Dragon Oath

Chapter 3: The Past Halls

Cullen could still remember that night...

Cullen remembered the sound of his footsteps echoing in the night air. It was a cold winter night, colder than most. He could see his breath with each step he took through the halls. He had been doing night patrols for several weeks now. He had grown accustom to the routine and the silence, but something was off this night. Normally his ears were met with the silence of the tower, but this night he could hear voices. It sounded like a small group chattering away in the distance. Mostly male voices from what Cullen could tell as he strained his ears to hear.

He followed the noises, walking from one twisting hallway to the next. The closer he got to the noises the more unusual they sounded. While it was most certainly more then one person and male there was a lot of grunting, heavy breathing, and other inaudible type noises. Cullen at the time was young and couldn't really piece the clues together what could be going on.

He rounded one of the hallways that branched off to a little alcove. There he saw four young men huddling over a strange figure. They were all in there teens, which was also around what Cullen's age was. Two of the males had their shirts and armor off, tossed in the corner recklessly, while the other two were standing in front of the strange figure on the ground and the other male stood behind.

As soon as Cullen had stepped out from the hallway they saw him. They instantly scrambled around trying to hide whatever it was they were doing. Cullen froze watching them. One of the young Templars stepped out to meet him. He was stretching his shoulder blades as he walked.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" The young man asked in a forced friendly like voice. He struggled between sounding annoyed and cheerful.

"Patrolling," Cullen said flatly keeping his eyes on the man.

The young Templar seemed to consider his words before smiling again. "Nothing to see here. Just having a nighttime chat. Be at peace brother."

The man was trying to herd Cullen away by walking with him back down the hallway. Just as Cullen was about to turn away his eyes was able to the see the feint outlines of a women in the candle light in the alcove. Her body was the strange figure he couldn't make out earlier.

Cullen drew his blade pointing the end of it at the young man that had spoken to him, "What's the meaning of this?"

The man held his hands up, "Just a little fun."

"Such behavior is frowned upon."

"This is different. After all she is only a mage."

Cullen's eye widen, "A mage...that only makes it worst. We protect them."

The young man smirked in disgust, "Protect? Them? They are monsters. Merely, a means to an end."

Cullen shook his head his eyes blazing in rage. "Let's see what the Knight-Commander says about this."

"Oh? I don't think so." The young Templar suddenly threw a throwing knife straight at Cullen.

Cullen swung his sword and luckily knocked the first blade away, but unfortunately the second struck his left shoulder. He yelled out in pain stumbling back. The young Templar charged him while the other three leapt out from the alcove to join in.

Despite the injury Cullen recovered himself and used the pommel of his blade to hit one man in the face. He struck hard and he could hear bone crush and flesh rip. He dropped his sword and resorted to swinging his fist as the three other Templars ganged up on him. One struck Cullen hard in the chest, the other tried to stab him with a small dagger but Cullen managed to dance away from him. Despite being outmatched Cullen struck them a few times. One in the jaw the other he had hit a knee cap with his foot. When Cullen swung again one of the men knocked him over and he tumbled onto his injured arm. He cried out in pain and tried to get back up, but he couldn't as one of the men stepped on his throat chocking the air out of him. Cullen tried to push the man off, but he could only hold the other Templar's foot enough to prevent his throat from collapsing. Cullen flailed around as the other men struck him with blunt objects of some kind. He felt his mind becoming fuzzy and he was on the verge of passing out.

Just went Cullen couldn't hold out any longer a blaze of fire shot out from the alcove striking one man. Another blaze shot out, twisting and roaring in its rage around another man engulfing him. He screamed and shouted as he took off down the hall. The remaining two men attempted to subdue the mage in the alcove, but they were either too weak or unable to handle her power. Another blaze emerged in the shape of a falcon. It screamed and screeched as it racked it's fiery talons across the men. They too fled.

Cullen lied on the floor gasping for air. He heaved with each breath, filling his oxygen deprived lungs as quickly as he could. As he looked over he saw the young female mage. He clothes were hardly covering her form. They were torn, bloody, and now singed from the fire. It was hardly the time to feel embarrassed, but Cullen felt his face burn with heat as he stared at her. She was injured badly, blood oozed out of gashes as she slumped against the wall but he could also tell under all that she was very pretty.

Once Cullen could breath easier he stood back up. He took his tunic off and walked over to her, "Don't worry I won't hurt you." He had noticed her wince in fear trying to shuffle back to the corner of the alcove. "Here..." he handed her his tunic looking away.

Cullen couldn't tell if she was going to take it until he felt his tunic lift gently from his hands. He kept his back turned to her as he waited until she was decent again.

"Tattoo..." she said quietly.

"Aye, we all get one when we take our vows." Cullen's tattoo was situated on his right shoulder. It was the Templar's sigil.

There was silence again before she spoke up. "I'm ready to go back..."

Cullen nodded and he turned around. She attempted to get up on her own, but Cullen simply scooped her up in his arms to carry her himself. It was faster this way. He didn't pay much mind to it, but she did. She was tense in his arms as he carried her. After a few steps though she relaxed.

"Do you need to know what happen?"

"No. I will speak what I saw and no more. Your choose what you want to say when you want to say them."

She was silent for a moment before changing the subject. "Neria...my name is Neria. We haven't introduced our selves properly."

"Cullen," He said in return.

"Thank you...I'll always remember...you're not bad..." She shut her eyes exhausted and rested her head against his bare chest. This instantly made Cullen feel like the tense one now. He wasn't sure what sort of feelings these were that he was beginning to experience. He swallowed a breath pushing it aside for now walking the long walk back to the upper levels to speak with the older Templars.

When Cullen opened his eyes he felt like he wanted to throw up. The memories of that night sickened him now that he was older and understood what those men had truly done. He ran his hands over his face and hair trying to ease the sickening feeling that lingered. When he dropped his hands back to his side he saw a cup sitting at the side of his bed.

The cup was his daily dose of lyrium. While a lot of abilities originated from the substance it also made him dependent on the substance. It had highly additive qualities to it, one that Cullen was already beginning to experience its hold on him. The lyrium also had a horrible side effect after long term exposure. He would one day simply loose his mind. He wondered if that is why he felt so sick...

"No," Cullen hissed to himself. That was an excuse he wanted to tell to himself. He felt sick from the dream not from the lyrium. He sat cross legged on his bed staring at the lyrium. His face twitched as if he was staring down an enemy. Waiting to see who would make the first move. He wondered how much he really needed the stuff. He glanced around to make sure no one was really paying attention to him. He cupped his hand and focused on the on his dispelling ability. As he focused he could feel the channels of energy triggering in his hands, but it felt weak without the lyrium.

He sighed, while it was discouraging it also meant there was a way without lyrium. For now he would drink the stuff to remain safe in his duties until he was confident enough to use them on his own. He took the cup and downed the substance. Once the contents of the cup was empty he set it back down and got dressed.

He was ready now...ready to face the Harrowing chambers.