The walk to the chantry was a tense one to be sure. Each step Cassandra took was slowly bringing back the storm of anger that had quieted over the conversation with the girl, Asha.
"The prisoner is awake?" The Seeker asked Leliana, who was walking quietly beside the scarred woman.
"Yes" The reply was calm, but Cassandra knew how close the Divine and Leliana were. The Spymaster was bottling her pain for the moment. She hoped that Leliana would be able to move on in time, to have that time however, the Breach needed to be closed, today.
"And Solas?"
"He said to bring the prisoner and meet him at the nearest rift"
The pair reached the door to the small dungeon, and hopefully answers were just beyond it. Cassandra, with a powerful shove, opened the heavy door, letting it smack against the wall. The resulting bang reverberated though the chamber, bringing the prisoner's attention from the mark, to the two newcomers.
Leliana stayed back, while Cassandra stepped toward and around the kneeling Qunari.
Looking him over quickly, the Seeker could see that the man was dangerous, even without the glowing green mark. He was definitely a warrior of some sort, he didn't have the build of someone who used daggers or a bow, nor was he a mage, she didn't feel the familiar thrum of magic from his person. That was a small comfort, in these dark days. Seeing the deep scars crossing his head, she knew that he had experience from many battles. He was in all honesty, a fearsome sight. The horns on his head did not help his visage, long and plated as they were.
If Cassandra were someone else she might have been intimidated by the large Qunari. However, she was not someone else.
"Tell me why we shouldn't kill you now," She spoke icily, finally beginning the interrogation, trying to carefully hold back her anger until answers were at hand, but it was not easily held. "Divine Justinia is dead. Everyone at the Conclave is dead. Except for you." Accusation clear as she pointed a finger at the Qunari's face, in front of him now, finishing her short inspection.
When the words came out of her mouth, the man's face drained of color so rapidly, that the Seeker had to actually look at him for the first time. His face was... not what she had expected. In her imaginings over the last few days, he was a faceless and emotionless monster, not this. She found that he... did not have the face of monster intent on destruction, but monsters can shift their shape. Living as a Seeker of Truth for most of her life had instilled that lesson.
His face was set in panic as he began to speak, "What do you mean everyone is dead?!" His blue eyes wildly darting between the two women. The man's arms were tensing, evidently feeling the need to move, but the urge was being forcibly repressed it seemed, judging by the twitches they were giving off.
This was not the response she was hoping for. Ignoring his question she grabbed his marked arm forcefully and brought it up, "Explain. This." The Seeker's anger seeping though, as she threw the arm back down. In the back of her mind she noticed that his claws were filed down.
"I can't! I don't know what's going on!" He all but shouted back, pleading desperately with the woman.
Her control slipped.
"You're lying!" her voice little more than a growl, as she grabbed at his collar. The action instinctual, its purpose was unclear, even to Cassandra. Perhaps to strangle the truth out of him?
Leliana finally stepped in, pulling the Seeker back and away from the Qunari. "We need him Cassandra." Looking into the scarred woman's eyes, making sure the message was received. Understanding that her outburst was out of line, Cassandra conceded, and looked at the Qunari with a scowl, at a larger distance this time. The man was staring into the floor now, appearing to be thinking about what he was told, still extremely pale.
Leliana took her turn to question him, "Do you remember anything about what happened? How this began?" Leliana was much calmer than Cassandra, but the ice in her tone left no doubt that she was definitely not happy.
The Qunari closed his eyes for a bit, eyebrows furrowed, "I was in a... dark place, I was running... things were chasing me." His shoulders shuddered a bit. He opened his eyes to make eye contact with the two women looking down at him, to convince them or maybe himself of his story. "Then... a woman..." He looked at the floor again.
"A woman?" Leliana called out in mild surprise, probably thinking back to the reports of the Qunari's appearance.
"She... reached out to me, but then..." He trailed off, letting out a frustrated noise, his memory appearing to fail him, but Cassandra did have to begrudgingly admit that he did indeed seem sincere. It quelled some of her anger.
Deciding that they would get no more answers from him, Cassandra turned to address Leliana, "Get to the forward camp Leliana," She looked over at the horned man, "I will take him to the rift." Leliana, accepting the order, gave a small nod and motioned for the guards in the room to follow her exit.
Cassandra went to kneel in front of the Qunari, and unlocked the irons on his wrists, only to wrap them with rope. The man was staring at her now, it was a little unnerving, even for the lady warrior, but he gave no protest to the new bindings. While tying the rope, she wondered idly if he could break out of it. If that was the case, however, she trusted her skills to deal with it.
He began to speak, his voice much lower and quieter than it was before, "What did happen?" His face had returned to a normal color.
Helping the qunari to his feet, he had after all been kneeling in the floor for some time, she answered, calmly this time, "It will be easier to show you." A bit of the stress of the last few days showing though. Once he was completely on his feet, she motioned for him to follow her out of the chamber.
Cassandra did not expect the Qunari to immediately agree to help, she had assumed it would have taken at least some convincing. However the only convincing he seemed to need was to be told that the Breach was a threat to everyone and the mark may be able to help deal with it. Oddly enough, he seemed to care little about the threat to his own life, he didn't even blink when she told him the mark was killing him. It seemed like dying was the least of his problems actually.
Seeing the absolute steel in his face, Cassandra was surprised, he appeared to be honest in his willingness to help. Though she still didn't see an alternative explanation, she felt a bit of doubt take root. Could he be innocent?
That couldn't be debated now of course, the Breach was a threat to all Thedas, questions about the Qunari's guilt or innocence could be answered after the green hole in the sky was dealt with.
Shaking past her surprise, Cassandra began to lead the man out of Haven, this time with him in front, and hand on his back to keep him moving. The walk through Haven was a bit of trouble, but this was to be expected, the entire world blamed the Qunari for the current situation, and that included the people in Haven. As they headed to the front gates, they passed several refugees, a few of which looked like they wanted to attack, that is until they met the Seeker's glare and then quickly backed down, not willing to assault the Qunari while he was under Cassandra's protection.
At that moment however, something passed over the Qunari's face when he spotted something up ahead, but when the Seeker turned her focus back to the front she only saw him finish a shake of the head, and the blank expression he had adopted once they had started moving from the chantry.
Once they were outside the gates, the large man let out a sigh of relief. Cassandra could not blame him for that, feeling a bit relieved herself, they both relaxed a bit,as they continued in silence through the light snowfall and up the mountain path.
As they were nearing the first bridge on the road, the Qunari asked, "The other woman, I think she called you Cassandra?" He turned his head to look at her for confirmation, she nodded keeping her face neutral, he continued, "I am Kaaras Adaar, if these were normal circumstances I would say it's a pleasure to meet you." He gave her an ironic half smile, but his eyes were still serious even as he tried to lighten the mood a bit. Kaaras turned his eyes back to the path. She already knew his name of course, and some of his mercenary background, but she didn't mind his formal introduction.
"To you as well," She responded, finding the man to be not unpleasant thus far, especially when she compared him to her last prisoner. The actual thought of the dwarf brought a scowl to her face. She thanked the Maker that Kaaras was not insufferable like Varric.
When they reached the bridge, the Seeker decided that the area up ahead was too dangerous for the Qunari to be bound completely, so she put out a hand to stop him. He did so and stared at her in questioning silence, but tensed when she pulled a knife from the back of her armor. He made no movements, and instead watched her carefully. While going to stand in front of him, she began to speak, "There will be a trial. I can promise no more." She cut his binds and put the knife away, allowing him to relax.
"That's more than what I expected." His voice very matter of fact, as he rubbed his newly freed wrists
She turned to lead him up the more dangerous path, the air becoming colder as they went. They were now close enough to be able to see streaks of light coming out of the Breach. It was always a disconcerting sight.
Realizing that Kaaras had no idea what it was they were doing out here, Cassandra turned her head to look at him, "Your mark must be tested on a rift smaller than the Breach. It isn't much further." He gave a nod in acknowledgment, his expression becoming steely once again.
The pair had walked a few more feet when a particularly large pulse came from the Breach, reacting instantly with the mark on the qunari's hand. Immediately, Kaaras fell to his knees, a strangled sound escaping his throat. Quickly, he shoved the marked hand into the snow on the side of the path, in an ultimately futile attempt to ease the burning sensation. He stayed there for a bit, trying to regain his bearings, and only looked up when Cassandra came to stand in front of him.
Looking at the current expression on Kaaras' face, the Seeker might have laughed if the situation wasn't so dire. He seemed to shake out of it though, when she went to help him up, this time actually using her strength to do so. As she was making sure that he was steady on his feet, she realized that that he was really quiet tall. Even though she had been walking with him for some time, she hadn't noticed it before. Giving him a pat on the arm once he was firmly on his feet, receiving a bow of his head and a small "Thank you," in kind, she turned to continue on the path. As she turned she thought she saw a strange expression on his face, one that she was not unfamiliar with, but it disappeared too quickly for her to be sure.
They were entering the second bridge on the path when Kaaras asked about his survival, when she told him the details he became pensive. That quickly disappeared when she also told him the details of the explosion, and he rapidly became almost angry, glaring lightly at the ground. It was not long after Cassandra had finished her explanation that several streaks of light fell from the Breach, and struck the bridge, destroying it.
The pair completely unprepared for the shock, tumbled into the newly created ledge, landing with a thud. They were beginning to sit up when another streak fell and crashed in the area near the now destroyed bridge. This light however, didn't fade as it hit the ground, it actually stuck to the ground, making a small pool of green magic, before a lessor Shade demon emerged from the energy. As soon as it had sensed the two, it was heading their way.
They were both on their feet instantly. Cassandra drew her sword and shield, and began to charge at the demon with a loud call of, "Stay behind me!" Kaaras did as she said, but the crash landing of another demon demanded he do something.
The Seeker stabbed her blade into the shade,with a grunt, killing it as she ripped it out again. She turned to where she heard the second demon appear, but instead found Kaaras slowly approaching, great sword in hand. The sight was instantly seen as a threat, a prisoner with a weapon would almost always attack their captor, right?
Immediately her sword was pointed at the qunari, his free hand came up palm forward. "Drop your weapon! Now!" She shouted at him, before she had taken in his appearance. He was covered in blood, the demon's blood she realized, nor was he carrying his new weapon in a threatening manner, in fact it seemed he was attempting to carry it in the most non-usable way possible. With mild surprise, she realized he wasn't going to attack.
He blinked at her, as he frowned. He was moving to drop the sword when she realized her mistake, "Wait" she called at a much calmer volume. They both relaxed as she put her weapons away, "You should keep it, I cannot protect you." Her voice tired. She noted her inability to deal with the demons and protect the Qunari, she would have to train more it seemed. She paused as she turned away a little, "I should remember you agreed to come willingly." She looked at him an apology written on her face. His face twitched in a short smile, apparently accepting her words. They made to continue up the mountain.
Since they couldn't reach the original path, they had to take a detour along the frozen river. The way was completely snow covered, which would usually be little problem for the two, except for the demons that also roamed along the river. Fortunately, the demons were weak and easily destroyed. Cassandra decided, after seeing Kaaras use his great sword in battle, that the qunari really might have been able to break his bindings.
When they reached the desired rift, they found several men, including the Apostate, Solas, and the Dwarf, Varric, fighting several demons by a rift, but by the time the pair reached them and entered the fray, all the humans had been slain, leaving only Solas and Varric left to fight. In the middle of the fighting, Cassandra could see that the freshly slain dead were having an affect on Kaaras, he was cleaving into demons with an unusual fervor that he didn't have before . Usually mercenaries were used to death, this was strange. Quickly glancing around while finishing off her opponent, Cassandra found Kaaras angrily destroying the last shade, from a few feet away. She wouldn't have given him much thought, until she saw steam rising from his exposed skin. What was that?
These thoughts would have to wait, when Solas grabbed the Qunari's marked hand and shoved it towards the rift.
A stream of magic connected the mark and the rift, causing a buzz to sound. After a few moments Kaaras appeared to pull on the stream instinctively, ripping the rift closed. Intense relief visibly washed through everyone. The rifts could be dealt with.
Kaaras asked Solas about the mark since he seemed to know the most about it, Solas quickly answered. The Elf explained that the mark was never before seen ancient magic and that it had a relation to the Breach, he also said closing the Breach might kill him. The Qunari just let out an exasperated sigh, probably having the worst day of his life. Varric decided then to introduce himself to the qunari, while also weaseling his way into helping, it was infuriating, but Cassandra would tolerate his presence for the moment. The Dwarf then explained to Kaaras that Solas was the one who was keeping the mark from killing him the last two days, of which the eEf was then politely thanked. They needed to move on, however, the Breach was still a threat.
Doing what they could for the dead, the group of four set off for the forward camp, to hopefully meet up with Leliana and decide an exact course of action.
The path to the camp was no less snow covered, nor was it deprived of demons, but with the addition of Solas' magic and Varric's crossbow, the journey was much easier then expected.
They were nearly upon the camp when Varric asked about the validity of Kaaras' innocence. Kaaras replied simply, "I don't remember"
Varric smiled, "That will get you every time. You should of spun a story" This irritated Cassandra, remembering the Dwarf's interrogation a few weeks before.
"That's what you would done." She stated shortly, still thanking the Maker the qunari wasn't like Varric.
"It's more believable, and less prone to premature execution," The Dwarf said, turning his smile towards the Seeker. The sight caused a scowl to cross her face, but the group's arrival at the forward camp stopped any reply Cassandra might of made.
As they entered, Leliana could be heard arguing loudly with someone. Cassandra quickly led the group in the Spymaster's direction, and found her along with the source of the other voice, Chancellor Roderick, arguing around a map of the area. The sight of him did not help the Seeker's irritation, well meaning as he was, he was extremely bothersome about it. When Leliana and the Chancellor caught the arrival of the group, they immediately stopped their argument.
Leliana was relieved to see the new arrivals, "You made it," She turned to Roderick, "Chancellor this is-"
"I know who he is," He interrupted, glaring up at the qunari, seemingly unafraid of Kaaras' blood covered form. The Qunari stared back at him, blank faced. He turned his glare over to Cassandra, "As Grand Chancellor of the Chantry, I order you to take this qunari into custody, to face execution." He gestured towards Kaaras flippantly. The Qunari grit his teeth.
Immediately Cassandra had a glare set at Roderick, this messenger was attempting to have authority were he had none. "You order me? You're a glorified clerk, a bureaucrat,."
"And you're a thug, who supposedly serves the Chantry," He spat back.
Leliana stepped in, who was also tired at his attempts at authority, "We serve the Most Holy, Chancellor. As you well know." Her voice cold.
"Divine Justinia is dead!" He nearly shouted "We should elect a new Divine and obey her orders on the matter." Cassandra was about to verbally bash the Chancellor, when Kaaras had enough.
"That takes time we don't have. The Breach needs to be dealt with. Now." He was glaring at the a Chancellor, sick of the hold up the human was causing. Cassandra agreed wholeheartedly.
The Chancellor didn't seem to be able to see past blame, however "You're the reason we're in this mess in the first place!" He yelled, he was about to continue, but realized it was getting him no where, so he took a breath to calm himself, and resorted to pleading instead. "Seeker listen to me, give up on this before it's too late."
"No, I know we can do this," Absolute determination colored her face and voice. They had to do this.
His doubt persisted, "How? Even with all your soldiers-"
"We need to get to the temple." The Seeker pointed along the map, ignoring Roderick's indignant huff. "This is the quickest route,"
Leliana, seeing the path Cassandra pointed out, countered, "But not the safest. This mountain path is safer," The Spymaster pointed to her own route.
Cassandra might have agreed, but she knew they lost a patrol there. "No, we lost an entire squad on that path, there are too many unknowns," They locked eyes, and Cassandra realized that it would take too much to long to decide.
A sudden pulse came from the Breach, bringing everyone's attention to the sparking mark on the Qunari's hand. Making a snap decision, the Seeker approached him, "How do you think we should proceed?" Immediately his eyebrows went up in surprise.
"You're... asking me?" Shock showing in his voice
"You have the mark, so you are the one we must keep alive. Since we cannot decide on our own..." Her voice frustrated at their inability to make a decision without a third party.
Kaaras met her gaze and stared for a few moments, studying her, probably making sure she was serious. He seemed to come to a decision when he brought his marked hand up for her to see. The mark was much larger from last time she had seen it. "This is probably going to kill me soon, and I'd like to close the Breach before that happens. I say take the quickest route." He really didn't seem to care that he was dying, he actually seemed to be thinking about something else entirely. She wondered in the back of her mind if something was wrong with him, but the decision was made, and she nodded in acceptance.
Cassandra turned to Leliana, "Gather the men, all of them," The Spymaster accepted the task and left to prepare.
Kaaras, Cassandra, Solas, and Varric began to leave the camp and make their way on the final stretch up the mountain, but before they got out of ear shot the Chancellor had one final stab at the Seeker, "On your head be the consequences, Seeker," Spitting the last word like a curse.
Cassandra ground her teeth, very much aware of that fact. She prayed to the Maker that this plan worked.
When the group arrived at the foot of the temple, word had already spread to the soldiers. They were doing their best to clear a path, but they could do little about the rift dotting the path. Kaaras' arrival was extremely fortunate. The group of four quickly charged into the battle, to hopefully close the rifts before more people were slain, but even with the groups assistance several soldiers fell. The demons coming out of this rift were much stronger than the last, Terror demons it looked like. Cassandra watched one let out a blood curdling screech as it slashed open a soldier. The man's blood flew, some of it coming to land on nearby combatants, including Kaaras. In an instant, the Qunari cut the demon down, and went to close the rift with a snarl, steam rising off his person.
With the rift closed all demons that appeared from it, seemed to choke and fall to the ground dead, then disappear as demons do. A cheer went up through the remaining men, happy to finally see something finally be done about the rifts, even if it was from the person that supposedly caused it.
Everyone took this chance to breathe and gather their wits, but Kaaras' reaction was a curious one, so Cassandra watched him she took a few moments herself. It was a few moments before the Qunari could be seen taking deep breaths as he wiped the blood from his face, and soon after steam stopped coming off of his skin. He relaxed and went to face the group, finally calm again, catching her stare in the process. She was about to ask what was going on with him, when a set of foot steps was heard approaching, she turned and found Commander Cullen making his way towards her.
"Lady Cassandra, good job taking care of that rift," He complemented, but she knew that it was not her credit to take.
"I did little Commander. This was the prisoner's doing," She stated, gesturing to Kaaras, bringing Cullen's attention to the Qunari. Cullen stepped up to address the taller man.
"I hope they're right about you. A lot of men died getting you here." His tone accusing, eyebrows drawn in a slight glare.
"I'll do my best." Kaaras met the mans glare with a seriousness, that surprised the Commander. He dropped his glare and sighed.
"That's all we can ask." Cullen turned to the Seeker, "I'm heading back, Maker be with you Cassandra" The Commander then left, leaving the group to the temple, and the Breach.
Cassandra led everyone, including some of the remaining soldiers, to the crater's entrance that was once the Temple of Sacred Ashes. When they entered, they caught sight of the largest rift they had ever come across, glowing brightly in the middle of the crater. Large tendrils of magic connected it to the hole in the sky. Despite its proximity to the Breach, this rift had no demons roaming near it.
Cassandra addressed Kaaras, "That, is were we found you. Are you ready?"
He looked at her and then the rift, "I'll try." The steel was back in his face.
Solas chimed in, feeling that information would be helpful, "This rift was the first, it is key in sealing the Breach."
A voice called out, "You made it, Thank the Maker," Cassandra turned and found Leliana with several archers, heading their way.
The Seeker nodded in greeting, but went directly to business, "Leliana, have your men surround the rift," She turned to the rest of the group, "Everyone else, find your way down, quickly." Her orders were speedily followed.
On the way down to the rift, a voice could be heard, but not from anyone direction, it seemed to radiate from everywhere, echoing off the walls of the crater. "The hour of our victory is at hand."
It was unsettling, "What are we hearing?" The surprise showing in the Seeker's voice.
"If had to hazard a guess, it's whoever caused the Breach" Solas answered, ever the adviser.
It was also the moment that she noticed the glowing red rocks along the walls, "You know that's red lyrium Seeker," Varric piping up when he too noticed it.
"I see it Varric,"
"But what's it doing here?"
"Magic could of drawn on the lyrium below the temple, corrupted it" Solas offered his hypothesis.
Varric's face twisted in disgust, "It's evil," He met Kaaras' eyes, "Whatever you do, don't touch it." Kaaras nodded, accepting the advice.
The group reached the bottom, and began to cautiously approach the large rift. When they were close enough, magic sparked from Kaaras' mark as more voices began to reverberate through the space, "Keep the sacrifice still" It was the same voice from before. Sacrifice?
"Someone! Help me!" That was the Divine's voice. What was going on?
"Memories from the Fade linger here," Solas commented, answering the Seeker's thoughts.
Then a third voice sounded, one from the Qunari standing a few feet away, looking confused at hearing his own voice, "What's going on here?!"
Cassandra had to sound her confusion, "That was your voice, but Most Holy called out too you-" The energy around the rift suddenly shifted, forming shapes, one of which was definitely the Divine, and the other was too vague to recognize clearly. The voices began to repeat, but this time along with the forms over head.
"The hour of our victory is at hand. Keep the sacrifice still." The shadowed form put out an arm toward the Divine.
"Someone! Help me!" At this a new form appeared, this one clearly seen. It was Kaaras.
"What's going on here?!"
The shadow spoke again, "Slay the Qunari." But the magic rapidly reverted back to the rift.
The scene brought back all the emotions Cassandra had been holding back since the day all this started, "You were there! Who attacked-? What are we seeing?!" She nearly yelled, now glaring up at Kaaras, anger and frustration coloring her face.
He met her glare with a slight glare himself, but his voice was calm and insistent, "I don't remember." He held her gaze until she sighed and looked away, disappointed that more answers would not be found here. The image from the Fade raised many more questions, in fact the only answer that was gained was the truth of Kaaras' innocence. Solas approached quietly.
"The rift is closed, but not cleanly. It needs to be opened and then resealed, but that will likely attract attention from the other side." The Elf informed her.
Back to business, she composed herself, "That means demons! Everyone stand ready!" She ordered loudly for everyone in the crater.
This needed to work. She sent a final prayer to the Maker.
When she received the signal that everyone was in position, she felt a little relieved to actually doing something about the problem. She turned and met Kaaras' eyes, and gave him the okay to began. He immediately stepped forward and put up the mark, allowing the magic to connect. It was a few moments before he pulled back ripping the rift back open, but almost immediately after, a Pride demon emerged, and landed with a crash.
Instantly everyone in the space made to attack the demon including Kaaras, but Cassandra grabbed his arm, stopping him, "No! Focus on the rift, We'll take the demon." He looked like he wanted to argue, but accepted her words, and put his mark towards the rift again, leaving her to charge the large demon.
This rift was different than the last ones, each time Kaaras would use the mark the rift, it would send out a pulse of magic instead of closing. The pulses did injure the Pride demon however, making large openings to injure the demon further.
It was the fourth time Kaaras used the mark that something changed, the usual buzz from the mark grew unbearably loud, grating on everyone's ears. The Pride demon fell to one knee, as Kaaras made one final pull on the mark.
The rift exploded, the shock wave it created knocked everyone in the crater off their feet. When Cassandra arose, she found the Pride had been destroyed, 'Good riddance' she thought feeling several new bruises from the fight. She quickly looked to check the rift, but found it closed and only the magic tendrils from the Breach in its place. Looking at the Breach, she was disappointed to see it, but she could see that was much calmer than it was, nor was it spitting out demons, that was a small comfort.
Finally she looked for the Qunari, but was surprised to find him face down on the ground. She rushed over immediately, and turned him on his side, she was relieved to find he still drew breath. Solas appeared beside her and went to check Kaaras' marked hand.
He inspected it for a moment before speaking, "The mark, along with the Breach, seems to be stable. He is in no danger from the mark."
Cassandra for the first time in long time, felt a little bit better about the state of the world. Now there was real hope that the world could be saved, and she was sure the Qunari would be instrumental in saving it.
AN: It was mostly a rehash I know, but it needed to be done but now its over with and I can focus on more original content. That means Asha! yay! Now about what some of you asked, Asha is human not qunari, you'll get her back story. I'll mostly be doing this from Cassandra's POV and I'll try to do original stuff along with the in game scenes(with some changes). I will try to be as in character as possible, but this is my first time writing something like this so be gentle.
I read all your reviews and I'm really glad y'all like it so far, I'll do my best!