue to everything. It appeared as if the world had been bathed in some sort of light that had passed through a stained glass window. Everything was a strange hue of green, along with the sky.
"Makers nickers…" The observer let out under his breath as he looked up in the sky or rather what was left of it. A great tear in the sky had appeared. If the Observer could have described it any other way, he would have but he was unable to. It was something out of the things of myths and legends, but so much greater than anything that he had heard of. The green light emitting from the great tear was so bright that it was painful to look at directly. The man drew a blank as he stood awestruck. He was beside himself. If he had ever doubted existence of a Greater Power, he was a believer now.
After only a few seconds a small green ball of fire began to, for lack of a better word in the Observer's mind, fell from the tear. At first he thought that maybe it was some sort of shooting star, or perhaps even a falling star. He had herd legends of great swords and armor being made from the metals collected from falling stars, and for a moment he had hopes of perhaps collecting a piece. Even if only a small portion survived impact he may be able to make it into a gift for his sister.
His hopes were misplaced as an unearthly scream of rage and misery appeared from seemingly no wear, and yet everywhere as the green ball of flame shot over the observer and landed just outside of Haven. The impact was not what he had expected but it was dramatic none the less. The ball of flame was actually a mass of demons and spirts apparently fresh from the fade. The observer had fought demons several times, all of which had been challenging experiences, and there was no mistaking that these inhuman creatures were demons.
The demons paused for a moment after they crashed to the ground. The observer quickly pulled his Qunari made looking glass and watched them. It appeared that they were confused. As if they had no clue where they were. The confusion ended the moment someone in one of the small camps outside of the village screamed. In a flurry of motion that the Observer was unable to follow the creatures with his looking glass but he did not need an active imagination to know what was about to happen.
Without thinking about the end result of his decision the Observer took off as fast has his feet would carry him across the snow and ice of the lake shore has he closed the distance on Haven. With every steam a new scream could be heard from the village. The Observer struggled against rocks and branches under snow and the ice of the lake itself, as more explosions of demons landings sounded and echoed among the mountain sides of the narrow valley. After what seemed to be an eternity the Observer came over a finial rise to Haven, witnessing pure chaos.
Mage, Templar, merchant, and peasant all in a struggle for their life's desperately trying to escape the growing number of demons, horrors, and wisps that were quickly enveloping the previously quiet village. Without hesitation the Observer, long sword in hand plunged headlong into the fray.
Near flawless footwork, and the advantage of surprise, allowed the Observer to cut down two demons before the group of seven that were closest to him, focused on a group of disorganized Templars trying to defend a small group of chantry sisters as they made a desperate scramble toward the village gates. The seven, now five, demons spun on the Observer seeing their fellow beings collapse and screamed in agony and rage. As quick as the Observer had gone on the offensive, he was side stepping and parrying as fast as he could make his feet and arms move. Which it turned out was not fast enough. After falling two more and crippling a third the final two managed to attack at the same time.
Driving his blade threw one as the other attempted to drive its black sludge covered teeth between his pauldron on his right shoulder and the weaker material at the Observers neck. And would have succeeded if not for the crossbow bolt that found its home in the creature's forehead.
"Might want to watch yourself," the same Dwarf the Observer had seen with the Sever Holey Warrior shouted from the gates of Haven. "It's raining demons out here."
"Really? Not kittens. I really thought they were kittens." The observer replied pack sardonically as he dispatched the last crippled demon in the immediate area.
"Kittens would have been worse." The Dwarf said as he checked over and reloaded a strange crossbow the likes of which he had never seen, but he had heard about.
"You are Varric, friend of the Hero of Kirkwall aren't you?" The Observer replied remembering all of the stories of the Hero of Kirkwall and his band of would be do gooders, and the rouge Mage that started the Mage rebellion.
"Yes Varric's the name. Try not to link it directly to the Hero of Kirkwall, it's how I ended up here in the first place. See I was…." Varric started but was cut off when another explosion followed by two more demons emerging from the smoke not fifteen feet from the two. Another crossbow bolt and a few swings of the Observers Elvan long sword later the immediate area was clear once again. "I'll save that story for another time. We need to move. Last I heard they were regrouping up at the Chantry."
The Observer nodded, securing the cover over his face. No one had yet to get a good look at his face, and he hoped to keep it that way in case he needed to steel away after the action died down. He waited expecting one of the heavily armored, and well trained Templars to take charge and lead the small group of survivors past the village gates but none of the Templars moved away from their defensive posture around the chantry sisters.
"If your waiting for one of them, you're going to be here for an age," Varric explained looking between the Observer and the Templars then whispered. "There Lieutenant and Sergeant are over there laying under the first two Demons you killed. Templars are not known for acting without leadership."
Indeed, the three remaining Templars looked lost, from what little body language the Observer could see through the heavy plate armor and large iconic helms that they wore. He knew that if the three heavily armed and armored warriors stayed where they were now standing chances were that they would die along with their charges. He also knew that his own chances of survival would be greatly improved with the three Templars in toe. Escpeccially fighting Demons, who found the root of their power through magic. And Templars were created to fight magic. The logic fit just fine for the Observer, the Templars had to be convinced to come.
"Templars! Shields up, we are moving to the Chantry," The Observer barked out orders doing his best to imitate his father's voice and demeanor. "You two in the front, shields at the ready. You watch the rear and keep your charges moving. Keep your heads on a swivel we are leaving. Move."
With only a glance at each other the three Templars jumped to their orders and quickly had the small group of chantry sisters moving up through the Village Gates and into Haven itself. Varric and the Observer took up positions behind the front two Templars.
"That was impressive. You deal with Templars before?" Varric asked as he checked his one of a kind crossbow in a manner one would worry a precious stone or favored trinket.
"Dealt with well-trained warriors before. Warriors who are trained to do nothing but take orders want to be given orders. And are there for easy to deal with." The Observer explained as they started past a row of huts and up a path leading up a hill. As he looked around he could tell that this was the most direct way to the Chantry and they were not the only ones with that destination in mind. It looked as if they were cramming everyone that they could into the large stone building located on the high ground atop the hill.
"So mystery man. What about well-trained warriors that are not trained to just take orders?" Varric asked as there approached slowed because of the small ocean of people growing in front of the Chantry trying desperately to all fit at one time through the large double doors of the building.
"Well in that case you get me, Master of Words, you get the Shadow Fox."
